Henry returned home and went underground to produce drawings of working life at Wheldale Colliery.

You can chose your friends but you can’t chose your rugby team.

Sometime, during the early months of 1961, my father took me “down the lane”, to watch my first game of rugby. He took me to see Castleford play Hull Kingston Rovers. My memories of the occasion are scant but I do remember that Castleford won the game and that Harry Poole played for Hull K.R. and Alan Hardisty played for Castleford.

Alan developed into the finest player to ever represent Castleford, and he had a memorable career. However, more importantly, his dad worked at the ground on match days and he allowed me to sit in the main stand for nowt.

Since that day I have been a fan. I have fond memories of catching the bus from Preston Corner to Castleford, where first of all my father would take me to the local pet shop to see a chimpanzee that resided there. Then it was a walk along Wheldon Road, stopping to buy sweets at a corner shop and then onto the game.

Unlike many arenas, Castleford’s stadium has not changed much over the past 50 years or so, although it was renamed ” The Jungle”. If Doctor Who ever paid a visit the Doctor would think that the Tardis had landed here before.

For several weeks I had been looking forward to going to see Castleford Tigers host the new world champions, St. Helens. I was not alone. A crowd of around 10 000 squeezed into the Jungle, including many who had travelled across the Pennines to support “The Saints”.

Rugby League is relentlessly rough and brutal sport. It takes a lot of courage to play the game. The Tigers played tough and started brightly but it was the Saints who roared into a lead and went on to win the contest.

The Tigers were left to lick their wounds, leaving their fans to wander back to their homes, downcast and crestfallen.

Oh well, never mind. It’s Wigan next. We’ll give them a mauling.

A very fair city.

It’s not very far away.

The people are lovely.

It is very beautiful.

And there are lots of pubs.

A chilling place to visit.

The Easter Rising of 1916 was pivotal to the eventual emergence of an independent Ireland. At the time support for independence was not strong, indeed many thousands of Irish men were wearing British army uniforms and fighting in the trenches of Europe. However the events surrounding the seizing of the General Post Office on Sackville Street and the response by the British authorities changed opinions.

The British army crushed the rebellion within a few days. Large areas of the centre of Dublin were obliterated by shelling and hundreds of innocent civilians were killed.

In the weeks following the Rising, hundreds of Republican sympathizes were arrested and imprisoned without a civil trial. The leaders of the Rising were doomed. Following court martials, several were executed by firing squad.

The deaths of Eamon Ceannt, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett, John Macbride, Roger Casement and others had a profound impact on public opinion. Support for Irish independence grew.

Most of the executions took place in the Stonebreaker’s yard at Kilmainham Gaol.

If you want to feel the power of Irish history then visit Kilmainham Gaol and stand against the wall in the Stonebreaker’s yard.

You can also find out so much more about Irish history by joining one of the many walking tours of Dublin. I joined two of them and they were both excellent.

A visit to this iconic venue is a must if you enjoy the black stuff.

Learn about the history and development of the brand and, of course, how to pour a perfect pint.

A unique venue of sports.

It is the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, (GAA), Ireland’s largest cultural and sporting organisation. Every year it hosts the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championship Finals.

The GAA, remains an amateur association. On game days scores of volunteers work around the stadium to keep spectators safe and well. Perhaps more remarkably in modern times, the players are amateurs as well, and they only play for the county of their birth. At the weekend they may perform in front of thousands of fans, but on Monday morning they will be back work.

The history of Gaelic sports is well documented at the museum situated inside the stadium. Also, the events of Bloody Sunday, 21st November 1920, when British forces opened fire on the crowd attending a Gaelic football match between Dublin and Tipperary. Several lives were lost and many were wounded.

For over 200 years the Lower Aire Valley between Castleford and Leeds was littered with coal mines. Scores of them.

Later the area became the site of one of the largest opencast coal mines in the country. As a student I worked there during my summer vacations. It was hard work but I enjoyed it and I had some interesting experiences, including when I helped to blow up some rocks to expose the coal seams.

The mining ceased 20 years ago leaving a scarred landscape and a redundant dragliner called Oddball.

Now the site is home to R.S.P.B. St Aidan’s Nature Reserve. A miraculous transformation has taken place that has created a wonderful place to visit.

The reserve has a variety of environments and wildlife to discover. Its extensive reedbeds and wetlands provide homes for Marsh Harriers, Bitterns, Water Rails, Avocets and many other birds. There are acres of wildflowers as well.

Exploring the reserve is easy. Most of the reserve is flat and there are 12 miles of paths that you can walk or cycle along. If you do visit remember to bring your camera and binoculars.

Not surprisingly the site is hugely popular. I spent a wonderful day there capped off by eating fish ‘n’ chips from Swillington whilst I sat by the banks of the Aire and Calder Navigation Canal.

Wonderful.

Visit Boston and you will not be disappointed.

There is so much to see.

Fantastic architecture, lots of history, the sea, great art, sports, wonderful food and the friendship of Bostonians.

You can even go to Harvard University.

There is so much history about Boston and its people. Its citizens have a long tradition of radical politics and issues such as independence, civil rights, emancipation and anti-slavery were debated several years before they became at the top of political agendas.

I was fascinated to find out about John Adams, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Robert Paine and Elbridge Gerry, who all signed the declaration of independence. Other notable Bostonians of these times include Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere. John Winthrop and James Otis.

The ideas and principals of these people have helped to shape modern democracy, not just in the USA, but all over the world.

Bostonians would gather in venues such as the Old South Meeting House and Faneuil Hall to debate issues of the day. It was from the Old South Meeting House that in 1773 angry colonists gathered to protest against a tax on tea. Subsequently some pf the protesters marched to Boston Harbor and destroyed 342 chests of imported tea.

The Old State House was the seat of British colonial government between 1713 and 1776. Close to this building is the site where the Boston Massacre took place. British troops shot dead 5 protesting colonists. The incident provoked support for the fight for independence.

From the balcony of this building the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed to the citizens of Boston on 18th July 1776.

Events here turbo charged the birth of the United States

20 miles west of Boston is the town of Concord. Although the town is small, it has had a huge influence on the birth and development of the United States of America.

It was here, on 19th April 1775, at North Bridge, that a militia of American citizens known as Minute Men, attacked British soldiers and forced them to retreat. This was the start of the American Revolutionary War.

Later, in more peaceful times, Concord became a hub for writers and artists, including Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson.