From Wembley to Wembley
THE STORY OF THE COW
(From Wembley to Wembley with 35 stops in between)
As you can guess from the title, my adventure started at Wembley stadium. The National Stadium played host to 80,000 people as Chelsea beat Tottenham in the Carling Cup Final. I was there to catch all the action and fortunately the game didn’t go into extra time as I had to race to Brands Hatch for the British Touring Car Championship.
Once that was finished, I needed to make the 224-mile trip to Aintree for the Grand National. There were horses from far and wide and 75,000 people each day over 3 days, but it was me, the COW that stole the show!
I didn’t have time to savour the glory though as I was needed at the Cambridge v Oxford Boat Race. I wondered how the same two teams always made the final as I travelled the 220 miles to graze on the banks of the River Thames. Surely, I can’t be the only person/COW out of the 250,000 people who attended that also thought this?
After the event I returned to Brands Hatch for the British Superbike Championships and then back to Wembley for the FA Cup semi-finals. I watched the action over two days as Arsenal and Aston Villa made the finals. I would be back to help out, but I am needed elsewhere.
St James Park in London to be precise for the Virgin London Marathon. Now I know I get to many events and sneak into some great locations but this weekend I topped them all. I was sat by the finishing line providing coverage to competitors and their families. I helped so many sweaty people post photos on Facebook that I built up a sweat myself.
However, I shunned those silvery foil suits and Mars Bars and headed up the M4 to Badminton, for the Horse Trials. 200,000 people came to this event to look at the second-best animal. Can a horse help you to take payments on a card machine in the middle of a field? No! But I can, and I did.
123 miles later and I was, for once, with my own kind at the Devon County Show. I felt so at home amongst my cattle colleagues, but this was to change. The Championship Play-off and the FA Cup Final loomed. I battled the M5 and then the M4 back to Wembley.
A comparatively short hop to Epsom for Ladies Day (and the small matter of 130,000 people on Derby Day!). Then to the greenery of Bramham Park in Leeds. I was here for the Horse Trials but there was no time for horsing around because I was needed 250 miles away at Henley…phew!
I would hope to have time to recover at Henley during the Royal Regatta, but 200,000 people put paid to that. However, my hard work paid off as I was told that I provided the best coverage and capacity of all the operators. Get this, apparently vendors were taking advantage of uninterrupted transactions on their PDQ machines. I have no clue what this means but it must have been good!
My reward was a trip to Goodwood for the Festival of Speed. Again, I excelled myself and was told that I provided ‘excellent unparalleled coverage & capacity into the Corporate/ Manufacturers area’.
It was with a cheery heart and full generator that I made my way to London for Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park and then three nights with Ed Sheeran at Wembley. Then, from the home of international football to the home of golf, St Andrews (and the small matter of 465 miles between them!). The journey was worth it though as I was sat right on the final approach to the 18th green. I watched (with 200,000 others) as Zach Johnson sank the winning putt but at the back of my mind, I knew I had another long journey ahead of me.
478 miles to the familiar surroundings of Brands Hatch and more Superbikes. Then from Superbikes to Super boats at Southsea Common for the America’s Cup World Series. An incredible 250,000 people attended this event and for me it was plain sailing.
August proved to be my busiest month. I attended 9 events in August, the biggest of which was Bournemouth Air Festival. A COWtastic 1.2 million people watched the Air extravaganza and I had the best view in the house, smack bang in the middle of the beachfront. I was also just down the coast in Brighton for Gay Pride while also being at Wembley twice, Henley twice and spending a few days trying to see the Queen from St James Park.
The month was rounded off nicely with another visit to Southsea Common for Victorious Festival and then dancing the weekend away at Notting Hill Carnival.
September will see me return to Wembley five times, for the Rugby World Cup, three NFL fixtures and England V France. I will also be at Brands Hatch twice for more British Touring and more Superbikes. I was hoping to get away from all that noise but 150,000 at Goodwood Airfield will put paid to that!
Although my job is not yet finished, in total I will travel in excess of 4000 miles from March to September. That’s a very long way for a COW but, with a few months rest, I will be back in March to do it all again.
