A fragile moment just before the frontier when we realised our car insurance had run out. Having never been asked for proof of it before, the document is demanded by two customs officers. B negotiates a bribe with one. Anger, followed by bananas, solves the other. We are blown away by the colours. After the… Continue reading Africa 2009 – 06 Mali
Africa 2009 – 05 End of Mauritania – Matmata and Nile Crocodiles
Conversing with two English engineers working here, 6 weeks on, 4 weeks off. They'd worked with each other 30 years, and were like a married couple with their swift responses. One, the operations fixer, down to earth, canny bright, was married and could not imagine being otherwise. The other, the geological brains, was separated, and… Continue reading Africa 2009 – 05 End of Mauritania – Matmata and Nile Crocodiles
Africa 2009 – 04 Mauritania
Forms and Frontiers - Name, First name, fathers name, mothers name, date of birth, place of birth, numbers of identification each time recalling the colour and texture of another time, place and person. What does Norwich mean here, or Ross my fathers name? At the Morocco frontier the playful customers officer offered me a… Continue reading Africa 2009 – 04 Mauritania
Africa 2009 – 03 Morocco
ALGECIRAS / TERRIFA - Land of Wind Ferry or no ferry? Unseasonal dramatic weather shows no sign of abating. Edmund gives news of snow in UK unseen in 18 years; Marlon says worst ever coupled witih recession, means no business coming through B&P door. As we drive the coast to Teriffa, we pass hills deep… Continue reading Africa 2009 – 03 Morocco
Africa 2009 – 02 France and Spain
Arras Let us forget about our first nights rest at the Holiday Inn, Arras. It was a natural consequence of our late departure from the shores of England that we finally set foot in France at 11, driving on dark and unbelievably empty roads, taking the wrong turning and ending up in Arras. A lone… Continue reading Africa 2009 – 02 France and Spain
Africa 2009: 01 Romford Road
Delayed and Darwin We’re delayed, as usual. The journey south, however, has begun: I’ve moved from Suffolk to London and historically, in our relationship, I am staying with Barry at 121 Windsor Road, east London. It’s two years since his divorce but still I am a secret, awaiting the delayed (as usual) and extended build… Continue reading Africa 2009: 01 Romford Road
Continual renewal of vision
Alfred Brendel played his farewell performance today, chosing a youthful Mozart piano concerto, K271 in E flat, which he described as "a wonder of the world". What was key to his long success? A journalist replied: Brendel throughout his long life, continually renewed his vision. How to start writing a poem (a book I ordered… Continue reading Continual renewal of vision
Sugata: Closing Shangri-la
September 2008 My dear Sugata All the different times I’ve sat, expectant, in a plan to Norway. My mind, then, diving into the writing of the story or, more recently, warmly reflective of our lasting friendship. Now this: wanting to close and not to return, unsentimentally, coming to do what practically has to be done,… Continue reading Sugata: Closing Shangri-la
The company of cigarettes August 2008
‘I’d just bought my Times newspaper and as I was early I sat on the bench in the sun and had a cigarette. It was after I’d crossed the road to catch the bus that I saw the cherries, reached for my wallet and it was gone. Oh my God. The bus arrived. No time… Continue reading The company of cigarettes August 2008
Oxfordshire
On the day that oil prices soared to $140 a barrel, (a 40% rise this year), inflation moved to above 3% (with dire warnings from Alister Darling of Britain's rising cost of living), I collected my Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 Cabriolet from Essex, and drove down the motorways of middle England to Oxfordshire. It was a… Continue reading Oxfordshire
Kalikellett 