Monthly Archives: August 2020

Farmhouse speech and music

Posted on 26th August 2020 by Ian

The farm had been called Men’s Webber Farm when my grandfather’s family had bought it. Men’s Webber had seemed an odd name, so they had renamed it Rose Cottage Farm, the farmhouse itself becoming Rose Cottage. In its tweeness, the … Continue reading →

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Late August evenings

Posted on 24th August 2020 by Ian

It is a grey evening. Somerset’s cricket match today was disrupted by persistent breaks for rain and bad light. In childhood, the closing days of the summer holidays were a harbinger of doom, it announced the imminent onset of a … Continue reading →

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Taking you on holiday is better than fixing your gas meter

Posted on 23rd August 2020 by Ian

The gas meter was not working. “Uncle Pat could help you,” my mother suggested. He probably would, were it not for the fact that it is fifteen or twenty years since he retired. Uncle Pat started out as a gas … Continue reading →

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Envying an innings

Posted on 22nd August 2020 by Ian

Siegfried Sassoon was an extraordinary character. A soldier whose reckless regard for his own safety and his sacrificial concern for his men earned him the nickname “Mad Jack,” he was awarded the Military Cross for bringing back the wounded in … Continue reading →

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Following the plough

Posted on 21st August 2020 by Ian

My cousin’s son is the image of our grandfather, so much so that I posted pictures on Instagram: one of my grandfather on his wedding day in 1935 and one of his great grandson eighty-five years later. The family genes … Continue reading →

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