Category Archives: memoires

What I learnt from the Olympics: my top 11 lessons #olympics #11lessons

It is 10 years since London 2012, the best Olympics ever. I was lucky to work for both the Olympic Delivery Authority who built the venues and the infrastructure and the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games who ran … Continue reading

Posted in London, memoires, miscellany, sport | Tagged , , | 33 Comments

Chalk And Parenting #memories #apprenticedtomymother

I’m redecorating the kitchen and stuck behind a radiator there’s a scribble or something that might be some sort of childhood graffito. As with many small things, it triggered a memory. My mother’s approach to child rearing had overtones of … Continue reading

Posted in Memoir, memoires, miscellany | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Skool Teekchers Wot Ay Haf Noan: part two – Maple Road Primary

My teachers at Primary school were a mixed bunch.  I’ve described the first two that I recall yesterday. Mrs Pritchard, the starched and Mrs Taylor the philosophical. Today we will move on to Mrs Greening, the serene. Mrs Greening caused … Continue reading

Posted in memoires, School | Tagged , , , | 22 Comments

Appraising #memories

I wrote what you see below two years ago and today someone asked me how I thought they were doing. We’re both volunteers and I was flummoxed. How on Earth was I meant to answer? I’ve lost the art of … Continue reading

Posted in humour, law, memoires, miscellany, work | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

How Joan Of Arc Ensured My Existence #WW1 #family

In a display cabinet, a few feet from where I am sitting is a small porcelain statue of Joan of Arc. Whilst it is over one hundred years old, it is of no particular value, especially as the head has, … Continue reading

Posted in family, memoires, WW1 | Tagged , , , , | 26 Comments

Skool Teekchers Wot Ay Haf Noan: part one – Maple Road Primary

I have been taught by the timid, the tremendous, the tired and the terrible – quite a few of the latter in truth. The best weren’t necessarily either good teachers or knew their subject but they had character – some … Continue reading

Posted in home, humour, memoires, miscellany, School | Tagged , , , | 28 Comments

Cycling for beginners

Don’t be mislead by the image above; I was useless at repairing my bike but since it was the only method of escape from the less than splendid isolation of a New Forest cottage in my teenaged years I tinkered … Continue reading

Posted in family, memoires | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Dickhead tours – revisted #holidays

A while back I posted about my experiences as a holiday organiser and why it was not a complete success. As we enter the summer holiday season I thought I might return to the subject for those of you who … Continue reading

Posted in children, families, holidays, humour, memoires, miscellany | Tagged , , , , , | 40 Comments

Avoiding Arrest #memoir #humour

I don’t think I have ever stalked anyone. Not consciously, though there was a fellow student at university who thought I was following her, which I was because I was hopelessly lost and thought, for reasons that are now very … Continue reading

Posted in humour, memoires, memories, miscellany | Tagged , , | 30 Comments

crime and punishment #times past

I’m not good at receiving punishment. I don’t deserve it. Ever. That was my mindset as a child which allied to a visceral aversion to pain and a pathological need to be loved meant I did absolutely bloody everything to … Continue reading

Posted in #timespast, memoires, prompt | Tagged | 20 Comments