I GOT an insight into the job of a football physio on Saturday. We were standing quite close to the opposition dugout at the Soham Town Rangers ground when one of the visiting players went down close to the far touch line. Instead of dashing straight across the pitch, the injured player’s physio bellowed, “Get up!” He obviously had his own take on TLC.

GRIGGS of SOHAM

NO HELP

THERE are two shops on the corner of the High Street and Brook Dam Lane with almost identical colours on the fascia. One is just plain dark blue and the other is only slightly lighter with the shop’s name on it. There are a couple of other differences. The slightly darker shop is standing empty and was once occupied by Blockbuster who have given up the fight and closed down. The slightly lighter one sells papers, groceries alcohol and many other things at almost any time you might decide you need them. This business is fighting on and is being helped by being told to apply for planning permission for the sign over the fascia. It makes you wonder what some of these bureaucrats think they achieve, doesn’t it?

GOOD TO SEE

JAKE the spaniel is pleased to see that there are a few signs of a bit of a revival along the High Street in Soham. Although he quite likes dashing along at full speed, he’s also quite happy to sit and stare at nothing in particular if the person he is taking for a walk wants to have a look in a shop window. He’s also not averse to hanging about outside caf�s and looking cute in order to glean the odd biscuit. It’s never worked yet, but Jake is a hopeful sort of fellow. Consequently Jake was pleased to see that the old Grammar School on Cross Green is having some work done on it. He’s always thought that it would be an ideal site for some small, interesting shops with a bit of parking, too. He knows it’s been tried before, but hopes this time it might be a success. They might even sell biscuits!

FIRST AID

I GOT an insight into the job of a football physio on Saturday. We were standing quite close to the opposition dugout at the Soham Town Rangers ground when one of the visiting players went down close to the far touch line. Instead of dashing straight across the pitch, the injured player’s physio bellowed, “Get up!” He obviously had his own take on TLC. All was well within a few moments. Later in the game a player from each side went down, again on the far side of the field. This gave rise to a bit of entertainment when both physios, men of a certain age and shape, raced each other to the injured players to cheers from the spectators (ours won). Why am I going on about the antics of the medical staff? Well, when your team is in the process of losing 7 – 1 you need to find your amusement where you can.

SLIPPERY SLOPE

APPARENTLY, if and when (and when!) local parking charges are introduced we are told that they will be “modest charges.” I expect that is what the good people of Cambridge were told when they were brought in there, for their own good, no doubt. It has just been announced that a day’s parking in one car park in their city will soon go up to �25. This is doing everyone a favour, apparently, as one councillor said that as the rise was less than inflation it was actually a price drop. Repeat after me, “I’m a little teapot, short and stout...”

WHAT VALUE!

NOW that we have been assured that Council Tax is to be frozen we need to keep an eye on what we are getting for it. If services get less and less then surely it is an effective rise. Even though we are in East Cambs many of us from Soham use the Forest Heath dump on Depot Road in Newmarket. Like us, the people of Forest Heath have had their tax frozen, but it was decided to close the dump. Now it has been saved and the running of it has been given to a local charity who charges each car �3 to use it. Strangely enough visits are down. So people are paying the same tax and then a bit more to use the service. Let’s hope this sort of thinking doesn’t spread, although I fear it might