The rare perception of my mother-in-law now comes to the fore. She often said to my wife, “You can make a meal out of a dishcloth.” Was that what attracted me to Ann in the first [...]

Many councils in the UK are declaring a climate emergency including my own in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP). As a result, they have an action plan that has 153 measures to become [...]

As the dreaded virus spreads, statements that we are all in this together can be hard to reconcile. As it is, I find myself on the high risk rating because of my blood cancer. I even have a [...]

I spent three weeks in Lanzarote in February 2020. I would hate you to think that I was lounging in the sun doing nothing. In fact, I was caring for myself in accordance with advice from a [...]

It is a clash of perspectives; to be a vegan and an environmentalist. The two do not sit comfortably together. That ridiculous almond milk has attained the status of manna, a miraculous [...]

The pagan economy in Britain was built on trees. The small stuff we call wood. Timber, the big stuff, was difficult to cut with a Neolithic flint axe and had less value. The wood was used for hut [...]

The River Stour and Avon spill out into the sea through Bournemouth and Christchurch, two seaside resorts. It now appears that sea swimmers have to be warned off entering the water during heavy [...]

When Ann and I moved here, to Friars Cliff, in 2012, a green woodpecker popped into our garden every few days. It was like a ray of sunshine as this gaudy bird used our lawn as a catwalk. In case [...]

Ann and I run over the volcano as the sun rises each day. The distance is four miles and the lava trip hazards number in their thousands. It is cool and we watch the sun rise as a flaming ball [...]

Ann and I live in our cosy little seaside bubble. We have no children and in the event of one of us becoming gaga, how do we best protect each other? The advice was to take out a lasting power of [...]

It was a neighbour who said to me that television over Christmas was rubbish. That comment dates us oldies. Would he have said the same if he was on Sky? I doubt that youngsters with music, [...]

Prior to 4000 BC, people wore furry skins for warmth. The Neolithic preparation of skins was perhaps the hardest work these early people did. A number of human skeletons have been found, both [...]

As you drive towards Christchurch, a sign for Dorset states, ‘Home of the Jurassic Coast. It’s miles away, that coast, so what about our seaside retreat? Consequently, I am currently [...]

I want to cheer you up in the face of constant negativity; today I am the purveyor of good news. To hell with politics and Brexit. Friars cliff and the environment, where I live, are in good [...]

It was the archaeologist Parker Pearson who started this off. Because he found cremated human bones, the media flashed up the graphic headlines, ‘Is Stonehenge a place of the dead?’ [...]

Seasons greetings to you, my reader. Enjoy the end of the year and the return of the sun, albeit a slow return. We all, in our way, love this turnover point. My Irish star, one Terry Wogan, used [...]

It’s an age thing, the need for artificial grass. As I grow older and less well I envisaged plastic grass as no less essential than a Stannah stairlift. There comes a time in the life of [...]

What a headline! Christianity blamed for global warming. I suddenly felt more kindly towards my pagan friends. No, not the residents of Bournemouth. I mean those Neolithic people who ruled here [...]

Women experience the first division of labour in prehistory; it was a joint decision between pagan men and pagan women. However, I only realised this after I prepared my talk on prehistory, which [...]

It all started at Stewart’s Garden Centre, the saga of global warming and Santa. I was upbeat when I bought some primulas because they were in the new recyclable pots. The route to the [...]

The Cremation Society and a polluted world do not make good bedfellows. It was scientists in America who made the statement that all forms of incineration are harmful to the environment. This [...]

It’s strange how ones past comes to the fore. For instance, I was talking to my hairdresser as she vainly sought grey hairs to snip. She told me that a local person had called her a [...]

It is surprising how many people pick up trends and follow them without further thought. The paleo diet is a good example of this. It assumes that the hunter gatherer diet was good; that the [...]

So, Cardinal Newman is made a saint. A man from a wealthy banker background in London and an academic. Doesn’t it reek of the establishment, of elevating our betters, our male betters, as [...]