retiredmartin

A short diversion from the never-ending Scottish catch-up to be topical.

“Oh look, there’s still tickets for the theatre at the Crucible tonight ! Shall we go ?”

“Oh yes, perfect for avoiding the football on telly“. So THAT’S why there’s tickets left.

A night out at the theatre, preceded by tea in a chain dinerin Sheffield Central. Almost back to normal.

Hands up who knew Harvey’s make a (drinkable) lager for Bill’s. Can I count Bill’s as a tick ?

Face masks on at the Crucible,

but you can take them off to drink your pint of Tetley’s Smooth from the bar.

Except that there’s no draught, just wine decanted into plastic beakers for Mrs RM to sip through the 90 minutes. That allows her to let slip her mask occasionally, a privilege denied me.

You can probably guess what we watched from the piano.

Yes, it’s Victoria Wood’s first play “Talent”, which whizzed by entertainingly despite the lack of Tets. The introductory music was a chart countdown from David “Kid” Jensen from 1977, Bee Gees and David Essex and all. Very Sheffield.

“What’s the score ?” asked Mrs RM as we left just after half-time. I didn’t care. The sound of “It’s coming home” from the Bessemer told the tale.

“Let’s go in a pub and watch the second-half” she said, again and again. I didn’t want to.

Luckily, many pubs had decided it wasn’t worth the cost of the extra security and hadn’t bothered.

She followed me down the hill from the Cathedral towards Fagan’s.

I'm sure you can call in Fagan's on your way home for a pint of Tetley's.

— Ian Thurman (@thewickingman) July 3, 2021

No telly, just technical discussions and Tets.

Mrs RM wanted to be part of the Euro euphoria. I just wanted pub.

Landlady and Landlord in their element, serving beer and engaging visitors in the best discussions about politics, life and hills so far in Sheffield.

I didn’t want to leave, but I needed to get back to plan a place to avoid the Semi-Final. Probably Yates.