Fiction
The Parrot Lady II
Her breakfast was spoiled by the knowledge that, at some point, she would have to tell the waif about the ‘team’s’ visit: not only how to break the news, but when. She decided that it [more…]
Articles by Going Postal
Biography
Trade Plating Around England, Part Four
Driving the minibus, a bit of racial tension and a near punch up. Brief recap, I spent two and a half years trade plating round England with the occasional foray into Scotland and Wales. Part [more…]
Arts
Classic Album Review: Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill
This week there will be no messing around with any Mickey Mouse, common-or-garden, Diamond certified albums – no siree. This weeks album is a proper whopper. With 33 million copies sold, lavish helpings of adolescent [more…]
Fiction
Jinnie’s Story – Book Five, Chapter Eight
Ro rang Jinnie and said she hoped she didn’t mind but she had suggested to Nigel that he and Jed should move into what had been Aimee’s office as it was much more suitable for [more…]
Culture
Postcard From Marrakech
Introduction For my 50th birthday, as I didn’t have my children all available, I decided to experience Marrakech. A lot of people recommended it, so decided it was a good time of year to visit [more…]
Book Review
Furst amongst equals
There are spy novels…. & novels about spies. Fleming, Deighton & Le Carre definitely wrote the former (& in doing so laid bare their inner classist prejudices) , whilst Ambler, Greene, & Conrad constructed far [more…]
History
African Regime Gone Bad, The Players
The Banyarwanda, the Kinyarwanda-speaking community, constituted one of Central Africa’s biggest ethnic groups, its footprint stretching from eastern Zaire to western Tanzania and up to western Uganda. At its core sat the tiny, mountainous former [more…]
Gardening
Sienna Wood House
Before I retired my boss had a beautiful 4-bedroom detached house on a private estate on the edge of Dorking. However, both her and her husband were gardeners, and their pristine garden was just too [more…]
20th Century
This Is My England, Part Eight
Look at Tolpuddle now, with its neat thatched cottages, its tall chestnuts in splendid flower, all in all as pretty an English village as ever found its way on to a Christmas card, and you [more…]