Author Archives: Ian

Paul Selby, Hamlet, and Sebastian Faulks

Posted on 14th January 2023 by Ian

It was late-September 1977 and our English A-Level class were an unprepossessing group of Sixth Form College students. Standing at the front of the room, Paul Selby, our tutor, must have felt it was going to be a challenging two … Continue reading →

Posted in Unreliable memories | 7 Comments

A teacher who feels like Owl

Posted on 8th January 2023 by Ian

I have the First Years after lunch tomorrow. Their capacity for tangential thinking seems to become magnified when lessons are in the afternoon. Yet they haven’t yet developed the skills for diversion possessed by the Year 8 students in the … Continue reading →

Posted in The stuff of daily life | Leave a comment

Saying ‘goodbye’ to Christmas

Posted on 6th January 2023 by Ian

Walking up a city street on the evening of 6th January, there had been a large white elk peering down from the top of a wall that ran beside the street.  Perhaps it was intended to be a reindeer; it … Continue reading →

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Safe from gas

Posted on 2nd January 2023 by Ian

Apparently, Uncle Pat had begun his working life with the local gasworks and had then gained a job as a fitter with the Gas Board, converting homes to natural gas. It was a project that seemed to take a long … Continue reading →

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Going to Broodseinde

Posted on 31st December 2022 by Ian

Christmas is past and thoughts turn to summer. Sailing from Rosslare to Cherbourg on 3rd June, I am planning to pay my respects at Juno Beach in Normandy before going to the Western Front. More specifically, going to Flanders, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Out and about | Leave a comment