Following the crowd

I left the house I am staying in to follow the crowds who were converging on the football ground at Loftus Road in Shepherds Bush, West London. It was 5-15pm and Queens Park Rangers were at home to Manchester City. I only had to walk 200 yards.

I lived in nearby Holland Park in the late 70s and used to come to watch Rangers when they were contenders. I even appeared on the pitch at half-time on two separate occasions to demonstrate frisbee. I distinctly remember when waiting in the tunnel to go onto the pitch, Brian Clough walked down the tunnel only feet away from me, as he went to deliver his half-time speech to his Nottingham Forest team. Another time, I appeared with Stanley the Wonder dog, who seemed to live to catch frisbees. I even got paid! Those were the days.

Tonight was good natured with small groups of fans chanting and singing, stalls selling burgers, yellow-jacketed security staff marshalling ticket-holders and several pairs of police horses, just in case.

The big lights were flooding the ground, leaking on to odd places, through gaps between the stands., as here on the houses. After the game had started, I asked these police riders if I could take their picture, which they were happy for. The man in the road stayed to feed the horses, and I'd noticed quite a few people drawn to touch and stroke them. Nature seems so far away here, and for me it feels very empty when not surrounded by the rich natural history we have at home in Stroud.