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Chartwell

On Friday I made my first visit to Chartwell. I was influenced by the September post of my colleague William Byford who was ‘underwhelmed ‘ after his visit in the summer.  I share that view. William’s car  journey was marred by traffic on the M25, mine by a driver who incessantly moaned [...]

December 3, 2023 // 0 Comments

AEK Athens 0 Brighton 1

Brighton’s first European campaign in the Europa League has been steady rather than spectacular. In their first game against AEK Athens at the Amex they lost 2-3. However they recovered in the febrile, hostile atmosphere of the Stade Velodrome against Olympique Marseilles (OM). At one stage [...]

December 1, 2023 // 0 Comments

A cultural break in London

I have spent the last couple of days in cultural activities in London. On Tuesday I visited the opening of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in the Mall Gallery. Much of the work is mediocre but it’s a useful platform for aspiring young oil artists. In the evening I saw a performance [...]

November 30, 2023 // 0 Comments

Watford Forever/John Preston

This is an illuminating account of the rise of Watford, focussing on Elton John and Graham Taylor. The relationship between the owner and manager is the key one in any club. There were few better than that between Elton John and Graham Taylor despite the fact the two were polar opposites. Elton [...]

November 29, 2023 // 0 Comments

Terry Venables

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Terry Venables . He was more than an acquaintance less than a friend. As in lifetime, opinion is divided on his merits and achievements. For some he was a progressive football man managing at the highest international and club level. For others he did not [...]

November 28, 2023 // 0 Comments

Frans Hals at the National Gallery

Yesterday I  went to the National Gallery to see the Frans Hals exhibition – his  first retrospective in 30 years- and enjoyed it immensely. You might think that portraiture could be boring but not so.  This is because Hals was a supreme technician, that his sitters often adopted unusual [...]

November 25, 2023 // 0 Comments

Art of Film/Comedy/Sky Arts

Last night Ian Nathan presented the latest in the series on comedy. It’s obviously hard to cover this vast topic in an hour but nonetheless I was disappointed by the omissions. Mel Brooks and The Producers got a deserved mention but not Woody Allen. Although the point was made that comedy [...]

November 24, 2023 // 0 Comments

More worries at Sussex CCC

The decision of young Ali Orr – Sussex Sharks wicketkeeper – to reject a new contract and sign for Hampshire has sent shock waves through the club. In the past three years there have been many departures: virtually the whole of the first team, coaches Ian Salisbury – and before [...]

November 23, 2023 // 0 Comments

John Craxton/Pallant Gallery Chichester

The Pallant Gallery has done – more than any other museum – much to redeem the reputation of many 20th Century British painters. In some cases, like the 1920s society artist Glyn Philpott or Leon Underwood, I wondered why, whereas with others – like Johnny Minton, regarded as the [...]

November 22, 2023 // 0 Comments

The Persuaders!

My Sunday afternoon ritual in the 1970s was to watch the Persuaders at 3-30pm. It adopted the formula of the earlier Man From Uncle: suave actor (Robert Vaughn) opposite someone totally different – Russian Ilya Kuryakin (the Scot David McAllum ) – overseen by an old boy (Leo Carroll). [...]

November 19, 2023 // 0 Comments

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