Homeward bound Dear friends, Christopher Nolan’s epic new film “The Odyssey” powerfully depicts the pull of home, after years of war. In Ukraine, the war and destruction continues, with thousands displaced, and in France and Spain many are forced by nature’s wrath to leave their dwellings. Communities are broken. Will they ever be re-made? Can our connections with time and place be…
System failure Dear friends, I wonder if you remember the famous Windows “blue screen of death”? Something had “gone wrong” in the computer’s system, and it would freeze up, leaving you with a sky blue screen, a useless keyboard, and, now and then, some kind of error message. The only thing for it would be to restart the whole machine with the…
For the beauty Dear friends, It is the last week of the school term for many. Spare a thought for teachers, working through the heat, and their charges, who’ll be leaving for other schools, or moving up into a different class next term. Endings, and beginnings, and a time of rest and refreshment ahead of the changes to come. “He has made…
Land of Heat and Glory Dear friends, Congratulations to the England squad for carving into the Mexican defence like steak on the barbecue of the Azteca stadium. In the place where Diego Maradonna of Argentina hand-balled a knock out goal against us in the same competition forty years ago a measure of justice and redemption for English football was earned, and that…
The Call Dear friends, Yesterday (Monday 29th June) was a “double Feast” day. It was the day when you could celebrate St Peter and St Paul together, as we might do at Checkendon, or just St Peter by himself (which is called Petertide). This latter feast is perhaps more widely celebrated, not least because it is the main season in the calendar…
The Crumbling Centre Dear friends, We are continuing to witness the era of the self-purging Government. Politics appears to be now just a race to be the “least unpopular”. Please, please, if anyone is listening, we just want the “least incompetent”. The combination of generational national problems, an inflated and overblown media, and a febrile public blown here and there by social…
On Test Dear friends, It is exam season. Students up and down the country are sitting papers of all kinds. Written papers, practical assessments, sometimes even the dreaded “viva voce”. GCSE’s, A levels, Degree finals, Dissertations, Master’s, Bar exams, Professional examinations. Qualification, accreditation, authorisation, refreshers, life is full of tests, as necessary rehearsals for the stresses that will come, and (one hopes)…
Angels in ordinary. Dear friends, I’ve not met an angel. Or, at least, not met one in such a way that I can look back and say “that was an angel.” I do however, know someone who believes that they did, with complete conviction. This is a very sensible person, a lawyer, even, not in the least prone to “wackiness”. I don’t…
The Green Dear friends, The English village has a number of features which form the traditional “glue” for its society. There are suppliers of food or drink, such as a shop, cafe, pub, bakery and so on, around which people congregate according to their means or their leisure, whether in time or money. There are the businesses, nurseries and schools, all of…
Shingle Bank Dear friends, At the northernmost tip of the Isle of Man, you can park your car at the edge of the vast stretches of shingle that comprise the Point of Ayre, and, if it is a clear day, look north across to Scotland, away over the water. The channel is deep, and the huge ferries from Belfast ply their cargo…