Month: August 2020

Uncle George Remembers XIX

“At the coronation of King George VI there had been a moment of hesitation at a very important point in the ceremonies which could have been embarrassing but for the presence of mind of the then Archbishop of Canterbury (Cosmo Gordon Lang).

Daydream Believer

Quentin Letts is a prolific journalist; he’s been at it for more than thirty years. These days his mainstays are as a theatre critic for The Sunday Times and parliamentary sketch writer for The Times. Both jobs require much the same skills.

Lovely Lewes

Lewes has all the conveniences that are expected in a county town: a court house, a prison, a brewery, Waitrose and some rather fine architecture. Somehow the developers have done only minimal damage.

Oat Milk

A few years ago a friend’s son thought the future lay in coconut milk. It didn’t, at least for him. He picked himself up, dusted himself down and started all over again. If I remember I’ll tell you what he’s doing now at the end of this.

Passport to Hammersmith

The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham will shortly be enforcing restrictions on non-EU citizens entering the borough. The borough does not accept the UK’s secedance from the EU. It’s not clear if they respect the right of UK citizens to live in the borough but as the holder of an Irish passport I should… Continue reading Passport to Hammersmith

A Towering Mistake

While King Street, Hammersmith, could not be mistaken for the Champs-Élysées, 8th arrondissement Paris, Hammersmith and Fulham council do a good job looking after the tree-lined streets of our mostly Victorian borough. It’s just their idea of planting a twenty-three storey tower block outside my bedroom window that seems ill-conceived.

A Trunk Call

Four years ago my cousin took me out on the Solent on his trimaran. He asked me again on Sunday.

The Riddle of the Sands

Lord Salisbury (in the latter half of the 19th century): “It is what a farmer would call very light land. We have given the Gallic cockerel an enormous amount of sand. Let him scratch it as he pleases”. Salisbury’s assessment of the value of North Africa to the British Empire proved spot on then. So why… Continue reading The Riddle of the Sands

Published
Categorised as History

Fishing & Fighting

As you can see local residents, including me, continue to oppose the building of this tower, overlooking the Conservation Area in which we live. We are supported, indirectly, by a verse in St John’s Gospel.