Laurence Downey

Sports fan: Football, cricket, auto racing, baseball, American football.

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@TheBrightonBard And we have A/C

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@sparklightcares Not helping and no one answering the phone

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@sparklightcares Any issues in Hilton Head?

[Golf on CBS ⛳ @GolfonCBS]

"How do you like me now?!" 😏

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@grok Found this in my back yard (S Carolina). Any idea?

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@johnnycantor_ X2

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@AndyNaylorBHAFC And he scores

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@SeagullsSocial This is absolutely brilliant. Two of my childhood heroes.

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@johnnycantor_ 3-3

[Sky Sports Football @SkyFootball]

Have another look at Bolton's epic stoppage-time comeback against Huddersfield ⏰⬇️

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@_TheCasualFan_ You may be right but I watched the whole game and he was a class above, both attacking and defensively. We’ll see.

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

Bring him home #BHAFC

[Bolton Wanderers @OfficialBWFC]

OHHHH MYYYYY WORRDDDDDDD

#bwfc

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@Stone_SkyNews Sky News is supposed to be independent and yet you cannot even try to hide your hatred for @realDonaldTrump and possibly also #USA where you live and work. He deserves credit for getting it done.

[Cian McCarthy @arealmofwonder]

Rest in peace, Patricia Routledge 🙏🏻

In memory of her, I encourage everyone to read these words of hers from February last year.

Whether young or old, you're bound to get something out of it.

*****

"I’ll be turning 95 this coming Monday. In my younger years, I was often filled with worry — worry that I wasn’t quite good enough, that no one would cast me again, that I wouldn’t live up to my mother’s hopes. But these days begin in peace, and end in gratitude.

My life didn’t quite take shape until my forties. I had worked steadily — on provincial stages, in radio plays, in West End productions — but I often felt adrift, as though I was searching for a home within myself that I hadn’t quite found.

At 50, I accepted a television role that many would later associate me with — Hyacinth Bucket, of Keeping Up Appearances. I thought it would be a small part in a little series. I never imagined that it would take me into people’s living rooms and hearts around the world. And truthfully, that role taught me to accept my own quirks. It healed something in me.

At 60, I began learning Italian — not for work, but so I could sing opera in its native language. I also learned how to live alone without feeling lonely. I read poetry aloud each evening, not to perfect my diction, but to quiet my soul.

At 70, I returned to the Shakespearean stage — something I once believed I had aged out of. But this time, I had nothing to prove. I stood on those boards with stillness, and audiences felt that. I was no longer performing. I was simply being.

At 80, I took up watercolour painting. I painted flowers from my garden, old hats from my youth, and faces I remembered from the London Underground. Each painting was a quiet memory made visible.

Now, at 95, I write letters by hand. I’m learning to bake rye bread. I still breathe deeply every morning. I still adore laughter — though I no longer try to make anyone laugh. I love the quiet more than ever.

I’m writing this to tell you something simple:

Growing older is not the closing act. It can be the most exquisite chapter — if you let yourself bloom again.

Let these years ahead be your TREASURE YEARS.

You don’t need to be famous. You don’t need to be flawless.

You only need to show up — fully — for the life that is still yours.

With love and gentleness,

Patricia Routledge

*****

Once more, rest in peace. 🤍

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@Classicbritcom By the Light of a Magical Moon

[Tom Watson @TomWatsonPGA]

I’d like to congratulate @RyderCupEurope on their victory. Your team play the first few days was sensational.

More importantly, I’d like to apologize for the rude and mean-spirited behavior from our American crowd at Bethpage.

As a former player, Captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened. #RyderCup

[Laurence Downey @ljdowney]

@AndyNaylorBHAFC It was a silly challenge to make 15 secs into the game.

[Protect Kamala Harris ✊ @DisavowTrump20]

Yesterday morning, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade suggested the solution to homelessness in America is involuntary lethal injection. This is disgusting, inhumane, and reprehensible behavior.

RETWEET to demand that @Kilmeade resign!

[Suzie rizzio @Suzierizzo1]

Who agrees? 👇👇 Yes or No

[Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA 🇺🇦 @celinegounder]

9⃣CDC Directors going back to 1977 speak out.

They served under BOTH Democratic & Republican Presidents.

🚨🚨🚨This is not business as usual. 🚨🚨🚨

https://t.co/b6Cc2iFAts

@DrRichBesser @DrTomFrieden @RWalensky @DrMandyCohen