Category: Vicissitudes of Life

Welsh Voices The early evening sunlight slanted through the stained-glass windows of the church, leaving splashes of colour on the faces of the audience as we anticipated the concert given by the Morriston Orpheus Choir. We overheard an official say that just over nine hundred tickets had been sold. One of the charities that would…… Continue reading Music blogpost #1

A tall, young man approached me. No. I could probably lose me; I learnt this on the course. Start again. A tall, young man approached, complete with the most modern of appendages — the wheelie-case, designed to clip the ankles of the unwary and amplify the sound of the normal perambulation of the human species.…… Continue reading Masterclass

A huge thank you to Helen for organising the reading event at the Gunmakers Arms on December 17th. Several New Street Authors read at the event, including yours truly. Thanks also to Lee and Helen for the photos.         Quite what the hand near my right ear (in both shots) is all about, I’m not…… Continue reading Reading Event: the Gunmakers Arms

In these dog-days of winter and B****t machinations, perhaps the telling of a heartening true incident that my wife and I witnessed in the autumn might help to ease you into the New Year with a smile of optimism. Our walk on the day in question took us along a section of the coastal path…… Continue reading Saving Lives at Sea

New Street Authors launched its (first) anthology on October 13th on New Street; well, not actually on the street itself but at a venue with a New Street address, number 71 to be precise,  The launch took place in the gallery space of the Medicine Bakery coffee shop, which is located at the first entrance on…… Continue reading Launch of New Street Authors’ anthology: New Street Stories

I didn’t recognise the country I lived in. A few weeks ago, a left-wing bookshop in London was trashed by a bunch of thugs, some wearing Trump masks. Madness. Shortly after this disturbing incident, a former minister of Her Majesty’s government made insulting remarks in his newspaper column about women who choose to dress in…… Continue reading School Days

Thursday 21 June 2018. At the time of writing this post, Reflections Through the Mist is a work in progress. The research for the novel that tells the story of my grandfather continues. He was captured in 1915, while he was part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France during the First World War.…… Continue reading Reflections Through the Mist

A period of about three months seems to have slipped by since I posted a blog item. I’m letting my fan down at this rate: sorry J. I hope you are still out there. Since I (self-)published my second novel in January, I have been busy with the research for my third. I hope that…… Continue reading Factfulness

Burns Matters That’s the problem with Burns having a ‘’night’ (on 25th January): once it is over, I imagine that pretty much everyone south of the border (between England and Scotland) forgets about Robert Burns, Scotland’s most celebrated poet and lyricist, and no one partakes of haggis until the next Burns Night comes around. For…… Continue reading Burns Matters

Who’s the old bloke in the image below? Oh it’s me. This was taken during my reading at the Gunmakers Arms in Birmingham on Thursday, 25th January, during the pub’s Burns’ Night celebration. I read a Scottish piece, about going home to Ecclefechan during the 1959s and 1960s. There were several readers taking part during…… Continue reading Burns’ Night: 25th January 2018