One day my daughter, Susan, came home from school and said “Dad, can we build a plane?”... Now, I like to think that I am good at paper planes, even if I do have only one shape...the dart. “No problem” I replied, reaching for a sheet of foolscap. “No” said Susan, “I mean a real one, a big one.” And she really did mean a really big one. Susan had volunteered that Arnold School would enter into the Blackpool Round Table “Birdman” competition. This would entail making some sort

My wife shares a bed with Princess Diana and I prepare the ground and endeavour to keep HRH dry... It had been arranged for Princess Diana to visit Blackpool for a day. That day was 2nd July 1991. The day before Diana was due to arrive was hectic at our house, because at this time, my wife Marjorie was Chairperson of the Blackpool & Fylde Society for the Blind & Talking Newspaper which owned a bed factory employing blind and disabled people making beds... Marjorie noticed tha

Experiences on the wrong side of school discipline in the 1950s... I was at Arnold Grammar School, Blackpool 1951-1956. At that time it was a fee paying Public School for boys, but, fortunately for my parents I was granted free admission having passed my 11+ exam. In line with other local Public Schools, such as Rossall near Fleetwood, and Stoneyhurst near Clitheroe, Arnold was a Rugby School. The majority of scholars were Boarders. To keep the boarders out of mischief  at w

Some coincidences are small and others are eerie!!   As a matter of interest I highlight a few that relate to my wife Marjorie and myself. It was as if we were destined to be together and have so much in common.

On one of our trips, friend Ian and I met up in Skye, with Malcolm & Geraldine, (Bean), to try to attempt The Inaccessible Pinnacle, a huge pinnacle of rock perched on the very summit of the highest ground, making the high point of the rock into the Munro.   This then becomes the most difficult Munro and one for which more sensible Munroists hire the services of a Guide. We were no exception. The four of us teamed up with six others to make an attempt. The weather was very wi