Doubtful reflections on a very old story The death itself is not an unusual one. We say that it is, we tell the story of the horrors and humiliations that preceded it and dwell on the pain of the nails pressing into the flesh and the body stretched and hung and pierced as if heContinue reading “Bloody Good Friday”
Category Archives: Thoughts
Bert and Vi: a very personal story about VE Day, what it was really like and what came next
People in Camberwell had neither money nor electricity to burn, but they had wood from doors and broken window frames and shattered furniture gathered up in a pyramid, as the focus of their street party. The grocer had dug out some old bunting, somebody had found sparklers, and rockets that fizzed harmlessly. It was all a bright wonder to a boy of four, who should have been in bed hours ago but who stood in the street, barely noticed, watching the beery faces, waiting to ask his mum the only question he cared about that day: “Will Daddy be home soon?”
A Valentine’s Day story
A true story for Valentine’s Day. Happy heartbreak, kids.
What We Need Now Is Outrageous Grace
Can you love and forgive someone who appears to hate you? That is a question many of us are having to answer right now, as explored in this piece for the Independent on Sunday in 2015.
Are you afraid of heights? Better not watch this then…
Here’s what it’s like to step out of the Lantern Room at the Belle Tout lighthouse near Beachy Head in Sussex, in the South Downs National Park, and walk around the platform on the outside of the tower. Yes, the outside. A long way above the ground, and beside a four hundred foot drop. I’mContinue reading “Are you afraid of heights? Better not watch this then…”