October 2017 – Page 2 – For the fainthearted . . .

Three months leave for workers

“If a university lecturer deserves a three month sabbatical, then why doesn’t a coal miner?” The question was legitimate, but no-one at the meeting attempted to answer the man’s question. No-one at a Labour Party branch gathering in the 1970s would have challenged the thought that those who laboured underground in severe conditions did not merit extended leave as much as those who spent their days in airy lecture halls and book-filled studies, but everyone knew that this was not the way of the world: working class people were not …

At my Nan’s house for tea

Sitting at the kitchen table of the farmhouse, people long gone crowded into the room. The old table had returned, the one with the drawer in which the wooden spoon was kept. No-one can recall punishment with the spoon ever being administered, the opening of the drawer was sufficient to bring to order recalcitrant grandchildren.

A long settle stood against the wall, it could accommodate an unlimited number of small children gathered for the abundant teas that marked the boundary between afternoon and evening. The settle was always the preserve …

Digital dislocation

The ITN news ended and we waited for the West Country news. It seemed odd, the stories did not relate to anywhere we knew. Then came the weather forecast, would there be rain in Somerset in the morning? We were never to find out, instead the following day’s meteorological predictions for Birmingham were shared by a woman whose accent was definitely not Bristolian. Afterwards, a caption appeared on the screen, “ITV Central.”

“Oh dear,” said my sister, “Storm Brian must have been stronger than we thought, we seem to have …

Asthmatic tricks

“O dear, that’s serious. People die from that, don’t they?”

The question was reasonable, but disturbing. The words were meant kindly, but did nothing to reassure a sickly child for whom even breathing in an ordinary way was sometimes a challenge. By teenage years came the realisation that whilst very unpleasant, the asthma from which I suffered did not pose a fatal threat. It was never severe enough to require a spell in hospital, rather it nagged away, attacking unexpectedly, undermining confidence, creating a persistent state of uncertainty.

In days …

Arthur’s place

There were two hills that might have been climbed, Camelot or Avalon; the former was chosen. Whatever the road signs might say about the village being South Cadbury, the house names declared this place to be the seat of the last British king, the man who held back the Saxon invaders, the man who was the stuff of legends.

Rain and autumn leaves had mixed to make the path a muddy and slippery ascent, but the bright morning meant the car park was filled. Wise people wore stout boots and …

Real life stories

“To tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” It wasn’t just an oath in court, it was what was required of her pupils by our schoolteacher. Stories must be told without exaggeration and without embellishment; any suspicion of distortion or invention would have met with a stern rebuke. Our teacher lived in our small village, she knew our families, she knew our community, she knew our ways; to have told an untruth would have been been silliness. Veracity was not virtuous, it was a wisely practical …