The valley of the rams

Last Friday, England played San Marino at Wembley. I have been to San Marino, when Dulwich Hamlet Supporters played in a tournament in Rimini, the nearest town in Italy. I bought a shirt as a souvenir, and was planning to wear it to Prescot's game away to Ramsbottom United if San Marino had scored a goal. As they did not, it stayed in the cupboard.

The town of Ramsbottom is about half the size of the Republic of San Marino. The town is in the valley rather than on the hill, and they only have one tower on top of their hill, rather than San Marino's three.

Peel Monument, Ramsbottom

The three fortress towers of San Marino represented on their shirt

Ramsbottom also has a church that started life in the Church of Scotland, but was removed from that denomination following a dispute, and is now part of the Church of England. The tower has pinnacles straight out of Gotham - if they do not have bats in their belfry, I want to know why.

St Andrew's Church

Ramsbottom United's ground is next to the East Lancashire Railway, so a few supporters were looking forward to going to the game by steam train. I had been there when we were in the North West Counties League, so I was looking forward to getting some pictures of the action with a train puffing away behind. We were thwarted, as it was the weekend of the railway's Diesel gala. Fortunately the Railway's Trackside bar at their Bury Bolton Street Station operates regardless of the traction, so we obtained suitable refreshment there, and at the Irwell Works Brewery Tap in Ramsbottom.

I would not have got my photos anyway, as the trees at the railway end had grown in the last 10 years, and now blocked the view of the trains. Whether they now suffer from wet leaves on the line is not recorded.

Stephen Longrigg

In the first half, the sky was fairly overcast, giving an even light, but the trees were to cause more than a little bother when the sun came out in the second half.

They cast a shadow up to about the half way line, so most of the action in Ramsbottom's half was in shadow. This is not a problem in itself, unless the background provided by the other half is in bright sunlight, not dissimilar to the problem when Prescot played a post season friendly at Goodison Park. Take this example, with Anthony Shinks. This is how the shot came off the camera.

I was a surprised this was in focus, as most of the action is in the left of the frame, but I think the focus point is just about over Anthony's arm. With a static subject we could sort out the framing and lighting before shooting, but that luxury is not available, we have to rely on the camera to do it for us. We can crop the image, which if anything makes the underexposure of the players more pronounced.

Of course, we can adjust the lighting, but even then, there is only so much we can do - I decided I had better pictures of the player, so it did not make the final collection.

As the shadow was cast by trees, the edges were of course not straight, which gave some better lighting effects when the players were partly in shade.

Jack Booth

I have joked that I do not recognise players when they have had a haircut, and regular followers of Prescot Cables will agree that Jack Booth has had a rather drastic one. Taking a picture of the team sheet, rather than copying it out on to paper makes it more difficult to consult during the game, and I was wondering who was playing at number 15, not recognising Jack until I got the pictures home.

For some, it is more than a matter of recognition. After a game last season, when Liam Hollett had not had one of his best afternoons, and was also sporting a particularly severe haircut, match day announcer David Williams (who has been supporting the club since 1945) approached him with the words, "Liam, you're like Samson, you've had your hair cut and all your strength has gone".

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.