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Pleased to see you made it to the end!
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Showing posts with label Saracens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saracens. Show all posts
Saturday, May 03, 2014
Pictures - Saracens -v- Worcester on Saturday 3rd May 2014
Pleased to see you made it to the end!
CU
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Saracens - Quote of the day
On his stunning second-half try he added;
“It was like an Under 12s try – I’ve never scored one like that before! I got the ball, and I had a lot of time to swing my hips, throw about fifteen dummies and annoy Ashy as I didn’t give him the ball, to score."
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Somewhere revisited
Over the weekend of 20/21 October 2012 I was in Brussels to see Saracens beat Racing Metro at the King Baudouin Stadium on the North West edge of the city.
While queueing to get into the metro station after the match, I spotted through the gloom and the security fence the silver balls of the landmark Atomium.
Efforts at taking photographs were a complete waste of time. I tried, but the pictures never made it off the camera.
Yesterday on a crisp winter afternoon, without a cloud in the sky, I had the opportunity to rectify the photographic omission. I didn't actually go up the 'building' as I had been forewarned
that the top sphere was closed for maintenance. I was also a little tight on time.
Having just looked at the website, I may have to go back again! It is a good thing that Brussels is not on the other side of the World from where I am...
It really was a lovely day, provided one dressed appropriately!
While queueing to get into the metro station after the match, I spotted through the gloom and the security fence the silver balls of the landmark Atomium.
Efforts at taking photographs were a complete waste of time. I tried, but the pictures never made it off the camera.
Yesterday on a crisp winter afternoon, without a cloud in the sky, I had the opportunity to rectify the photographic omission. I didn't actually go up the 'building' as I had been forewarned
that the top sphere was closed for maintenance. I was also a little tight on time.
Having just looked at the website, I may have to go back again! It is a good thing that Brussels is not on the other side of the World from where I am...
It really was a lovely day, provided one dressed appropriately!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Racing Metro 28 - Saracens 37
A week ago I was waking up to the morning after the night before. That was when Saracens had beaten Racing Metro in the Heineken Cup by 37 points to 28. The match was on 12th January 2013. Certainly a night to remember.
I am no expert on rugby but can say that it was probably the second most exciting rugby match that I have ever seen. No prizes for guessing which match takes the top spot!
Before leaving the bar the night before, I had said that I would post a few photographs of the match on-line, so here they are.
I should say that my experience of taking sports photographs is extremely limited, so this is the best you get from me. Enjoy.
Oh - Today is Saracens last ever match at Vicarage Road in Watford. As I look out of the window it is currently snowing, so hopefully everyone can get to the match safely, to say goodbye to Chateau Grim in style.
I am no expert on rugby but can say that it was probably the second most exciting rugby match that I have ever seen. No prizes for guessing which match takes the top spot!
Before leaving the bar the night before, I had said that I would post a few photographs of the match on-line, so here they are.
I should say that my experience of taking sports photographs is extremely limited, so this is the best you get from me. Enjoy.
Oh - Today is Saracens last ever match at Vicarage Road in Watford. As I look out of the window it is currently snowing, so hopefully everyone can get to the match safely, to say goodbye to Chateau Grim in style.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Les Machines de l'île
I was in Nantes last weekend to see Saracens play Racing Metro 92 in the Heineken Cup. More on that on another occasion.
While in the bar after the match on Saturday evening, I was talking to some other travelling supporters and mentioned that I intended to visit the castle the following morning, before catching my train home.
Eh? Why would I want to go to the Zoo? A quick explanation followed and so just after nine o'clock on Sunday morning I headed off to Ile de Nantes to see the giant elephant which is possibly the main attraction of Les Machines de l'île.
The Machines of the Isle of Nantes project has been set up in a former run down shipyard area, a twenty minute walk from the city centre, partly I suspect simply to become a tourist destination in its own right.
First of all, the project is shut during 2013 from 7th January through to 15th February. From a practical perspective, this meant that I didn't pay anything to see a distinctly sleeping giant elephant, but also had the place pretty much to myself - I saw two other tourists wandering around and a solitary security guard sat near the elephant's rear end.
