The Seascapes of Alfred Wallis
Alfred Wallis was seventy years old when he first picked up a brush and started to paint. Recently widowed, he […]
‘Suddenly rich’ – ‘Snow’ by Louis MacNeice
The Irish born poet and playwright Louis MacNeice was part of the ‘Auden Group’ sometimes referred to simply as the […]
Everybody Wants To Rule The World
‘Welcome to your life / There’s no turning back.’ One of the best opening lines. One of the best songs. […]
Flaubert’s Parrot
‘But if you love a writer, if you depend upon the drip-feed of his intelligence, if you want to pursue […]
The English Abroad: Babingtons Tea Rooms
A traditional English Tea Room by the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy! How did it get there? … It is […]
‘Passion Place’: The World of Interiors
A fortuitous moment waiting to collect a Chinese takeaway led to the discovery of ‘The World of Interiors’, the only […]
Arctic Monkeys – I Wanna Be Yours
Vacuum cleaners, coffee pots, electricity meters – how can a song populated with the determinedly ordinary things of life be […]
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out
I almost titled this ‘Letter’ ‘I Think I See the Light’ – another great song from the soundtrack of the […]
Watts Chapel
A companion piece to my earlier ‘Letter’ on The Watts Gallery, this Grade I listed terracotta chapel is just a […]
Denton Thrift: Sweetest Taboo
If you are going to cover an iconic song such as Sade’s ‘Sweetest Taboo’, you have to bring something different […]