An acquaintance from former times would assert that he believed that an activity could only be considered a sport if it could be undertaken wearing tweed. While it was a comment that would always prompt smiles among those hearing it, there was always a suspicion that he was being serious. A young fogey, he delighted in wearing a tweed cap and jacket and corduroy trousers, dressing  as P.G. Wodehouse’s character Bertie Wooster might have done when invited for a round of golf or to a shoot.

If the wearing of …

Lest anyone here in Lille had forgotten it was Bastille Day today, the illumination of the night sky and the sound of the explosion of fireworks is an inescapable reminder.

Mr Buchanan would have quizzed me as to the events being recalled.

Mr Buchanan was for two years, 1977-1979, my history tutor at Strode College in the Somerset town of Street. He had an infectious enthusiasm for his subject, regrettably my professed interest in the material was never matched by the degree of application required for success.

We studied European …

There being five minutes to spare after the end of the test on Friday, I decided to have a plenary session, asking questions of students around the class.

The previous lesson in the series on ethical issues we had looked at Just War theory, asking the question of what conditions needed to be met for a war to be considered “just.” It seemed simplest to return to what was most recent in their exercise books (and, hopefully, in their minds), and to try to apply it to an example.

Talking …