School for Life October 15, 2025 - Last night I watched a documentary about the life of Canadian actor, John Candy*. All I really knew about Candy was that he was a large man, who died at the age of forty-three. However, Trains, Planes and Automobiles is one of my favourite films so I decided to give it a go. Candy was… Read More
And They Lived Ever After October 1, 2025 - Einstein is credited as saying “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” In 1965 my father gave me a copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Unusually, there is no dedication. Instead, in wobbly handwriting are the words “Sunday… Read More
Just a Barefoot Farm Boy September 19, 2025 - In 1982 I graduated from the University of Reading and began a six month internship with Herman Hall, an educational psychologist in New York. Herman worked in private schools in the Carnegie Hill district of Manhattan. Having subsequently spent several years in inner-city schools in London, it struck me that, whether financially privileged or socially… Read More
Call Me by My Name August 27, 2025 - Thea has an enduring interest in names. She knows the name of the postman (both her own and ours), the Tesco delivery man, the bin man, the waitress at the local cafe and, since, Sunday, the names of the Italian waiters at L’Artista in Letchworth. I am ashamed to admit that Dan and I have… Read More
A Beam to a Dream August 5, 2025 - Earlier this week, our 4 year-old granddaughter told us, in a tone of great earnestness, that there was something she really wanted but she didn’t think her parents would agree to it. We imagined something brightly-coloured and made of plastic, another princess doll perhaps, so we were both surprised to hear that she wanted ....… Read More
Build It and They Will Come: The World’s First Garden City June 18, 2025 - The Hertfordshire town of Letchworth entered my vocabulary in 1971. I was twelve years old and my father thought it would be a good idea to send me to boarding school – either to one in the United States, which was his first choice, or to one in the UK, a three hour drive from… Read More
Another Blank Holiday May 26, 2025 - Today is a Bank Holiday in the UK, often referred to as the ‘late May’ or the ‘Spring’ Bank Holiday. This distinguishes it from the ‘early May’ Bank Holiday and the August ‘Summer’ Bank Holiday. My American husband once asked me why all our public holidays are referred to as ‘Bank’ holidays and, quite honestly,… Read More
The Call of the South April 21, 2025 - Antarctica and the Moon have long existed as magical places in my imagination. Empty, desolate and far away, no nation has successfully laid claim to either one. There are no settlements on the Moon and only research stations and field camps at the South Pole. Antarctica is the highest continent on the planet, as well… Read More
The Equality of Greatness March 22, 2025 - This week, John Allman ‘Paddy’ Hemingway, the last of the WWII fighter pilots, died at the age of 105. Born in Dublin, Hemingway came to England in 1938 and joined the Royal Air Force. At the age of 21 he fought in the Battle of Britain, a conflict which claimed the lives of more than… Read More
Swiss Watch Your Step February 12, 2025 - The Swiss do things well. They do things really well. And, sometimes, they do things a bit too well. A few months ago I was on a bus in Zurich, struggling to purchase a ticket at the machine. My coin was either damaged or no longer legal tender. The error, of course, had to be… Read More