Bob Speer
‘I arrived in April 1939 in Cox Green, then a small village outside Maidenhead. My parents ran a small garage there with just one pump, but from the photographs that survive they radiate an innocent joy and seem untouched by Read more »
Author Archives: MV
UpFront – 02/20
Reading Humphrey Walwyn’s column this month I can’t help thinking that there is a lot to be said for a bit of pampering and spoiling. The New Year always brings so many suggestions for life changes that it’s often hard Read more »
People in Food and Drink – Jamie Smith
Jamie Smith spent his weekends with his grandparents in Chideock. He always found the village a great place to be. Little did he know, years later he would come to live there and be part of the heart and soul Read more »
People at Work – Claire Wrixton
Nestled at the bottom of Colmer’s Hill is the charming Symondsbury Estate Manor Yard, where visitors can eat and shop for local wares. The newest shop on the block is Wrixton-Smyth Creations, owned by Claire Wrixton, local jewellery designer. Long Read more »
Pampered and Spoiled
After all that loud and frantic festive activity throughout December and ongoing parties in January, I expect you’ve been longing for a good rest. A bit of peace and quiet to allow the body and soul to recuperate. Some of Read more »
Murmurations and Memories
It was the video that clinched it! I’d read the reports of starlings gathering in their thousands at sunset over Chesil Beach but when I saw the video of their murmuration and the liquid patterns they carve in the sky, Read more »
Ki Aikido – Natural Energy
Sensei Eileen Honeybun has been teaching a Japanese Aikido form in the village of Winsham for 28 years. Fergus Byrne has been to meet her. In the Jubilee Hall in Winsham in South Somerset, with its impressive high ceiling, oak Read more »
A History of Science in 20 Objects
At the end of last year the Institution of Engineering and Technology published an article with this title in its publication Engineering and Technology. The article was written by Mary Cruse who has just published a new book An Illustrated Read more »
February in the Garden
Early last month I was in the border cutting down a Molinia, this grass species is less stiffly-sturdy than it’s cousin the Miscanthus, and among the masses of cut stems, at ground level, I found eleven (yes, 11 ) bright Read more »
Vegetables in February
It’s all kicking off again! Well…just about. We will begin to sow our first seeds this month, starting off with peppers, tomatoes, beetroot, lettuce and other salad leaves (like broad beans for tips, mustards, kales, chervil), shallots, spring onions and Read more »