On the site of a large sewage works under construction in the 70’s I was telephoned from Head Office to be told that bombs were ‘on all the bridges’, this meant rail, road and river. I closed the site to give the men time to et home and tried to pick a route for myself… Continue reading The Farce At The Barrier
Month: November 2006
The Terraced Wedge
We finally moved from the awful flat to a house we all called ’76’. My brother could now come home to be educated. 76 was close enough to 88, my grand- mother’s house, for her to help out when Willie, my mother, had to work late. Unless one has never lived in a terrace house… Continue reading The Terraced Wedge
Talk of Parties
“ANY FOOL CAN COOK ” – a certain party stopper. We were entertaining old friends to dinner, we had all eaten and drunk well, the conversation was slowing and some guests started to eulogise the meal and others felt left out if they didn’t – we all knew my wife Sophie’s excellent cooking capabilities. I… Continue reading Talk of Parties
A Childish Adventure
The house we occupied was at the corner of a roadway leading North into the bush. Across the road on the opposite side was the residence of my inseparable friend, Mike. For the two of us, 7 or 8 years old, every activity took on the drama of an ‘adventure’. Who was the instigator didn’t… Continue reading A Childish Adventure
Willie And The Suitcase
My mother’s nickname was Willie, and you can imagine the confusion in small minds when my children referred to ‘Granny Willie’ – but that’s our family way. Willie was one of those who constantly find themselves in alien situations, mostly because of a determination to right wrongs – a sort of latter day, female Don… Continue reading Willie And The Suitcase
The Northover Projector
Some lunatic inventor had thought up the Northover Projector.- an enlarged version of a toy cannon I had as a child. The toy worked on the principle of a leaf-spring fixed tightly up against the back end of the barrel while one slid bullets (match sticks) into the business end. They slid down the barrel,… Continue reading The Northover Projector
What Goes On Beneath Our Feet Part 1
I write these two pieces to draw attention to those men working underground, in risky and filthy conditions, who are taken too much for granted. The 2nd, a story I wrote, on an occasion when I really did think I might drown, when the stanks – timber boards – holding the city’s water eased with… Continue reading What Goes On Beneath Our Feet Part 1
What Goes On Beneath Out Feet Part 2
I, a bricklayer have been instructed to examine the main drainage culvert beneath the quiet dark streets of our sleeping city. All afternoon a joiner and two men have been erecting a temporary sluice gate they call a stank to hold back the waters of the whole city which will be collecting as I work.… Continue reading What Goes On Beneath Out Feet Part 2
The Royal Marines
The number of ironic stories attributable to the heightened atmosphere of the ‘Troubles’ are legion, this is just another. While you read what follows, bear in mind, if you will, that I was originally English, also Protestant, ex- Navy and a civil servant working in sensitive areas, and if I had been needed at the… Continue reading The Royal Marines