Jeeves in the Offing

  Trevor was in the offing until his retirement in March and now Alistair has taken his place. They are brokers at Investec and lurk discretely in the background, like Jeeves.

Published
Categorised as Business

New in the Hood

When I drove more my motorway cruising speed was at least 85 mph so I had to keep an eye open for jam sandwiches as they were called. (Police cars were white with a red stripe.)

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.

Published
Categorised as Family

Every Object Tells a Story

I have been to two artists’ studios this week. Sir John Lavery lived at 5 Cromwell Place from 1899 – 1940. To remind, he was born in Belfast and died in Co Kilkenny in 1941, aged eighty-four. In between he was painting in London.

A Hit, a Very Palpable Hit

Last year the first day at Queen’s was a wash-out (Anyone for Tennis?). It’s a different story this year with weather so warm that I dispensed with a tie and even considered shedding my coat.

Microfinance

Time for an update on Kiva, a charity that arranges small loans to people in eighty-four countries. Small loans but they add up to almost $1 billion. You can see some of my loans above. 

Published
Categorised as Charities

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.

Books & Theatre

Underneath that pile of unread books is what I grandly call my library steps, although it came from IKEA where it is called a step stool. The pile has grown since my trip to Wales where I went to charity shops in Pembroke and LLandeilo. 

Battle of the Medway

At the MP Evans AGM last week a Dutch friend reminded me of an anniversary. The Battle of the Medway took place 350 years ago this week. The Dutch navy broke through a protective barrier (the Gillingham Line, as impregnable as the Maginot Line) and attacked naval ships anchored off Chatham.

Published
Categorised as History