Once again... we're knocking out a review of our year with lots of ups and one massive down (left until the end). We've added in-page links to posts made earlier in the year, in case you're really, really interested. If nothing else you might come away with ideas for a holiday or two. *** And…
Here we are again... bashing out a review of our year with its ups and downs. It would have been a challenge to put all this on a card. There are some in-page links to posts made earlier in the year. Or you can skip to the end if we're boring you. If nothing else…
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…
After two lovely weeks in France we headed back to London on Friday 11 April. We drove north to spend a evening in Saint-Malo, the sun emerging just as we arrived. On our previous visit we'd seen that it would be possible to walk out on the causeway to the islet where Chateaubriand is buried…
My wife plays a Brahms intermezzo on the piano while I read the Times Literary Supplement. This sickening scene takes place at our holiday home in Charente. But there are worse things to be accused of than being middle-class. We returned from France on 27 February - and here we are again. They are forecasting…
After eight years in the job, I stood down in December as Chair of the Herne Hill Society. Hardly world-shattering news, I realise. It seemed a good time to step aside and let someone else have a go - if I could find someone to take it on (which I did, eventually). Membership is increasing,…
It's really not something I like to do. Everything I've ever been or done revolts against the idea. It is like throwing away food: it's just plain wrong (and another thing I almost never do). But we have far too many, and at 65 I have come to recognise that most will never be read…
As mentioned in a previous post, I joined the British Library in January 1986 and left in March 2015, retiring at the age of 60. So that's more four and half years ago (I haven't lost my razor sharp wits) and it won't be long until I am 65. I have restrained myself from writing about…
Half Moon Lane can be chilly at this time of the year, but I am basking in the warm glow of a job well done. It's nearly a week since a very successful event at Herne Hill Station and I am still asking myself how we did it. In under six months we planned and…
When did the First World Ear end? The answer is, it depends on where you were living or stationed. It was only when I started researching Herne Hill's casualties that I realised how many had died after 1918. Often it was as a result of disease, gassing or wounds sustained during 1914-18, but many were…
The Wight Stuff 