Cod Almighty | Postbag
You go on the wing, I'm playing write back
19 May 2016
It's been far too long since we had a Cod Almighty postbag so make yourself a cuppa, sit yourself down and get ready for a big one (chortle). Since we last emptied our sack (fna!) there's been loads happening so without further ado, here are your letters.
Ferry good
Brilliant piece about exiled fans' children! I fit the bill, as do my two boys; trips to Wembley with sad journeys home, even Salisbury! My youngest walked out on the Wembley turf hand in hand with Craig Disley at the Wrexham game. We lost but he never flinched, he was getting used to it. Last Sunday that all changed with victory at Wembley. He wears His Grimsby shirts with pride, he always has and he likes the fact his mates wear Portsmouth or Southampton tops and he's different.
We don't travel by rail or air – we travel by sea on a ferry every time. It's a sad journey sometimes but that's all changed now. Up the Mariners!
from Peter Bruce
Letters Ed responds: Thanks Peter. Grant's piece has only just gone up but it's getting a lot of attention and it rings true with so many of us. It sometimes seems as though Grimsby have as many fans exiled as they do close to DN35, such is the attendance at the more remote footballing outposts. You and the kids must be looking forward to a local game next season that's not Eastleigh!
This is legit, honest!
I would just like to thank all Diary contributors for the brilliant columns written week in, week out. Some excellent and thought-provoking topics and sometimes very funny. Also the alternative match reports written by Tony Butcher. Hope you all have a great day at Wembley on Sunday and that Retro's diary of 13 May 2016 is the last non-league entry EVER. Best wishes, UTM
from Sibbo
Letters Ed responds: Thanks Sibbo, glad you enjoy it. I know we sometimes rub fans up the wrong way but that's because each of us has a different take on Town's fortunes and the direction we're taking. We don't always agree with each other and don't expect everyone reading to agree with every word either – but we do hope that we generate discussion and that everyone knows that at the heart of it all is a mutual love of the club and the town itself. I'm blubbling now.
Quentin Cooper
True, Quentin Cooper went to Wintringham school. And what about Patrick Cormack, Tory MP? Not so famous, but a local lad done well for himself.
from Alyson Larkworthy
Letters Ed responds: Hi Alyson, thanks for taking the time to dig back through the site – there's years' worth of stuff there which deserves a read.
For the uninitiated, this letter is referring to this article on famous Grimsby folks.
Any more for any more? Is an update required?
A correction
Dear Organic Diarist,
Pithy (not plithy) though your observations on capitalism and football are and were, there is something that needs to be nipped in your bud. The poor old Official Receiver doesn't and wouldn't benefit and quite the opposite is occuring. Cuts, cuts cuts and more cuts. Another public service being undermined and incrementally destroyed on the quiet. It is the (private) insolvency practitioners who squeeze out profit from misery, as they charge even more than barristers per hour, you know.
from Tony Butcher
Letters Ed responds: Thanks for putting original/regular Diary right on this, Tony. Consider it nipped in the bud.
Nunty
As a Grimbarian, l have always used the word 'nunty', and l have always understood it to mean this.
There was a convent (funnily enough) at Nun's Corner. When the ladies joined the convent, they kept the few clothes they arrived in and they were probably stored away. Once their habit was worn, they had no need for their own clothes, except if they had to leave the convent for personal or emergency reasons, which would often be years after arriving at the convent. They will therefore have been very much outdated and dowdy, and that is my understanding of where the word comes from. Really old-fashioned and dowdy – nunty!
from Tracy Ann Carter
Letters Ed responds: Crikey, you lot are digging pretty far back! This letter seems to refer to Pete Green's 2003 article, Things you only know if you're from Grimsby 2: the word 'nunty'
Thanks for chipping in. We'll make sure Pete reads this.
Bork on
I was sent a link to an article from the Grimsby Evening Telegraph which in turn and led me to the Grimmo dictionary. A couple more for you that it triggered me to remember from my childhood ...
Poe = poo, "number 2", defecate
Bolly = a ball-bearing used as a marble, highly prized, especially big ones
Bork, to have a bork on = be in a stroppy mood
Shreddies = underpants, alternative to kegs
Jourum = a confused mess
from Ian Kendall
Letters Ed responds: thanks Ian, another one for Pete Green as he was also behind the original Grimmo Dictionary some fourteen years ago.
