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…
A drop o’ Nelson’s blood
A short while ago, my son, who is in foreign parts, as they say, started winging me snatches of sea shanties over the internet. “Listen to this one, mum”,…
Hearts of oak
We pass them by with barely a thought, yet they’ve been here far longer than any of us. They'll be here long after we’ve gone. The mighty oaks. “Uh oh,…
UFOs, Aliens and the Mowing Devil
Going through the lockdown box-set options, I considered, for a brief second, starting again with the "X Files". Better sense prevailed (namely "Spooks"), but the thought stuck in my mind.…
For the benefit of Mister Kite….
…..there will be a show tonight - on trampoline. The Hendersons will all be there, Late of Pablo Fanque’s fair - What a scene! Another lyric for the baby…
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
I am a true baby boomer. I grew up with the sound of the best popular music ever, as the background to my teenage life. Heavy-rock, prog-rock, glam-rock, blues -…