The elephant itself is an impressive beast, though during it's winter maintenance it did appear to have the mechanical equivalent of elephant snot coming out of it's trunk. Probably of slightly more interest and fun on a Summer's day rather than a foggy winter morning with everything locked up
The trip to see The Elephant helped fill the morning before I caught my train back to Paris. It wasn't a waste of time, but I suspect that a visit to Les Machines de l'île will be slightly more interesting when the site isn't closed for its winter maintenance period. For more ideas on things to do in Nantes, you could do worse than read this article from 2009.
While in the bar after the match on Saturday evening, I was talking to some other travelling supporters and mentioned that I intended to visit the castle the following morning, before catching my train home.
"Oh, don't do that," I was told "... go and see The Elephant".
Eh? Why would I want to go to the Zoo? A quick explanation followed and so just after nine o'clock on Sunday morning I headed off to Ile de Nantes to see the giant elephant which is possibly the main attraction of Les Machines de l'île.
First of all, the project is shut during 2013 from 7th January through to 15th February. From a practical perspective, this meant that I didn't pay anything to see a distinctly sleeping giant elephant, but also had the place pretty much to myself - I saw two other tourists wandering around and a solitary security guard sat near the elephant's rear end.
The trip to see The Elephant helped fill the morning before I caught my train back to Paris. It wasn't a waste of time, but I suspect that a visit to Les Machines de l'île will be slightly more interesting when the site isn't closed for its winter maintenance period. For more ideas on things to do in Nantes, you could do worse than read this article from 2009.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
FYI - Twitter can be useful
It was a Thursday morning, just over a week ago. While on the train to Marylebone I noticed that Saracens had ticket availability for their upcoming match against Racing Metro 92 in Nantes.
Hmmm. Might be worth a peek to see if I could pull together a trip at short notice
So, while walking down the road to work, I sent a tweet;
To my amazement, by the time I got to my desk five minutes later, three different people had replied with recommendations.
The first (and only) site that I tried was Loco2. I'd never heard of it before.
It was very easy to use and the ticket prices seemed on par with what I had expected. I suspect that there is a little bit of white labeling going on in the background, but that's OK, isn't it?
The credit card charges seemed a little steep, so I paid by debit card.
Ticket delivery was 'collection only'.
Tbe purchase confirmation suggested that I should collect my Eurostar tickets at London St Pancras, and my French TGV tickets upon arriving in Paris.
What actually happened was that when I collected my tickets in London, all four of my train tickets popped out. Easy peasy.
All four reservations over the weekend worked just fine - bonus was First Class on this morning's TGV and 'Premium Stzndard' on this Eurostar train. It was the cheapest way. Fine by me.
So, loco2.com
A happy customer.
Thank's Tom for the recommendation (and the other couple of tweeters as well!).
Hmmm. Might be worth a peek to see if I could pull together a trip at short notice
So, while walking down the road to work, I sent a tweet;
"Lazy question. Does anyone know the best site to book a train ticket from London to Nantes? Thinking of going to the @Saracens match. Thx."
To my amazement, by the time I got to my desk five minutes later, three different people had replied with recommendations.
The first (and only) site that I tried was Loco2. I'd never heard of it before.
It was very easy to use and the ticket prices seemed on par with what I had expected. I suspect that there is a little bit of white labeling going on in the background, but that's OK, isn't it?
The credit card charges seemed a little steep, so I paid by debit card.
Ticket delivery was 'collection only'.
Tbe purchase confirmation suggested that I should collect my Eurostar tickets at London St Pancras, and my French TGV tickets upon arriving in Paris.
What actually happened was that when I collected my tickets in London, all four of my train tickets popped out. Easy peasy.
All four reservations over the weekend worked just fine - bonus was First Class on this morning's TGV and 'Premium Stzndard' on this Eurostar train. It was the cheapest way. Fine by me.
So, loco2.com
- Easy to use
- Credit card charges a bit steep
- Ticket Collection a doddle
- Ticketing engine upgrades you if it's cheaper.
A happy customer.
Thank's Tom for the recommendation (and the other couple of tweeters as well!).
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
October 2012 Railmiles - The highest yet
This month saw the highest mileage of the year so far, helped along by a weekend trip to Brussels on the Eurostar to see Saracens play in the Heineken Cup.
