Monthly Archives: May 2020

Self-effacing forebears

Posted on 26th May 2020 by Ian

Albert Luxton, my mother’s maternal grandfather is an elusive figure. Perhaps, like many veterans of conflict, he spoke little of what he had seen. He died in 1955, in modern times in terms of records, but the records that remain … Continue reading →

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Home baking

Posted on 25th May 2020 by Ian

Week 10 of lockdown and there are still gaps on the shelves of the supermarkets. The stock of toilet rolls has been replenished; antiseptic wipes and bleach can be easily bought; there is a good supply of dried pasta; tinned … Continue reading →

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When you’re going to live forever

Posted on 24th May 2020 by Ian

Of course, we knew about death. It was the 1960s, the Second World War was only a generation previously. In our own small community, there were people whose sons and husbands and brothers had not come home. War deaths were … Continue reading →

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White goods

Posted on 23rd May 2020 by Ian

Moving to a council house when I was six years old was a step up in the world. We still had an outside toilet, but we did have a bathroom, with an enamel bath and a wall-mounted washbasin, instead of … Continue reading →

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Bring back the traffic jams!

Posted on 22nd May 2020 by Ian

The Friday evening of the spring bank holiday weekend, the beginning of the school half-term holiday, in normal times there would be a flood of traffic into the West Country. On the M5 motorway, there would be tailbacks at Bristol, … Continue reading →

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