July summary: Memories of 60 years ago; another heatwave and another PM

 Sixty years ago today Barbara and I were travelling from Lancashire to Kent for a family holiday. The roads were relatively quiet in those days, but on that Saturday they were almost deserted. The recently opened M1 motorway was eerily quiet, but the few vehicles on the road would periodically sound their horns and flash their headlights in unison. They were celebrating the four goals scored by England against West Germany in the FIFA World Cup final at Wembley.

It now seems so long ago; Barbara and I were 19 and 20 and now hat-trick scorer Sir Geoff Hurst, who. like us, was born in Ashton-u-Lyne, is the only survivor of the victorious England team, and only four of the German team are alive today.

1966: off to celebrate England's World Cup Win

The victory was expected to herald the beginning of a new era in international football, dominated by England. Unfortunately it has not turned out that way and England's 1966 triumph has now been followed by 15 subsequent World Cups, and England has not won another. Optimism that "football is coming home" at the start of each campaign has been followed by disapointment. They reached the semi-final in 1990 and 2018 and then this month hopes were that their third semi-final would surely end their disappointing run.

But the long wait continues,  as on the 15th of the month they met their old adversary, reigning champions Argentina and lost 2-1. There is not much love lost between the two footballing nations. Their first major World Cup meeting came at Wembley in 1966. England won 1-0 in a famously hostile match. Argentina captain Antonio Rattín (who died this month) was sent off, but refused to leave the pitch immediately, creating a major controversy. England manager Alf Ramsey later claimed that the Argentinians had behaved like "animals", a comment that deepened resentment and helped establish a fierce rivalry.

Argentina won the World Cup in 1986, the quarter-final being the most famous England-Argentina game, where Diego Maradona scored the infamous "Hand of God" goal and minutes later scored the "Goal of the Century", dribbling past several England players, to beat England 2-1.

So the usual disappointing end but congratulations to Spain, who dominated a scrappy final, beating a cynical Argentina 1-0, a scoreline which did not do justice to Spain's dominance. It was a poor game, which was a shame as this was a wonderful tournament with some great sporting moments.

No more so than England's scintillating encounter with France in the "runners- up" match in Miami. England endured extreme heat and humidity in Miami for their quarter final match against Norway, and they were back to the oppressive Florida conditions three days after the semi-final when they beat France 6-4 in a remarkable match, after being 4-0 up at half time. Winning the bronze medal made this England's best World Cup performance since 1966.

And talking of heat, Europe and the UK experienced the third heatwave of the year and the longest so far, at around 3 weeks in many places, with wildfires devastating many parts of Europe and the UK, leading to mass evacuations in France and Spain. Luckily, Falmouth's coastal location means temperatures are moderated by the sea, so while inland Cornwall has reached 29-30°C, Falmouth has more often been in the 22-27°C range, and the water, as always, has been the place to be.

Cooling off at a busy Falmouth beach and the tranquility of the nearby Helford River

As well as another heatwave in the UK, hot news is of a new Prime Minister, Labour's Andy Burnham, who becomes the 7th PM in ten years. If he can survive until the latest date for the next general election he would be in office for 3 years and 26 days and would be the longest serving PM since Theresa May took office in 2016, holding the position for 3 years and 11 days. Time will tell!

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