Arrows are double top after school camp is cancelled

ITHOUGHT I was going to tell you about our granddaughter going away at the weekend for a Year 8 school camp. That plan hit the buffers on Thursday when Year 8 parents got an email from school to say a pupil in Wokingham had tested positive and all the year had to go into isolation until the Monday.

That meant Hannah was now having to stay at home and not to camp. There is not much that she makes a fuss about but this proved an exception.

She could not join with some friends from another school when they were playing on the green and there was no weekend trip to the shops. Hardly surprising that this actually produced some tears, and I would have probably joined in if I had been at Henley, visiting.

Daddy, as always, came to the rescue as he treated her to her longheld wish to have a dartboard. I never had one in my youth, so listened attentively when she phoned to tell me all about the games she discovered outside in the garden when the dartboard arrived.

It was soon set up for her, and Daddy became the main competitor. I did not realise there were so many games to be played on a dartboard – or even that darts need to be sharpened if they were going to grip properly in the board – but I do now.

The game gaining in popularity has become “Round the World”, which involves starting with hitting a number 1 and then working round until a finish on 20. He is hoping the family can all visit this coming Saturday and, if the dartboard comes as well I am confident we will manage a pretty competitive general tournament with all of us involved.

Last week I know I also mentioned that our young one was looking forward to a 6-day sport trip in Spain come the October break. Thankfully she does not get to read my column so although she knows about this longed-for trip, the family are all now keeping quiet about it.

I guess we had assumed that October was a long way away and that Spain would by then join Portugal as a ‘green zone’ country.

Now, of course, Portugal has joined Spain in the amber zone.

None of us have any holidays abroad planned for this year, other than what the school have arranged for Hannah and her school year.

We are saying nothing and hoping that she will get away just like the European football teams for the Euros. Surely she cannot lose out again like so many other children have done during this pandemic?

One of my pleasures each weekend is reading the column that Martin Naylor produces for every Saturday.

He manages to surprise me with a number of things he does, and on his first week back from his holiday he shared with us that he had spotted his first cuckoo. I am not a good bird-spotter so, although I am familiar with the cuckoo call, I do not believe I have ever seen one.

Perhaps he will be able to tell us all how the female selects a rogue nest in which to lay her egg so that I can learn some more.

The other fact I know about Martin is that he has always supported Notts County football club (rather than that other side over the river!).

They were relegated last season to the non-league for the first time, but are now fighting back. They have reached the semi-finals of the play offs, against Torquay United and as I write are aiming to get to the final on June 20.

I wish his team the very best of luck if they get their chance.