I am often in awe of great wordsmiths who write profound lines in poetry, hymns and songs. George Matheson, a blind Scottish minister of religion wrote a famous hymn on the evening before his sisters wedding.  Mattheson had lost his sight aged twenty, while he was trianing for the ministry and engaged to be married. …

“A society grows great when old men plant tress whose shade they know they shall never sit in” Greek proverb” Over the years, I have become a bit of a collector of profound sayings.  The other day I read this saying from Greek philosophy and it struck a chord with me, particulalry in the light…

There is a sign not far away from where I live, a  bit like the one above, which flashes a red angry face in an intimidating manner at motorists who dare to break the speed limit as a clear sign to everybody around that a criminal has scant disregard for the cildren in the school…

In the world, I believe that there are two kinds of people, early birds and night owls and I fall very much into the first category.  I love early mornings and can get through a huge amount of work before the rest of the world wakes up and since the dawn of the digital age,…

I have never been a great lover of parties. I know, that makes me sound like a bit of a misery and I put it down to the fact that I have never really enjoyed surprises, I like to know what to expect and even now have a dread of the unexpected. One of the…

For about thirty years of my career, my Christmas was dominated by the Boxing Day Sales, not that I can ever remember going shopping on Boxing Day. For the first ten years of my working life, I worked in the wholesale trade, selling children’s clothing to retailers, ranging from small shops to department stores and…

Over the years, community Carol singing has been an integral part of my Christmas experience. The first time I ever went Carol Singing, it was with my dad straight after the Church Carol service, we walked around the village and ended up at one of the big houses, where we received hot drinks and mince…

The Christmas television advertisement campaigns have become huge business in recent years as our biggest retailers fight to get the best advertisment for a particular year.  One of my favourites was from one of our major  supermarkets a few years ago, who simulated the famous scene from WW1 in the trenches, when for a few…

Looking back to my early childhood, I can remember going to bed on Christmas Eve and when we woke on Christmas morning, the front room of our house was decorated with a small Christmas Tree, a few baubles, some fairy lights and a couple of lengths of tinsel.  We also had a paper streamer that…

This almost insignificant roundabout on the A15 approximately twelve miles north of Lincoln will be navigated by thousands of people every day and until today, I confess, I didn’t even know that it was called Caenby Corner.  This roundabout will have a special place in my memory until my dying day.  One Saturday in August…