James' Christmas Outing Report (at last - just 6 months late!!!!!)

Just Put it on My Account


The 1st MCC Away Match In London

Expectations were running high! It was 2.55pm and Justin was packed and I’m not just talking about the contents of his trousers. We were gathered outside Kensington Domestics on the high street awaiting the arrival of the Jeff and the mini-bus to whisk us away to Sevenoaks station to catch the train to Charing Cross. I had bought supplies for the journey from the Co-op, eight cans of Stella, half a bottle of scotch and four bottles of J2O for Jeff. The MCC had never been more ready

It was now 3.05pm and we were getting a little worried. Where was Jeff?

Just as panic was about to set in, Jacqui, with Jeff in the passenger seat, pulled up to the curb next to us in her car. Panic set in! “The bus wouldn’t start.” explained Jeff

Henry with his usual blend of quick thinking and self preservation dived into the back seat and suggested that there was enough room in the car to get four of us to Stonegate station for the 3.23pm train. That left six of us! Dave bravely volunteered to fetch his Zafira and take us to Sevenoaks to catch the train. That act of selflessness still brings a lump to the throat even now.

The race was now on to get to Sevenoaks. Texts were being exchanged between team Henry, who after a drive of only 7 minutes had successfully boarded the train and were hurtling towards London, and team Dave who were, through the lack of consideration from other road users driving slowly and keeping to the speed limit, were struggling to keep up. Eventually team Dave pulled into Dels office car park and met up with Alan. Henry rang to inform us that they were just pulling out of the station. The race had been lost and that was before they joined the queue for tickets behind a couple trying to buy a cheap, away-day, maxi-saver, travel card. Half an hour later the British Rail employee had finished ripping them off and it was now the turn of Team Dave. Oddly it all went quite smoothly and in the blink of 15 minutes we were on the train. Now we were seated comfortably Paul pointed out that there was no point in carrying all of the lager around so me might as well drink it. So we did!

After a journey made shorter by drinking we pulled into Charing Cross. We disembarked and Del took the lead, guiding us towards our first port of call, THE PUB. We marched through the majesty of the West End towards the promise of an old English pub and a warm pint. After quite literally 5 minutes of constant walking we arrived at The Walkabout. Cold lager and football! Well it was Saturday afternoon. Del and Dave were glued to the wide screen TV’s as the two Premiership Goliaths, Chelsea and Bernlie Burnly, Berny ( Oh sod it! Somewhere near Bolton), kicked of. Meanwhile the MCC welcomed 2 new members, Paul and Alan. The beer was flowing and Chelsea scored first to a great cheer from all of our fellow drinkers except two, Dave and his new friend, Bernleys Burnies Somewhere near Boltons other supporter. Dave need not have worried, Somewhere near Bolton equalized to the sound of two blokes jumping up and down, cheering.

Not all of us were finding the football as spell binding as the rest and someone suggested that we could move on to another pub while the rest watched the match.

We set out to find another venue and one of our group recommended a dance studio that had a bar and alcohol licence. With the MCC members being great patrons of the arts this seem like a perfect pre-dinner venue. We took the tube and one stop later we arrive outside the studio. The helpful commissionaire on the door, resplendent in his uniform of Doctor Martin boots and a black bomber jacket, asked us if we had attended any productions staged by the studios performers before. We all said we hadn’t and he gave us some useful advice on how not to get our heads kicked in, and he then confiscated my emergency bottle of scotch.

Inside it was obvious that like so many of the capitals “theatres” the studio was in need of renovation We quickly decided to sponsor the cutting edge dance interpretation of a contemporary music arrangement, by all putting a pound coin in a beer glass that was being passed round by the performers. One of the members entered into a artistic debate with a very attractive black dance artist and she consented to wear the MCC tie during a performance for a nominal pledge of extra sponsorship. I think that we all found the her elegance and poise spell binding. When she had finished her dance she circulated amongst us and she then agreed to dance on a one-to-one basis wearing the full MCC regalia. Having studied her musical movement techniques closely during her previous performance, I was more than willing to be the first of our group to experience this. I feel that I must admit to finding it impossible to put into words what I saw and that the doggerel that I write would not do it justice.