We finally moved from the awful flat to a house we all called ’76’. My brother could now come home to be educated. 76 was close enough to 88, my grand- mother’s house, for her to help out when Willie, my mother, had to work late. Unless one has never lived in a terrace house… Continue reading The Terraced Wedge
Category: General
Talk of Parties
“ANY FOOL CAN COOK ” – a certain party stopper. We were entertaining old friends to dinner, we had all eaten and drunk well, the conversation was slowing and some guests started to eulogise the meal and others felt left out if they didn’t – we all knew my wife Sophie’s excellent cooking capabilities. I… Continue reading Talk of Parties
Willie And The Suitcase
My mother’s nickname was Willie, and you can imagine the confusion in small minds when my children referred to ‘Granny Willie’ – but that’s our family way. Willie was one of those who constantly find themselves in alien situations, mostly because of a determination to right wrongs – a sort of latter day, female Don… Continue reading Willie And The Suitcase
What Goes On Beneath Our Feet Part 1
I write these two pieces to draw attention to those men working underground, in risky and filthy conditions, who are taken too much for granted. The 2nd, a story I wrote, on an occasion when I really did think I might drown, when the stanks – timber boards – holding the city’s water eased with… Continue reading What Goes On Beneath Our Feet Part 1
What Goes On Beneath Out Feet Part 2
I, a bricklayer have been instructed to examine the main drainage culvert beneath the quiet dark streets of our sleeping city. All afternoon a joiner and two men have been erecting a temporary sluice gate they call a stank to hold back the waters of the whole city which will be collecting as I work.… Continue reading What Goes On Beneath Out Feet Part 2
A New Industry
This is a plea for sanity. The promulgation of theories on Environmental-Whatever, Global Warming, Ecology etc., you name it, is a new industry, rapidly being built and for no sane reason – its only product is a bandwagon upon which all the politician are scrambling for fear of being thought uncaring of the state of… Continue reading A New Industry