- Royal West of England Academy -
Monday 19th September will go down in history as the day of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral, hence the morning for me is spent watching proceedings unfold on television as the main memorial service is held in Westminster Abbey and a gun-carriage procession takes place through the streets of central London. Lunchtime sees me join John and Stephen for the journey to the West Country with the Beardsmobile powering along the M5 and M32 motorways. We check-in at our hotel in Clifton before getting some bearings just outside of Bristol City Centre. There seem to be students and scooters everywhere as we familiarise ourselves with initial landmarks such as the RWA gallery and the Wills Memorial Tower.
Having confirmed the bus stop location for getting to the cricket ground, we seek refreshment from a couple of notable public houses. The Christmas Steps can be found at the bottom of a narrow steep stone staircase that features several listed buildings, and Mr B Senior's reward for successfully tackling the descent is a nice pint of Arbor in a dimpled glass. Marginally less exertion is required to get us to the Highbury Vaults, a Young's hostelry on St Michael's Hill. Here we discuss the momentous events of the day and admire a variety of curios that include a vintage clocking-in machine and a Thomas the Tank Engine-inspired train set display.
Tuesday 20th September sees the match commence at the Seat Unique county ground near Bishopston. Despite yesterday's reconnaissance the 72 bus fails to show but we do get to meet 'Private Gromit' outside Bristol Children's Hospital so all is forgiven. Warwickshire have won the toss and elected to bat by the time we take our seats in the Mark Alleyne Stand; the Bears get off to an unspectacular start, Dom Sibley holding firm but wickets are nevertheless falling with some regularity. At 138/6 Stephen is very concerned so we're relieved that Danny Briggs contributes an enterprising 65 and keeps Sibley company for thirty(ish) overs.
255/8 at the close is an improvement of sorts, the standout performers being Sibley (unbeaten on 105*) and home bowler Zafar Gohar with four of the wickets thus far. Our collective mood is further lifted by the presence of an ice cream van - I'm still scarred by a certain Chester-le-Street experience when Mr Whippy disappeared on us - and some interesting artwork, most notably a Legends Walkway that features the likes of Courtney Walsh, Jack Russell and Tom Graveney. The Ashley Fish Bar rates highly for a takeaway treat and my pub of the day award goes to the Drapers Arms, a microbar on the main A38 in Horfield - they even sponsor Glos skipper Graeme van Buuren. Dawkins' Bristol Best is a top pint here as they prepare for a charity quiz night plus there's even the bonus of a free finger buffet, very good!
Resuming our vigil on Wednesday morning, the immediate question is how many more runs can the Bears yet add? Not many is the answer as we're dismissed for 274, obdurate opener Sibley having carried his bat for a creditable 120* whilst Zafar finished with 5/64. The pitch is clearly taking spin so we hope Briggs and Yadav will be equally as effective once the hosts' innings gets underway. The Warwickshire attack makes promising inroads and at one stage the score is 95 for 5 only for van Buuren (32), Jack Taylor (a big-hitting 71) and Zafar (55) to mount some middle order resistance. 255 all out leaves things very finely balanced, and Yadav indeed was the pick of our bowlers with a haul of 5/90.
The third innings can often be crucial in close contests so we're hoping Warwickshire can take the game by the scruff of the neck. Sadly the exact opposite happens, and one mad hour later the scoreboard resembles a horror scene of single digit dismissals. Tom Price was the chief destroyer as a collapse to 36/5 threatens to have Stephen crying into his 10 ounce gammon tea. Solace is sought at the Sportsman, a Nevil Road suburban boozer that boasts a multitude of pool tables and is popular with Bristol Rovers supporters as well as cricket fans. Mr B Jnr has then recovered his composure by the time we round off the evening at Quinton House on Park Place with its lovely chiselled frontage promoting Georges & Co's Old Mild and Bitter Beers. Can we stage a remarkable fightback tomorrow?
Day three of the allotted four dawns but we rather suspect the game won't be troubling the maximum permitted duration, although I do maintain my daily ritual of getting snaps of White Ladies Picture House before we head off to the ground. From 58/5 Warwickshire manage to inch themselves to 128 all out, mainly thanks to the efforts of Alex Davies (60) and a quick cameo from Henry Brookes. Price took a career-best 8 for 27 - we doubt he'll ever get better figures than those - leaving Gloucestershire chasing 148 for victory. They get off to a rocky start as Hannon-Dalby strikes twice but captain van Buuren and opener Chris Dent get the job done, even allowing for a nervy clatter with the finishing line in sight. Defeat by three wickets means Warwickshire are now staring relegation in the face unless they stage a miraculous escape in the last week of the season - that looks very unlikely but you never know!
Disappointed but still pleased to have seen a tight encounter, we spend our last Bristolian evening holding court in Kingsdown. Mr B Senior has been suffering from step fatigue all week but stoically copes with another hill-laden climb so as to visit the Kingsdown Vaults, earning a Guinness in the process. Things are far less arduous for getting to the Green Man - it's only around the corner - where we enjoy more drops of Dawkins' finest ales accompanied by a 1986 He-Man annual and twinkling tealights. Perhaps we dropped lucky with the districts of Bristol we visited but it has been very noticeable how vibrant each pub has seemed, helped no doubt by the student population really supporting the traditional wet-led establishments. Channing's ultimately brings the curtain down within range of Clifton Cathedral.
The early conclusion at the cricket gives us a free day at our disposal so we decide to break the homeward slog by stopping off at Gloucester. The Beardsmobile is duly directed to the city's famous Docks, a historic waterfront area totally transformed from neglected industrial land into an iconic leisure and retail destination. Plotting our way around the basins, we marvel at the numerous restored warehouses with names such as Herbert, Reynolds and Llanthony. A Mariner's Chapel is a prime photographic target and there's a broad lock that connects the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal with the River Severn.
- College Street to Cathedral -
Heading along Southgate Street into Gloucester's main centre, we're beguiled by St Michael's Tower, Robert Raikes's House and the ornate shopfront of G.A. Baker & Sons Jewellers with its wonderful Old Father Time clock contraption. The traditional glazed facade of the Imperial Inn also makes an impression albeit the pub doesn't have any Draught Bass available so a pint of Robinson's Trooper has to suffice. The pinnacle of our visit however has to be a look inside Gloucester Cathedral, burial place of the Plantagenet King Edward II. We pause by his tomb as well as inspecting the Treasury (a fine collection of parish silverware) and performing a full circuit of the magnificent fan-vaulted cloisters, a sight truly to be seen! The Friday afternoon motorways back to the West Midlands aren't too congested and another tour of cricket-watching duty is complete - cheers!
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