For the record:
For the record:
| Operator |
Miles Travelled
|
| Chiltern Railways |
3,792.8625
|
| Eurostar* (Guesstimate) |
464.0
|
| First Great Western |
205.3375
|
| London Midland |
27.5875
|
| Cross Country |
107.8375
|
| Total for Month |
4,597.625
|
Sunday, September 30, 2012
September 2012 Mileage Data
This month saw a couple more trips on the Olympic Javelin Shuttle plus a weekend trip down to Exeter to see Sarcens play rugby.
For the record:
| Operator |
Miles Travelled
|
| Chiltern Railways |
3,373.45
|
| First Great Western |
420.4875
|
| South Eastern |
11.975
|
| Virgin Trains |
105.375
|
| Cross Country |
39.775
|
| Total for Month |
3,951.0625
|
Saturday, March 31, 2012
An idea for Chiltern Railways - How to improve the Wembley experience
Earlier today Saracens played Harlequins at Wembley Stadium. Kick off was at 15.00, though the pre-match entertainment started at 14.15.The whole event was great fun and a fantastic family afternoon out. I am not going to talk about the result!
Wembley Stadium has a spectator capacity of 90,779. In the event there was an official attendance at the match of 83,761 which was a world record for the number of spectators at club Rugby Union match.
Chiltern Railways have a station at Wembley Stadium. Compared to Wembley Park underground station (which is designed to cope with several tens of thousands of spectators very quickly), Wembley Stadium station is a relatively sleepy backwater. It is however an integral and important part of the public transport infrastructure of the stadium.
Despite having a special timetable in place and laying on extra trains and carriages, the service received by Chiltern Railways' passengers on the way to the match today was shocking. I accept that it is always difficult to accurately predict passenger flows, but the level of overcrowding on trains was dangerously unacceptable and a very poor reflection on the railway company.
For quite some time now, Saracens have been putting out regular announcements as to how many spectators were expected to attend the event. On Wednesday they stated that 'only a few hundred tickets remain on sale' and none were available on-line yesterday.
It was fairly common knowledge that quite a few tickets had been given away. I think that means a lot of tickets were given away, but I don't know. Chiltern Railways seem to have taken this to heart - I have it on very good authority (please note that this is hearsay) that their plans took account of an actual attendance today of around 60,000 spectators.
I have no idea what percentage of event attendees travel to Wembley using Chiltern Railways, but one doesn't need the brains of a rocking horse to realise that a 23,000 underestimate will have led to several extra full capacity trains that it would seem were not planned for. Don't forget that, today, the Metropolitan Line is not running North of Harrow due to engineering works. I know that a lot of people drove down to Chiltern Stations - that is what people should do when they have to make alternative travel arrangements and cannot be described as unexpected behaviour!
My personal experience today is that the train I caught with three friends was standing room only from High Wycombe. Nobody was able to board at either Beaconsfield or at Gerrards Cross. The train was also made to stop at Denham (where nobody could get on), presumably because the waiting passengers could not board the previous train. We could only wave at a friend on the platform at Gerrards Cross, through the train window. She got to her seat at the stadium just over 1/2 an hour after us. She was not happy.
A couple of hours beforehand, I also witnessed passengers being unable to board trains as far out as Princes Risborough.
Many Chiltern Railways passengers were not happy.
I should say that after the match, when passenger flows are much easier to predict, things were much better. Yes trains were full, but boarding was possible and well managed. I also noted that Chiltern were using some (if not all) of their new Class 172 carriages which have fast acceleration and deceleration and are capable of travelling at speeds of up to 100 mph. We caught a four car Class 172 train home.
I cannot assist with any bright ideas as to how to accurately predict unpredictable passenger flows, however I do have one simple suggestion as to how Chiltern Railways could improve the passenger experience on Wembley event days.
My suggestion is that for a period of about three hours, two four car Class 172 trains should run a shuttle service between Gerrards Cross and London Marylebone, calling at Denham South Ruislip and Wembley Stadium only.
These trains could run as ECS (Empty Coaching Stock) from Marylebone back out again to Gerrards Cross, and each train could easily do the round trip in an hour. If these trains were to leave Gerrards Cross immediately after the 1/2 hourly 'fast' services from way up North, they would significantly reduce the match day experience of passengers from stations just outside London. With some decent publicity, Chiltern Railways could earn some decent goodwill from this.
My suggestion is not the entire solution (as I say, some trains were full from Princes Risborough), but it could perhaps help.
Let's face it, the railway company must absolutely coin it in on match days - how about putting on enough trains and in the right places?
