Arts
The Swaling, Part Sixty Six
“Mesdames et Messieurs, welcome to Le Salon Privé of the Lucky Saddle Craft Company, Geylang Road, Singapore. Are you ready to rumble? I said, are you ready to rumble?” Mr Tan was enjoying himself. A [more…]
Culture
Arts
Eastern Tide Meets Western Shore – Part One
I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong hills. The equator runs across these highlands a hundred miles to the north, and the farm lay at an altitude of over six [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Sixty Five
We are in a secret corridor beneath the Lucky Saddle Craft Company at the quiet end of Geylang Road. ‘We’ being myself and Mrs Dora Clogg (still clutching her handbag) both of the Spanish intelligence [more…]
Arts
Postcard from Monmouth
With the prospect of a holiday (foreign or UK) looking increasingly unlikely Mrs Reggie and I decided we would try and fit in a number of day trips to break the tedium of everyday life. [more…]
Arts
A Hard Bunch Of Old Folkers
This a true story, and for once I can be unusually precise as to the date: towards the end of July in 1983. I was living in North Yorkshire at the time, and me and [more…]
Arts
Scorn Not The Sonnet
Scorn not the Sonnet Thus wrote Wordsworth, and it’s probably true that sonnets are second only to limericks in the poetry popularity stakes. Both forms have the advantage of being short and memorable. But where [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Sixty Four
“Hostage swap.” “Hostage swap?” I repeated. “Yes, hostage swap. You’re going to be late,” said the voice at the other end of our Dumfries Street townhouse street gate intercom. I shouted to my Chinese cousin, [more…]
Arts
Cnuteneering, Part Twenty Three
Welcome back to Cnuteneering, where the possible is made more difficult by bone headed ignorance, overenthusiasm and pointy metal things being brought together. You may want to refresh your memory on the project in: Part [more…]
Arts
Kenneth Essex’s 101st Birthday Challenge
My name is Kenneth Essex and I will be 101 on 20th July 2021. I intend, starting on 11th July, to do a sponsored walk of two 500m circuits from my house, each day for [more…]