I really do think HM the Queen should be allowed to choose her own lunch guests when the occasion is her Diamond Jubilee but then One shouldn’t be surprised if Ones’ selection of table-mates raises a few eye-brows. But that’s politics. Continue reading “Top table”
Was Hitler left wing and were the Nazis Fascists?
When I was taught history at school, I vaguely remember that Hitler was most definitely right wing. Now I know that the party Hitler first joined was the popular German Social Democrat Party, which was then renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party, or the Nazi Party, which shifted the balance from Socialist to Nationalist. The appeal in the first instance was most definitely to the workers and the unions, but Hitler engineered the split eventually from the GSD socialists because he abhorred socialism and communism.
When I was a little wolf cub (tumtetum), I learned all the regulations of which there were lots……and I must have sworn the oath of allegiance to HM King George VI but can’t quite remember it. So what, you retort. Well I’ve just checked and it appears I may have committed myself to all his heirs and successors too, which is fine in the case of ERII but which will cause me some distress thereafter. What should I do? Can I now withdraw my oath, the act of a young, impressionable boy? Answers in semaphore, please, preferably from ex-cubs and ex-brownies with a similar conundrum.
The nation plans to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, it seems that it has become a cause and has acquired the flavour of significance.
Apart from a couple of good songs and a pretty good flag I don’t see it.
This is my contribution to Mr. Mackie’s Poem contest and I shall post a link there.
Eet eez ze same as a rosbif with ze name Ireland. But 400 years of ‘istory makes me French, Francois. Not like my old ami Dominique – ‘alf Alsatian, ‘alf Tunisian – un chien. As you see, moi, je préfère ze more ‘ow you say mature ladies. Zut alors!
On this day in 1960 there was a very British protest march against The Bomb. And the Beeb’s low-key report reflects the rather stately, controlled atmosphere that was quite prevalent at the time. Famous people like Bertrand Russell and the up-and-coming, uncharismatic academic politician, Michael Foot made speeches – and a clergyman praised the government! I wasn’t there but I knew a girl who was!
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was of course a lost cause. Witness the proliferation of weapons across the world. But the mood at the time was founded on fear that the arms race between the USA and the USSR would run out of control – with JFK leading the West’s efforts to find a peaceful way.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/18/newsid_2909000/2909881.stm
During my happy sojourn as a teacher, I was encouraging some 11-year-olds to study maps of New York State, to find various features and places of interest. In passing I asked them if they could find a place Homer would like, imagining in my innocence that Troy might catch their eye. But no, it was “Me, me, me! I know: Springfield!” Continue reading “D’Oh!”
Cold and wet with a blustery wind: that’s what we woke to this morning. The forecast did not suggest any improvement for the rest of the day.
After that lovely spell of hot Spring weather a week or so ago, we have returned to normal Easter Bank Holiday weather, here in Oxfordshire.
What to do?
With two boys disinclined to join in (understandably as both have major exams in the coming Summer term, and both need to revise) we three adults, Cyclomaniac, his mother (Milly) and me, decided to visit a National Trust property.
We are members of The National Trust and as such pay an annual fee and receive in return a regular newsletter, a handbook and free entry to many properties around the UK. Some of them quite spectacular.
Today’s trip was to Claydon House in Buckinghamshire, only about a half an hours drive away. The house is managed by the National Trust, but the gardens, grounds and other aspects are still in the hands of the Verney family, who live in a wing of the house.
After wandering around the outbuildings where we found arty shops and galleries, plus the cafe for a quick lunch we considered the garden tour, but given the biting wind and the earliness of the season, we decided to come back to investigate another time. We went next to a small bookshop… second-hand books in a warm snug room, with comfy chairs and several families enjoying the books. It was completely unmanned, and to pay there was a small posting slot in a door. All done on trust at the National Trust!
We came away with garden books, novels, a hardback copy of AA Milne’s ‘When we were Six’ and spent about £15 in all!
Next the house. Continue reading “A Grand Day Out”
Boadicea's Chariot 
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