Thursday 8th May 2025 was the 80th anniversary of VE Day. This extract from the Westminster Abbey Service of Thanksgiving programme sums it up: Right across the United Kingdom, people put…
In word association, “Easter” will often trigger “eggs”. My wife tells me that Easter eggs have rocketed in price this year; yet despite the cost they are just as omnipresent…
Is your glass half empty or half full?. As child, teenager and young adult, I was a half full person. I was a complete, over-the-top optimist. Sadly, this led to…
2022 - cut down to five feet Last week I killed a good friend. He was a beloved companion for around thirty-eight years. Now hold on! Before you call the…
A long time ago, a boy and girl fell deeply in love. No, I’m not talking about Mary and Joseph just yet: I was the boy and my wife was…
The town of Yarm, where I live, is divided by a railway viaduct, which dominates the town, cutting it in two. It’s not well-known outside the area, yet it’s one…
Back in 1966, in my first year at college, we were taught about questionnaires and how to create them. In one session, we were given a short questionnaire to complete,…
Before double glazing, the world was more accessible. We could hear the noises of life outside. The dustman, the postman, the milkman, children playing in the street, could all be…
In the recent world conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Massimo De Feo said:Some time ago I asked my wife, “Can you tell me why,…
Mobile phones changed communication. Before mobiles, telephones were static, tethered by a copper wire to a physical place. Most ordinary people didn’t own their own telephone in any case; it…