Wembley Stadium has a spectator capacity of 90,779. In the event there was an official attendance at the match of 83,761 which was a world record for the number of spectators at club Rugby Union match.
Chiltern Railways have a station at Wembley Stadium. Compared to Wembley Park underground station (which is designed to cope with several tens of thousands of spectators very quickly), Wembley Stadium station is a relatively sleepy backwater. It is however an integral and important part of the public transport infrastructure of the stadium.
Despite having a special timetable in place and laying on extra trains and carriages, the service received by Chiltern Railways' passengers on the way to the match today was shocking. I accept that it is always difficult to accurately predict passenger flows, but the level of overcrowding on trains was dangerously unacceptable and a very poor reflection on the railway company.
For quite some time now, Saracens have been putting out regular announcements as to how many spectators were expected to attend the event. On Wednesday they stated that 'only a few hundred tickets remain on sale' and none were available on-line yesterday.
It was fairly common knowledge that quite a few tickets had been given away. I think that means a lot of tickets were given away, but I don't know. Chiltern Railways seem to have taken this to heart - I have it on very good authority (please note that this is hearsay) that their plans took account of an actual attendance today of around 60,000 spectators.
I have no idea what percentage of event attendees travel to Wembley using Chiltern Railways, but one doesn't need the brains of a rocking horse to realise that a 23,000 underestimate will have led to several extra full capacity trains that it would seem were not planned for. Don't forget that, today, the Metropolitan Line is not running North of Harrow due to engineering works. I know that a lot of people drove down to Chiltern Stations - that is what people should do when they have to make alternative travel arrangements and cannot be described as unexpected behaviour!
My personal experience today is that the train I caught with three friends was standing room only from High Wycombe. Nobody was able to board at either Beaconsfield or at Gerrards Cross. The train was also made to stop at Denham (where nobody could get on), presumably because the waiting passengers could not board the previous train. We could only wave at a friend on the platform at Gerrards Cross, through the train window. She got to her seat at the stadium just over 1/2 an hour after us. She was not happy.
A couple of hours beforehand, I also witnessed passengers being unable to board trains as far out as Princes Risborough.
Many Chiltern Railways passengers were not happy.
I should say that after the match, when passenger flows are much easier to predict, things were much better. Yes trains were full, but boarding was possible and well managed. I also noted that Chiltern were using some (if not all) of their new Class 172 carriages which have fast acceleration and deceleration and are capable of travelling at speeds of up to 100 mph. We caught a four car Class 172 train home.
I cannot assist with any bright ideas as to how to accurately predict unpredictable passenger flows, however I do have one simple suggestion as to how Chiltern Railways could improve the passenger experience on Wembley event days.
My suggestion is that for a period of about three hours, two four car Class 172 trains should run a shuttle service between Gerrards Cross and London Marylebone, calling at Denham South Ruislip and Wembley Stadium only.
These trains could run as ECS (Empty Coaching Stock) from Marylebone back out again to Gerrards Cross, and each train could easily do the round trip in an hour. If these trains were to leave Gerrards Cross immediately after the 1/2 hourly 'fast' services from way up North, they would significantly reduce the match day experience of passengers from stations just outside London. With some decent publicity, Chiltern Railways could earn some decent goodwill from this.
My suggestion is not the entire solution (as I say, some trains were full from Princes Risborough), but it could perhaps help.
Let's face it, the railway company must absolutely coin it in on match days - how about putting on enough trains and in the right places?
The first quarter of 2012
I spent this afternoon at Wembley Stadium, where Saracens hosted (and lost) to Harlequins. The result was a shame because it was a good game of rugby to watch, particularly the second half.
As the quarter draws to a close I reflect on a couple of enjoyable ski holidays, lots of rugby, 8655 miles by rail so far in 2012 and the price of petrol going through the roof.
All in all, I am fairly content - I just wish the pace of life would slow down a little.
As the quarter draws to a close I reflect on a couple of enjoyable ski holidays, lots of rugby, 8655 miles by rail so far in 2012 and the price of petrol going through the roof.
All in all, I am fairly content - I just wish the pace of life would slow down a little.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
End of holiday family evening
Tonight we had a really good (for me) end to the family Christmas.
Six of us went along to Twickenham for the Harlequins -v- Saracens rugby match.
