A Full Birthday day.

 Well we were up early today as we were catching the shuttle bus to the University where the hockey and squash were taking place. We arrived just a few minutes late for the start of the first match, but more through our tardiness than the organisation.

The first match was Oz v NZ and I'm sorry to say, for those readers in Wellington, that the result was 1:0 to Australia. It sounds close but really the Kiwi's never had an attack!

The second match followed in 30 minutes and was Canada against Ghana. The Canadians were much better than the Ghanians who were not really sharp enough to match the others. However the biggest cheer was for Ghana when they scored their only goal in a 8 : 1 game.

The 'Old Joe' tower, or more properly the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, is the tallest free standing clock tower in the world at 100 mts, 328'. The clock face is 17' diameter and the hands are 10' and 6 ft long. The bell weighs just over 5 tonnes. It has been used for scientific experiments and was used to help develop radar in WWII. It was built between 100 and 1908 and is named after J. Chamberlain who was Mayor, MP and Chief of the Board of Governors at the time. He almost 'invented' Birmingham and certainly but the city on the national map. The domes are from the Aston Webb designed buildings that were built at the same time and were the first part of the campus to be built.

We found our way to the Winterbourne Botanical Gardens on the campus and took our seats on the terrace for a celebration cream tea.

After our meal we wandered round the gardens that are set out in different styles and geographical typical plantings. This is the walled garden that was lovely. The gardens were laid out by Margaret Nettleford, the builders wife, who followed Gertrude Jekyll's ideas of the gardens being 'one' with the house itself.

This is the Nut Walk that still has the same collection of trees that were originally planted, but have been pollarded over the years.

There is even access to the Edgbaston Pool that does not belong to the University, but the next door golf club.

Looking up at th rear of the house and terrace from the lawn. The house was built for John Nettleford and his wife Margaret in 1903. He was a younger son of the massive screw manufacturer in Birmingham. After schooling he learned his business with the family trade and managed a steel plant for them until he decided he needed to leave and do his own thing. He joined a company making gun cartridges and got into local and national politics. He was a early reformer of housing in Birmingham and also female education.

Helen in the Winterbourne Gardens.

The house was designed in the Arts and Crafts style and is a lovely house, not on a massive scale. Nice and bright, rooms are all liveable and I could move in tomorrow! In the older years the Nettleford's moved out and at one time the house was divided for two families. It was last lived in by John MacDonald Nicolson and when he died in 1944 he left it to the University. They took on the gardens as the botanical workshops of the Biology department, which they still are today. The house was accommodation for female students and then to house a department offices before being restored and opened to the public.

At just before five o'clock we found our way to Edgbastion Cricket Ground for the next part of the day. This turned out to be a very circuitous, and long, route as loads of raods and bridges were closed. Obviously the university was being used as part of the games village and access restricted.

We got to the ground just before the 18:00 start and had good seats. It was a Ladies T20 match between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. The weather was great and it was good to get our feet up after the hike we had had! When ever a four or six were scored the flame throwers went off in front of us. We were sitting at the back and could feel the heat. I'm not sure this is really what we should be doing in this day and age. Why not a mass of streamers and that fly up in the air when compressed air is blasted through them, rather than burn a gas?

Once again for out Wellington friends we were supporting the underdogs. This time Sri Lanka!!

After the Kiwi's batted first I thought it would be an close match but Sri Lanka didn't seem to have any answers for the pace of the bowling facing them. Once again the loudest cheer of the day was when the Sri Lankan ladies manged to squeeze past 100! It was a good evening. The shuttle bus back to the centre of Brum worked smoothly and we were soon heading boatwards.

There were still loads of folk out and about as we crossed Centenary Square. The Library is lit up differently these days.