While I was clearing my father’s house I found a platform ticket for… Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyllllantysiliogogogoch. Yes, I still have it. My brothers remember my dad stopping the car outside the station on holiday and the short argument that followed; rain hammering on the car roof and my mother getting out and running across to buy aContinue reading “Sixty Years Ago”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Inside the Wall
This was our first day in Chester. Not very impressive weather, but it matches our first view of the city itself. We were staying about five miles out, relying on the Park & Ride to get us in each day. No problem with the system, the bus or the drivers – £2.50 to ride aroundContinue reading “Inside the Wall”
‘Monty’ at the Maltings
I blame Tom Cox. In one of his books he mentions attending an event in an old chapel lit by lanterns in which an actor recreated the experience of M R James telling his ghost stories to his colleagues. I remembered hearing about this, and it was a quick job to trace the company –Continue reading “‘Monty’ at the Maltings”
Inspired by Art
High time I came back to writing a blog. I’ve spent too long head-down in serious work – making progress on the novel that took third prize in March and helping to get the new shower completed at home. Blogs are fun to write, and I’m in the mood for more fun. What else I’veContinue reading “Inspired by Art”
That Scottish Drama
Interesting times at the Scottish Association of Writers’ Conference 2024. Half of the awards were announced on Friday and half on Saturday, with the winners of the short form writing being asked to read out their work to the assembled crowd. That’s enough to put you off entering the competition in the first place. YouContinue reading “That Scottish Drama”
Now you (don’t) see it…
March and April have been busy times, though looking back, it’s hard to see what I was doing. Writing, yes; doing all the peripheral jobs for Himself as he worked on replacing the shower; taking the first batch of seedlings from the propagator and setting them up in pots in the unheated greenhouse (and thenContinue reading “Now you (don’t) see it…”
Quick, March
I am still hammering away at the 29 Plays Challenge, which leaves me not a lot of time for much else. It hasn’t been so inspiring this year. Partly because the briefs are repeats of previous years’ briefs, and there’s a one in five chance of picking up a brief I have already written aContinue reading “Quick, March”
One More Time
As February rolls into view, I have those three little words on my mind. Twenty-nine Plays Later. The good people at The Literal Challenge have been running this marathon write-in for ten years, and they have decided that ten years is enough. Once more, and then no more. Initially, they said they were keeping itContinue reading “One More Time”
For Max
Today would have been Max’s nineteenth birthday. Two years ago today he and I walked up the garden together. He leapt up onto the raised beds, followed me around and ran back down the garden with his tail straight up in sheer joy. He hasn’t made it to nineteen. I left a lantern burning overContinue reading “For Max”
Self-Defence for Gardeners
There’s been some long gaps between postings this autumn and winter. So what have I been up? In brief – a lot of writing, a most enormous amount of wall-building and not enough gardening to save us from a Zucchini Tsunami and the Giant Monster Squash. The wall in question is the second wall forContinue reading “Self-Defence for Gardeners”
