Troubles

I started to watch a film by the artist Steve McQueen called "Hunger".It tells the tale of the death in 1981 of the IRA prisoner Bobby Sands whilst on hunger strike. It is difficult to come by drama content of any kind that is not biased in any way. The Northern Ireland wound is still raw. So this film whilst not claiming to be a fair and balanced view was supposed to give everyone a fair shout. On another day I may give my opinion of the whys and wherefores of the time as I remember them but not today. For now let's just say that the Good Friday Agreement was a minor miracle and a price worth paying.

As I watched there was a scene where a prison officer left his home for work. I bet none of you dropped to your hands and knees and searched under your car for bombs every morning. As he drove to work he was watched all the while by a concerned wife. 

All this reminded me of the day the the "troubles" reached to my humble turf.

It was 1990. July I think. I was a happy man. I had been promoted to the Fareham and Crofton 2ndXI for a game against Alton in the far north of Hampshire. The form was to meet at our home ground and then divide up into carloads for the journey to the ground. Mostly it was a way of making sure everyone had a lift but sometimes the grounds were so obscure and hidden away a convoy was the order of the day and we would snake our way through the high ways and bye ways of the Hampshire countryside in search of adventure.

I was billeted with a lad called Richard. We were going in his Astra. 

The journey was as much as any other. I do not remember much of it. Those times were moments when we all got to know each other. I learnt more about my fellow man on these journeys. We were soon at our destination and we alighted from the Astra and searched out our team mates. We got soundly beaten. I dropped a sitter, scored no runs and thus retained my place in the team such was the selection process in those days. 

It was soon time to return home and myself and Richard made our way back to his Astra. I was bemused by the fact that my door was unlocked already. I was once again bemused but this time by the reaction my statement brought from my driver. To say he leapt from the car would be an exaggeration. It was a hasty exit none the less. He then dropped to the floor and searched under the car as though he had lost something underneath. 

He then urged me to do the same thing, and then check the wheel arches for packages. We then moved  to the inside and checked under our seats. Once Richard felt all was well he explained that He had just had the "security" talk at work (Royal Navy) . The IRA hadn't targeted the RN as yet but there was always a first time. 

At this juncture I suggested that he could give me a head start and if his car didn't blow up when he switched on the engine he could pick me up on the way. I just got a stony glance, so I got in. The car started with out exploding and we set off. 

Richard described the checks and procedures he was advised to take if he suspected his car had been tampered with. "I became suspicious when" said I "I saw that the central locking had been set off" I was greeted with a look of utter incomprehension by my from my driver " I don't have central locking".

It is a long walk  from Alton to Fareham