Don’t Mention It
There you are, having a nice quiet discussion at a dinner party or at the local, when someone opens up their over-wide mouth and raises one of those ‘do not mention’ burning issues that not only divides opinion but can Read more »
Humphrey Walwyn
Socially Aware Wedding
After many months of ‘will they?’, ‘won’t they?’, my cousin Dahlia has finally decided to get married. For most of our family this is the long-awaited signal for general rejoicing, but for me it’s the time to enter a state Read more »
Slippin’ and Slidin’
We all have particular hates in life. My sister hates a messy kitchen, my dog hates getting up in the morning and we all hate going to the dentist. My particular hate concerns skiing – largely because I’m no good Read more »
All Wrapped Up
We all know by now that there’s just too much plastic thrown away every day. As the great David Attenborough showed us with dying albatross chicks and turtles, our oceans are becoming a huge polystyrene soup with added floating plastic Read more »
Bring on the Angels
My first stage appearance was at the age of six—not exactly a starring role but a solid and supportive member of the cast. Supportive because my job was to lean on the cardboard stable door to stop it falling over Read more »
Laws to Leave Behind
It’s a general truth that the more complex an organization, the more regulations it needs to be able to function. This is particularly true of the EU. Amid all the Brussels sprouting and to-ing and fro-ing, there are loads of Read more »
Are we nearly there at the end yet?
As another North Korean missile soars high over Japan and plops somewhere into the Pacific amid a global chorus of anger, I take a quick look at the calendar. My-oh-my! The Cuban Missile Crisis took place exactly 55 years ago Read more »
Ban Everything
Well, if they’re all talking about custom tariffs, foreign imports and border controls, then so can we. There are lots of things that should clearly be prohibited. Some of these are obvious like illegal drugs and the odd nuclear weapon Read more »
What shall we talk about
Apparently, not that much. Talking is a dying art form. Human beings no longer chat to each other: they prefer to text or Facebook each other even if they’re in the same room. Like many of us from an older Read more »
Disneyfication
I read that trouble continues to bubble in Cornwall where English Heritage is accused of commercialising Tintagel Castle, the legendary birthplace of King Arthur. In recent months they’ve commissioned a sculpture of Merlin carved into the rock face plus an Read more »