Monthly Archives: March 2021

A history in pub names

Posted on 16th March 2021 by Ian

On the A38 road between Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, there is a pub called The Odessa Inn. Gloucestershire is thousands of from the Black Sea and the pub is at a remove from Gloucester, which once had docks, so why has … Continue reading →

Posted in Out and about | 4 Comments

Going backwards with age

Posted on 15th March 2021 by Ian

Why do school students go backwards? Why do so many of the people who could hold a sensible and mature conversation in Year 7 become immature children who sit and giggle in Year 8, and diffident and uninterested teenagers in … Continue reading →

Posted in This sceptred isle | 2 Comments

Murmuring at the desks

Posted on 14th March 2021 by Ian

Do not ask children questions about what they think if you are not prepared for truthful answers, they will tell you exactly what they think, untarnished, unmoderated, sometimes without thought as to what they are saying. So it was on … Continue reading →

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Avoiding musical purists

Posted on 13th March 2021 by Ian

My colleague is a Northern Soul fan who is growing tired of Northern Soul fans. The music, he still enjoys. Some of the fans are a dogmatic group of purists who insist only their own definitions of what constitutes “Northern … Continue reading →

Posted in Out and about | 2 Comments

Living in a constant present

Posted on 12th March 2021 by Ian

“Aunt Ella said Great Aunt Annie use to have trouble with her legs. She would suddenly fall.” There seemed little purpose in trying to ask in which generation Great Aunt Annie had lived, my mother lives in an eternal present. … Continue reading →

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