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…
The Editor of Herne Hill magazine asked me to write a poem about Herne Hill. No sooner said than done. In Herne Hill's embrace, a vibrant scene,Where streets unfold with charm serene.South London's gem, where stories bloom,A tapestry woven with history's loom. A gentle slope, where nature's grace,Paints parks and paths in verdant embrace.Herne Hill's…
I swim at an indoor pool every Sunday morning, except when I am away from home or have another reasonable excuse, such as I can't be bothered. Apart from walking, it is the only regular exercise I take. As I plough up and down, which I find intensely boring, I need to have something to…
It may occasionally be of interest to others but this blog is a self-indulgent exercise. Sometimes I'm just recording what I've been up to and how I feel about current events, such as Brexit and the Covid pandemic. But it has also given me a space to examine and attempt to come to terms with…
Antonio Machado (1875-1939) is undoubtedly one of Spain’s greatest poets. Not as famous as his younger, more flamboyant contemporary Federico García Lorca, his work owes less to the startling, often violent, imagery associated with Lorca and more to a calm contemplation of nature that goes back, via Wordsworth, to Virgil, Theocritus. Etc, etc. A crude…
Regular readers (both of you) know that I come back to visit the Wirral, or just "Wirral", as some prefer, most months of the year. This is where I went to school, and where my parents still live. I sleep in the same room I slept in when I was six. Space is the depository…
I was delighted to see my old friend Eric last weekend. Eric and I grew up on the same street in Upton - where my parents still live. But we had not seen each other for more than 40 years. Whereas he went to Liverpool University to study law and still lives in Wirral, I…
How often do you fail at something important, and get a second chance? As previously recounted in Useless Information, when I was a postgrad at Queen’s, back in 1983, I was picked for the University Challenge team. I've always been a fan of the show and I was fortunate to (still) be at college when…
Spain in 1975 was very different from England, and quite different from what it has become today. I felt it, as much as saw it, as soon as I got off the plane. Of course it was hot and dusty. Policemen carried machine-guns, and there seemed to be a lot of them about. There were…
The Wight Stuff 