Stuck in the Middle
Where did we get to on our time travel through the stone age? Ah yes, it’s almost midnight on our imaginary clock… Readers of my previous post will recall a…
Meet the Flintstones
About a year ago, I was given a meaty challenge by one of my keenest readers. (Well, my son actually - he politely reads the posts, to please his mother).…
Pigments of the imagination
In these historic islands, we can’t often see things exactly as they’d have looked through the eyes of our ancestors. Landscapes shift, buildings age and crumble, old things disappear under…
Piers of the Realm
Here’s a nautical post to recall warmer times, in this cold weather. We spent some happy hours at the English seaside last summer. We idled away a few pleasant afternoons…
Victorian values
I’m rather in awe of Jeremy Paxman. Yes, he’s a sharp investigative journalist, and the grumpy presenter of University Challenge, who seems smarter than most of the students. But he’s…
Saint necessarily so
Last year for me, a small pleasure, in that wild west virtual saloon named Twitter, was reading the latest posts from the Reverend Richard Coles. Yes, that one - him…
The French Connection
When I was a young thing, my maternal grandmother would tell me the family tales. “We’re descended from Huguenots, you know”, she’d say proudly. Fast-forward too many years, and you’ll…
Norman Wisdom
What’s the first date you learned at school, in those dull history lessons? No question, it was of course that of the Battle of Hastings. 1066 (and All That).…
Station to station
Hello. It’s been a while. Quite a frantic few months, but now I seem to have found some time to hunt wrens again… Regular readers of this blog might recall…
Calendar Girl
I wish you all belated Easter greetings. This time last year I was posting about sacred chickens, pagan hares and Easter - or rather Eostre’s - bunnies. This time around,…
Rosie the rivetter
It’s National Women’s month, and International Women’s Day has just passed. So I thought it a good time to turn an eye upon women’s place in the world of work.…
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Well, we’ve already started the big count-down to Christmas Day. We’re opening the little windows on our Advent calendars day by day, and - especially this year - dreaming of…