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The Duke (2020)

The Duke is a quintessentially English movie with its roots in the Ealing comedies of the 50s and the northern grit films of the early 60s. Ealing Comedies like The Lavender Hill Mob and League of Gentlemen were caper movies pricking the pomposity of the Establishment. The Duke was slightly [...]

March 4, 2022 // 0 Comments

English cricket – the winners & losers

After the report into the Ashes debacle the winners and losers have emerged. The clearest winner is skipper Joe Root. There seems no viable alternative. He is by some distance our most effective batter and is popular in the group. So he stays with if anything his position strengthened. His weakness [...]

February 10, 2022 // 0 Comments

Religious partying

Religious observation, ritual and practice and I separated irrevocably many years ago. Like so many negative decisions, I did not wake up one morning to renounce my faith but rather a slow and gradual distancing from religion. Most of my friends do not share my or possess any faith. However my [...]

February 7, 2022 // 0 Comments

Sir Edward Elgar

I would lay a penny to the Pargiter tenner that if anyone had to cite the quintessential English composer it would be Edward Elgar. He composed five versions of Pomp and Circumstance and Land of Hope and Glory – written at a low point in the Boer War – is the most stirring of anthems. [...]

February 5, 2022 // 0 Comments

Dame Stephanie Shirley/Private Passions – Radio 3

The above – known by her family nickname Steve – was the guest on Private Passions hosted by Michael Berkeley. She led a remarkable life. Separated from her parents aged 5, she was put on a train as one of the Kindertransport. These children were sent to western countries and some [...]

January 18, 2022 // 0 Comments

Brighton 1 Crystal Palace 1

This fixture is known for its toxicity. The clubs are 55 miles apart. Portsmouth and Southampton are nearer Brighton – Charlton and Millwall nearer Crystal Palace – so you cannot call call it a derby, although it is has been termed the M25 or M23 derby. Both of these are geographically [...]

January 15, 2022 // 0 Comments

Remembering my father

Yesterday was my father’s birthday and – had he not passed away nine years ago – he would have been 99. I think of him every day now, less in terms of loss, more of legacy. He was a wise, gentle man, a superb, much-loved and respected doctor by his general GP practice as well as his [...]

January 14, 2022 // 0 Comments

A wet and unsatisfying trip to the Stoop

Yesterday I was in a party of five – three of them Exeter Chiefs supporters – that travelled to the Harlequins home ground in cold, blustery and super-wet conditions for a English Premiership clash resulting in a closely fought 14-12 victory for the hosts. It is a fact of sporting life that [...]

January 9, 2022 // 0 Comments

Horse racing needs to take a look at itself in the mirror

As someone of limited interest in horse racing – jumping or flat – the recent British Horseracing Association disciplinary case, in which professional female jockey Bryony Frost called out Robbie Dunne for conducting a personal campaign of verbal abuse and threats against her over a period of [...]

December 16, 2021 // 0 Comments

Soccer journo allegiance and their ways

Yesterday I attended a football lunch where I sat next to a retired sports journalist who is a Fulham fan. I have no particular allegiance to any club but we rattled off names of journos that do. They generally come to journalism supporting a club. It can be an asset in building relationships and [...]

December 7, 2021 // 0 Comments

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