Jack Scott's Blog, page 46
June 25, 2017
Angels, Monks and the Devil’s Brew
Learning to speak English must be difficult enough, but learning to spell it must bring even the most dedicated student out in hives. It’s just the little game we English like to play on Johnny Foreigner. Place names can be particularly bothersome. So for the uninitiated… Leicester is Lester, Gloucester is Gloster, Chiswick is Chizik, … Continue reading Angels, Monks and the Devil’s Brew →
June 18, 2017
On the Lash
It’s sod’s law. The warmest day of the year so far and I’m home alone. Our large south-facing windows can make the micro-loft a tad sweaty during the afternoon, so I popped out for a paper and a pint. Norwich was abuzz with shoppers in shorts, brats in caps and over-inked scallies in baggy sweatpants. A … Continue reading On the Lash →
June 11, 2017
Chateau Norfolk
I heard through the grapevine that a bottle of vino from Norfolk had been recognised as one of the best in the world. It won a platinum best in show medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2017, one of the industry’s most prestigious competitions. Fancy that! The winning white, the Bacchus 2015, comes from … Continue reading Chateau Norfolk →
June 4, 2017
The City of Perspiring Dreams
Now their kids have flown, Liam’s sister and significant other have sold their north London nest and migrated to a chocolate-box cottage with half an acre or so in rural Hertfordshire. Brother-in-law’s sixtieth birthday BBQ provided the perfect opportunity to survey the estate for the first time. It was gold stars all round from their … Continue reading The City of Perspiring Dreams →
May 28, 2017
Moonlight Sonata
The annual Norfolk and Norwich Festival is done for another year. The festival delivers something for all ages and tastes – from the highbrow to the frivolous, the earnest to the slapstick, the traditional to the avant-garde, the well-known to the newbie, the orchestral to the bloke with a guitar – in glorious words, music, dance … Continue reading Moonlight Sonata →
May 21, 2017
Forget Me Not
I was wandering through our local library last week and came across this intriguing exhibit: The display was made up of 18,000 forget-me-nots, one for each individual living with dementia in Norfolk. It was Dementia Awareness Week and the library was running a host of creative events for dementia sufferers and their carers. All sickness is cruel … Continue reading Forget Me Not →
May 14, 2017
The Witching Hour
Of late, boozy gigs with ancient comrades from old London Town have been as rare as ginger imams. Somehow life just gets in the way. So, one evening I fired off a text. “Boys. It’s high time we had a coven.” After a flurry of replies, it was game on. I always get down to … Continue reading The Witching Hour →
May 7, 2017
May the Fourth Be With You
The fourth of May was local election day hereabouts. As in many rural areas, the people of Norfolk are conservative with a small ‘c’, distrustful of change and suspicious of (and sometimes hostile to) strangers. That’s why some farming folk keep it in the family and one or two get way too close to their livestock. It’s called Normal … Continue reading May the Fourth Be With You →
April 30, 2017
Avenues and Alleyways
We were in London for cake and fancies to celebrate my Mother’s 88th birthday. The old girl was in fine fettle – fag in one hand, brandy and coke in the other. I was going to post a video of her blowing out the candles to Happy Birthday, but with the lights off, it came … Continue reading Avenues and Alleyways →
April 23, 2017
That Sinking Feeling
Norwich is riddled with old tunnels. Chalk and flint was mined for centuries, and many of the oldest mines run close to the centre of the city. Chalk was used for liming and mortar, and flint was used as a building material. You see flint everywhere – in what’s left of the old city walls, … Continue reading That Sinking Feeling →
