Out and About

Burnham Sea Wall

Nugent's Temptation

Circular Turret is the Cleric's Lighthouse

Sun setting by the wooden lighthouse

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We have settled in nicely. The routine has evolved to a schedule;a hearty breakfast at 0800, a walk to the course that takes about 15 minutes, warm up and off we go for another round in paradise.

It is now the weekend and the course is a little busier but the staff accommodating and the members very friendly. The Pope can be high maitanence and was fussing for a short sleeve sweater. The club captain introduced himself, and took it upon himself to bring Brian the perfect sweater! I was incredibly impressed with his generosity of time; his team was just starting an important interclub match. John and Brian played well today, for me, I scored the only birdie of the group in 3 rounds but misfortune was all too prevalent, I am 10 pounds (currency) lighter.

We have no intention of playing 36 holes, we generally lunch at the club then read or nap in the afternoon. We have walked much of the town and can share a few points of interest.

Current lighthouse and Burnham and Berrow Insignia

Lighthouses: Historically there are 3 lighthouses. The photos show the old Vickers lighthouse, decommissioned in 1825.The cleric had it built and charged ships a small fee for passing by. The Pope was not impressed with this “double dipping” by the clergy, frankly I admired the entrepreneurism. In 1825 lighthouse administration became centralized and the price paid to the Vicker was 12,000 pounds (a million dollars in today’s funds). There is a unique wooden lighthouse still operational on the beach as well as the more traditional icon.

The town lies on an estuary and is second only to the Bay of Fundy in tidal movement. Our Canadian estuary has a maximum 49-foot change, here it is 47 feet.

In 1981 there was a tidal event that led to extensive flooding, hence the construction of an extensive sea wall. This serves as a wonderful walk way and a center point to access the 7 mile beach.

We have had decent meals, last night Italian, the night before we ate at the Dunstan pub, beautiful presentation of a braised pork chop with Yorkshire pudding. Nugent is on a diet and I estimate he has lost 10 pounds since Christmas. He is only eating 1 meal a day and I am sure that this approach is without executive approval (his wife has a PhD in nutritional sciences!). After dinner he will often challenge himself by walking into the many sweet stores, observing the choices and then exiting with the profound satisfaction of exhibiting self-control.

Today is our last day at this grand course and tomorrow is a travel day, car to Bristol, train to London, Chunnel to Brussels, drive to Antwerp. We will arrive to a welcoming reception and meet our other teammates.

The Leaning Church

Wind surfer at top speed

The good weather remains in the forecast!

Heathrow and Burnham

Our Course for the next 4 days

The Club House

Captain Nuge

A typical view

McGuire had managed his sleep with a combination of red wine and zoplicone. When he awoke he had significant psycho motor retardation. Fortunately he remembered all his stuff and being near the front of the airplane we were early to disembark. The lines moved smoothly and we made our way through the tunnel to pick up our bus to Bristol. A short 2 hours later we were in the city of Bristol, very quaint, the 13^th largest city in the UK.It has a history of aircraft construction, including the Concord, and is where Rolls Royce aviation engines are constructed. It is clean and well kept. The taxi to Burnham was about 1 hour and between the driver’s deafness and McGuire’s mumbling  meant that the conversation was disjointed.

We checked into the St Aubyn’s Guest House. The staff was friendly but there was a Monty Python moment when we were told that there were only 2 rooms. We had originally understood that we had separate rooms, and the owners brought out multiple papers representing Nugent’s multiple changes! He obviously had a reputation regarding this issue. In any event we determined that Nugent was indeed staying elsewhere and McGuire was shown to the Papal Suite.

After a quick change and a short taxi ride we were at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club. John Nugent  welcomed us and we were immediately off the first tee.

The golf course was established in 1890, designed by Col. Taylor and is home to some of the UK top tournaments. It has been played by both Old and Young Tom Morris, as well as Bobby Jones. We played in under 3 hours, finishing before sunset.

We were able to store our clubs in the service room and made our way to local pub. Unfortunately the kitchen was closed and were referred to a fine Indian restaurant.

