Picture the scene: You’re a young boy who’s been at senior school for a couple of months. Just by your personality and intellect, you’ve managed to incur the dislike and displeasure of the two school bullies (in this case we’ll call them ‘Jones’ and ‘Brown’). One day, Jones approaches you and start screaming about how…
A short drive from my house is one of those quintessentially British (and highly irritating) road management markings – the double mini roundabout. It lies on the brow of a hill and is indicated by a mix of signs including some large rectangular red warning signs reading ‘Double Mini Roundabout Ahead’. The position of this…
Of all the politics modules I studied at university, a second year course entitled ‘Models of Democracy’ was one of the less enjoyable and interesting experiences. Based on the book of the same name by David Held, the module covered the development of democratic ideas starting with the Athenian period in Ancient Greece. It also…
I have had an association with Glasgow since I was a kid. I first went there in the mid-1980s after a family break on the Ayrshire coast. I went again during the summer of 1990 on a school trip which I, as a Sixth Former, had been invited to join as a mentor for First…
Picture the scene: It’s late August 1963, and thousands have gathered in Washington DC in front of the Lincoln Memorial. They’ve come to see and hear the words of Dr Martin Luther King as he prepares to deliver his much-anticipated ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. Among the broadcasters invited to hear and comment on the…
I always remember where I was when I heard the news that the World Trade Center had been attacked back in September 2001. It was a bright Tuesday afternoon, and I had been ill in bed since the Sunday with a bout of food poisoning. A concerned relative phoned me to enquire after my well-being…
I’ve just returned from a lovely few days in the Lake District. Last Thursday, I recovered old ground with one of my favourite Lakeland walks for 12 miles around the Langdale Valley. It was during my time taking in the stunning scenery that I decided to do a short video about my observations on the…
Older readers of this article may be familiar with the Khartoum Declaration of 1967. Following Israel’s military victory in the Six-Day War against the combined forces of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, the declaration stipulated ‘no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel‘. It led the then Israeli Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, to…
I really didn’t know what to expect when I set off for the Unite the Kingdom (UTK) rally two weeks ago in London. I had heard rumours the event would be hijacked by those intent on fomenting trouble and violence. Friends and family were contacting me, urging me to take the utmost care. When I…
Few folk in the British Isles could reminisce about the comedy gems of the 1990s without mentioning ‘Father Ted’. Running for four years until the untimely and very sad death of its principal star, it covered the hilarious antics of three priests and their tea lady in a remote parochial house on the west coast…
It was July 1995. I landed at Belfast City Airport and made my way to a small B & B just off the Beersbridge Road for a five-day break, which included the annual Twelfth parades through the city. I was already familiar with Belfast, having been on several occasions to watch the Loyal Orders on…
Driving over Saddleworth Moor towards Manchester yesterday, I couldn’t help to be impressed as to what a beautiful country the United Kingdom is. Those moors, carpeted in purple heather under an azure summer sky, were something to behold. It reminded me of how much I love my country – the entirety of it. I’ve sat…
There is an hilarious 1973 episode of the sitcom ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em’ called ‘Have a Break, Take a Husband’. Frank and Betty Spencer, having decided to take a second honeymoon, book into a guest house in Herne Bay. Discovering they have been given a room with two single beds, Frank decides to push…
A few days ago, I was reminiscing about a trip my family and I took to Austria in the summer of 1987. We travelled overnight by coach from London to Innsbruck (due to my late Nan’s almost pathological fear of flying), and spent 10 memorable days in villages on the southern slopes of the magnificent…
It was just before 3pm on December 11th last year when I received the telephone call informing me that the man I had looked after for almost 18 years had finally succumbed to his cancer. Despite a torrid year, I had kept my promise that I would visit him until the end, so that he…