Adam Bird - My Personal Blog

Yesterday, High Speed 1, the new commuter service running from London to Ashford took it's first passengers as part of it's preview service before rolling out full time in December. Due to a series of circumstances I found myself using the train far sooner than I anticipated. For most of my life there has always been discussions, talks, plans and ideas for a high speed service that would link London to the continent, allowing you, if you wished to be in Paris, or Brussels in ludicrously short amounts of time. Slowly but surely as the infrastructure has been built up around us and details about international rail travel and local commuter routes we have found suddenly, that it is actually reality. Living in Gravesend , we have been very fortunate that the Ebbsfleet International Station has been built upon our doorsteps (even if there are a million negative issues here), as this has allowed us easy access to the service. Having commuted to London for the past three y...

Here is the full excerpt from the BBC vidiprinter of Gillingham vs Shrewsbury, League Two 2009 Playoff Final 1720: Congratulations, then, to Gillingham, commiserations to Shrewsbury. A cracking match with more drama than an Eastenders Christmas special. And if you thought that was heart-pounding, just you wait until tomorrow. The legend that is Stevo will be talking you through what promises to be a sensational day of Premier League ups and downs, with a pinch of League One play-off final action thrown in, so what ever you do - do not miss it. Nice one, legends. "Congratulations Gillingham. Bouncing straight back up after relegation is a lot easier said than done so hats off and good luck in League One next year." Liverpool_is_my_life on 606 "I feel for Shrewsbury; being a QPR fan I know how late, late play-off final goals feel and it's the worst feeling I've experienced, much worse than a relegation." SuperHoops10 on 606 1705: The Gillingham p...

I read a book last year entitled "Here we go Gathering Cups in May", a seven story account written by seven Liverpool supporters and their encounters of each of the seven European Cup finals Liverpool have been part of. The name of the book derived from a flag made by a Bootle lady named Mrs Margaret McDonald, who was thanked in the preface with the line "For gathering a needle, a thread, and a line from her head, before waving her son off to follow the red". Being a Gillingham supporter we are not accustomed to "gathering cups in May", indeed, if you are not a supporter of the "big four", namely Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester Utd the chances of picking any silverware at the end of a football season is an alien concept. However, each club outside the Premier League does have the chance to cover themselves in glory by either winning their league outright, or as the case may be for most finishing within the top six or seven and ent...

According to the Gravesend Messenger Ebbsfleet United, whom changed their name last year in an effort to forge links with the new community in Ebbsfleet have revealed plans for a new stadium... in Gravesend! The new site, next to Morrisons inbetween the new and old A2, will see the new stadium form part of a larger eco-recreational site, which will have walking areas, playgrounds, a BMX track and horse trails. How realistic the plans are only time will tell, but from my knowledge planning permission for moving over the A2 was only granted on the condition that the new space would be used not be used for commercial or residential purposes. Does a football stadium fall under a leisure enterprise thus making them eligible for development? Time will tell. Now for the rant! Gravesend and Northfleet FC changed their name to Ebbsfleet United so that they could forge stronger links with the "new community" expecting to increase their fanbase on the back of a migration of p...

On Sunday 2nd February, in response to a group that I had set up on Facebook "Say NO to the Ebbsfleet Angel" I was invited by the BBC to appear on the Politics Show to speak alongside Mark Davy, one of the directors at Future City, the people behind the landmark proposal. To help me prepare for the interview I wrote a blog outlining my arguments and gave detailed answers to potential questions - which did help me out on the day, although I did succumb to a severe bout of nerves and forgotten most of which I had written, or wasn't able to articulate what I really wanted to say. Leading up to Sunday, playing various scenarios out in my head, as is nearly always the case - nothing is ever as bad as you think it will be and nothing is as you would imagine it. There was no tripping over the camera, using a profanity by mistake, gibbering incoherently, although there was a brief moment after the first question was put to me that I managed to lose track of myself and apolo...

Last year I set up a Facebook Group in an attempt to open dialogue with Land Securities, the company behind the Ebbsfleet Landmark. I also wrote a couple of blog articles and set up a petition on the government website so that us, the local residents could, if we wanted be given the choice to reject the three shortlisted designs as being unsuitable and vote to reject the plans altogether or come up with a more suitable, viable solution. As a result of my Facebook Group I was approached by a researcher for the BBC Politics programme and interviewed over the telephone and subsequently invited onto Sunday's show to discuss the proposition alongside a member of staff working for the Ebbsfleet Landmark Trust - a subsidiary of Land Securities. Despite having huge misgivings about appearing on a television show and attempting to eloquently put together an argument against something and coming across sympathetically to a watching audience, coping with the extreme nerves and potential...

Being the son of a fanatical football fan means that more than likely, it's a case of when you start going rather than if . In Oliver's case it was always inevitable, although I hadn't planned on it being so soon. The plan had been to mention football as much as possible and tell him everything about the Gills and put it off until he was five years old so that I could build up the anticipation and excitement. On his fifth birthday he would go to his first Gills game - as a mascot, making his Gills debut by leading the side out at the hallowed turf of Priestfield. As always with best intentions and perfectly laid plans, they go awry in amongst a set of strange circumstances. When Gillingham drew Stockport at home in the FA Cup second round it wasn't exactly a tie that caught the imagination, but a home game I would not have wanted to miss. I had decided to go for the pay on the day option, not imagining a sell out by any means! But as the game drew closer I b...

"Exactly 100 years ago today, HMS Alert and HMS Discovery sailed past Plymouth on their way from Portsmouth on an Arctic exploration mission which was to keep their crews away from home for nearly a year and five months. One of the members of this expedition, led by Captain Sir George Strong Nares, was a Newton Abbot man, Mr Henry Winser, who was picked as ship's carpenter for the team at the age of 24 because of his strong constitution. The expedition suffered many hardships and accomplished much, reaching 30 miles nearer the North Pole than any previous arctic explorers, but still fell 400 miles short of its target. The "Advertiser" of November 4th, 1876, summed up that the venture had demonstrated "that to reach the Pole is an utterly impracticable undertaking... deemed not to be accomplished by human energy." Henry Winser was believed to have been one of the sledge party which spent 70 days on the ice in conditions so rugged that it could only...

Earlier this year I wrote about a book I had read, A Quiet Belief in Angels, by Roger Ellory and how, since then, I had purchased all his previous works and had been enchanted by the epic worlds his creations had surrounded me. Last week his sixth book, A Simple Act of Violence was released and I eagerly visited Waterstones to get my copy. Roger Ellory doesn't write simple novels. They are vast in scope and character and although they share a similar theme, human nature, human relationships and the analysis of human behaviour against all odds, they are all vastly different. The synopsis for A Simple Act of Violence, provided by Amazon: "Washington, embroiled in the mid-term elections, did not want to hear about serial killings. But when the newspapers reported a fourth murder, when they gave the killer a name and details of his horrendous crimes, there were few people that could ignore it. Detective Robert Miller is assigned to the case. He and his partner begin the t...

In amongst the confetti and champagne that has flowed freely over the past two years, and looks set to continue at least until our own marriage in 2010, Saturday night marks the dawn of a new era. Mummy of the group Stephanie hits the big three-0. Although her birthday isn't until the 13th of October, current times amidst the credit crunch and close proximity in dates to sister in law Nadine and her best friend Kelly, both of which also hit the special landmark around the same time, sees a triple celebration as the three glam girls mark the occasion with a party to end all parties. I have a fear of hitting 30, due mostly to my own memories of when Dad celebrated his. A surprise BBQ at the house arranged by mum was not at all welcomed as Dad spent the whole day in a birthday depression rather than buoyant celebration. Being an impressionable eleven year old at the time wondering what on earth was so terrible about being 30. Was that the age that in which terrible thing beg...

During the summer of 2008, Mummy and Daddy decorated Daddy's old bedroom from when he was a boy, ready for you so that you had somewhere bigger to play. You had been sleeping in the nursery, which was Auntie Jessica's old room and Mummy and Daddy thought that we may need to keep the nursery for the future in case a brother or sister came along. Daddy wanted to make you a Gillingham Football Club room, but Mummy was worried that you would grow up and not like football! I said that she was crazy, all boys take after their Daddy's! We had both seen a brilliant football bedroom idea in a book called, Creative Spaces for Kids so decided to model your new bedroom on that, complete with a changing bench and football goal built into the fireplace. Daddy decided to take the idea further and wanted astroturf instead of carpet! Although he did get carried away, he knew when to stop, the floodlight and advertising hoarding ideas he had were sensibly scrapped!!! Mummy and Daddy t...

With the American Screen writers strike hitting at the back end of 2007/ beginning of 2008 many tv shows were unable to film due to lack of scripts. It has had an effect across a lot of television exports, no more so than 24 which was just about to air series 7 when the strike hit. Not wanting to have a gap inbetween shows the creators of 24 decided to postpone series 7 a full calendar year, much to the annoyance of huge 24 fans like myself. However, they haven't been sitting there twiddling their thumbs, instead they have been 'making the best series' they can, and as a special treat filming a two hour prequel which will air on Sky One sometime in November. The following is a teaser trailor of the prequel, named "24 : Exile" Jack's back, and I for one cannot wait!

It maybe a long standing joke amongst our circle of friends that Stuart never wins anything and always finishes runner up, although he knows that isn't exactly true. This weekend sees him marrying his long term beau, Aimee, a partnership in which he has always been a winner. Although we were in the same year at school, it wasn't until our GCSE year that Stuart and I became friends outside of school and Stuart started coming to occasional Gillingham games with me. Becoming friends with Stuart was a defining point in terms of the basis of our group dynamics. If I hadn't have become friends with Stuart, I wouldn't have become as good friends with Gareth, nor introduced to Mark, Reaso or Will. Like me, with Steph , Stuart met Aimee at a fairly young age. The exact circumstances on their meeting are a little frosty, but I think it was through a friend of the golf club, Darren, whose sister, Sarah had a stunningly beautiful best friend called Aimee, or at least ...

Millions of people are blogging just as you read this, for millions of different reasons. It may be about their favourite football club, Formula One team, sport, political party, sharing technical knowledge or for business. They may be like me and use it as a place to keep family up to date with their personal goings on. My blog started on July 20th 2006, and this is my 100th post! I have written much about nothing, from the Gills, to various goings on in the footballing planet, the story of Stephs pregnancy and the experiences we have had as a new family. I have shared books that I have read and paid tributes to friends and wished them luck as they have entered marriage. Stories have been told about trips I have made and exposed secrets of stag weekends abroad. All in all, it has been a pleasure to write such random ramblings and long may it continue. Thank you to everyone who has posted a comment or told me personally that they have enjoyed, cried or laughed at my mutterings. I...