Wiltshire Warrior Dragon

Yes. He scored an excellent try, here at about 1.12 Dragons Catalans › News › 2025 › June › The Tries - Catalans Dragons vs Huddersfield He has made the official 'team of the week'. His fellow centre, young Frenchman and try-scorer, Leo Darrelatour, must have been close to being selected too. It wasn't just that they scored tries; they were enterprising when in possession, hard-working and diligent in defence, and imbued a sense of infectious enthusiasm throughout the whole team. Lovely to see.

I would love to say that I saw that coming. However, I didn't and expected the Giants to win. Nevertheless, the attitudinal change in Les Dracs in the Leigh game had been noteworthy, so I always thought they would keep it close. And I noted in that game how some of the home grown talent seemed to be the source of that revival. Rouge had been a case in point and we saw the logical extension of that today. Indeed, I particularly enjoyed the spirit of the local, French youngsters. We had been told that Darrelatour and Martin were speedy in attack, but I thought the effort and soundness of their defence was very good. It was almost as if they inspired the older players. Even Keary almost looked the part and I think I saw him smile!

Thomas Lacans has signed to stay at Toulouse Olympique XIII until the end of the 2026 season.

I will take your reading of this book and mentioning that on here as good omens for me, HG. I have a job interview at Salisbury Cathedral on Wednesday of next week. It's just part-time and only for a year (as maternity cover), but would be enjoyable, I hope. I think the current equivalent of master mason, Osmund, would be either clerk of works, Gary, or head mason, Lee!

I wonder exactly when in September the adjourned court hearing will be reconvened. I am no expert in these matters, but I would have assumed that if a winding-up request is successful, then the company to whom it applied must cease trading forthwith (unless there is a right of appeal). As I understand it, Salford's last three SL fixtures are scheduled for the 4th, 14th and 19th September. I wonder if they might be forced out of business by the court's decision just before the regular season ends. In such a scenario, presumably all their playing records would be expunged from the SL table and, suddenly, with the play-offs imminent, one or two clubs might find their league position improve or deteriorate, as the case may be, depending on how successful they were against Salford. Interesting prospect!

That sounds really interesting, SFG. Do you have a link to that postcode page of the BTO website. I cannot find it, but that's probably just the limitations of my IT skills!

I last heard a cuckoo on 2nd June. However, yesterday in the New Forest, Mrs WWD and I were reminded that some are still around when one shot across the heathland in front of us at speed, closely followed - just about within touching distance - by an agitated, small, brown bird, probably a pipit. I think the cuckoo will have been a female and possibly caught in the act of easing out an egg from the small, ground nesting bird's nest. Apparently, there used to be a belief that a young cuckoo, having been fully raised by its foster parents, would kill them before leaving the nest. As far as I am aware, this isn't true.

I have decided that lizards are like London buses. This morning's New Forest dog walk brought sightings of first one lizard (first of the year) and then, minutes later, another. So, none for ages, and then two come along. It's the weather no doubt. The strong breeze of the last few days has finally dropped, there is sunshine and hazy cloud, and temperatures well over 20 degrees C.

As SFG suggests, it could be a case of needs must. That said, whenever Mrs WWD (or less frequently, me!) is in the garden doing weeding, lawn cutting and so on, we do get one or two blackbirds pretty close - probably about a yard away - and as we move on, they move in.

Agreed. It is probably a truism to say that we all think that our youthful heyday years were when popular music was at its best, but you really were spoilt for choice in the 1960s, when I was in my teens. For me, the likes of the Beatles, Stones and Bee Gees were all very good, but the Beach Boys were the best. At a personal level, my love of choral music which, nowadays, has a particular emphasis on the Anglican church choral tradition, can be traced back directly to my love of Brian Wilson's musical work with the Beach Boys. He spelled out for me the scope for human voices. When, in due course, I learnt that he oversaw and arranged all their productions, my admiration for him only grew. That was in contrast to, for instance, the Beatles, who were latterly quite reliant on the skills of George Martin to bring the best out of the band's compositions. I will, of course, remember the well known Beach Boys numbers, but also the brilliance of less well known pieces like Cabinessence and Surf's Up. He clearly found life challenging in its latter stages. "I guess" he "just wasn't made for these times." RIP, Brian.

A brilliant and long overdue knighthood! Both for Billy personally and for TGG in general. As a young teenager, recently moved to the Wigan and Leigh area from rural Gloucestershire due to my dad's change of job, I was invited to see my first RL game by a new school friend, 'Ibby' as we all called him (Ian Ibbotson from Atherton; dad a local miner, mum worked in Laburnum Mills) It was Saturday, 25th January, 1964, and the opposition were Fev. I was told to look out for Boston. His first touch was an unusually poor pass from Ashton; Boston stretched back and got fingertips to it, but the ball went into touch. Second pass to Billy was much better. The Fev winger made an heroic attempt to stand his ground, but just got brushed aside. I had a new hero!

According to Robert Gate's biography of the great man, the Wakefield game, played on 27 April, 1968, was indeed his last Wigan game, though he would come out of retirement to play a handful of games for Blackpool Borough. The Salford reference may be because they were the opponents in his last game at Central Park, a 25-14 victory in which, however, he did not score. That match had been played on 15 April and was the last league game before the championship play-offs began. Prior to the defeat at Wakey, Billy had played in the Wigan team on 20 April at Bradford, a 28-8 victory in which Billy kicked two goals; and, four days later, an 11-7 success at Leeds, where he scored his last Wigan try. Wigan had played twelve matches in March and April, with Billy featuring in nine of them.

You are way off the mark, Anita. Sheffield Steelers ice hockey team in the recently ended season, had an average gate of 7,938. At least two other sides in the same competiton, the UK's Elite IHL, averaged over 6,000, namely Nottingham Panthers and Belfast Giants.

Anybody around Salisbury next Saturday and potentially at a loose end? Probably not, but just in case, here is a press release of my next performance: "So, where do swallows go when they disappear in the autumn? Oh, come on, you didn’t think it was Africa, did you? And which bird migrates to the moon? Clue – it’s not the swallow! And why is Jesus likened to a pelican? Music in Whiteparish – the concert series that brings professional and quality amateur performers to the village – is back for another season. Songs – and quirky facts and quotations – about birds make up the opening offering. And the answers to those three questions will all be revealed. Of all the birds is on Saturday, 24th May at 7pm, and will be in Whiteparish’s village church. The performers are new ensemble, CPA, which stands for Cantores Parochiae Albae (and, in case you’re wondering, that’s Latin for Whiteparish Singers!) Their concert will show how birds were depicted in 16th and 17th century music, with vigorous performances of madrigals, part-songs, catches and a motet. And there will be some readings as well. Tickets are £15 (£8 for under-18s) from Whiteparish Village Store or online, for a booking fee, at www.ticketsource.co.uk/wp-music. Richard Tulloch, the Whiteparish church choir director, who has put together both CPA and the concert programme, says, “I hope this concert will appeal to a wide range of people, including both music lovers and birdwatchers!” Richard, who is a sixth cousin of the late, legendary Shetland birder, Bobby Tulloch, is delighted to combine two of his passions in life in one event."

Out of interest (aka nosiness!), Phil, did you do the gig?