Thirty-nine years is a long time to not see someone, so today was a bit of an overdue milestone. Richard was a flatmate and co teacher-trainee of mine back in - oh let's just say "soooo last century". In the intervening years since then he has solidly maintained his career in teaching, whereas I abandoned mine after only two years at the chalk-face. In that time he has taught all over New Zealand, including Stewart Island, and has specialised in small schools, t...

One of the things that endears me to my birthplace of Liverpool is love. Not just in the sense that I love the place, but in the north of England - and the north-west in particular - the word "love" is widespereadly used as a term of endearment. And it doesn't matter whether you're a stranger or a member of the family; you will be called "love." In shops, in service stations, in the market, in the pub, everywhere. I was reminded of this in bulk the other mornin...

Yorkshire is famous for all sorts of things. Yorkshire pudding, for example, the Bronte Sisters, the Yorkshire Dales and Moors, and of course the legendary gruff nature of Yorkshiremen in particular. (There's a saying: you can always tell a Yorkshireman - but you can't tell him much) But the other thing that's as local, resilient and as tough as a Yorkshireman's attitude is the ubiquitous dry stone wall. For over 5000 years people in this part of the world have ...

So, give or take a couple of weeks in France, I have been in the UK now for about nine weeks. I was born here. I lived the first 15 years of my life here. And yet, as a returning native I am treated often with suspicion and mistrust. It all boils down to crime and terrorism (of which I subscribe to neither), and the resulting tightening of security in so many aspects of British society. On more occasions than I can count now I have had to prove my identity beyon...

Here's a heartwarming tale of piracy and derringer-do that will shiver your timbers. Today I visited New Brighton, across the Mersey from Liverpool, and a place I used to be taken as a treat by my Mum and Aunt when I was a wee nipper. It's a classic English seaside place, with a promenade, deck chairs for hire, amusement arcades, ice cream parlours etc and so on. Today it is blissfully free of cars for many a mile, being pedestrian only. The sands are golden (...