Tuesday, August 27, 2024

And then it's over.

The ladies golf tournament finished on Sunday evening but the road to the beach is still cordoned off. It was a Bank Holiday yesterday and no one has got round to removing the traffic cones.  We ignore the 'Road Closed' signs and park illegally by the embankment. From there it's a hundred yard walk down onto the sand. It's taken the better part of two months for the infrastructure for the golf tournament to be installed - taking it down should be quicker. The television crews were the first to  pack up their cameras and go. They left in a large convoy at eight last night. This morning the large shiny Mercedes 'courtesy' vehicles are being loaded onto car transporters. We wonder if they're off to another sporting event or if they'll now be sold off.


As we reverse out of our illicit parking spot 'The Font' notices we've been in the place  reserved for the Chairman of AIG. The R&A Captain has a parking spot but remains anonymous. In a golfing town like this to be referred to by all and sundry as ' The Captain' is a sign of true - almost God like - seniority.


Out at sea three young gulls sit on a rock and observe the dismantling of the marquees. The gulls seem mightily unimpressed.


The cleaners are hard at work in the Seafood restaurant next to the club house. The fact that they're hard at work at seven am hints that there was the mother of all end of tournament parties there last night. Many (most) restaurants have seen their service standards fall since Covid but this one has managed to retain a cheerful and efficient front of house crew. How do they do it when so many others else fail ?


We aren't the only ones ignoring the No Entry signs. Local residents are moving the traffic cones so that they can use the angled parking spots.


We spot the first groups of ' young people '. A sure sign the tempo of the year is accelerating. The new tenants arrive in the house in town next week ( Texans ) , Freshers week starts on the 9th and the semester proper kicks off on the 16th. We are once again left wondering where the year has gone. The three cleaning ladies are due for a four hour deep clean this afternoon and we're praying that the gardener has time to swing by and  get the borders ready for autumn.


Heard on the radio this morning :https://youtu.be/f6pOLBqthd4?t=6

The mask debate rumbles on. This in the BMJ :https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1843.full


7 comments:

Lisa in France said...

It sounds like you and the Font may now have a few days of relative peace and quiet before the next wave arrives. Enjoy!

jabblog said...

The Karl Jenkins Concerto Grossi is just the thing to get the pulse racing.

Travel said...

My father bought a couple of cars that had been golf tournament cars, usually used only for a week or so, less than 1,000 miles on them. Maybe Tiger Woods had "used" them?

Travel said...

Back with a second comment today. I read the article on facemasks. The researchers tested the easy hypothesis, the impact on the wearer. The harder to study, but most likely greater impact, is on limited transmission from someone who is infected and not symptomatic. In other words, the other person likely benefits more than the wearer. It is about helping others stay healthy. The norm in some asian countries is to wear a mask so that you don't make others sick.

rottrover said...

Will you leave next year during the tournament? It sounds quite disruptive.

Anonymous said...

What an impressive rock with the 3 babies - great pic.
Wendy (Wales)

Allison said...

Surgical masks are not good enough, they don't fit well enough. A KN95 with ear loops is the minimum, 3M Auras with head straps fit tighter. A well fitted mask will decrease the odds of infection, two way masking would be better. Currently in the US, there are 1 million new infections per DAY, and 1,000 deaths per week. Why risk the 1 in 10 chance of progressing to Long Covid after a bout of Covid.