He Shot, He Missed sent some spies to the annual cricket jolly at the Bristol Golf Club on Saturday night.
The usual suspects like Burton, Paddon and Long were in attendance, as were hangers-on like ‘Taff’ Russell and that rave from the grave Darren Rutter.
The evening started with the usual crush at the bar as villagers topped up for the long night ahead.
Moving into the dining room, it was clear that much planning had gone into the seating arrangements with the In-Betweener ruffians consisting of Calum May, Nigel, Guy and Lewis Daniels as far away from the rest of the diners as possible.
The Sheriff was otherwise detained in Southampton, guiding Manor Farm out of the cup so he arrived just as everyone had finished eating. The great man was incandescent with rage and demanded the poor chef knock something up for him and Jackie.
The Sheriff’s displeasure was not for long as the waiter arrived with ham and chips.
However, just as he was getting into his first meal in about an hour(he was starving) the speeches started.
The audience snored contentedly as Tony Giles rambled through a rehash of last year’s jokes and then, with his mouth full of chips, the Sheriff was called to speak. In fact, he didn’t stop speaking for what seemed an eternity, regaling diners with the interesting thought that “Stoke Gifford is a great cricket club to play football!”
Eventually he returned to his chips which by now were stone cold.
After the presentations, the evening descended into the usual alcoholic blur although this year there was no obvious fight.
A special word for Paddon here who gave a number of spectacular performances on the dance floor.
The old codgers were dropped at the Beaufort and staggered home in various states of disarray.
The younger (and some older) lads went on the lash in town, so no change there.
All in all, a memorable night, not that anyone can remember much about it!
