Articles by Martin Roberts

About Martin Roberts

A former motoring journalist, Martin lists amongst his greatest achievements giving up smoking. Three times. He holds to the view that growing old is not for the faint-hearted. More Posts

It’s that time of year again!

It is with a huge sense of achievement, and not a little relief, that I can report that I may have completed my self-assessed income tax return for 2012/2013 without, as happened last year, having to pay a £100 for late filing. My fundamental problems with tax returns are two-fold: firstly, my [...]

January 18, 2014 // 0 Comments

The new fitness campaign starts here

Yesterday, as I drove back down the M1 in intermittent showers, I was about to congratulate myself on what great progress I was making when, without warning, all vehicles going my way were diverted off the motorway. I soon learned from the radio that some accident or another had caused the police [...]

January 7, 2014 // 0 Comments

The perils of drinking alcohol

This week the Health and Social Care Information Centre has issued figures purporting to show that our older generations are suffering the frightening consequences of lives spent drinking alcohol to excess. Apparently, the numbers of those aged over 45 who are admitted to hospital for [...]

December 5, 2013 // 0 Comments

Scene from a senior life (2) – Joining up

Yesterday I received a missive from the National Health Service, inviting me to participate in its Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, designed to catch the disease early ‘when successful treatment and cure is more likely’ [it says here]. Screening is apparently offered every two years to those [...]

December 1, 2013 // 0 Comments

What is a bogan?

Last night a friend of mine asked me if I knew what a bogan was. Mishearing her, I thought she said bogey which is one over par at golf,a piece of snot and 50s cockney slang for a policeman. In fact, bogan is best described as an Australian chav. My friend referred to me a site THINGS BOGANS LIKE [...]

November 30, 2013 // 0 Comments

Scene from a senior life – (1)

Having found in my fridge a forgotten – but not ancient – triangular tin of foie gras, picked up at the Eurotunnel supermarket on the way back from my most recent trip to the WW1 Western Front cemeteries, I opted to eat some on toast immediately. This decision was partly influenced by [...]

November 27, 2013 // 0 Comments

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