Pottering Around

Once upon a time, long, long ago, I was going to be a potter. Seriously: a real potter making pots to sell in my own workshop. A career change from…

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Cramping My Style
Helvellyn from Red Tarn

Cramping My Style

 Nine or ten years ago I had a defining moment, never forgotten. I was climbing Helvellyn in the Lake District, one of my favourite walks. After the longest, hardest climb…

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What’s in a Name?

My sister Lesley emigrated to America decades ago. She settled in a small rural community in northern Utah called Deweyville. The residents pronounce the name “Dooeyville”. In England it would…

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Father’s Day

In the weeks preceding Father’s Day a blizzard of advertising offers the perfect gift for dad. I tell my grown-up children I don’t need or want a gift, without success.…

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EASTER

Inevitably, this post is thoughts on Easter, the greatest of our Christian festivals and a time for reflection. It’s a story of contrasts: an infinite agony beyond human endurance began…

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Flat Earth

There was a time when the Earth was flat. If you walked or sailed far enough, you would fall off the edge. Yes, really. No one was in a position…

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True Love

Ahh, true love. I hope you give and receive it. My sweetheart and I have exchanged it since our teenage years—it matures and deepens with age. I’ve used John Lennon’s…

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Bowled Out by a Googly

In prehistoric times the written word was hand-made wall pictures. Eventually marks in clay tablets appeared, later quills and ink, then steel nibs, then fountain pens (the most elegant way…

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Wider, Deeper, Greater

Anticipation is a huge part of Christmas, and memories add to it. I remember carol singing at Christmas. Groups of the braver kids would go round the estate, singing “Hark…

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