My middle son plays rugby for a local under eights team Tondu Juniors RFC every Sunday morning. We usually head off into the wilds of the Welsh valleys, where more by luck than judgement we find the team we are meant to be playing and....er...play them. Normally, the team we play are based in some unremarkable places ranging from isolated towns clinging to the side of hills to absolute crap holes located in the kind of places you'd go and visit your hub caps.
But this cold and bracing Sunday morning we ended up in Pontrhydyfen. Its would be one of those unremarkable places if it wasn't for two small things:-
1) Its quite picturesque with great views up and down the valley
2) There's a bloody great big bridge right in the middle of the village
3) It is the birthplace of one of the greatest ever Welshmen - Richard Burton.
But this cold and bracing Sunday morning we ended up in Pontrhydyfen. Its would be one of those unremarkable places if it wasn't for two small things:-
1) Its quite picturesque with great views up and down the valley
2) There's a bloody great big bridge right in the middle of the village
3) It is the birthplace of one of the greatest ever Welshmen - Richard Burton.
OK, my maths is pretty poor - that is indeed three things.
Richard Burton came out of the Valleys like an acting colossus, strode the stages and movie sets of the world, knobbing his share Hollywood starlets - Liz Taylor in particular - and the disappearing into the Valleys of Switzerland where he promptly expired.
As proud as I am of the fact that this charismatic man was Welsh and in lots of ways put us on the world stage along side him, he wasn't without his faults.
He wasted a lot of his talent on rubbish films (they paid the rent...) and pissed alot of his life away via the joys of alcohol. But when he was on his game, there were few to equal him and for that I am grateful.
Anyhow, my son and his little team mates were oblivious to all this and played there game and won. Mud spattered and triumphant my son sat in the passenger seat or our Citroen, basking in afterglow of a game well played, nod doubt thinking of future glories, whilst I drove home thinking of a great man and his past glories - a case of what could be and what has been.
Incidentally, I've learnt a new skill! Can you guess what it is!?!? Proving that the world is shrinking and that I am not as dull as I thunk I wuz, a fellow blogger has introduced me to the world of html.
And very handy it will be, too.
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