Month: September 2024

Winter

I have read a lot of first hand accounts, not exhaustively, of European history 1918 – 1990.

Atishoo!

I read The Lord of The Rings and associated Mordor’s black volcanic plain with Morden at the end of the black Northern Line – somewhere to be avoided, at least by me as I am not a brave Hobbit.

Big Shot

My grandfather expressed consternation when I got a job in the City after university. I remember him shaking his head, saying he’d always thought I should go into the church and have a parish in the West of Ireland with some good fishing and snipe bogs … perhaps woodcock, he added hopefully.

Good Shot

There were pigs at Barmeath, before my time, but I remember the sties. In the autumn they lived in the woods eating beech mast and the like.

Fish and Ships

It is rare to see potted shrimps on a restaurant menu but the sort of clubs I go to invariably have them on their menus. I mean the sort of clubs where one eats in the coffee room, although sometimes it’s the only room where coffee isn’t served.

Castles & Walled Gardens

Government backed “levelling up” has mixed results. That’s my way of saying taxpayers’ money is usually spent as ineffectively in this area as it is for overseas aid.

Almost an Emperor, Not Quite a Gentleman

When using the lavatory in an English country house there are two things of which you may be certain: the seat will be wooden and there will be a faded copy of The English Gentleman by Douglas Sutherland.

Published
Categorised as Literature

The Royal Parks

Everyone’s at it – I mean making money out of car owners. And why not? If you can afford to run a car you can afford all the FPNs (Fixed Penalty Notices) and car parking charges. So why is parking free in the Royal Parks?