Functional elegance......

I guess for most people of my age who were born within touching distance of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, childhood family memories will always be mixed with images of the annual Air Display…..the Fairey Rotodyne, Handley-Page 115 and the incomparable Lightning.

And fifty years on, my body still recalls the seismic aftershock of the Avro Vulcan passing within what seemed to be no more than an arms length of our house.

But for just one summer, in 1963, my fascination turned to trains. The mainline from London to the ‘exotic’ south coast passed through Farnborough. And like so many kids before, and no doubt many after, I made it my mission to collect locomotive numbers.

On looking back I guess the time spent alongside the railway embankment was pretty pointless. A few numbers written down on a scrap of paper……ten down, twelve thousand five hundred to go.

But the distant rumble. The ever increasing noise. The sense of power…..and then the thick blanket of smoke. Choking. Wiping the tears from my eyes….and it was gone. To where I had no idea.

However at the time it seemed such a good idea to write down the number……34026.

34026 - Yes Tor was a massive brute of a steam locomotive and a favourite of mine. A functional elegance driven forward by a body of power well beyond the comprehension of a small boy.

34026 took its name from the second highest point on Dartmoor. And at 619m Yes Tor is classed as a mountain.

Millions of years ago magma created deep-seated dome batholiths which over time were revealed to the atmosphere and subjected to weathering. At nearly 350 sq miles Dartmoor represents one of the largest areas of exposed granite in the UK. Some of the more durable granite has survived to form the powerful rocky crowns of the Dartmoor tors.

The area comprising modern Torquay has been inhabited since Palaeolithic times but the name originates from the ‘quay’ of the ancient village of Torre. In turn Torre takes its name from the tor, the extensively quarried remains of which can be seen by the town’s Tor Hill Road.

So it was with a mind full of history that I sat down in the Ten Tors pub just outside of Torquay for lunch. With Dartmoor to the north, dusted with a fine covering of snow and to the south, Torbay shimmering under a canopy dressed in azure.

Monday evening football to satisfy the insatiable appetite of television is a modern invention. A nuisance that we have to live with. But not something that I will ever grow to love.

And as 2000hrs approached, on Monday 3rd March, my two brothers, niece and business associate, who managed to get away from Exeter in time, joined me, to make our away following five, for the first time this season.

As it turned out quite a few more people took friends and neighbours to Plainmoor last Monday, swelling the Shots support to around 1000.

The game was tense and frenetic. The crowd passionate but intense.

Aldershot scored early on…..Torquay equalised in the second half. Then Scott Davies hit a superb volley in the last minute of injury time, to win the game.

The explosion of emotion in the ‘away’ end powerful and beyond control.

The silence on two sides of the ground, a shroud for the combined pain felt by 3500 Torquay supporters.

Yes, Aldershot Town won the ‘six pointer’ and sit proudly on top of the Blue Square Premier.

And no need for any caffeine on the long journey back to Wales. The adrenaline was pumping around my body, creating a feeling that not even a case of Red Bull could replicate.

The Second Severn Crossing, and time to reflect on the events of the night. Television cameras. An early goal. Some great saves by Bully. A Torquay equaliser. A brilliant strike by Davies. The noise…..3 points.

Was it really so easy? Perhaps on reflection Torquay did have a lot of possession. Come to think of it the ball was constantly being played long and into the heart of our defence.

I turned into our lane at about 1.30am….with my mind as clear as the sky above my head. The answer to our victory was of course founded on the all-round effort of the team. The will to win overcoming anything that the older, wiser…more experienced Torquay could throw at them.

But at the heart of the team effort on Monday was a big lad who just might have grown into his body.

Dave Winfield was indeed a ‘functional elegance driven forward by a body of power’.

And now….time to calm down and focus on Ebbsfleet, and FA Trophy semi-final on Saturday. With still a quarter of the season to go it so important that the victory over Torquay is seen as no more than three points…….