TIME “Time is flowing like a river, on and on to the sea”. This was the haunting lyric in a song from 1980 by the ‘prog rock’ band, The Alan Parson’s Project. It came into my head for lots of reasons over the past few weeks, not least of all because for me as A. […] Continue reading → 
“SO, GOING FORWARD!” “SO, GOING FORWARD, LET US BE CLEAR”, (such is the parlance of the day) just because I am seventy one years old, white and have a pension it does not automatically follow that I am an inveterate supporter of the current U.K government. Perish the thought. In fact my longevity allows me […] Continue reading → 
ANYWAY, ANYHOW, ANYWHERE. (A song from 1965 and probably the best single ever. More of which later.) In these febrile times of pandemics and irrationality one needs to get out. I did and it was this song with its optimistic lyric, pounding drum beat and slashing guitar which came into my head to sustain me. […] Continue reading → 
“LOOSE CANNON, LOOSE ENDS, STRANGE DAYS” “The world is too much with us late and soon”. Back in April I drew on these words by Wordsworth to encapsulate the feeling of being overwhelmed by our contemporary malaise. Now in October I draw on them again as his words carry even greater foreboding. All the evidence […] Continue reading → 
WILD THING ‘Wild Thing’ was a top ten hit in 1965 for a west country ‘group’ called The Troggs. Not many people, even those of us of a certain age, realise that The Troggs achieved more top ten hits than other luminary outfits such as the Who and Bruce Springsteen. It must have sunk into […] Continue reading → 
“THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US” Nothing could be more true on this day, April 28th 2020. More people have died from the coronovirus pandemic in the UK than did so in the wartime blitz of London and more in the USA than perished in the Vietnam war. These are just two brute facts […] Continue reading → 
It is often said that certain moments in ones life are recalled by way of the music that was current at that particular time. For me schooldays chat was about Beatles singles then the 1970’s followed and albums took centre stage. And what albums they were with their arty sleeves and more significantly their resonating […] Continue reading → 
William Blake, painter, poet, craftsman and engraver, was a Londoner.; the “supreme poet of his native city.” (1) How fitting then that a massive mural incorporating one of his poems adorns the end of a building in Peckham. The words ring out: “The sun does arise, And make happy the skies; The merry bells ring […] Continue reading → 
April 2nd saw the first swallow arrive: early. Too early for its own good in fact as it was greeted the following day by an inch of snow. By the 5th, however, there had been a melt and a bright and breezy day appeared which was just right for a cycle run over to Hethpool […] Continue reading → 
MOMENTS IN TIME COME TOGETHER She doesn’t know it but I have a lot to thank Alys Fowler for. Regular readers of this site will recognise her as the gardening writer for the Guardian who inspired my recent garden makeover. It was her description of wild flower meadows in Romania and her tips on how […] Continue reading →