Arts
Rosebud in June
Here’s a welcome to the busting-out-all-over month of June. As you know, nostalgia ain’t what it used to be. An ache for home according to the Greeks, and perfectly understandable if you were in your [more…]
Culture
Arts
Arts
Cnuteneering, Part Nineteen
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…]
19th Century
Britain’s Forgotten Railways – The Stainmore Railway – part 1
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…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty Eight
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…]
Culture
Rough Growing In A Pandemic (The Scottish Question)
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…]
Arts
The Avila Gold
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…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty Seven
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…]
Arts
Postcard from Romania – Part Three
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…]