Culture

Beowulf

7th June 2021 Going Postal 0

Beowulf is min namen It was a recent post about zombies tearing off arms (of which more later) which reminded me of the three year bane of my life when I read English Literature – [more…]

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…]

Britain’s Forgotten Railways – The Stainmore Railway – part 1

7th June 2021 Going Postal 0

My grandfather spent his working life as a fireman on the railways and my father, having grown up living next to a busy railway line, was a big railway enthusiast so it’s perhaps not surprising [more…]

The Swaling, Part Fifty Eight

5th June 2021 Always Worth Saying 0

Back in London, I struggled to touch base with my colleague, Miss Natasha Williams, the other half of my nascent Operation Swaling, neglected by myself as I was sent north to play my part in [more…]

Rough Growing In A Pandemic (The Scottish Question)

1st June 2021 Colin Cross 0

The weather has been atrocious. In many ways it’s been a problem in the greenhouse, tomato plants are stressed, evidenced by the yellowing lower leaves and my red onions have bolted, caused, I’m sure, by [more…]

The Avila Gold

1st June 2021 Grimy Miner 0

The Avila Gold is a novel by David Westheimer, who also wrote, amongst other things, “Von Ryan’s Express”, later made into a very good film, with Frank Sinatra in the eponymous role. The Avila Gold [more…]

The Swaling, Part Fifty Seven

29th May 2021 Always Worth Saying 0

In the Sleescale constituency office of Major Sir Fergus McDee MP, I have read out from my Royal and Industrial Insurance Company notebook a list of names inscribed on a nearby mining tragedy memorial. I [more…]

Postcard from Romania – Part Three

26th May 2021 SharpieType301 0

Part Two of the Postcard from Romania saw me waxing rhapsodic about the Museum of Pharmacy at the Mauksch-Hintz House in Cluj. After a fantastic visit, when we spent hours marvelling at the extraordinary collections, [more…]

Wolf Country: A Spiritual History of Iran

24th May 2021 cynic 0

Introduction Paropamisidae, Arachosia, Gedrosia, Hyrcania…what strangely mellifluous names were given to the provinces of the Persian Empire conquered by Alexander, whose name became synonymous with evil in the Iranian mind. Hyrcania had echoes even in [more…]