A Weekend On The English Riviera

THE WALKING FOOTBALL CLUBS OF EXETER, CALNE AND MELKSHAM

Fresh sea breezes, sunshine, good food, excellent company - the football wasn't bad either!

A few days in Torquay at the Hampton By Hilton with our friends and neighbours Melksham Walking Football Club, all provided the framework for an enjoyable weekend.  

Arriving on Friday with wives and partners (WAPS!) we relaxed and, to aid the process, enjoyed a drink or two - not all of which was alcoholic. The following morning both teams prepared for the games ahead with a one hour session of yoga, stretching, and relaxation. 

THE MIXED ABILITY YOGA CLASS

This turned out to be hugely beneficial as later that afternoon both teams won every game! An overall winner was never decided as CTWFC and MWFC didn't get to play each other. None the less, it's the taking part that matters and it was a very enjoyable set of games against the two teams fielded by our hosts, Exeter Strollers.

CALNE TOWN AND MELKSHAM WF TEAMS

The weekend was rounded off by post-match evening of food and drinks, before a good nights sleep and, with our boxes of toffee and sticks of rock, back home to Wiltshire the following day.  

To help us remember the finer detail of the weekend, the bard of Calne scribed this little poem: 

TORQUAY '23

Our next adventure - Torbay Riviera

For the gentlemen footballers of Calne,

A bucket and spade which Nic had arranged

Was waiting in every room.

A windmill to remind us of childhood,

Some rock to chew on or lick,

Importantly 2 gins and 1 tonic

(Some habits too difficult to kick).

Many of those here have previous,

Whether Almelo or on the Algarve,

And therefore one outcome was obvious,

We'd neither go thirsty nor starve.

At the buffet we gathered on Friday

To start as we meant to go on,

Then downstairs to a bar known as Elton's

Named after a star - surname “John”.

The man who tickled the ivories

Had a wonderful repertoire of songs,

It was noisy - for sure - for us old folks,

But the encores kept coming along.

A leisurely start to our Saturday

With excitement filling the air,

We were about to embark on some yoga

Which Stefi - our teacher - prepared.

Despite some peculiar noises

We all survived our first class,

The downwards dog safely conquered

(With brother John staring at Mark's arse!).

But then it was time for the serious stuff

And the reason why it is that we came,

We drove up to Exeter City FC

To play the beautiful game.

We dazzled them all with our jazzy new kit,

And ended up played and won 4,

Melksham – dear friends – did likewise,

With Abbi the Golden Boot whore.

The celebrations followed quite shortly,

With smiles and a hey, diddle diddle,

We met with them Exeter Strollers

At the nearby pub “Cat & Fiddle”.

Meanwhile, most ladies went out walking

To take a look at the sea,

But of course, there was more to their plan than just walking,

Meaning ice creams, prosecco and high tea.

The evening started in Elton's,

With tapas the choice for our food,

Eventually the dishes came in stages,

Quantities small -  but they all tasted good.

Piano man was great on the boogey,

Also songs of that man Elton John,

But then - and can you believe it,

Our time in Torquay had just gone.

To Mark and Nic for arranging,

A heartfelt thanks from us all,

Especially when each of us found out

We owed Hampton nothing at all!

No pressure Nic - but a Hamptons in Portsmouth

To be ready to host '24.

Anon.