Once ensconced in my new abode high above Basildon town centre (was this a metaphor for the way I viewed the town, looking down on it and its inhabitants?) my next move was to make friends. In my past where had I found friends? At school – but those days were long gone. At theContinue reading “A momentary muse upon a Muse meant soon I would meet my Muse”
Category Archives: My blog
New home in a New Town – and it really is Brutal
I had been working on the Basildon newspaper for six months before I was actually offered a flat by the development corporation. Travelling to and from Burnham-on-Crouch every day did not make it easy to form new friendships outside work. The keys to the flat, on the fifth floor of Brooke House in the middleContinue reading “New home in a New Town – and it really is Brutal”
We’re baby boomers ‘cos our parents went to war
Nowadays they talk about baby booms as occurring nine months after a specific incident – such as a national blackout – but the baby boomer generation refers to those born after the end of the Second World War. In the US they give it a 20-year span with the first boomers born in 1946, basedContinue reading “We’re baby boomers ‘cos our parents went to war”
Love her or hate her you have to recognise Sylvia Plath’s poetry
Sylvia Plath, the tortured poet of the mid 20th century, has been dead for almost twice as long as she lived yet, almost 60 years after her death, the very mention of her name can start a literary war. Plath is is as close to Marmite woman as you can get. There are very fewContinue reading “Love her or hate her you have to recognise Sylvia Plath’s poetry”
Heaney: a taste of nature
Seamus Heaney could turn a moment’s thought into a naturalistic poem of pure joy. He may be an acquired taste but he’s worth it. Oysters by Seamus Heaney/ Our shells clacked on the plates, My tongue was a filling estuary, My palate hung with starlight: As I tasted the salty Pleiades Orion dipped his footContinue reading “Heaney: a taste of nature”
Wonderful to meet you – just sign here please
We meet many people on our journey through life – most are the type we meet every day: neighbours; local business people; fellow shoppers (not so many in the last 18 months); local sports personalities; or national personalities. As a journalist it is possible I have met more people, no matter how fleetingly or forContinue reading “Wonderful to meet you – just sign here please”
Poetry Please because poetry always pleases
I have a large collection of books, even some going back to the 1800s. and amid them are many poetry books. Some I inherited from my father, school prizes won by him and by his sister, Dorothy, who died very young. There is Longfellow, Yeats, Elizabeth Barrett Browning – running on to Rossetti, to whichContinue reading “Poetry Please because poetry always pleases”
Hello, fancy meeting you here after all this time!
On my path through life I have met many people – at school, at work and in my leisure time. Some have entered my life and after a few years exited it again. Some school friendships ended when I left school (although there were a few which lasted longer – my dear departed friend RogerContinue reading “Hello, fancy meeting you here after all this time!”
You can take the boy out of Wales but you can’t take Wales out of the boy
When I joined the team at the Basildon Standard Recorder I believe my editor, Tony Blandford, saw a chance to inject some fresh blood into features about the new town. What was even better, as far as he was concerned, was that I was not just not from Basildon but I was not even fromContinue reading “You can take the boy out of Wales but you can’t take Wales out of the boy”
Love – a many splendour’d thing but very personal
Love is a very personal thing and is not always full of sweet moments. Three poets can look at love and even if they are close, with similar backgrounds, each will have had a different experience. If you lose the love of your life, no matter what the reason, it can be painful but theContinue reading “Love – a many splendour’d thing but very personal”
Robin's Nest 