From City to Coast 3

This is the third and final “Letter from France” written after a recent short stay. Writing about Paris is in some ways like writing a love song: it has been done so many times that the temptation is to ask: why bother? The answer to both, of course, is that every relationship is unique, and,

From City to Coast 2

This is the second of three letters from France, based on a short stay in June 2017 The stretch of seaside promenade from Lion sur Mer to the port of Ouistreham on the Normandy coast is around six kilometres long. It is well maintained and provides good space for pedestrian and cyclist alike, running alongside

From city to coast 1

This is the first of three “Letters from France”, based on a short stay in June 2017. We fly into Paris across the  flat green  fields of northern France. Under a blue sky, with wisps of  cloud, they stretch on and on for miles. Ten minutes has us across them, it took armies fatal months  to cover the

Owen arrives at Dottyville

One hundred years ago today, three years into the Great War, a diffident young Second Lieutenant stepped off the overnight sleeper at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station and emerged on to Princes St. He  had only sixteen months left to live of his short life, but what he achieved in that time would bring him fame, and

Clark Gable and your Grandad

                                                                                                             

If it’s broke – fix it.

I have scarcely blogged politically since the Independence Referendum because, to be honest, I don’t much like the online atmosphere. This isn’t really to do with the ad hominem attacks from people who think name calling proves a political point – all areas of  life have  individuals seeking attention through poor behaviour. It is rather