Bork on; monk on; benny on; cob on; mardy... is there another local diallect with so many terms for essentially the same thing? Does this say anything about us?
Psychic or summat
Buy your tickets now at £20 as Grimsby Town will be in the play-offs and get promoted this season guaranteed. You can bet your house on it.
from Sandy Clarke
Letters Ed responds: Why include this letter now? Because Sandy sent us it two months before the play-off final and printing it any earlier might have jinxed it.
Nah, of course not, it was meant to be!
A stadium, really?
in the draft Plan, the council said: "Given the likely prominence of a new stadium, the council will expect its design to be of high quality, specifically respecting the distinctive character and context of the site's location." Councillor David Watson, portfolio holder for environment, said "All of the borough's brownfield sites have been allocated for development and although we are not yet able to pinpoint a site for the relocation of Grimsby Town Football Club, plans are progressing. We are currently assessing the feasibility of six potential locations."
I'll be surprised if the club relocate in my lifetime, with a council like ours, which:
- Built an outdoor arena in Cleethorpes which is hardly used all year;
- Allowed iconic Winter Gardens to be knocked down so we could have some more retirement flats;
- Built a theatre/concert venue in an area with no pubs, restaurants within a 2 mile radius, and has subsequently attracted very few up and coming bands or shows unless you like Jimmy Carr and Johnny Cash tribute acts;
- Knocked down a great indoor pool with diving boards and built another smaller pool with no diving area;
- Decommissioned various libraries and closed floors in the Town's central library.
We have missed the boat and might as well redevelop BP.
from Martin Robinson
Letters Ed responds: Thanks for writing about this Martin and please accept our apologies for taking so long to reply.
Maybe our promotion will be the jumpstart which is needed to spur the council into action. Did you see the speech by NELC Council leader Ray Oxby where he reiterated the Council's commitment to moving on with it? We've heard it and read it before of course but let's see what happens.
Danny Butterfield is Brian Butterfield's son, don't you know
In response to your article, I was one of those children in 1998 at the play-off final. Dad took me, it was my first ever football match (other than at school), and I struggle to remember if I did understand. I didn't really remember living in Waltham, where perhaps if I'd been there longer, it'd all have made more sense. As it was, stood on the Wembley steps, in awe of the two towers, I didn't even want an ice cream. A seven year old refusing an ice cream?
But I knew in my head Danny Butterfield was the best player in the world. We scored, I celebrated. My dad seemed rather excited and happy, but I suspect part of him thought, "I just don't think you understand." At school, like you say, ridicule! Ridicule for supporting a team in the lower leagues, even though we were higher up then. I always had the backup of us beating Liverpool at Anfield with that überGoal from Jevons. That even worked at uni!
So now, living in Gloucestershire with my fiancée, I haven't yet had the chance to get to BP. Lincoln, Kidderminster (RIP), Cheltenham and Forest Green Rovers are what I've managed so far. FGR being about 10mins away. So now, it's the fiancée that doesn't understand, but even she saw what it meant on Sunday. Time to save up for FIFA 17, which is the first thing my brother mentioned after Nathan's goal.
UTM!
from Hamish Charters
Letters Ed responds: Hi Hamish, many thanks for your letter, we're glad to see Grant's writing inspiring folk to write in. Good look with converting your fiancée and make sure you get along to Blundell Park next season. My recommendation is to make a day of it - a walk along the beach followed by haddock and chips at Steel's (do not go 'jumbo' on your first visit!) before walking to the ground along Grimsby Road. The potential of any future spouse will never be truly understood until you've done this together.
Re: Danny Butterfield – cracking player for sure but maybe too early in his Town career to get the nod for a Wembley appearance. You should pop down the M5 next season and see him at Exeter City where he's player/coach.
Thanks a lot to everyone who took the time to write and of course thanks to everyone who bothered to read our stuff. Everything we write here is just opinion rather than hard facts, so feel free to tell us when we're right and when you think we're wrong. Maybe write an article for us? You can also comment on Cod Almighty articles through our Twitter feed (@codalmighty) and Facebook page too if you're that way inclined. We've stood down the semaphore chap we had on a retainer so if you were planning on using that then don't bother, you've missed the boat.