Forty Years

Birding has been a bit neglected these past few days. Towards the end of the week our elder son Rob made a flying visit from Switzerland, and we somehow wangled a night's fishing together. Well, if you can call a bankside chilli, generous helping of red wine and much natter, actual fishing... We did have some rods out, and even caught a couple, but really...

This morning I made the effort though. Waking a little late, I was conscious that today was a momentous day, and I ought not fritter too much of it on mere birding. So a quick jaunt to Burton Bradstock, where I inspected the clifftop fields and glanced briefly at the adjacent bushes. Offshore there was clearly some decent gull movement going on, with lots of Black-headed and several (mostly juv) Meds heading west. A proper count was no doubt in order. Not from me though. The best I could muster otherwise was a loose gang of 5 Wheatears in the top fields...

Three out of five

But I needed to get back fairly pronto, because today was important for reasons other than birding. Quite often on Twitter you will see tweets which begin with 'OTD...' followed by perhaps a grainy photo of some rarity of yore, and an announcement that [insert big number, but usually 25] years ago the tweeter and this bird happened to cross paths somehow. Usually it's a bit of twitch nostalgia. Well, this post is in a vaguely similar vein.

On This Date 40 years ago, this happened...

This photo was taken outside the register office at Harrow Civic Centre on 9th August 1980. The young couple pictured here then climbed into the car, which drove them to the reception venue, a pub called The Green Man, off Wembley Hill Road. The Green Man was (and still is) within easy walking distance of Wembley Stadium. If you were to do a little research you would quickly discover that 9th August 1980 was the date on which Liverpool FC lifted their fifth FA Charity Shield, beating West Ham 1-0 at Wembley stadium, in front of 90,000. Back in those days, a big game at Wembley meant all-day closure for most, if not all, of the local pubs. This included The Green Man. However, visiting fans might still park at such pubs and walk to the stadium, and maybe use the outdoor facilities for a little pre-match refreshment...

And so it was that a Rolls Royce, bedecked in the traditional white ribbons of a nuptial carriage, slid quietly into The Green Man's car park and came to a halt. Next to the car park lay a sizeable pub garden, and sprawled upon its lawn was a very large crowd of beer-drinking football fans. Every single one of them turned and stared, momentarily silent. Then, as one, they raised a can towards the red-faced couple and let rip with a loud and hearty cheer.

Forty years ago, this afternoon.

A nice Wheatear, oblivious to the significance of the date.