Like most British people, I have a love-hate relationship with France. I despise the French political establishment and its obsessional pride in helping to create the monster that is today’s European Union; the culinary peculiarities of many of its restaurants; or the doubtful driving abilities of many of its urban inhabitants. On the other hand,…
My own county of Yorkshire is home to two of the largest and most strategically important US defence installations outside of North America. Travel along the A169 over the North Yorkshire Moors between Pickering and Whitby, and you’ll see the huge Fylingdales anti-missile warning station. Drive a few miles west of Harrogate on the A59…
It was mid-June in the long, hot summer of 1989 – still the best summer of my life. Fresh from completing my GCSEs earlier in the month, I went with my Dad to see a concert at the old Wembley Stadium called The Event. The stadium itself was packed out. It seemed to take forever…
‘Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, Into Dover town centre walked the six hundred. Coppers to the right of them, Commies to the left of them, Invaders in front of them. Stormed at with government shot and media shell. They had come through the jaws of Death, Heading towards the mouth…
One of the things I love about the English language is its versatility. A common observation from other Europeans is the sheer volume of words English has adopted to describe a particular thing. That’s why luminaries in the creative writing field like Steven Frank, author of The Pen Commandments, estimates that English has around 500,000 words,…
Take a look at the picture above. Where do you think this is? Could it be Stourbridge in the West Midlands? Nah, not enough Muslims about for it to be any place in the English Midlands! What about the North York Moors? Doubtful, unless we see Nick Berry whipping past on his Francis Barnett 198…
Whereas most people in Europe have never even heard of Ceuta, I’m lucky enough to have been there. Granted, I was only seven at the time and I was on holiday in nearby Tangier with my parents. However, what made the day memorable was a small child’s cuckoo clock that my Dad bought me in…
There is a scene from the film version of the comedy classic ‘Rising Damp’, in which Philip (Don Warrington) thinks he has mislaid his wallet. John (Chris Strauli), his roommate, suggests that the new tenant, Seymour (Denholm Elliott) is a con man who has, in fact, stolen the wallet. Keen to satisfy his suspicion, John…
“Down South, they had the Cavaliers. They’re the ones with the velvet knickerbockers. Up North, we were governed….we were governed by King Dick of Wigan. Buckingham Palace in those days was on Plank Lane in Leigh.” This was a passage from the late, great Ken Dodd. It was one of his hilarious monologues given on…
‘But now you’re walkin’ around like you’re front page newsYou’ve been awful careful ’bout the friends you chooseBut you won’t find my name in your book of who’s who I-I-I-I-I’m not your steppin’ stone (No!)’ These were the words sung by The Monkees in 1967 and revived by Ant and Dec’s ‘Byker Grove’ characters PJ…
This article is going to be different from my usual servings. Traditionally, I tend to write about an issue that is live in the public domain. My reason for this week’s change is the news I received some time ago about a YouTuber I follow called Charlie Veitch. Despite my aversion to the vast majority…
I always loved going down to Brighton as a kid. In my opinion, it was the best seaside resort in south east England. It had an air of sophistication, but wasn’t too salubrious. It had enough character and things to do to compensate for a bloody awful beach consisting of nothing but large pebbles. Brighton…
When the United Kingdom has its very first collective national mental breakdown in 1997 after the tragic and untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales; people essentially decamped to either Team Charles or Team Diana. Personally speaking, I was firmly on Team Neutral. I didn’t like him, his constant infidelity or his Bertie Wooster persona….
Those of you of a certain age (and I include myself in that) will have grown up with, and remember with fondness, the great Bob Monkhouse. I first became aware of Bob at the age of seven, watching a new quiz series he had begun hosting called ‘Family Fortunes’. Broadcast on a Sunday night, it…
Perhaps James Dean’s most iconic role was as the troubled teen Jim Stark in the 1955 classic ‘Rebel Without a Cause’. One of my favourite scenes in the movie is when Dean’s character confronts his mother and father after the unexpected death of a local gang leader. He’s perished in a driving competition with Dean,…