Could next VOTV be delayed?

Voice of the Valley contributors like me are working away on our articles for the next issue, but now we are getting concerned that there will be no sub to edit our copy and no one to operate the hot metal presses on which the fanzine is produced. Excitement is mounting about the opening of a new giant Wetherspoon's in the seaside resort of Ramsgate which is home to the VOTV offices: Super Wetherspoons

VOTV staff can't wait for it to open so that they can get in there and have a glass or two. Columnist Airman Brown has said that he is feeling thirsty already!

I don't know what Queen Victoria would have thought of it being named the 'Royal Victoria Wetherspoons.' She might not be amused, although in fact the old Queen had a great sense of humour and can be seen on film laughing heartily. Once a rather deaf admiral came in to pay his respects and she asked how his sister was. He thought she had referred to his ship and replied 'She needs the barnacles scraping off her bottom' at which the Admiral was surprised when the Queen had a fit of laughter. She also regarded herself as something of an expert on the best sexual positions and shocked some people by advising members of her staff on this topic.

As I am in anecdotal mood, and will be opening the champagne later (not yet!) with her proud mum after my granddaughter's better than expected GCSE results, let me tell you one of my favourites ones about the VOTV editor. As he is a pillar of moral rectitude, the only scandals connected with him relate to Charlton.

Rick Everitt took a degree in Politics at Reading. I happened to know the head of department, Peter Campbell, quite well and got on with him. In the late 1980s he courageously came out as leader of the Gay Tories before this was as fashionable as it is in the Conservative Party today (I can think of two declared Cabinet ministers off the top of my head).

Charlton were playing a midweek away fixture at Derby and Rick decided that this was more important than a relatively unimportant exam. Peter Campbell had no knowledge or understanding of football and came spluttering on the phone, baffled rather than annoyed, asking how a good student could put a football match before an exam. I didn't really get anywhere and eventually had to point out as politely as possible that I couldn't be held responsible for the conduct of Charlton supporting students.

Correction

Following exchanges with Rick Everitt on Twitter, it is necessary to point out that in fact the VOTV is not printed on a traditional hot metal press in Rick's garden shed; he is not helped by a team of gnomes and elves; and the Belgian bar in Ramsgate is not frequented by Roland and Katrien.

For the avoidance of doubt, the story about the exam is apocryphal. The Rickster did miss an exam at Reading to attend a Charlton match (source The Valiant 500) which shows that he had the right priorities. It is by no means certain that it was a Politics exam. Rick Everitt did not know me at the time (there was a long gap in my support of Charlton in part related to bringing up a family of three).

I do recollect, but memory can play strange tricks after over thirty years, that Peter Campbell talked to me about a football fan who had missed an exam with some bafflement. (He was our external examiner and it was my job to collect him at Leamington station off the Reading train). He didn't specify Charlton and it could well have been someone else altogether. But, as Rick himself admits, it's a nice story and one that can be talked about over a drink at the new mega pub.