In the early 1980’s, when I was in my late teens/early twenties, Friday night drinking ordinarily took place with mates in Low Fell’s fine drinking establishments. Saturdays normally in the company of my partner in the centre of Newcastle. Although none of our group suffered from OCD, a habitual itinerary of public house patronising was followed most weeks :- 7pm – Meet mates at The Beaconsfield, followed by a pint […]
Earlier today I published a narrative bequeathing it’s discerning reader unreliable anecdotes from my junior high schooldays. These notions manifesting from the depths of my capricious mind; embellished by fictional addendums sourced from a neurological chamber with a door titled ‘Random’. Breckenbeds Junior High on Saltwell Road in south Gateshead the subject of that ramble. A place of learning I attended between 1974-77, along with other hundreds of other 11-14 […]
Like many individuals, I learned many useful lessons during my fledgling years. For instance, acquiring the knowledge that possessing a double-jointed ring finger is unlikely to lead you on a meaningful career path. Another being the need to be discerning when choosing projectiles to use for skimming on water. The latter wisdom acquired on a mid-1970’s August afternoon in Saltwell Park, Gateshead. An impromptu stop off with my brother Ian […]
Saturday 9th June – Yesterday, during a shopping sojourn in town avec ma femme, we took a spontaneous pit stop for liquid refreshment at the Alchemist bar. From it’s lofty perch located on the upper floor of the Trinity shopping centre, this agreeable eatery/cocktail bar bequeaths striking views of Boar Lane’s splendid Georgian architecture. Aesthetics that never fail to woe my spouse into it’s chambers, along with the opportunity to […]
One of the pages within my website menu is Cricketing Yarns. A literary portal containing a series of partly fictional and unreliable tales from my club cricketing career. Although now retired, I played club cricket in Gateshead, Buckinghamshire and Leeds for over 30 years. An odyssey that started when one of my neighbours (Brian Dixon) introduced me to Gateshead Fell cricket club. A Durham Senior League outfit where I’d go […]
Wednesday 2nd May – Yesterday afternoon was spent undertaking garden maintenance at casa Strachan senior. This involved a few hours hard graft manicuring lawns, along with pampering soil borders with a much needed weed/hoeing treatment. Consequently, at around 5pm thanks to assistance from lawnmower, grass clippers, a hoe and my family’s horticultural secret (passed down through generations), the aesthetics of mater’s garden were chromatic and well-groomed. As I’m bound by […]
“Your/their hair need a right good cut!” An adage frequently delivered in my mother’s rich Yorkshire dialect since my 1970’s childhood. Mater’s way of opining that as a consequence of neglectful grooming the individual she refers to looked a”Right scruffy bleeder.”…… Whether it be a messy mullet, unkempt curtain hair, poorly groomed bouffant or a tousled chignon. Deeming that man is defined by first impressions, tidy hair was not only […]
