My in-laws were generous and kind, and any member of their extended family in trouble was welcome. So it was when Ned came to stay, permanently. Ned was both a character and a knowing old devil. In his late eighties when I first met him, tall, stooped, severely rheumatic, lame and rheumy of eye, he… Continue reading Old Ned
Sex & Child Abuse
I often wonder if young people, with shiny new degrees lecturing us on TV, in dictatorial terms, with such conviction, have really had any experience of the problems they are allegedly solving. I have met a number of those problems head on, at a time when they were not thought to be so. From the… Continue reading Sex & Child Abuse
College Capers
STUDY AND THE BENZEDRINE PILL For years I have known I can’t be taught, I prefer to read books and find out for myself. Whether, as I suspect, the droning of another voice hypnotises me, or whether I just nod off, all I know is I tend to get on better on my own. My… Continue reading College Capers
The Guards, Homeguard and Buck House
Presumably, as a morale booster, a genius at Whitehall thought it would be a ‘terrific idea’ for the HG to mount guard at Buck H, unaware what the poor devils would suffer at the delicate hands of the Guards’ Drill Sergeants. An edict was read out at parades. I assumed it was an honour for… Continue reading The Guards, Homeguard and Buck House
General Foremen, Fiscal Iniquity, The New Industry
The New Industry 2 On the 31st of October I posted this subject (still included) and I have already said I wouldn’t Rant – I say sorry to those looking for something different – look tomorrow, I’ll put an extra piece in. The panic is that they are at it again, using Global Warming as… Continue reading General Foremen, Fiscal Iniquity, The New Industry
‘Hells-a-poppin’
We were entering harbour with our new Skipper in charge and most of the crew were getting into what was referred to as their Number Ones, their shore-going gear, their Sunday suits, when suddenly we were thrown to the deck. We’d hit the harbour wall. It was at the time when our place at the… Continue reading ‘Hells-a-poppin’
The Farce At The Barrier
On the site of a large sewage works under construction in the 70’s I was telephoned from Head Office to be told that bombs were ‘on all the bridges’, this meant rail, road and river. I closed the site to give the men time to et home and tried to pick a route for myself… Continue reading The Farce At The Barrier
The Terraced Wedge
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
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
A Childish Adventure
The house we occupied was at the corner of a roadway leading North into the bush. Across the road on the opposite side was the residence of my inseparable friend, Mike. For the two of us, 7 or 8 years old, every activity took on the drama of an ‘adventure’. Who was the instigator didn’t… Continue reading A Childish Adventure