Heart: family members and memorable occasions
285. Back-tracking – the long-ago yesterdays of childhood
292. Clearly not a bus lane – upon the smallness of being
315. What is love? – Pleasure and Repentance recalled
319. A toddler’s repertoire – my youngest granddaughter, aged 2½
324. The Barefaced Night – from father’s knee to theatre director
326. Why I watch the rugby – watching television, in a pub, in 1958
344. Hello, world – my younger daughter’s birth
362. Canoeing the Thames – March madness with my son
367. Arguing weekly – debates and equations with my granddaughters
402. Coming home – loving where I live, leaks and all
404. Route canals – father and son, hitchhiking along towpaths
413. Degrees of difficulty – final university examinations
423. Remembering Gaius – on my son’s 41st birthday
437. A final resting place? – somewhere agreeably green
460. Bedroom privileges – on being a boy in the 1950s
471. Beware of the Goat – memories of living near Lytham
472. Words with daughters 1 – script-writing for a folk tale
473. Words with daughters 2 – Fayra’s perilous journey
488. Raindrops keep falling – a walk with my youngest granddaughter
494. Hospitality and tents – camping (or not) on cricket grounds
497. A glimpse of paradise – on the Thames, summer 1965
498. Two men in a boat – floating slowly down river, summer 2102
499. A-doing nothing much – from Boveney to Beckenham
509. Drinking it all in – settling in to a mews cottage
Mouth: matters of social, political and topical interest
272. Ev, Dev, Res or Rev? – thoughts on 2012 ‘-olutions’
276. Occupying the mind 12 – every grain of sand
282. Gnash null crick lum – having trust in kids and teachers
286. Penance on a pittance – exploiting the unemployed
297. Show, don’t tell – empty vessels make the most sound
302. One man’s meat – spam: a filtered history
313. Public perception – what is truth? and other questions
318. Cussed’s last stand – talking machines and China’s full employment
325. If I were Chancellor – suggestions for the coming budget
333. Drive: sadly divisive – happy news story sullied by ignorant texter
345. Timing is everything – police make early morning arrests
361. Panicked into buying – stockpiling at your local stockist
373. Plan B on planet E – hard-working bees, complacent human beings
379. Crimes and punishments – go to jail, directly to jail…
382. Gender agenda – I am an individual, not a label
392. Through a glass darkly – on cars, buses and costs
396. Dennis for head chef – better cooks needed in the kitchen of politics
409. Demonology syndrome – the twisting of meaning
419. Fair shares? – making money doing nothing
456. Unsafe deposits – the impenetrable vaults of the banks
469. Modern mythologies – sacrifices to today’s false gods
476. A discount discounted – ATOC: a cunning adversary
478. Olympicks – some games some people play
487. Job lottery – rules that apply to applying oneself
489. Olympic mind games – cool runnings
501. Word watching – the alarming ignoring of alarming warnings
Eyes: on culture and artistry
275. Room with a view – the sun, the moon and a little star
290. Art from the Arctic – of frozen blood, ice and the Tate Modern
292. Clearly not a bus lane – upon the smallness of being
301. Eye of the beholder – the graffiti art of P183, and a poem
324. The Barefaced Night – the possibilities of theatre
341. Spring cleaning – the wisdom of William Morris
348. Looking up to books – the shelf life of encyclopaediae
353. How I listen to music – from Otis Redding to Counting Crows
370. Passion plays – student drama summer school, 1969
383. Still Kicking 1 – baring my teeth and her breast
384. Still Kicking 2 – what if Dame Josephine had married Sir John…?
386. Still Kicking 3 – preparing the alter-ego
387. Still Kicking 4 – first night nerves
388. Still Kicking 5 – on tour; sunlit gigs at Matt’s shed
389. Still Kicking 6 – reviewed… and with a view to the future perhaps
391. Up, soon to be updated – lives documented every seven years
411. Museums at Night – objects ancient and modern
445. The spider on the bus – a travelling companion
453. Ledbury memories 1 – at the town’s 16th Poetry Festival
454. Ledbury memories 2 – arriving with Mike Read, May 1997
455. Ledbury memories 3 – balloons and football fans, in blue and white
461. A helpful shove – Le Tour de France and its metaphors
470. Hans Zimmer – outstanding composer of film scores
492. Roger, Houston – Curiosity; mission control; Apollo 13
505. Happy new year – from summer into autumn
Arms: people I’ve known, met, worked with; uplifting brief encounters
273. Fortunate opportunity – introduced to Charles Dickens
279. Bob Holness – memories of the gentleman presenter
284. Pedants’ revolt – Lynne Truss and the apostrophe
316. The default state – Terry Pratchett on writing
336. Missing Michael Groce – the inspiring Brixton poet
338. An annual event – Edward Gillespie, Jack Dee and an anniversary
346. Rolf Harris in Stroud – back-stage with a look-alike
358. Finding an extra level – Andy, a keen drama student
360. The DNA of Thursdays – the wit of Douglas Adams
381. The Bairstow boys – fathers, sons and cricket
406. Word games in Swindon – at the Arts Centre, with Tony Augarde
407. Comfort zones – sitting comfortably, remembering Jack Russell’s hat
410. If Poets were King – Elliott Murphy plays the Playhouse
430. All happening at once – bluff called by Robert Winston
436. Owed to Lesley Garrett – Beethoven’s Ninth: the sound check
440. Science Festival 1 – events prior to the event
441. Science Festival 2 – a satisfying draw
466. Mud and circuses – Clan Alba and other Glastonbury memories
