Relentless precipitation is this morning’s meteorological guest in Leeds 15. Consequently, I’m witnessing a Zeusian deluge akin to that written about in Genesis, where Noah, his family and two of every animal (apart from the snargle) avoided drowning by boarding an ark. The snargle a species of wild cat, which folklore journals could run as…
Tag: History
Starry, Starry Night
Thursday turned out to be a fairly unremarkable day. My existential contributions confined to penning a daily narrative, along with chauffeuring Mrs Strachan senior for her weekly food shop at the White Rose Shopping Centre. Nightfall saw the day’s quiet ambience, which had brought a serenity and inner calm to my erstwhile troubled soul, sadly acquiesce to…
License Not Always Required
Like many with a penchant for putting pen to paper, I often use artistic license in my prose. Fictional elements included aimed at incorporating humour, or merely to enhance the readworthiness of a otherwise dull anecdote. Additions required when GJ Strachan’s cascading of his monochrome lifestyle needs a dash of colour. It’s fair to say,…
In the Emerald’s Shadow
There’s few things that rankle with a Yorkshireman more than defeat by sports teams representing the House of Lancaster. Witnessing Lancastrian ‘troops’ returning west over the Pennine Hills with a battle victory lodges in their trachea like a carelessly swallowed wish bone. Yesterday evening was a perfect example of this disenchantment by players and supporters…
What’s The Story?
Yesterday afternoon, as my wife and me slowly ambled up Calverley Street towards our destination of Leeds Museum, she pointed out this was her inaugural tour of the building housing our city’s historical artefacts. “It’s not mine. I’ve never been before!” I joked weakly. She smiled disingenuously, called me an idiot for what definitely wasn’t the…
Walking Among The Destined
I had a odyssey over to Cheshire yesterday to retrieve my mother from my sister Helen’s home – A locale where she’d been residing for a week or so. From my understanding, mum’s mission to the other side of the Pennines was to stop our Helen and husband Steve from eating flavoursome cuisine, whine about…
X Marks the Spot
“……When you meet a gent paying all kinds of rent For a flat that could flatten the Taj Mahal. Call it sad, call it funny. But it’s better than even money That the guy’s only doing it for some doll……” Song lyrics composed by American songwriter Frank Loesser in his eponymous refrain from the musical…
Giving Their Today
John Maxwell Edmonds won’t be too familiar a name to most people. Despite this, some of the English classicist’s compositions will be instantly recognisable to millions around the world. In particular around this time of year, when we remember our fallen in worldwide services of remembrance. The Stroud born poet is celebrated for his moving…
Ending Nikita’s Cuban Threat to Camelot
The world gave a huge sigh of relief 55 years today when an agreement to resolve the Cuban missile crisis was reached by the USA and the Soviet Union. A historic accord that averted the immediate threat of nuclear war between the two superpowers and an inevitable mass loss of life globally. The crisis started a fortnight earlier when…