My Grandfather's Brothers And Sisters

How weird to be a great uncle!

I remember my own great uncles and aunts (on the Allen side) assembling en masse for Great Aunt Margaret's 80th birthday.(Or was it her 70th? Who knows?) They were very dignified and ancient- and intent on playing a serious game of bowls they didn't want a small boy getting anywhere near.

Also, they were all dressed in Edwardian clothes- boaters, blazers, ankle-length dresses with cameo brooches at the neck- but they can't have been, can they?

Chronicles Of Ancient Sunlight

The BBC is replaying a series about Thatcher's years in power.  My mother had it on.  It features interviews with the great lady herself recorded shortly after her fall. That imperious voice, fuzzy with indignation and self-pity, drove me from the room.

The police are investigating new claims that it was the SAS wot did for Lady Di. At the risk of being labelled a loon, I must say I've always thought her death- coming  at a time when she was threatening the Royal Family with Muslim step-relatives- was awfully convenient.

A Passing Observation

I admire Benjamin Britten no end but there's something seriously out of kilter about  a folk song or sea chanty being performed- at the grand piano-  by two chaps in evening dress.