Hungarian Rhapsody

Imprint, noun 1. a mark or outline made by pressing something on to a softer substance. “he made imprints of the keys in bars of soap” 2. a printer’s or publisher’s name, address, and other details in a book or other publication.

You Can’t Get The Staff

The explorer, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, was on the front page of The Times yesterday. He caught Covid-19 on a skiing holiday and nearly lost his life. Thanks be to God, he is at home with his wife in Devon and will celebrate his 84th birthday tomorrow.

Blistering Barnacles

Richard Russ (1914-2000) and Georges Remi (1907-2000) changed their names; Richard Russ by Deed Poll, Georges Remi as a nom de plume.

Published
Categorised as Literature

Uneasy Money

“I know what I want,” said Basil. “I want to be one of those people one heard about in 1919; the hard-faced men who did well out of the war.” (Put Out More Flags, Evelyn Waugh)

Antarctic Storm

Patrick O’Brian wrote sustained passages conveying the tedium of life at sea, naval engagements and storms. Here HMS Surprise encounters a storm in the Antarctic Ocean.

Published
Categorised as Literature

Pickers

I wrote about The Picnic Papers almost four years ago. Confined to barracks I remember wistfully childhood picnics.

Steel’s List

I parted with my 1960 edition of Crockford’s Clerical Directory but found it a good home in Wales. I judged, probably incorrectly, that it was surplus to requirements in my burgeoning shelves of reference books.

Coronavirus Chronicle II

Sunday 29th March, 2020 Woke up unusually late, 7.30, feeling rather seedy. A surfeit of The King’s Ginger more likely than coronavirus. Unlike me, my iPad remembered the UK had changed to British Summer Time.