Gary Strachan – "Write" Said Fred
Whimsical observations from deep within an erratic mind
Yesterday, there was no narrative forthcoming from the pen of yours truly. Understandably, attendance at the funeral of a good friend's mother held dominion over every other action on 1st October 2020. Coincidently, yesterday would've also been my mother and father's 60th wedding anniversary had cancer not came calling for Malcolm Strachan in October 2017.... Continue Reading →
On Sunday, my mother will reach the grand old age of 80. A milestone she's reached with her rose coloured glasses firmly intact; along with her viewing life events from a baseline of positivity. This despite more than her share of episodes where serendipity and karma have proved the most capricious of suitors. Mum (Maggie)... Continue Reading →
Saturday reveille brought in it's wake the melancholic news another of my boyhood footballing idols had passed. Jack Charlton becoming the third Leeds United legend to've died in just a matter of months. The one club footballer, who for nigh on two decades represented the club with distinction in on over 700 games, joining recently... Continue Reading →
Almost exactly a week after attending the funeral of a Gateshead Fell cricket club (GFCC) legend***, a club I represented for a decade between 1977-1987, this morning I was further saddened to hear of a former junior & senior team colleague Brian Gray's passing. *** - Last week's melancholic events more extensively detailed in my... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, 2nd January, saw me attending the first (and hopefully my last) funeral of 2020. The journey up to Gateshead taken with buddy and former team mate John Hutchison, paying respects to a recently passed doyen of a cricket club we'd both represented at various junctures of our life odysseys. The wake giving me an opportunity... Continue Reading →
Along with millions worldwide, I observed a two minute silence, marking one hundred and one years since guns fell silent in WWI. The anniversary of an armistice between the Allied countries and Germany - Ending a four year war which saw around 40 million military and civilian casualties. I wasn't sure which surprised me more,... Continue Reading →
Yesterday evening I watched a recording of a BBC Four broadcast of the John Wilson Orchestra from the Royal Albert Hall; a performance forming part of the 2019 Proms season. The Gateshead-born conductor's orchestra treating their audience to a selection of music from Warner Brothers movies. John Wilson was educated in the same Low Fell... Continue Reading →
On the 75th anniversary of D-Day I wanted to pen a tribute to the 10,000+ Allied casualties who lost their lives during the Normandy invasion, on June 6th 1944. Codename Operation Neptune, a massed incursion aiming at securing an Allied foothold on Western France. This offensive ultimately securing an area which by the end of... Continue Reading →
Yesterday saw the 7th anniversary of ex-Leeds United footballer Gary Speed's passing. A tragic day when the player, who also served Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton and Sheffield United with distinction, was found hanged to death at his Cheshire home. On Saturday 7th April 1990, during a 2nd Division game against West Yorkshire rivals Bradford City,... Continue Reading →