In Rome and Brussels

Naughty Margaret did not confine her friendships to the Bonaparte clan, as her album reveals.

Naughty Margaret

Earlier this month I introduced my great, great great grandmother, Margaret Bryan. She kept for a few years an album with entries by her friends and today it’s time to take a look at some of them.

Whither Oil?

This chart is not slap-bang up-to-date. The price of Brent is now around $60. I never fretted unduly about oil prices; that was the advantage of being a broker.

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Categorised as Business

Take the Pine Line

Having a cheap and cheerful lunch in Venice reminded me of a day out in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence some five years ago. If you like a good train journey and a cheap lunch, read on Macduff.

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Categorised as Travel

Driving Prince Philip

Neither the very young nor the very old are good drivers. My first lesson was in a farmyard at Barmeath in my grandmother’s Morris 1000.

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Categorised as Family

Bridges

On the seven mile stretch of the Thames upstream from Hammersmith to Richmond there are nine bridges. I’ve always wondered when they were built.

Charterhouse

Friday lunch was indeed at the Charterhouse, my second visit. Last year I went in the evening for a tour of the interior. On Friday we took a look at the outside; it was jolly chilly.

Coo!

Asphodel Meadows sounds like a character in Gone with the Wind. ‘I do declare, Miss Asphodel,  – you’re pretty as a peach in that gown.’

Secret London

Battered fish, mushy peas, chips and tartar sauce followed by rice pudding with jam for lunch yesterday. Beer is available every day but wine is usually only served on Sundays. They very decently broke this rule for me so I had a couple of glasses of white Bergerac.

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Categorised as Charities