Tale 10 Part 5: Crying Into the Sprouts
Way Out West was on the television when the phone rang. It had just got to one of my favourite bits. Sighing heavily, I left Stan Laurel...
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Oct 23, 2022
Tale 10 Part 4: Crying Into the Sprouts
It wasn’t just the nature of Graham’s death which stunned us all; it was the fact that he had disappeared for good, without warning, that...
Oct 19, 2022
Tale 10 Part 3: Crying Into the Sprouts
On the 30th of July, 1966, the nation celebrated and then, three months later, on Friday the 21st of October, it mourned. Aberfan. Just...
Oct 16, 2022
Tale 10 Part 2: Crying Into the Sprouts
‘Are Nana and Grandad going to die?’ ‘Ooh, not for a long time. You don’t have to start worrying about that...Eh, look, your mum’s ready...
Oct 14, 2022
Tale 10 Part 1: Crying into the Sprouts
‘And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad’ Maud: Tennyson The fence which bordered Chris’ drive was laced with honeysuckle. After a...
Oct 11, 2022
Tale 8: Ron and the London Taxi
As much as I had been excited to see Jimmy, I couldn’t help feel frustrated that his brief visit had largely gone unnoticed. There had...
Oct 10, 2022
Tale 7 Part 3: A Cockney Rebel
During the next year, Jimmy joined the Army and was soon stationed in Germany. I was so proud, I couldn’t wait to let everyone know....
Oct 5, 2022
Tale 7 Part 2: A Cockney Rebel
You could still see patches of Lone Ranger wallpaper in Jimmy’s bedroom but most of it was hidden by newspaper and magazine cuttings and...
Oct 2, 2022
Tale 7 Part 1: A Cockney Rebel
Jimmy, my teddy bear Jimmy was my all-time hero. I even named my teddy bear after him. He was my cousin from London. He looked like a...
Sep 29, 2022
Tale 6 Part 2: Wiggy and the Scouting World
By the summer of my second camp, I had been installed as patrol leader, with Mark as my seconder. We were above Baslow in Derbyshire....
Sep 26, 2022
Tale 6 Part 1: Wiggy and the Scouting World
Like a Victorian grotesque, Mrs Greasby could have graced any page of a Dickens’ novel. Wiggy, on the other hand, was another kettle of...
Sep 14, 2022
Tale 4 Part 2: The Fenland Bobsleigh Team
(Continued.) ‘Watch out, Kenny!’ Heeding his friend’s warning, he dived sideways and landed with a squeal. Failing to find its target,...
Sep 13, 2022
Tale 4 Part 1: The Fenland Bobsleigh Team
It was the summer term. Fruit picking time. After school, a double-decker bus would ferry pickers to and from Bowser’s strawberry fields...
Sep 11, 2022
Tale 3 Part 2: The Missing Link
Map of Lincolnshire Wolds; can you spot Somersby and Bag Enderby? I swung my damp duffel bag onto my back and followed Jack across the...
Sep 8, 2022
Tale 3 Part 1: The Missing Link
Even though some families were lucky enough to own cars in the early 60s, everybody had a bike. My mum had a sit-up-and-beg model with a...
Sep 6, 2022
Tale 2: A Headless Pheasant
Mark’s dad had taken us along to our first big November shoot. As ten-year olds, we were by far the youngest of the beaters. The day...
Sep 3, 2022
Tale 1, Part 3: The Boggart and a Bag of Nails
Eddie was pulling on his jeans. ‘You and Spinach Juice stay here. Richard’ll give you a bunk up, then yer can tie the rope and lower it...
Sep 2, 2022
Tale 1, Part 2: The Boggart and a Bag of Nails
The Boggart was a white-haired giant with a lantern jaw and irascible temperament. He spent much of his time pottering about in his...
Aug 30, 2022
Tall Tales from a Flat Land. Foreword & Tale 1: The Boggart and a Bag of Nails
The first time I had an inkling that I lived in a foreign country was on a Scout trip to Derbyshire. Walking into a village shop and...
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