494. Hospitality and tents – camping (or not) on cricket grounds
Head: on education; memories and observations
273. Fortunate opportunity – introduced to Charles Dickens
281. Screen test – students outsmarted in TV debates
282. Gnash null crick lum – putting trust in kids and teachers
296. Twinning arrangement – circle games and a brothers’ guile
310. Angels, and a fool – inquisitive secondary modern kids
322. Tale of Two Taylors – on bullying schoolboys
330. A global playground – an exemplary primary school
340. Alarms and excursions – fire practice: not always routine
352. Schools and uniforms – rebellion and conformity
358. Finding an extra level – Andy, a keen drama student
377. Head boy for a term – at a grammar school in Hull
394. Examinations, Paper 1 – summer term tedium
398. Alphabet quiz – for a wet bank holiday
399. Quiz answers – to the above
403. Sending a message – of mobile phones and teachers
418. Second childishness – education with the future in mind
427. An inventive colleague – John of all trades
438. Taken for a master-mug – using the correct anatomical terms
442. Their chosen fields – an ornithologist teacher; a biro-spinning boy
449. Mary had a tiny sheep – a great writing exercise
459. After the North Wall – toil takes its toll
465. Turning down jobs – offers made and decisions taken
481. Hamlet summer school – great play; sad ending
482. The posy of a ring – a cast of characters
483. Grows aslant a brook – young actors rehearse the Bard
484. Within this wooden O – all the world’s a Globe
Feet: journeys, destinations, and items with no other fixed abode
276. Occupying the mind 12 – every grain of sand
277. Singin’ in the rain – of Forest Green and the FA Cup
288. Who’d be a commuter? – Kemble station, before dawn
298. Plumbing the depths – banking on the adjustable spanner
300. The walking week: A – anticipating the daily saunter
304. Workers’ work time – students on the shop floor
307. The walking week: B – of branch, bronze and braggadocio
314. The walking week: C – cold and crisp along by the Churn
321. The walking week: D – dendrochronology, and a toad
328. The walking week: E – Eden, evolution, and eternity
332. When my lung collapsed – a few days in hospital
334. The walking week: F – finding a home for the frog
342. The walking week: G – green, growth, and generations
349. The walking week: H – history, hedgerow and horses
354. Youth employment – golf caddie and delivery boy
356. The walking week: I – ivy, infinity and interwoven
363. The walking week: J – junctions and jungle
371. The walking week: K – knots, knowledge and knockers
374. Being out at night 1 – adventures hitchhiking home
375. Being out at night 2 – happy ending, twelve years later
395. The artful lodger – the curious tale of Mick and his girlfriend
414. Torch relay, morning – in Bath, with young Quest writers
415. Torch relay, afternoon – a glimpse of the Olympic flame
416. Torch relay, evening – at the racecourse in Cheltenham
426. Street party’d out – ‘Writer on the Road’… and in the rain
428. Park picnic, part I – a Roman soldier looks forward
429. Park picnic, part II – a Latin scholar looks sideways
446. Midsomer fayre’s fare – a day of medieval merriment
447. All the wheels a stage – of trick cyclists and troubadours
479. Jobs not offered – thrice denied
464. A certain Twerton – tucked away beyond the railway line
493. Leaving the stadium – the aftermath of gigs
500. An in-between age – on reaching the dull number 62
502. Thanks for the warm-up – basketball, boccia and an adapted bicycle
503. Spirit in motion – Bath celebrates the Paralympic Flame
504. In Your Shoes – a second visit to the Time Bank
506. A Puddleduck Sunday – the annual Circuit of Bath Walk
507. Sudden movement – having decided to downsize
509. Written on the Road – a concluding summary
Hand: writing is what I do
Poetry
280. Mercenary rhymes 4 – Rub-a-dub-dub, plus two
289. Mercenary rhymes 5 – Little Bo-Peep, Doctor Foster &c
301. Eye of the beholder – Signs of the times
305. National Libraries Day – Knit One Pearl of Wisdom
311. What’s in a name? – yclept
322. Tale of Two Taylors – on bullying schoolboys
365. Famous for its ducks – Slimbridge C.C. and other cricket poems
382. Gender agenda – Problem Page
405. Village Verses – Return Journeys through fields of rape
420. Cotswold Water Park – A wildlife walk and I am an ammonite
449. Mary had a tiny sheep – a great writing exercise
452. Smoking poetry – excerpts from Death and Taxes
472. Words with daughters 1 – script-writing for a folk tale
473. Words with daughters 2 – Fayra’s perilous journey
Satire and sketches
309. Treacherous conditions – the terrorist group W.E.A.T.H.E.R.
329. Some silly stories – two pieces for children to act out
357. British Summer Tie – a word game inspired by a lost hour
369. Move Tiles – revised versions of classic films
424. The search continues – intelligent life? not on Auris-θ
Writing about writing
293. Exercise yards – planning to walk and write every day
294. Mensa Quest inquest – writing for a short-lived magazine
306. Garret, anyone…? – what to do with the attic
316. The default state – advice from Terry Pratchett
337. Comment-is-free fever – addictions and the internet
350. Improbabilities – on statistics and unlikely events
378. Being out at night 3 – the astronomer and the astrologer
422. Types of writer – a Smith Corona, an autobiography, and a crazy cricketer
448. Writer on the Road – a summer quest in Somerset
461. A helpful shove – Le Tour de France and its metaphors
509. Written on the Road – a concluding summary
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