Do you recall the early days of mobile phone technology, back in the 1980s? The way I remember it, a disproportionate number of calls began with the caller (usually a man in a suit) exclaiming, “I’m on a train!” It became a cliché, but there was a practical purpose to it. As soon as the… Continue reading Word of the week: decompression
Today, for the first time since 1975, I watched the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race from the bandstands by Dukes Meadows. I have seen the boats pass by from many different vantage points over the last 43 years, always on the north side of the river, but never from here. Back in 1975 Cambridge (the… Continue reading Boat Race memories
Today is the 23rd day of Lent. We are halfway through. In various pieces over the last three years I have referred to the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, when it occurred: on 14 February last year (the first time since 1945 that it had fallen on Valentine’s Day), on 1 March 2017, and… Continue reading Halfway through Lent, 2019
Last month, for the fourth time in my life, I travelled from our corner of West London to Southampton for a family funeral. The service took place in the same cemetery chapel as each of the other three. The four departed members of that side of my family are buried close together, a husband and… Continue reading Southampton: four decades, four funerals, no weddings
My subject is memory. I assumed that those words had appeared in that order in at least a dozen pieces on this Blog, but it turns out that this is only the sixth time. The Memories Menu, and posts that have been tagged with the Memories category, contain well over 100 pieces between them, but… Continue reading The bishop and the chocolate bar
Every year my old college produces its Annual Record. As the name suggests, it’s a publication reviewing the previous twelve months of college life. The 2018 edition arrived in the post two days ago. I had been looking forward to it and couldn’t remember exactly what time of year it usually arrives. Like many items… Continue reading Annual Record
Cast your mind back 40 years, if you can. You arrive in November 1978. “Rat Trap” by the Boomtown Rats is at #1 here in the UK, having displaced “Summer Nights” by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta after its 9 weeks at the top. Jim Callaghan is still prime minister. In the US Donna Summer… Continue reading 40 years ago, and 40 years before that
