St Thomas the Apostle

Yesterday I went to The Royal Hospital, Chelsea. It was a Vets’ Service. Let’s get something clear. If you are an American you will assume it was a Service for Veterans; if not you will intuit that it was attended by uniformed members of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps.  –more–> After they had filed into the Chapel, designed by… Continue reading St Thomas the Apostle

Professor Lord Pinkrose

Professor Lord Pinkrose is a fictional character in Olivia Manning’s Fortunes of War.  Alan Bennett plays him to perfection in the 1987 BBC adaptation. He is portrayed by Manning as being self-important, self-centred, snobbish and rude. It’s interesting to discover that he is not entirely fictional.

Two Birthdays

St. Borchill is a now obscure Irish saint. She must have been better known 250 years ago as the church at Dysart in Co Louth (above) bears her name. The church was built in 1766, early as anti-Catholic legislation had not yet started to be repealed. The site is carved out of a corner of… Continue reading Two Birthdays

The Schartz-Metterklume Method

It is inevitable when thinking about World War One and the Battle of the Somme (where my Bellew grandfather was seriously wounded) to be confronted by a roll call of the dead. Memorials to the fallen are ubiquitous and rightly so. 

How Many Egg Baskets?

I strongly believe in simplifying things but not putting all your eggs in one basket is a wise adage, as I found out today, that’s yesterday you-time.

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Categorised as Business

Tally Ho!

Let’s take a break but not a Kit-Kat; let’s go to the movies. Here are a few of my favourite films: The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The African Queen (1951),  The List of Adrian Messenger (1963), The Night of the Iguana (1964) and The Dead (1987).

The Peasants’ Revolt

I give you a daily blast of hot air and you respond with cogent comments, so it’s good that there are more comments than posts. I’d like to remind you of a prescient comment made by reader, John.

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Categorised as Politics

£48.79

We are going to hear a lot about trade tariffs. For now,  I just have this contribution to the debate.

Tristan und Isolde

It’s Sunday morning and I’m reflecting on Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.

Published
Categorised as Music

Black Hole

I confess, I was in shock on Friday morning. Now I can see clearly at least one consequence of Brexit which is unavoidable.