The Road to Almeria

 The Road to, and from, Almeria

 

 

One of the most hellish episodes of the Spanish Civil War, among very many such episodes, was the bombing and strafing of the thousands of refugees fleeing from the Nationalist (Francoist) takeover of Malaga in early 1937. The refugees were trying to reach the relative but temporary safety of Almeria, about 200k east of Malaga on the same south coast. The route between the two cities was the old N340 coast road, vulnerable not only to air attack but also to bombardment from the sea. Estimates of casualties vary wildly, but they were certainly in the thousands. The death dealers were mainly Italian and German warplanes and gunships.

Van Gogh Self Portraits

 Van Gogh Self Portraits

 

My overwhelming feeling was of sadness. Here was such a bold and innovative artist, destined to influence C20 painters like none other. Here was such a depressed, unhappy, and desperate young man. Genius may have been flowing through Van Gogh’s brush, but it was no solace.

Hobson's Brook, Cambridge

 Hobson’s Brook, Cambridge

 

 

Snobbish rivalry between the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge has, over the centuries, produced a collection of mutual put-downs, some nasty, a few witty. The general gist is: Oxford is a Midlands industrial town with some colleges attached; Cambridge is a dank bit of flat fenland with some colleges attached.

On Not Having Read Ulysses

 On Not Having Read Ulysses

 

 

Or perhaps my title should be “On Not Having Finished Ulysses”, or “On Only Having Dipped into Ulysses”. For on my shelves is a dog-eared and yellowing Penguin paperback edition, which has reproachfully followed me around over the years. It dates from the mid 1970s (price £1.50).

5K to Couch

 “5K to Couch”- Sporting Rise and Decline

 

We all live, some of the time, an internal life in which we are timeless entities – the same person, young, middle, and old. This is the person often active in our dreams. 

Looking Outside the Chocolate Box: John Constable

 Looking Outside the Chocolate Box: Noticing John Constable

 

 

I stood, in chilly early December 2021, on the edge of the water where Constable had set his celebrated painting now called The Haywain, but originally and more reservedly, Landscape: Noon.

 

Binham Priory

 Binham Priory

 

The Benedictines formed the earliest English monastic communities, starting with St Augustine at Canterbury. Rich and influential monasteries flourished in the Middle Ages, not least those attached to the great Cathedrals. Henry VIII brought an abrupt end. Their lands were confiscated and sold; their wealth seized.