Masked Britain
FACE MASKS will become mandatory in shops and enclosed spaces, Boris Johnson has indicated, as he said it was time for the country to “go back to work”, The Telegraph reports.
The Prime Minister, who posed in a face covering for the first time yesterday, said the Government needed to be “stricter” on enforcing guidelines for wearing them indoors.
He said: “It’s very important that people should be going back to work if they can now. I want to see more people feeling confident to use the shops, use the restaurants, get back into work, but only if we all follow the guidance.”
On Tuesday, Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, announced £30 billion in giveaways to encourage “cautious” people to return to pubs, restaurants, shops and attractions, which were allowed to reopen last weekend. Many retailers have remained closed, particularly in town centres, as office workers on whom they rely for much of their trade were still mostly working from home.
Endlich wieder nach England
Endlich ist es soweit: ab Freitag, dem 10. Juli, wird die Quarantänepflicht für Besucher aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz bei der Einreise nach England aufgehoben. Die britische Tourismusorganisation Visit Britain freut sich, bald wieder Urlaubsreisende in England begrüßen zu dürfen.
Ob Wanderungen an der Küste oder entspannte Ausflüge ins Grüne – bald ist es wieder möglich, die Schönheiten und Eigenarten der Insel zu besuchen und zu erleben.
Viele der Sehenswürdigkeiten haben unterschiedlichste Möglichkeiten erarbeitet, um ihre Besucher wieder willkommen zu heißen – von reservierten Zeitfenstern und begrenzten Besucherzahlen bis zu Einbahnstraßen-Regelungen. Diese Maßnahmen sollen sicherstellen, dass man den Besuch in Großbritannien genießen kann.
Eine Eigenart des von mir absurderweise geliebten Fußballklubs West Ham United – dass auf ein gutes Match und einen wichtigen Sieg gegen ein favorisiertes Team wie Chelsea meist unmittelbar eine Enttäuschung auf dem Fuße folgt – würde ich allerdings nicht live im Stadion erleben können: die beiden obersten englischen Fußballligen werden auch ab dem 10. Juli weiterhin ohne Zuschauer in den Stadien auskommen müssen. Blowing Bubbles gibt‘s daher nur vor dem Fernseher! Allerdings hat der Klub auf der Tribüne Billy Bonds Stand Fotos von 1900 Fans installiert:
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Glyndebourne At Home
The famous Glyndebourne Opera Festival which has taken part on the estate of Lord Christie in Sussex for more than 85 years had to be cancelled due to Covid-19 this year.
But to help keep the spirit of Glyndebourne alive, every Sunday from May 24 “Glyndebourne Open House” broadcasts productions of recent years via YouTube. Each Sunday from 5 pm it is possible to join and enjoy world-class opera in the living room for free. By this it is possible to be united with opera lovers from all over the world and refresh old or create new memories.
This Sunday we can watch Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, one of opera’s greatest romantic comedies. The performance on show has been captured live at the Festival 2014.
I am very happy to watch this opera, playing in a fairytale Vienna and reminding me of our visit to Glyndebourne two years ago when we also watched the “Rosenkavalier” and had the obligatory picknick in the wonderful gardens of the Christie estate. 🧺
Let’s hope that Glyndebourne Festival as we know it will be back again in 2021. In the meantime at least a reopening of the gardens has taken place from July 1st for a shortened summer season.
From mid July there will also be musical performances on Glyndebourne’s glorious grounds and, though the opera house will be silent, the gardens will be full of music during the Glyndebourne Garden Concerts. The large gardens and the restricted number of tickets on sale should guarantee everybody’s safety in these challenging times.
What a pleasure it would be to make a trip to Glyndebourne this summer, but so far there are no flights from Vienna to England.
However, on Monday a list of countries will be published from which people can enter Great Britain without having to self-isolate for 2 weeks. This would make a trip to Glyndebourne possible.
However, I’m afraid the tickets for the Garden Concerts will already have sold out!
But never mind, Strauss’s Rosenkavalier will be available until 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, 12 July, and afterwards an other opera, “Billy Budd” by Benjamin Britten, will be shown online via YouTube!
If you have enjoyed Glyndebourne Open House, you are asked to support artists and staff and consider donating to Glyndebourne’s Covid-19 emergency fund.
It’s England‘s Independence Day Today!
The 4th of July isn’t only the United States’ Independence Day this year: today can also be dubbed an Independence Day for England because people get back the freedom to go to hairdressers, pubs, hotels and churches. They are all allowed to reopen by July 4th after months of lockdown!
Therefore as of tomorrow, also Sunday Church services are allowed back, for the first time since the pandemic started. Again, it will all feel very different as The Telegraph reports. There will be no hymns due to the higher risk of transmission while singing, and worshippers have been asked to bring their own Bible or holy book with them. Where worshippers are unable to do so, books should be cleaned and quarantined for 48 hours after use, the Government says. Muslims should also bring their own prayer mat to services. Communion will be allowed, but worshippers are advised not to drink from the same wine glass or share the same bread. “Peace be with you” handshakes have been suspended.