There was a sell out 82,000 capacity crowd, a world record for a normal club rugby match. Saracens beat Harlequins 19 points to 11, breaking the Harlequins' all season unbeaten run in the Premiership. Hah! Merry Christmas!
The temperature was remarkably mild for a 1630 end of December kick-off. The ages of our party ranged from 13 to 69 and we all had a good time.
Next, we have to beat Gloucester at Vicarage Road on New Year's Day. Roll on Sunday!
There was a sell out 82,000 capacity crowd, a world record for a normal club rugby match. Saracens beat Harlequins 19 points to 11, breaking the Harlequins' all season unbeaten run in the Premiership. Hah! Merry Christmas!
The temperature was remarkably mild for a 1630 end of December kick-off. The ages of our party ranged from 13 to 69 and we all had a good time.
Next, we have to beat Gloucester at Vicarage Road on New Year's Day. Roll on Sunday!
Saturday, October 01, 2011
A Day at the Seaside
It's been a long day today (and I still won't be home for another 2 1/2 hours).
Up bright and early for a reasonable time Chiltern Railways train into London Marylebone. Reasonable time because it was 80 minutes later than the train I usually catch during the week.
A leisurely walk along to London Paddington, and then on to a First Great Western train. The train was bound for Plymouth, though I was to get off at Exeter St Davids. Bit of a wibble on the way - a broken down train meant that at Westbury we were diverted via Bath and Bristol, eventually arriving (after a signal failure thrown in) some 50 minutes late.
After a five minute wait, I then boarded a little two car train down the branch line to Exmouth. To say that the train was packed was an understatement. Apparently it has been a little warm today, so all the world and their dog had decided to go to the seaside.Actually there were no dogs on the train, but hopefully you get the picture.
It was then off to the beach. It's really quite a nice beach.
Don't forget that today is the 1st of October. It isn't supposed to be like this.There aren't supposed to be lots of people on the beach. There aren't supposed to be massive queues at the ice cream shop on the sea front. The restaurants are not supposed to be packed. Clearly late Summer warmth is good for trade in Exmouth.
It was then back onto a train for a few minutes up the line for Digby & Sowton, the nearest train station for Sandy Park, the home to the Rugby Union side of Exeter Chiefs.
It's actually the second time I've been to Sandy Park this year. It has a nice atmosphere and the facilities for spectators are good.
Now, I do confess to being a Saracens season ticket holder, so it was quite enjoyable to see my side win by 17 points to 13. It may not have been the most technical game ever played, but it was an enjoyable afternoon and, of course, the right side won!
Due to the number of people who had been enjoying the sun and sea down in Exmouth, the train back up to Exeter was complete carnage. So much so that it was late enough for me to miss my planned 1802 train back to Paddington.
Instead, I am now sat on the 1856 train, still some considerable distance from London, while I had been hoping to be on my last train of the day by now.
Nevertheless, a good day and I've even caught a bit of colour, which is a good thing for October.
Tomorrow it's a 150 mile round trip drive for a joined-up-meat lunch.
Up bright and early for a reasonable time Chiltern Railways train into London Marylebone. Reasonable time because it was 80 minutes later than the train I usually catch during the week.
A leisurely walk along to London Paddington, and then on to a First Great Western train. The train was bound for Plymouth, though I was to get off at Exeter St Davids. Bit of a wibble on the way - a broken down train meant that at Westbury we were diverted via Bath and Bristol, eventually arriving (after a signal failure thrown in) some 50 minutes late.
It was then off to the beach. It's really quite a nice beach.
Don't forget that today is the 1st of October. It isn't supposed to be like this.There aren't supposed to be lots of people on the beach. There aren't supposed to be massive queues at the ice cream shop on the sea front. The restaurants are not supposed to be packed. Clearly late Summer warmth is good for trade in Exmouth.
It's actually the second time I've been to Sandy Park this year. It has a nice atmosphere and the facilities for spectators are good.
Due to the number of people who had been enjoying the sun and sea down in Exmouth, the train back up to Exeter was complete carnage. So much so that it was late enough for me to miss my planned 1802 train back to Paddington.
Instead, I am now sat on the 1856 train, still some considerable distance from London, while I had been hoping to be on my last train of the day by now.
Nevertheless, a good day and I've even caught a bit of colour, which is a good thing for October.
Tomorrow it's a 150 mile round trip drive for a joined-up-meat lunch.
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