The Write Man

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Article

485 words

Village schools

"A quarter of village schools in peril in some counties", the headlines are saying. Every time I read how some bureaucrat is disposing of a village school or two before lunch I sympathise with the children who could benefit so much from them. But then, what does that matter to the theory factories of Camden Town and Islington, happy to consign the nation’s youth to its supposedly cost-effective learning factories.
I had the inestimable privilege of starting such education as I have in a village school: reading and writing with Miss Hallowes, arithmetic with Miss Green and poetry, music and decimals with Miss Marsden. Playtime – I suppose I should say “break” – were riotous, not to say hazardous, and nobody had to fill in forms if we skinned our knees..........

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Sweet and Soft all Day Long

"That cornet", said the father, "has been all over the world."

He held it up, gleaming in the sunlight, and worked the valves.

"Generals have listened to this instrument, son. And the Viceroy of India himself". He ran his own bandsman's eye along the curve of the bell and flicked the delicate brass to test the "bant."

"Do you want to learn?"....

Short story

914 words

Hubby in the country series

Christmas smoke

It’s the time of year to think of log fires in the evenings and wood smoke at Christmas, once known as Yule. The Yule log, of oak or ash, is traditionally lit from the remains of last year’s, which has been keeping the house free of demons. Apart from this insurance policy aspect, I prefer wood to coal because it is a carbon-neutral way of making toast on an open fire.

My wife said: “You wouldn’t have to bother if you’d mended that toaster my mother gave us . . .” She’s been on about it for 30 years, and I’ve been going on for what seems like 30 centuries about a 1940s electrical time bomb full of asbestos. The toaster, I mean, not her mother.............