Wall to wall coverage

click photo to enlarge

It may have escaped your notice, especially if you've been living on Mars or in the United States, but there's a soccer tournament starting soon. If you're not a big fan of "the beautiful game" then you might like to consider taking a holiday in either of these places for a few weeks. Because, let's face it, that's the only way you're going to avoid the wall to wall TV coverage that's about to be unleashed on most of the planet when the World Cup starts this weekend.

The Fleetwood Arms pub in Fleetwood, Lancashire, has it's own wall to wall coverage already in the form of England flags and other football paraphernalia. This patriotic and fanatical display is designed to attract donations to a charity that suppports the local children's hospice. It's also a bit of in-your-face advertising for the pub itself. For the benefit of the uninitiated, the elongated, inflatable, red, white and blue figure with Crouch on its chest is an affectionate tribute to England's 6 feet 7 inch striker, Peter Crouch. The only other face to appear on these walls is that of someone called David Beckham, whoever he is!

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen