MERGED IMAGES OF CORNWALL, NOVEMBER 2024...

 

24 MERGED IMAGES FROM PORTHTOWAN,, CORNWALL, NOVEMBER 2024...

 

DRAWING THE FIRE... (My new poem about being a child in a house with coal fires, 1950s & being punished for trying to help...)

 Drawing The Fire…

HOW IT WAS DONE, BACK IN THE DAY...

The fire in the kitchen was lit, certainly

But the flames hadn’t yet begun to envelop

The black lumps of coal and scattered slack.

My grandmother had just been washing by hand 

And had gathered it up to carry it out to the wringer in the yard,

Before hanging the clothes out on a rope line in the fresh winter air…

The fire in the kitchen had attracted me, certainly

But those flames still hadn’t begun to develop,

So the coarse black coal and its smoking lack

Of warmth needed my eager helping hand.

Taking a page from a large newspaper, I held it hard

Against the fireplace and drew it away to cause a draught and fan the fire, without a care…  

“Peter, what are you doing!” Nan yelled, returning to the house,

Pulling me back from the fire and snatching the newspaper page

Away from me. “Just you wait ’til your dad gets home…” she bellowed

At me, as I was led away wondering what wrong I had done…

It became a worrying afternoon, for I dreaded my father’s grouse

And sure enough, he berated me, held my hand near the fire in his rage,

Then smacked it hard, so that I suffered the heat too, whilst in my tears I wallowed.

A punishment severe and a lesson learnt from a strict father by a quiet son…

Pete Ray

17th November 2024…

Strangely, I guess I was punished for trying to help. 

‘Drawing the fire’ was what my mum and nan did quite often to quicken the effect of the coal fire.

The cold 1950s winters were just that.

The house was in Ward End, Birmingham.

I have always been wary of flames, hesitant near them too.

I wonder why…

BISHOPS CLEEVE 2-1 MOUSEHOLE AFC: THE MOWDOG'S INDEPENDENT REPORT + SCREENSHOTS...

 Wheels Come Off At Cleeve For Seagulls…

Bishops Cleeve 2-1 Mousehole AFC

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

A late and rather soft winning goal by Monty New won this encounter, when he almost apologetically lifted the ball into the net from Stephen Davies’ right-flank centre, whilst two defenders failed to react, except to wave a flailing arm for an offside flag to be raised. Visiting ‘keeper Ollie Chenoweth looked totally dumbfounded on his goal-line as the ball bounced past him and Mousehole were beaten.

NEW POUNCES...

...TO WIN THE MATCH...

They had led, albeit with the aid of a poor kicked clearance by home goalie Lewis Clayton, which flew straight to the unmarked Torin Ntege and the striker’s rising shot beat the recovering gloveman’s desperate dive.

NTEGE LOITERS...

...TO PUT THE SEAGULLS AHEAD...

I had seen Mousehole play at Cinderford recently and the hosts had drawn level with a towering header by a defender and the same thing happened at Kayte Lane, when Matt Liddiard rose to nod a powerful goal from a right-flank free-kick. The marking by the guests was, er, gracious…

UP GOES LIDDIARD...

...TO REGAIN PARITY FOR CLEEVE...

Certainly the match was keenly fought but although passes often lacked accuracy, there was enough action after the recess to keep the spectators’ minds off the glum and misty drizzle which pervaded the ground from just prior to the 45 minute mark.

Mousehole will rue the fact that a low shot by Ollie Challinor went into the home goal with the score at 1-1, only for one of the goal-frame’s wheels, positioned just inside the left upright to rebound the ball back into play at a most unnatural angle but neither official noticed. It is clearly a poor goal-frame design to use on artificial pitches, for two of the wheels are surely too close to the bases of the posts… 

Things became unpleasant for the visitors as manager Jake Ash was dismissed from the away dugout for his rather understandable, if perhaps unwise reaction to the above incident, although a few other decisions had also displeased Ash and his team during the second period.

The offensive action by Cleeve…

The aerially efficient home skipper Ross Langworthy, who battled well with the Seagulls’ Dan Apantaku, with lots of holding of shirts evident, was flanked by two speedsters, Ethan Dunbar and Aaron Evans-Harriott but in truth, Chenoweth was only really tested in the opening 45 by a close range poked shot by home replacement Joe Jeremiah, who also forced another blocking save by the Seagulls’ goalminder during the second-half.

UNSEEN SHIRT-PULLING...

CHENOWETH FOILS JEREMIAH...

CHENOWETH WOULD SUBSEQUENTLY SAVE THIS JEREMIAH EFFORT...

Chenoweth fell left to keep out a shot from downtown by Ben McLean before the break too and AFC’s Mo Konte headed away an effort by Evans-Harriott, who soon drove another effort across the face of goal. 

CHENOWETH GATHERS AFTER SAVING FROM MCLEAN...

After half-time, a McLean shot was saved comfortably and Jeremiah smacked a shot too high from an angle. Langworthy did manage to get to a long punted assist from defence before Chenoweth at 18 yards and with the ‘keeper thrashing his arms about like the sails of a wind machine on a Cornish hill, Langworthy screwed the bouncing ball goalwards, only for Max Hill to stop it with his body and for Apantaku to hack the ball away. 

Apantaku made several fine blocks in defence for his team but certainly Mousehole managed to fashion some opportunities of their own, too.

The Seagulls swooping…    

Playmaker Tallan Mitchell drove just wide in the opening stages of the contest, following a neat run but the visitors went closer when left-sided overlapping defender Jordan Hackett beat Clayton with a low angled shot but Liddiard was well positioned on his goal-line to clear. 

MITCHELL'S SHOT PASSES WIDE...

LIDDIARD CLEARS HACKETT'S SHOT FROM HIS GOAL-LINE...

The fairly quiet Tim Nixon shot low off target and headed wide during the second-half and also saw a low shot saved by the advancing Clayton, as Mousehole began to find gaps in the home defence, with Hayden Turner often the architect.

Apart from his goal, Ntege lashed a first-half effort too high and although they were undoubtedly pleased to win the game, the Mitres might not have been too disappointed to take one point, despite a period during the second period when they slogged hard to push their guests back.

NTEGE SHOOTS TOO HIGH...

The final words… 

Hard work by midfielders Stephen Davies, Joe Turley and McLean proved invaluable for the hosts but Evans-Harriott and Dunbar were generally kept in check by Seagulls’ skipper Jack Calver and Hackett.

MORE HOLDING...

Mitchell had good moments in the AFC midfield, occasionally shoving smart passes about but the effective Apantaku timed some of his defensive inventions to perfection, especially after the break. 

So, Mousehole left Bishops Cleeve seething about the goal that should have counted but the club’s contingent would be just as disappointed at how the two Cleeve goals had been conceded…