Author Archives: Ian

The things that last

Posted on 3rd January 2025 by Ian

A suggested video on a social media site was of a yellow-fronted diesel locomotive approaching a railway station.  The briefest of searches would have produced thousands of such images from lines the length and breadth of Britain. Is there any … Continue reading →

Posted in This sceptred isle | 4 Comments

Unexpected intelligence

Posted on 1st January 2025 by Ian

Perhaps it was the discovery that bees could count up to four that made me think about intelligence in the natural world. A friend still doubts the studies of Queen Mary University, London that shows the mathematical ability of bees, … Continue reading →

Posted in The stuff of daily life | 4 Comments

Not a sparrow falls

Posted on 30th December 2024 by Ian

There was one of those Christmas quiz shows on television.  The quizmaster was Richard Osman, the man who used to be on Pointless but who then became a bestselling crime writer (a case of verification of the Biblical maxim, to he … Continue reading →

Posted in Out and about | 2 Comments

Why Betjeman was wrong about Christmas presents

Posted on 26th December 2024 by Ian

 . . . those tissued fripperies, The sweet and silly Christmas things, Bath salts and inexpensive scent And hideous tie so kindly meant John Betjeman’s poem Christmas, motivated by his desire to emphasise the religious, is dismissive of the gifts … Continue reading →

Posted in Unreliable memories | Leave a comment

Missing George Martin

Posted on 24th December 2024 by Ian

Christmas Eve meant visiting the forebears, placing Christmas wreaths upon their graves Pitney first. A small neat, medieval church tucked into the side of the hill. Clem Hill and his wife Ella, Clem dead in 1972, Ella seven years later. … Continue reading →

Posted in Out and about | 2 Comments