It was 20 years ago yesterday. I took my usual route to the British Library where I had worked since 1997: Herne Hill to King’s Cross Thameslink, a station that no longer exists - or, rather, trains no longer stop there since St Pancras International opened in 2007. I emerged on Pentonville Road and immediately…
To the happy few who have followed this blow-by-blow account of our Interrail adventures, I bring good tidings. This is the final instalment. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Monday 24 June (cont.) When we're away from home for more than two nights we like to choose a "local" in which to…
It is a while since I last blogged. It's not that I've nothing to write about, but that I've been too busy actually doing things. Anne and I have just returned from four weeks travelling through central Europe: eight countries and more than 5,000 km (mostly by train, with a few Flixbuses when necessary). I…
"I am a proud Lancastrian. I hate London", said Madam X recently to a friend of mine. It is the kind of remark you could write a book about, if you were so inclined. What, if any, is the connection between the two statements? Apart from the obvious, what does it signify? If addressed to…
Is November the most miserable month of the year? Dark (even in London) by four in the afternoon, raining more often than not, and often surprisingly cold. That the clocks have just gone back hardly alleviates the gloomy atmosphere. And the knowledge that winter hasn't even started yet. Oh dear. Only a couple of months…
I've been remiss in not posting for over a month. I was going to write about our lovely holiday in Greece, (I sometimes wonder why we bother to go anywhere else) but that can wait a bit longer. After a frenetic summer, partly by choice and partly by necessity, Anne and I are now in…
One evening after school Steve called round with his latest purchase, Led Zeppelin II. I could not believe my ears. That opening riff! It was almost pornographic. Why hadn’t I heard this stuff before? Where had I been? The only pop album my parents possessed was Rubber Soul — admittedly not the worst place to begin…
Like the Christmas tree and "seasonal" cards (42 this year - not bad - including one received today from far-away East Sussex, postmarked 15 December), 2022 has been consigned to the bin. At least, that's what I'm trying to do. I hope for fewer traumas; obviously none at all would be better. When I looked…
The discovery of Herne Hill has been reported in the press. Again. It happens, on average, once a decade. Yet, like America, it was always in plain sight. Of course, Columbus, to his dying day, believed he’d sailed to the Far East, and in any case he spent almost all his time exploring the so-called…
As I've said before, I am not much of a musician. I'm resigned to the fact that, at my age and with arthritic hands, I will not get better - but I am still ambitious, within my limitations. I try my best. When One for the Wall re-formed, eight years ago, the idea was just…
The Wight Stuff 