Friday, February 3, 2012
THIS ISLAND LIFEHOW'S it going with the bins then? Ours suddenly appeared at the end of the path looking sullen and resentful; Little and Large, the R2D2 and C3PO of the refuse world.
Friday, January 27, 2012
THIS ISLAND LIFEBLIMEY, can’t a man lose a few pounds in peace? No sooner had I announced my intention to shed a couple of stones in this column two weeks ago than they all started piling in
Friday, January 20, 2012
THIS ISLAND LIFESOUNDS as if it’s going to be fun at Appley Park in June, where a 1950s’-themed event is going to be held as part of the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations.
Friday, January 13, 2012
THIS ISLAND LIFEI READ with mixed feelings the news the Heights Leisure Centre at Sandown will be closed over the next six months for refurbishment.
Friday, January 6, 2012
THIS ISLAND LIFENOW the exquisite delights of Christmas shopping have passed into blessed memory for another 12 months, the time is right to introduce a few rules before next year’s festive free-for-all in the Island’s supermarkets.
Friday, December 30, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFEWHENEVER I turn on the computer to knock out this column, the miracle of modern communication never fails to make me stop and think.
Friday, December 16, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFECALL me reactionary (you may as well, I’ve been called far worse) but can we please go back to the days when coffee came in two basic varieties — white or black?
Friday, December 9, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFEI HAVE been surrounded by marketing types most of my working life and have gradually acquired a grudging admiration for their skills.
Friday, November 25, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFETHE name of Ron Sparshott has cropped up, on and off, throughout most of my life.
He was spoken of fondly by my father and my Uncle Ron and I played cricket for many years with his inestimable brother, the late Mick.
Friday, November 18, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFETHE News of the World is no more but in a long-forgotten report, buried deep inside a dusty filing cabinet in a newsroom now festooned with cobwebs, an unexpected name lurks.
Friday, November 11, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFEA COUPLE of weeks ago an article (since dubbed Carry on Up Your Column in some prissy quarters) featured a few of the extraordinary characters I used to work with at the old Portsmouth Evening News.
Friday, November 4, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFEI'M not what you might call an aficionado of all things mechanical. Indeed, my ignorance is legendary among friends, the vast majority of whom are on intimate terms with everything from a crankshaft to a cam sprocket.
Friday, October 28, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFEWHENEVER hacks foregather, the conversation invariably revolves around two subjects — where they used to work and the memorable people they met while working there.
Friday, October 21, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFETHE recent death of Dad’s Army co-writer and producer David Croft will have evoked plenty of memories for those of a certain age.
Friday, October 14, 2011
THIS ISLAND LIFETHEY reckon if you don’t use it, you lose it — but people of my age do not need to be reminded of this particular axiom.