St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the churches that will restart their services. On Sunday the Eucharist with Sermon will be celebrated at 11:30 a.m. at St. Paul’s Cathedral. However, it seems that a lot of churches will still remain closed and celebrate their services online like they have done since March.
Anyway, it’s not only a small step, it’s a big leap back to normality in England!
The new rules and guidelines though do not apply in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And also Leicester in the English East Midlands has got their own thing going on. The lockdown in Leicester was tightened in recent days because of a coronavirus case rise and the loosening of restrictions is not taking place there.
Chelsea Double Gives West Ham Boost
West Ham United beat Chelsea 3-2 (1-1) on Wednesday night and moved three points clear of the relegation zone.
It was West Ham’s second win over Chelsea this season. The Hammers twice came from behind and scored the winner in the 89th Minute, securing their first double against Chelsea since 2002/03.
The goals in London Stadium were scored by Soucek (1-1), Antonio (2-2) and Yarmolenko (pic above, 3-2). Soucek had also brought West Ham in front in the first half, but the goal was ruled out by VAR.
Michail Antonio who had a brilliant night playing as a lone striker: “It gives us that confidence, it gives us that belief. Not that we won, but we went down, we had a goal taken away from us, and we came back.”
West Ham are the first team in the current bottom five of the table to win a Premier League match since the league resumed after the coronavirus suspension. Brighton, Bournemouth, Watford and Aston Villa as well as Norwich all lost, which means that West Ham after this round are 16th in the table with 30 points, three points behind Brighton (15th), 2 points in front of Watford and 3 points in front of Aston Villa (18th).
Things look much better after that thriller with a Happy End against Chelsea!
Come on you Irons!
West Ham 3-2 Chelsea: BBC match report
▶️ http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52080261
New Home Kit Revealed
West Ham revealed the 2020/21 Commemorative 125th Anniversary home kit and extended their partnership with Umbro as Official Technical Partner. The new kit will come with white shorts and white socks.
The kit’s design reminds us of the Club’s greatest period, which saw the foundation of the world-famous Academy of Football, FA Cup win (1964) and European Cup Winners’ Cup triumph (1965) and also three Hammers lead England to FIFA World Cup glory in 1966 when “West Ham beat West Germany”.
I am very happy with the return of white shorts and socks. I could never warm to the all-claret lower body of our players this season.
I hope the players will be able to sport the new kit in the first tier of English football next season, and that we will be able to watch them from the stands, but who knows?
Come on you Irons!
Read more:
https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2020/june/29-june/west-ham-united-reveal-commemorative-125th-anniversary-umbro-home
https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2020/june/29-june/west-ham-united-extends-partnership-umbro-official-technical
50GreatestMatches – #1 West Ham United 2-0 TSV 1860 Munich
When will we meet again?
Last season we managed to travel to London several times, and in the end we watched four wins out of five games and only one defeat in manager Manuel Pellegrini’s first season with West Ham Utd.
Like almost everybody I had been optimistic that things would get even better this term as the team had played some really good attacking football last season which had been dubbed a “transitional” one. But like we all now know, things at West Ham and in the Premier League have developed very differently from what we expected back last summer.
When we came to London in November for the game against Newcastle Utd., West Ham’s win over Manchester Utd. back in September had remained the Club’s last win of this season so far and six weeks had passed since this game in which the Hammers had not managed to win a single match. The long-term injury of talismanic goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski for whom Pellegrini had failed to sign suitable cover had really cost us dearly, and of course Marko Arnautovic who had left the Club for Chinese money was also missed. His successor in West Ham’s attack, Sebastien Haller, would still take some time to adjust to the English game!
Newcastle was in the relegation zone before the game against West Ham, so this match seemed an almost perfect occasion to get back to winning ways. However, we know that West Ham quite often is also seen by their opponents as a starting point for a revival gifting them “first wins” to leave a losing streak behind.
And that’s exactly what happened: West Ham went behind 0-2 before halftime, had absolutely no clue how to deal with the quick Newcastle attacking play, and finally conceded a third goal after the interval. A late West Ham rally wasn’t enough and they lost 2-3.
Unfortunately it took West Ham until the end of this month to win again, a famous 1-0 away win at Chelsea with our third goalkeeper, David Martin, between the sticks. But in the end it was a short-lived upturn in fortune, and in the end Manuel Pellegrini had to leave and was replaced by David Moyes.
Our next trip to London was planned around the Wolves game on March 15, but this was the time the lockdown started in Austria and we decided to cancel our weekend in London.
When will we meet again in London and inside London Stadium?
