A little piece of English perfection

I remember my childhood - a heady mixture of innocence and enthusiasm, where the future was the next five minutes. This was long before the days of my adolescent health problems and back when I had a feeling of both myself and the world being bulletproof.

Of course pretty much wherever any child grows up in the world; summer leaves some indelible memories emblazoned in the mind like the sun that shone in them. A couple of weeks ago I had the rather pleasant experience of getting the chance to relive one such memory again.

I was playing chess for Yorkshire in a church hall situated in a rather picturesque English village. Outside the sun shone brightly, the temperature was in the low 20s and a gentle breeze just took the edge off the heat; and made it a glorious summer day.

Outside the back of the hall there was a suitably large village park. Emanating from it was the happy sound of children playing amongst the trees and on the park's slides and swings. Across the other side a game of village cricket was taking place with 11 fielders and 2 batsmen dressed in pristine white. All around people in deckchairs with picnic hampers filled to the brim with sandwiches and cold drinks; politely applauded good shots and the fall of wickets. This picture was occasionally added to by the gentle tune of an ice-cream van playing, which was always closely followed by squeals of delight from excited children - It was a little piece of English perfection.

I have had little to raise my spirits in 2009, but I can honestly say that the whole scene brought a not inconsiderable amount of joy to my heart for a few minutes. It was like I was 7 years old again and all the cares of the world had simply been washed away.

Ah Nostalgia - It isn't what it used to be...