Trail blazer
Camera equipment securely in hand, train ticket neatly tucked away in my wallet, I embarked on a journey from London Kings Cross to Newcastle and back. This adventure would unfold not only once but again in just three days, as I needed to attend to some pressing family matters that required my attention.There was also the small matter of a football game that wasn’t really too important in the week.
Saturday’s sun and vibrant atmosphere turned unexpectedly cold in St James Park on the 1st of February. What initially started out as a pleasant and relaxing day for the home spectators quickly flipped a full 180 at the 45-minute mark. In a surprising turn of events, Newcastle failed to take to the pitch with the same vigor in the second half, leaving a generally poor Fulham team to seize the opportunity and run all over them.
This allowed Fulham to claim three crucial points and head back to London with a well-deserved victory.The bigger issue for me was the temperatures, a sudden drop from 4c to -1c is quite a shift and long gone are the days when I would stroll around my home city without a coat. Declaring to all that it is never this cold in London soon got closed down as the company I was with decided drinking refreshments and critical analysis of the football was more important than my constant expressions of discourse at the weather.
Heading back on the Sunday morning offered me the chance to get into the city early before my train to grab some photographs, arriving two hours before my departure time I chose instead to navigate into the coffee shop and warm myself
The weekend passed in a blur, and soon it was Wednesday once more. As I prepared to head back on the journey again, I felt a renewed sense of determination. This time, I was resolute in my goal to capture some photography of a part of Northumberland that I had visited in my past, but had not made an effort to explore in excess of 20 years.
The memories of that beautiful landscape still lingered in my mind, and I was eager to revisit it through the lens of my camera, capturing the essence of what made it special all those years ago.
Planning the route to Otterburn and Bellingham I chose my spot.
Arriving at my destination in good time, I felt a wave of happiness and excitement wash over me, until a miscalculation of sorts occurred that almost ended the trip on the spot. This unexpected twist threw a bit of a wrench into my plans. I won’t disclose the specific details of what happened here in the blog, as I believe it will be more engaging for you to discover the series of events from the YouTube video that you can access via the links in the header.
I spent the next 2 hours walking the trail path on the Northumberland Park to the waterfall at the end of Linn Walk, having visited it many, many years ago as a young marine, the natural calmness of the area, trees, the running water from the falls all heightened my senses to the open space around me and brought a feeling of belonging.
Checking my watch, I had good time, 6 hours until the kick off in the semi final, nerves were and had been building for two days. Arsenal had beaten Manchester City 5-1 only days before and looked as if they were coming into another vein of form.
Showered and changed, heading to the usual meeting spot, talks of nervous anticipation, comparison of being a child on Christmas Eve waiting for the next morning were spoken of, pre game selection news did nothing to ease the feelings, a change of formation, 5 at the back! Casual moans of oh no echoed from various parts where supporters had gathered.
People in the stadium had nerves, we had just failed to show up against a poor Fulham side and here we were, ready to face a club that have transitioned from a team that played the beautiful game to a team that are full of shit-houses. The flair, grace, brilliance of Henry, Bergkamp, Petit all gone, now Havertz fills the mantle and brings no pleasure to the eye.
An enormous atmosphere was building, 10 minutes until kick off the ground was bouncing and full, fans encouraged to be in early had shown up, we hoped our team would do the same. Serenaded by “Johnny Blue Hat” as the players emerged to the saxophonic sound of local hero and the best rendition of “"Blaydon Races” I have ever heard, we were underway.
The ball is brought out on the left side, attacking the Leazes, a smart pass splits the defence, Isak is in, just the keeper to beat.
“OH MY GOD"
The entire place erupts and there are limbs, limbs everywhere, its Paris St Germain again, its Barcelona again.
Feathers everywhere, wait feathers? We are covered in them, someone’s coat has split and its now amongst the Leazes stand covering everyone with a light dusting of duck down. It’s in our mouths, eyes, ears, teeth and hair. Okay, yes not in my hair, thank you, before some of you point it out.
Someone, somewhere will have a difficult conversation when they get home now.
That coat was a Christmas present and now its ruined, ruined!
Albeit one of the best celebrations, it was short lived, ruled offside.
As the game unfolded there was no need for nerves, anxiety or worry.
We challenged, controlled and limited a very good team, running out 2-0 on the night and a 4-0 aggregate, taking time to serenade Mikel Arteta and wish the Arsenal fans cheerio, whom despite the jokes had a brilliant turn out.
Next stop, Wembley.
Tell me ma I won’t be home for tea.