West Ham’s greatest games
West Ham United celebrates its 125th anniversary on 29 June 2020 – and as part of these celebrations the Club’s 50 greatest matches are shown on West Ham‘s website. All of them, of course, were played in front of supporters, and they have sung the club anthem “Bubbles” since the 1920’s. Oh, how I miss these big crowds, since the coronavirus has stopped football and now condemned us to watch games on TV only, played behind closed doors since the restart! Scroll down to watch highlights and the full games of West Ham’s unforgettable Boleyn Ground finale in 2016 and of West Ham’s play-off win against Blackpool in 2012.
On 29th June, 1895, Arnold Hills, the managing director of the Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding Company in east London, announced in his newspaper, the Thames Ironworks Gazette, that he intended to establish a football club. From 1904 to 2016 the Club, that was renamed “West Ham United” in 1900, played at their Upton Park Stadium also known as Boleyn Ground.
One of the #50GreatestMatches was of course the unforgettable Boleyn Ground finale in 2016. The last game at Upton Park was played on 10 May 2016.
Thames Iron Works’ first match was a friendly against Royal Ordinance on 7th September, 1895. The result was a 1-1 draw. This was followed by victories against Dartford, Manor Park, Streatham and Old St Stephens. Since 1895, when the Hammers were formed as Thames Ironworks FC, they have played in excess of 5,500 matches – reaching five FA Cup finals – and one women’s FA Cup final, lifting European silverware in 1966 and competing across the globe and enjoying thousands of memorable moments.
Thames Ironworks started to play in Oxford Blue (dark blue) shirts. Beginning from the 1897-98 season they began to use Cambridge Blue (light blue). The photographs of the Thames Iron Works taken in 1897 and 1899, although in black and white, show that the team continued to play in light blue shirts, combined with white shorts and scarlet socks.
Thames Iron Works was renamed West Ham United in September 1900. A team photograph taken that year suggested that the club had retained the light blue colours. According to club historian, John Helliar, on 14th September, 1901, West Ham “took to the field wearing their new colours of light blue jerseys, with a claret band, and white knickers with a red stripe.”
By the end of the 19th century or maybe as late as the 1903-04 season West Ham began to wear claret and blue shirts. In a very well known, but maybe not true story it is recounted that “in the summer of 1899 Bill Dove, a sprinter of national repute who was involved in coaching the Ironworks team, was challenged to a race with four Aston Villa players at a fair in Birmingham. Dove won but the Villa men could not pay the wager so one of them pinched a set of claret and blue shirts from his club (he was responsible for doing the laundry) to settle the bet.” is there any primary evidence of the club wearing these colours until the 1903-04 season. In 1904 West Ham moved to the Boleyn Ground.
From the 5,500 matches of which the Club has played the vast majority in claret & blue, the top 50 were chosen with the help of its supporters, the top 50 games, featuring landmark goals, trophies held aloft, heroic individual performances and remarkable collective efforts, and showed these highlights on the homepage.
One of the #50GreatestMatches was of course the unforgettable Boleyn Ground finale in 2016. Another one is West Ham’s win at Wembley in 2012 when the Club beat Blackburn to be promoted to the Premier League. The game was shown with Carlton Cole commentary by WHU TV during the lockdown.
Come on You Irons!
Britain is waking up
Over the past four months, pubs and restaurants around the country have faced their biggest challenge: they had to keep their doors closed and were only allowed to remain in business with takeaways or cooking for key workers. But now restaurants and pubs which have been closed from Friday, March 20, are allowed to reopen by July 4. Lock down is about to end. Cheers,🇬🇧!
Brentford, London
The time-honoured pursuit of relaxing in a sunny beer garden with a refreshing glass of ale, lager or wine is something used to be taken for granted, an essential part of any British summer. Not so in 2020. Pubs and restaurants were ordered to close their doors on Friday March 20, in the early, frightening days of a lockdown that would dominate the lives over the months that followed and has been much longer in the UK than in other countries. Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel and the Telegraph‘s cover story on Saturday is about the reopening of pubs and restaurants in Great Britain.
Infection rates have fallen, Britain’s alert level has switched from 4 to 3 and, this week, Boris Johnson has announced that the two-metre rule we’ve grown so accustomed to can now be replaced with a less restrictive “one metre plus” distancing recommendation. “Our long hibernation is coming to an end,” he told the Commons on Tuesday, as he explained that England’s pubs and restaurants could open their doors to customers once again on July 4.
Hackney, London
There are an estimated 27,000 pubs with beer gardens in the UK. Finally relaxing in a sunny beer garden will be allowed again. And also in-door restaurants that had suspended their service will be returning post-lockdown. The new rules allow customers to sit and enjoy their pints on-site (though not at the bar). Indoor hospitality will be limited to table service, meaning bar orders still won’t be an option.
Cheers, guys! The wait is over!
Enjoy!
Rules and guidelines: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/pubs-and-bars/pubs-reopening-uk-guidelines-open-rules/
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