My blogs

  • Diving with seals

    Following my last post, I thought I might describe how the weekend went. The weather was excellent, sunny with an easterly breeze. Stayed in a bed/breakfast in Ilfracombe, Devon although we were ‘ropes off’ at 0730 in the boat so we missed breakfast. In the rush to get on the boat I nearly forgot fins,… Read more

  • Going diving (again)

    I wish I had learned to scuba dive many years ago. When my daughter decided she wanted to attempt a degree in marine natural history photography at Falmouth, I ‘volunteered’ to learn to dive with her. That was three years ago. We travelled to Sharm-el-Sheik and learned to dive with Emperor Divers. It was a… Read more

  • Why give up on reading a book?

    Thanks to Goodreads for this, makes for interesting and enlightening reading Read more

  • Matt, your cousin is…

    A few years ago, 2002 to be precise, I made a journey into family history with my mother. We were looking into the history of the family on my maternal grandmother’s line. My grandmother was South African, of mixed race, and was born in the Transkei area, south-east Africa. In the early part of the… Read more

  • Post trauma stress – the cathartic effect of writing

    It has quite surprised me how many people are now trying out writing as a contributory means to help treat PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. Questions levelled at me, as to how writing helped me, have prompted me to put this post together. PTSD – the chemistry In examining PTSD, one of the known factors… Read more

  • Drummer Lee Rigby – the work of assassins?

    The horrendous actions of Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo when they viciously murdered Royal Fusiliers Drummer, Lee Rigby, have caused a huge amount of public outrage over the crime and appropriate expression of  sympathy to members of our Armed Services. I remember Woolwich Barracks quite well. I attended my first interviews to join the Army… Read more