Today we were joined by Derrick Carter, a 5 handicap and  Nugent strategically was paired with him as the “ Burnham and Berrow” team, vs Point Grey. We were down early as Derrick went out in 35 with 3 birdies! A semi charge fell short, rematch is pending.

After 2 rounds at this course one understands that there was a brilliant design in 1890 which has endured. It requires imagination, the ability to run the ball and it is deceptively difficult to get close to the hole.

The weather forecast remains excellent, optimism undaunted, we play in the am.

We are on our way

Pope McGuire prepares himself for some R and R

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This marks the third year in a row we have traveled to Europe. In 2011 it was the bike barge tour of the Loire. A fabulous trip with good friends, The Butlers, the McGuires and the Maclachlans. The trip was documented on a previous blog: The Tildesleys in Europe 2011.

Last year Deborah and I had 2 weeks of biking in Holland, a few days in Berlin ( which I found more moving than expected), then on to London to watch Donovan make finals in his 4 events. For the first time I was not on deck but high in the stands just another spectator. I missed the closeness of the team , but not the pressure and responsibility. It was the second time that Donovan implied retirement, his future is his own decision , he can still swim fast but the world is going faster.

This year we will be satisfying a number of agendas. Yes, there is the biking but we will be self guiding. Admittedly the route takes us down the Danube, a wrong turn to the left gets you wet, to the right away from the river. The main challenge will be in the towns we are scheduled to stop in. On this trip we again team up with the McGuires, and Drew Thompson, a skilled cyclist and navigator. Like golf, there is no greater optimism than on the first tee and our group continues such expectations along with the fear of the unknown.

McGuire and I have other responsibilities. We are members of the Canadian Seniors Golf Association. This is the oldest organization in Canadian Senior Golf, with Brian McGuire being a very hard working Governor. There are approximately 1000 members nation wide with the main activities an annual tournament in eastern Canada as well as 2 satellite tournaments, one in Florida in the spring, the other in the BC Interior in the fall. Another huge benefit are the international connections with other seniors. This year Canada was invited to the King Leopold Invitational tournament in Belgium. There will be 2 Canadian foursomes, and 3 BC reps, McGuire, John Nugent and myself.John Nugent belongs to multiple clubs , in Vancouver , Shaughnessy and a number in Europe including Royal Port Marnoch and a club outside of Bristol. As a little warm up Captain Nugent , insisted on team building and practise, thus 3 days at Burnham on the Sea has been arranged.

We left Vancouver on a spectacular day, no clouds a gentle breeze and 24 degrees C. Carol McGuire kindly picked me up, I was able to track his progress to my home  as we had synchronized iphones using the “friends” app. This of course was suggested by Drew to make sure that we find each other when he and the ladies land in Munich . We entered the airport and make our way to kiosks to check in and get baggage tags. I was impressed that we accomplished the task quite efficiently.

I have read Steve Jobs biography. I love his expression regarding sub standard work…. He described it as “ SHIT”.

I often see such aberrations of efficiency, and I use the Jobs expletive.

My mind kept saying “inside voice, inside voice”, as the man at the counter removed the tags we had dutifully and efficiently applied by going through the self serving station.He explained the tagged luggage had no chance of getting to Heathrow unless he had intervened.

What the ….

1) You watched as we tagged our bags

2) You chose not to tell us of  the “rules”

3) You tried to tell us what a favour you had done  by observing 1) and 2)

This idiot should have been fired on the spot…Steve would have!!The Air Canada motto rules! “ We are not happy until you are unhappy!”

We next made our way to the AMX lounge. By paying a large annual fee I have access to such lounges and can bring a family member as a guest. We got in and I sold Brian as my Dad. Currently the high point of the trip! As we entered she asked seriously. “ Is he really your Dad?” I of course nodded the affirmative.

The flight was smooth. Our bulkhead seat allowed for ample foot room and we had a good view of business class, 1 row ahead for a mere $1700.00 extra. The tailwinds helped and landing 40 mins early was a plus.

Next Heathrow then Bristol.