Train Adventure

 Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station

Train Adventure

 

My niece was having a naming ceremony for her youngest child and my son Alastair was to be the ‘Godfather’ and he was going to say a few words at the event which was in Edinburgh. On the same day my wife (ex-wife now) was going to a seminar/training course in Newcastle I think it was, and she was leaving from Edinburgh by train.  We didn’t live in Edinburgh, but the smart way was to kill 2 birds with one stone.  The plan was my son, and I, would park the car and drop my wife off at her train. It was a great plan, and we’d have more than enough time to drop her off then go to the naming ceremony with plenty of time to share and catch up with everyone before the informal ceremony started. It all went like clockwork; we found a parking space near the train station in Edinburgh city centre, and we escorted my wife to her train carrying her luggage in the process. We found the platform and went with my wife onto the train so that we could put her luggage on the luggage rack and then say goodbye. Everything went perfect and we were just about to leave my wife when the train chugged into action. My son and I bolted for the door but to late, we were leaving the station, and the next stop was Berwick upon Tweed just over the border into England and that was some distance away. My son and I just looked at each other before we went back and told his mother the news. Of course, we were panicking because we were on a schedule, we did have some leeway, but we didn’t think it would be enough. We then went to find the train conductor to explain the situation and to pay for our tickets. He was very understanding as he smiled and said we were not the first ones that this had happened to.  Instead of taking our fare, he issued us a ticket which we were to give to the conductor on the way back so that we wouldn’t be charged. He then said that we should arrive in Berwick upon Tweed at about the same time as the other train heading back to Edinburgh if both trains were on time but there was a very small margin of error to move from one train to the other. As we neared the station, we both said goodbye again to my wife as we readied ourselves for a quick dash to the other train not knowing how big the station was and where our new train would be. 

 

 

Berwick Upon Tweed Railway Station

 

We hovered at the door until the train stopped and they opened, then we were like two greyhounds racing for the other train and this time fortune smiled on us, it was a small staion and we made it, just! Once we got back to Edinburgh it was a mad dash back to my car and a race to my niece’s home, but we made it by a whisker.

Bouncing/Steward

Edinburgh

 

My friend who had been one of my original Karate coaches told me that he had taken a job as a part time Bouncer/Doorman/Steward years before to test himself and his Karate skills.  Good enough for me I thought so I, through a friend, got a part time job as a Doorman/Bouncer at ‘The Goblet’ on Rose Street in Edinburgh, this was in the early 1980s. Rose Street was a busy place for revellers, and it was known to have its moments. I was to work Friday and Saturday nights.  The guy who got me the job was the head doorman at a Pub with dancing a few doors along from where I was based.  Now you have to understand my only experience of bouncing was observing the bouncers at The Poly (dance hall) in West Calder and they were good.  I had never been in any fights as an adult other than sparring at Karate.  The Goblet was on two levels which were connected inside but had two separate external entrances/exits. I arrived on my first night dressed casually as was the requirement for this establishment.  I met the manageress and the experienced bouncer who I would be working with, and he would show me the ‘ropes’ and keep his eye on me to make sure everything was okay.  We were just getting ready to take up our positions when Pam the Manageress spoke to the two of us.  One of her bar people couldn’t manage and would one of us, the bouncers, fill in for them.  The experienced bouncer jumped at the chance which meant I was having my first night on my own.

 

I stood at one of the doors and watched the customers as they entered. There were two sets of doors, one outer and one inner, I was at the outer door separated from the bar by the inner door (if I remember correctly).  Shortly afterwards a barmaid called me over to introduce herself. I should mention that this was on the lower level, the other bouncer was working behind the bar on the upper level. Introductions done I went back to my post at the door.  It could only have been about 5 minutes later when I had heard the barmaid shout my name with some urgency. I entered the bar and there were two guys scrapping and of course no experienced bouncer for he was working in the bar on the upper level separated internally by steps and a door, so he had no idea what was happening. I didn’t have time to think, I just stepped in and restrained the nearest scrapper by putting my arm around his neck in a choke move and pulled him back off balance whilst eye-balling the other guy telling him to stay where he was.  In the back of my mind, I was telling myself that if he attacked, I would try and hold the guy I had and front kick the other assailant. Fortunately, he must have realised from the look on my face that he was better staying put which he did. The rest of the night was quiet after that.

