The Great Western

One of the four great friends I met in my first term at university was called Ash, who hailed from Cardiff. Here he is on the right in this slightly blurry photo. 

He was in a band called The Zane Gray Incident, and the other members of the band were John, Ric, and Phil. I still see John regularly, and Ric occasionally, but I haven't seen Phil since the one gig I played with them as their lead singer in January 1986. He's the chap in middle. 

Today, Ross, Ash, and I went across to Cardiff to meet up with Bob, and over the course of day we had a number of special guests, including Ash's brother and sister, and Phil, who joined us for a lunchtime drink and stayed with us all the way through!

It was great to see him, after all this time. He was every bit as smart and funny as I remember him. An absolute joy. 

The gig, incidentally, was at The Lion's Den, which was in the cellar of a pub called The Great Western. We had a nostalgic pint there, today.