Around The World In Eighty Words : 2. SELECTION

"Good God, it's hot!", said Lucy. "Stop complaining", I replied, "and while we are at it, watch your language, they're very religious in these parts, there are mosques all over the place". "I'm entitled to my opinion", countered Lucy, somewhat defensively. "You might well be entitled to an opinion", I said, "but you're not entitled … Continue reading Around The World In Eighty Words : 2. SELECTION

HOME 13 : Looking Up At Beacon Hill

I have spent much of my life looking up at Beacon Hill. It was there when I walked home from school, there when I worked in its shadow, there as a backdrop to so many important milestones in my life. Over 70 years both it and I have changed. I have grown older, greyer and … Continue reading HOME 13 : Looking Up At Beacon Hill

Home 12 : Vale Of Tears And Laughter

This is a photograph of one of the two Sunny Vale lakes, which I must have taken almost sixty years ago. Sixty years before that Sunny Vale Gardens, Hipperholme were attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A superb 1901 film - Trip To Sunny Vale Gardens - is available on the British Film … Continue reading Home 12 : Vale Of Tears And Laughter

Around The World In Eighty Words : 1 SHORT

"What is it?", said Lucy. "It's more a question of what was it", I replied philosophically. "It could have been corn, it might have been hay, even possibly wheat; but right now it is stubble, and more to the point, it digs into your ankles". "Tell me about it", whined Lucy, "I've got twice as … Continue reading Around The World In Eighty Words : 1 SHORT

In The North

This unused picture postcard - which came into my possession by fair means or foul, originated in France in 1916. It shows a cartoon by the artist, Jean Louis Forain, and is entitled “Dans le Nord - En Esclavage” (In the North - In Bondage). The drawing contains a quotation from the proclamation issued by … Continue reading In The North

Highlight Of The Day

Lined up like a regiment of administrative soldiers, the massed highlighters take to the field, ready to accentuate the positive, even if they can’t eliminate the negative. With one stroke they stream the words and phrases, hand out awards and bestow colourful certificates of credibility.

Around The World In Eighty Words : START

You know what it's like. You've had a drink or two too many, you are on the edge of being bored, Coronation Street is not what it was, you want to broaden your horizons ...... so you get into one of those "I bet I could" conversations. I would like to say that it was … Continue reading Around The World In Eighty Words : START