Still, it was nice to see them.
During a quick trip to the Theakston brewery in Masham in the morning, I re-acquainted myself with a pint of Old Peculiar. When I were a lad (I'm surprised your memories that good.- Ed) the beer of choice was Newcastle Brown and if you were in a hurry to get pissed you drank Old Peculiar. Three pints of that stuff guaranteed you were comatose in a couple of hours.
After Theakston, we headed off for a slap up meal at the Bruce Arms in West tanfield. The booze must have had something to do with it because we booked en masse for New Years Eve. That's a first for Jan and I because we usually decide what we're going to do at about 7.00 pm on 31st and get pissed off when we can't get in.
After lunch we hit the tourist trail again and drove into Ripon and paid our first visit to the cathedral, and very nice it is too.
The tiny church built, in 660 AD, which is still intact below the knave, was a special find and the lower inscription, above, made me stop and think.
What were you doing at age 24? The chap above was killed in action commanding a submarine. Makes you think about some of the feckless youth of today.
A few years ago we searched for and found the graves of some young soldiers who died in France in the first world war and who would have been my great uncles if they had survived. One of them died in the expeditionary force of 1914 and was 17. Knowing something of his background, I was moved to tears to think how his life had been up to that point and how he died.
ReplyDeleteSometimes at work I have to deal with today's feckless youth. A lot of them are nasty, spineless, attitude-riddled mobile phone junkies. (Not all, thankfully.) I look at them sometimes and ponder the difference between them and my hapless uncles, who thought going to war would be a glorious escape from the drudgery of their home life.
Amazing to think of him in command of a submarine at 24. Can't help thinking that most youngsters today couldn't command a trip to the toilet let alone a submarine.
ReplyDeleteThat's very moving Jean. 'Couldn't command a trip to the toilet' Craig made us both laugh out loud. Thank you both.
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