Category: Family

The Have Yachts

When I was forty, two of my first cousins gave a party at my favourite Chinese restaurant, Mr Kong in Lisle Street. It closed at the end of 2015 so don’t go looking for it. When I was fifty I gave a small dinner party at my club. When I was sixty …

High Pint

Tan Hill is only about four miles due north. It is a stiff two hour climb across marshy moorland made boggier by the path being on the Pennine Way but luckily it was what passes for a perfect Summer day up here.

Memories of Malcolm House, Batsford

It’s always worth popping into Oxfam on Kensington High Street and this week I was rewarded with a paperback copy of Wait For Me!

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Razzle Dazzle

It’s about two years since I was made redundant and, you’ll be pleased to know, that there’s not much to reflect on. Oh yes there is, just one thing.

Dear Father

I rather enjoy writing letters but it often takes me a while to get round to the task. It seems that it runs in the family judging by this one written by my great-great-great grandfather.

School Reports

New Hall, as you shall see, has quite a history for an Essex school near Chelmsford. Since 1799 it has been on the site of the Tudor Beaulieu Palace.

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In Requiem

The Riddle of the Sands portends the Great War; published in 1903, written by Erskine Childers and with Carruthers as the central character. How many Carruthers does it take to make a Foreign Office? There’s one in the Korda Bros film, The Drum, another in Sherard Cowper-Coles’s memoir, Ever The Diplomat.

Soldiers and Spooks

A childhood friend lived not far away just across the Boyne in Co Meath. His parents had generously and compassionately asked a cousin to come and live with them. She was Miss Chapman, a spinster whose half-brother is TE Lawrence.

Capability Brown

My brother continues to enhance and extend the gardens at Barmeath. There is a new summer house in the walled garden, new beds and paths and a maze. He is a latter day Capability Brown.

Moth House

At Barmeath there was a Moss House constructed of moss-clad wood. In the 19th century it was a destination for picnics carried up in a dog-cart. When I was at Barmeath a few weeks ago I was interested to see that a new “moss house” is being put up on the site. The picture above… Continue reading Moth House

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