An Old Codger

I grew up in a mining village where many underground miners lived for only  a few years after they retired, if they lived to retirement. Many did not reach retirement. I often walk around the village cemetery when visiting the family grave and so many graves...

How many of us old codgers are living in daily fear of being hacked? How do you know if an email, letter, telephone call is a threat or scam, or not. We are advised to be alert, on our guard, so much so that whenever I pick up the phone and a voice asks to speak to...

This blog is about virtuous pride in one’s ability but merging on to self- idolatry. It relates to the poem BEWARE PRIDE in BOOK ONE of my books POEMS BY AN OLD CODGER and is a lesson to all entering the teaching profession. In the Autumn of 1959, I was one of the...

A brief review of how man and goods have been transported across our tiny island over the years. I marvel at what Britain has achieved. A small island by comparison, and life was hard, but they ‘put their shoulder to the wheel’ when Britain was ‘Great’ and the Kingdom...

I had to ask myself – Who or what is a celebrity?  A title constantly ‘banded about’ that’s now attributed to so many, who I find do not deserve such an accolade. A self -perpetuating group that we now know have, on occasions, included sex offenders, child...

In an earlier blog, I wrote of my family enduring three tragedies in three years. The loss of my maternal grandfather (my Taid) in the Gresford mine disaster in 1934, one of the 266 men and boys, was a national event mourned by all nationwide. The second family...

The thief of time: Miss Mona Stangley (Dolly Parton) is the owner of ‘The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas’, according to Hollywood*, offering entertainment of various kinds to many local Texans. However, Melvin P Thorpe, TV reporter, thought otherwise and publicises...

Tattoos were on the fringe of society many years ago. Not so today.  I fail to understand how anyone in the Western world would want to abuse their body’s skin with tattoos. A small heart, anchor, a word or two I can accept, but face and neck, chest and back,...

COVID-19 arrived and LOCKDOWN was considered necessary to keep Britain safe. The impact of LOCKDOWN was immense. Schools closed, workers were furloughed, and masks were the order of the day when leaving the home and venturing out to shops and healthcare providers....

LOCKDOWN followed the arrival of COVID-19, and we were all advised to stay home. If we had to venture out, it was mask on face and supermarkets limited shoppers allowed inside, one in for one out. Schools closed to protect the young, the elderly in care gave cause for...