19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 8
May 20th, 1809. We are at sea again – on a merchant ship, Pride of Scunthorpe, under the command of Jonas Swigger, a jovial captain who was more than happy to take us bears and [more…]
Literature
Arts
Roger Ackroyd’s Question Time Review
Question Time 7th February 2019 Venue: Motherwell Motherwell used to be the steel-making capital of Scotland. Ravenscraig was the main employer of some 13,000 people by the 1970’s but a disastrous strike of steel workers [more…]
Fiction
Joe Malone, Part Three
This tale is in the near future. The United Kingdom has left and not left the European Union. The country is united by division. Everything is just like it is today, only more so. The [more…]
Fiction
Joe Malone, Part Two
This tale is in the near future. The United Kingdom has left and not left the European Union. The country is united by division. Everything is just like it is today, only more so. The [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 7
May 6th, 1809 We are part of a regular army again, pressing on to confront the French. I must confess that my old bones are aching from the furious pace of our advance. Jem is [more…]
Fiction
Joe Malone, Part One
This story is in the near future. The United Kingdom has left and not left the European Union. The country is united by division. Everything is just like it is today, only more so. The [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 6
March 2nd, 1809. We are back in Portugal at last. It has been a circuitous journey across ridges and valleys, avoiding the French troops on the lower ground, but we have managed it without any [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 5
January 19th, 1809. Our return to Lisbon will not be like our march north. Then we were travelling with an army in good order on broad roads through a populated area near the coast. Now [more…]
Arts
The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon
I was musing on the small pleasures in life this morning: hot, clean water on a cold day; the scent of flowers that catches you unawares when walking through a dormant winter’s garden; the taste [more…]