Jogging 1

 

Jogging

 

I had my first jog shortly after I got married.  Since then it has never ceased to amaze me that when I pass people I feel like the invisible man.  I may smile and nod, but most people just ignore the poor jogger.

 

We lived in rented accommodation in Edinburgh for several months after we moved back from England, then we moved temporarily into my sister Isabel’s flat also in Edinburgh before moving to East Calder. When I used to go out jogging in Linlithgow and Warwick, I managed only about one to one and a half miles, and I hated it.  I persevered believing I was building up my stamina.  After we moved temporarily into my Sister Isabel’s flat my brother-in-law Gordon (married to Pat’s younger sister) who trained in Karate too, went out for a jog with me.  You have to understand Gordon could run whilst the best I could manage was slightly faster than a smart walk so it was difficult for him having to slow down for me.  It was nighttime when we went out and off we set.  We were talking as we were jogging which was unusual for me being used to going out on my own and being really tired after my usual one to one and a half miler.  I lost track of the time and could feel myself getting quite tired. When we got back I felt the colour draining out of my face with the effort and much to my surprise we had been out for over an hour.  Next day I followed the route in my car and much to my surprise discovered we had done over 6 miles.  I realised then how much the mind responds to what we do in a positive or negative way and how effective positive distraction can be.

 

When I lived in Warwick, Gordon had moved from the karate club we had both trained in, and he went to train with Jimmy Pace who I had only once before met briefly at a joint training session in Leith, Edinburgh. The reason I mention this under jogging is that Gordon trained at the club every session that was available and in these days, they used to train on a Saturday, finishing off with a jog for those who were interested.  The first time Gordon went out on the jog he took his bus fare with him just in case he couldn’t manage back such was Jimmy’s fitness and stamina.  When I moved back to Scotland, I too started training with Jimmy who was a superb Instructor and a genuinely nice person.  I made the mistake of meeting him and Gordon for a jog one summer when the club was closed for the holidays.  The first time was at Newhaven Park in Leith, there was Gordon and I who were both wearing running shoes and then there was Jimmy.  In the comics I used to read as a boy there was a man called Alf Tupper who if memory serves me correctly  was a brilliant “working class” sportsman who had absolutely no airs and graces about him, happy to tuck into fish and chips out of a newspaper, he wore boots, baggy shorts and whatever he had when he trained.  So here was Jimmy wearing a big pair of boots and baggy shorts, he didn’t care what he wore, his heart and mind were in whatever he was doing, the ultimate test to push himself as hard as he could.  He to me was just like Alf Tupper.  We set off on our jog, Gordon was as I mentioned a good runner, he just danced about whilst old puffer me got going.  Jimmy jogged beside me, and I thought maybe I wasn’t as bad as I thought until Jimmy just opened up his stride and left me as if I was just standing still.  Of course, they didn’t abandon me much as I am sure they wished that they could.  I went out with both of them again (fool that I was), this time we went around Arthur’s seat.  Arthur’s Seat is a park beside Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, it is a beautiful Park which has a steep road and paths.  Off we set heading up the steep road and I have to tell you it was for me very hard work.  We got to the top of the hill where the road levels out and eventually starts to go down hill.  I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief knowing the end was in “sight” and I could manage without disgracing myself. Of course, this was as it turned out purely wishful thinking on my part.  We were reaching the part of the jog where the road started to decline and all I had to do was relax and let the decline do the work when Jimmy pointed out a path on our left which much to my chagrin headed up! I had read about joggers and runners hitting the ‘wall’. This is where they come to a psychological wall where they feel they cannot go any further and I felt that, it was a horrible feeling and I had to wave to Gordon and Jimmy to tell them to continue as I slowed to a fast walk.  I soon managed to start again but it was a most unpleasant feeling.