There is always one of the hardened, vicious, replilian claw thorns that's going to get you. Usually the one you never saw coming. Straight into the outside edge of my hand, stinging like a hornet. I cursed and slowly pushed my arm forward to ease…

I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with…

There are times when I feel trapped in a life of domesticity. With countless ties pulling me away from the freedom to just disappear, go, think, walk or travel. I'm a middle aged man, husband and father so with these roles, naturally, come responsibility and…

Note: I originally wrote this piece back in 2015, but never hit publish. But it's here now... After dropping off my son with his childminder I reckoned I had about 45 minutes spare before the 9.00am clock on. I was wearing a pair of shorts…

Perhaps having the allotment was worth it after all. I have grown salad! Yes, dear reader, after nearly losing my allotment because it was too much to keep under control, to trying again and having the world's most embarrassing harvest, I was lucky enough to…

I promised her that when she died, that for the rest of my life I was gonna live for her. I mean really live for her - Franny's Last Ride by Mike Destefano. In lockdown and during furlough, I've needed new, better routines to help me…

The letter arrives while I am eating my breakfast. Sitting on a bench with about eight other boys, I am part way through watery scrambled eggs or bacon with deep fried bread. I will grow to recognise and happily look out for the loopy script…

When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician — make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor — make good art. IRS on your trail — make…

There is an old lane nearby. Halfway along, next to a lay-by, stands a middle-aged oak, probably only about 80-100 years old. When I first passed this tree, many years ago, I could feel the sense of times passed along the route. Who else had…