Category Archives: Britain now & then

Thoughts on a morning in spring

Posted on April 20, 2016 by memoirsofahusk

Oh, what a glorious sky! So many words for blue – and yet not one will do it justice. Here in Northern World, we’re accustomed to wintry gloom and misty, damp spring days. Perhaps the word for this colour eludes … Continue reading →

Posted in Britain now & then, Lancashire & the golf coast | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Just a note … … to say that I have set up a new blogging site. Its aim is to let me carry on visiting old industries, or interesting people making things, then writing about them, without this turning into … Continue reading →

Posted on April 13, 2016 by memoirsofahusk | Leave a comment

A cliché walks into a bar …

Posted on March 28, 2016 by memoirsofahusk

Whippet-thin, the old man in a flat cap and raincoat treads his wary way across the red, pub-pattern carpet. Beneath the cap, his narrow face is pale, his cheeks cratered with dark hollows. The overall impression is grey, like the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, jaunts & going out, Britain now & then, North east England | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“Not even a pot to piss in”

Posted on March 15, 2016 by memoirsofahusk

I’ll never look at a certain shape of pot again without thinking of urine. Made of plain clay, it’s taller than you’d imagine a ‘piss-pot’ would be – and narrower round the neck than at its widest point. It stood … Continue reading →

Posted in Britain now & then, Lancashire & the golf coast, Thinking, or ranting, or both | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

‘I am half sick of shadows’

Posted on March 8, 2016 by memoirsofahusk

She’s forever enigmatic, the Lady of Shalott. A creation of Tennyson, inspired by Arthurian legend, she sits, day and night, weaving a wondrous tapestry. Although within sight of Camelot, her world is confined to reflections in a mirror. If she … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, jaunts & going out, Liverpool | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Cold in the earth – and fifteen wild Decembers”

Posted on February 17, 2016 by memoirsofahusk

The Yorkshire moors are cold, this time of year – cold and dramatic. But when the sun shines and the frost bites, when flecks of snow fly, gentle, on a breath of wind – then, they are soaringly beautiful. Is … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, jaunts & going out, Britain now & then, Yorkshire | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Ben. One word. [dramatic pause] Tampons. The future is tampons

Posted on January 23, 2016 by memoirsofahusk

It didn’t happen quite like that. But it might’ve if Mr McGuire could’ve foreseen where plastics might lead Ben. It’s in the film, The Graduate, when a squirm-inducing party’s underway. Soignée women smoking. Slippery men drinking – oozing worldly wisdom … Continue reading →

Posted in Britain now & then, Lancashire & the golf coast, Thinking, or ranting, or both | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments