Cycling
West Country Rides, One
It takes a week to cycle from Penzance to Berwick. It took me 40 years. Because on the way, I wanted to include every town in England, in what amounted to some two years of [more…]
Blog
19th Century
Book review: Custer’s Trials, by T.J. Stiles
Writing another biography of Custer (1839-1876) is, as Stiles says, a bit like walking round Grand Central Station trying to find a piece of floor someone hasn’t already stepped on. Such is the fascination with [more…]
Literature
1001 ways to popular parties
When clearing my parents house a few years ago I went through the process of sorting things either to be taken to my mother’s new house, kept or sent to a charity shop or the [more…]
Labour
An empty vessel
An empty vessel makes the most noise as the saying goes but in political terms an empty vessel is someone with no ideas in his, or her, head. Keith’s Chief of Staff, Morgan McSweeney, has [more…]
Literature
An Old Man’s Musings Part Twenty-Six
The Seekers were my favourite group and, playing a video of ‘The Carnival is Over’ the other day, I read the whole of the introduction which was as follows: ‘The Seekers, bathed in the warm [more…]
Animals
Larry’s diary, Week Two Hundred And Seventy Nine
Monday Good morning on this Bank Holiday Monday. It is nice and quiet here in Number Ten with only a small crew on. The girl who was on feeding duty this morning was not very [more…]
Christianity
An Appreciation Of The Papacy of Francis I
Might every age get the Pope it deserves? If so, then what of the Age of Francis I? Jorge Mario Bergoglio, once Archbishop of Buenos Aires and the latest Bishop of Rome, died on Easter [more…]
Fiction
The Past is Present, Chapter Four
The Range Rover was ready for them, Dave put the holdall with the weapons in the boot, Sally’s heart was thumping. They set off driving through the Saturday night traffic, as they drove east, the [more…]
Arts
Fabulously Flamboyant Friday: When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth Pt. 1
Greeting, pop pickers, and please be welcome to this week’s fabulously flamboyant Friday. Ah, the 1970s… A splendid decade. But they weren’t just about Ford Cortinas, Vesta curries, platform shoes, ludicrous flares, questionable facial hair, [more…]