I was standing on the corner of High Street last Tuesday, watching a young couple stare blankly at a planning notice pinned to a lime tree, when it hit me just how much nonsense is floating around regarding conservation area rules explained. They looked like they were waiting for a sign from above, rather than […]
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I was out walking the bridleway towards the old mill—the one with the flintwork dating back to the mid-1800s—when I spotted a discarded crisp packet wedged deep in a hawthorn hedge. It’s a small thing, but it’s part of a growing nuisance that makes our lanes look neglected. Now, I’ve seen some people approach organising […]
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You don’t need a fancy electric mixer or a degree in culinary arts to master this; in fact, most of those complicated recipes you see online are just making things harder than they need to be. I remember my wife, Margaret, used to insist that if you didn’t have the exact right temperature for the […]
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I was standing in my back garden last Tuesday, watching a particularly stubborn gust of wind try to do the work of a sledgehammer on my western boundary, when I realised something. Most people think that if a fence starts to lean, you just need to slap on a bit of wood glue or a […]
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I remember sitting in the village hall last November, listening to a young lad from the council talk about “digital engagement platforms” and “streamlined communication infrastructures.” It was all a bit much, if you ask me. You don’t need a subscription service or a degree in computer science to figure out how to set up […]
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I saw a television programme last Tuesday suggesting that you need a digital thermometer, a sous-vide machine, and three different types of artisanal sea salt just to figure out how to make a sunday roast. It’s absolute nonsense. If you ask me, most of these modern “gourmet” guides are just a way to make a […]
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I was standing in the aisle of the supermarket last Tuesday, staring at a pile of pale, watery tomatoes that looked like they’d been harvested in a different hemisphere entirely, and I couldn’t help but huff. It’s a bit of a joke, isn’t it? We’re told we can have anything, anytime, but most of what […]
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I was out near the old flint boundary on Sunday, trying to mend a section of wall that’s been leaning since the Great Storm of 1987, when I realized I’d made a right mess of things. My head was thumping like a hammer on a joist, and my joints felt like they’d been filled with […]
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I was sitting in the draughty village hall last Tuesday, listening to a young man in a sharp suit explain that you need a six-figure consultancy fee just to figure out how to get planning permission for a simple garden studio. It’s enough to make you want to pack up and move to a flat […]
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I was out by the old flint wall behind the rectory last Saturday—a fine bit of 19th-century masonry, though the mortar is perished in places—trying to reset a few loose stones. Halfway through, I felt that familiar, sharp twinge in my lower spine, the kind that makes you realise you aren’t twenty-five anymore. Now, you […]
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