Review of ‘Suitcase’, Harwich International railway station – 29 Nov 2013 Seventy five years ago – almost to the day – the first 196 ‘Kindertransport’ children arrived in Harwich, Essex. Most had been residents in a Jewish orphanage that was …
Railway children: escaping the holocaust by train Read more »
For as long as anyone can remember, Eddie Rose has promoted and fronted up his summer show in Pitlochry town hall. Accompanied by a piper, an accordionist, a dancer and a fiddle player, ‘A Scottish Night Out’ is a showcase …
Immortal refrains: in praise of the singing shortbread tin Read more »
Article, originally published in The Sunday Times on 17 September 2006 It is a quarter of a century since Lord de Saumarez last used his best tableware, but his memory of the occasion is still fresh. “We probably should not …
Heir today: centuries of Suffolk history under the hammer Read more »
Article originally published in the August/September 2013 edition of The Journalist A decade ago, Glasgow-based freelance Lucy Sweet, was one of Britain’s top-earning freelance journalists. Her tv reviews for The Sunday Express netted her £650 a week, and with regular …
From my seat behind the glazed front of ‘The In Plaice’ fish and chip restaurant, opposite Bradford Town Hall I have a good purview of the urban centre. The outlook is over Centenary Square, a relatively recently-engineered public space at …
It would be easy to imagine the autobiographies of Patti Smith and Tracey Thorn exploring common themes. The authors are among the relatively few women associated with punk, both apply a poetic sensibility to song writing and both have enjoyed …
Forty years ago, Kraftwerk were prophets who took digital music beyond known frontiers and synthesized songs that celebrated machine-age icons – Autobahn, Trans Europe Express and Tour De France, for example. Today the Düssedorfers cater for our nostalgia for a …
Had I blinked, I would have missed it. We approached the German-French border at nearly 100mph, and our speed dipped not one jot as we drove from one country to the next. The Rhine, still watched but no longer warred …
Post obsolescence: derelict checkpoints give me hope for humanity Read more »
Originally published in The Sunday Times 17 August 1997 Tim Dawson dons his wet suit, takes to a dinghy and gets a lesson in how to stay afloat. I have got a mouth full of salt water. My wet suit …
First published in The Scotsman’s Weekend Magazine, 18 April 1998. See explanatory note below It was the espresso machine that started it. Staying with a friend in New York, I fell in love with her coffee maker. This was not …
Into Milan: my frustrated quest for designer furniture Read more »