The Pond
“Thursday last, at the pond, early morning, at about a quarter to eight. Sun grins down on me, the first sunny day in a long time. A nascent but confident Sun, full of vitality and young strength.”
Browsing: Musings
Boot in Bellagio
William Boot, he of unfortunate experiences on foreign shores, manages to find the only corner of northern Italy best left forgotten…
Strangers on a Train
“It was nearly two weeks ago. A Saturday. I was catching an evening train down to Barham. The day was damp and drizzly and the tube and station were crawling with the strident remnants of a football match.”
Malaysia Missive: Report III
“The switch at Bangkok was smooth, but the jet lag was rearing its ugly head and the floor was starting to swim.” A science-turned-English teacher reports from Malaysia…
The London Book Swap Campaign
The London Book Swap campaign is an initiative with the aim of creating a London-wide…
Malaysia Missive: Report II
We had a long weekend for Deepavali. We got a 50-minute flight to Kuala Terengganu where we stayed the night and got the 7.30am boat to Perhentian Basar, an amazing tropical island. There were monitor lizards up to three-feet long prowling around…
Malaysia Missive: Report I
“This trip has NOT gone to plan.” A well-meaning Eliot Ward writes home from distant Malaysia where, as a Cambridge science graduate, he was sent to teach…English.
Camden Lock
“I walked to Oxford Circus yesterday. Joined the canal at the bottom of Agar Grove. Reclaimed the city as only walking can. It is neither as big nor as scary as it appears.”
Day of the Jackass: Jonesy Meets Nick Clegg
“I could stab him with a cocktail stick! I’d go down in history as the man who attacked the Deputy Prime Minster with a buffet accessory.” Jonesy meets Nick Clegg in Whitehall. Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…
How to Date a Goddess
You have snagged yourself a Valentine’s date with a beautiful, mysterious, curvaceous bundle of trouble. What’s an intelligent, urbane man about town to do by way of preparation? A few words of advice from Lady Lavinia…
Nineteen and Fighting
Unless you are over 90 you will not have personal experience of fighting in a World War. To help us understand, Brain Hemingway shares extracts from the World War II diaries of his father Paddy, fighting in the RAF.
The Broken King
The sun periodically burned through the blanket of cloud so I chanced an outside table at one of the cafés on Swain’s Lane. I sat, looking enviously over at the well-heeled diners tucking into mountainous salads at Kalendar and Café Mozart.