A Grave Matter

On Sunday I went to check up on the family plot in Mortlake. It was last used in 1935 when Uncle G (my grandfather’s uncle, George Leopold Bryan, later Bellew), was buried there and again in 1940 by my great-grandfather’s second wife.

Lord Dundonald

I have been to Westminster Abbey twice and both visits were for memorial services; Lord Hailsham and Dame Joan Sutherland.  A few days ago I paid a third visit, as a tourist.

A Spy in the Family

In the 1980s I was introduced to Patrick O’Brian’s novels about Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin (it’s curious that the series does not have a title). Like so many others, I became hooked on the detailed descriptions of life on board a Royal Navy ship in the early years of the 19th century. The depth… Continue reading A Spy in the Family

Refugee Problem

Refugees arriving in the EU is news and provokes controversy. It even featured here in the post The Irish Madonna of Hungary. It raises a number of questions.

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Categorised as Politics

Sisi

The Empress Elisabeth of Austria is known for championing Hungary and being assassinated by an Italian anarchist in Geneva in 1898. In Ireland she is remembered for hunting with the Meath.

A Hard Day’s Walk

My walk started well. The track was shaded by trees and had re-assuring red and white GR signs to guide me – important, as I don’t have a map.

Ruins on the River

My idea of the Danube was almost entirely formed by reading Greenmantle, by John Buchan, in which Richard Hannay smuggles himself onto a chain of barges carry arms down the Danube from Germany  bound for Turkey.