Monthly Archives: June 2021

School of hard rocks

Posted on 10th June 2021 by Ian

The school Duke of Edinburgh expedition takes place next week. The teachers supervising it are very different from Mr Light. Mr Light taught science and P.E. and was the school organizer for the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, all of … Continue reading →

Posted in Unreliable memories | Leave a comment

No aliens here

Posted on 9th June 2021 by Ian

“US officials can’t explain UFOs, but aliens not ruled out,” the RTE headline caught the eye. Such a story with have caught the imagination in teenage years when our neighbouring county of Wiltshire was said to be the UFO capital … Continue reading →

Posted in Out and about | Leave a comment

Big Brother’s birthday

Posted on 8th June 2021 by Ian

It was on this day, 8th June 1949, that George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four was published. Terminally ill, he died seven months later, an Orwell who lived into a ripe old age might have felt there was a depressing familiarity … Continue reading →

Posted in This sceptred isle | Leave a comment

A hint of harvest

Posted on 7th June 2021 by Ian

Perhaps it had been wishful thinking, but there seemed a hint of a lighter colour in the field of winter barley, maybe not signs of gold, but certainly something paler than deep green. A search of the web revealed that … Continue reading →

Posted in Out and about | Leave a comment

Archie’s Day

Posted on 6th June 2021 by Ian

Seventy-seven years ago, my friend Archie set foot on a beach in northern France. Archie was 21 years old at the time. He was from Newtownards in Co Down, the town where I knew him in my days as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Out and about | 2 Comments