Call Will Smith
My girlfriend, E, lives in Buckhurst Hill, a couple of stops from the north-eastern end of the Central Line. It is comfortable and leafy suburbia, with an unmistakeable dash of…
Before they end up on a piece of string
Has anyone else been enjoying the sight of horse chestnut trees in full flower lately? A few years ago, during a period of unemployment, I volunteered for about five months…
Grand designs
An architect and his wife are currently building a very small house next door to my flat. It will be over two floors, but sunk into the ground so the…
Front of house
Across the road from the converted Victorian house in which I live is a tremendously ugly estate. No doubt it was some bright young architect’s utopian dream, and perhaps it’s…
Terra Nova
Today marks 100 years since the last entry in Robert Falcon Scott’s diary. I was talking to my friend C yesterday and we both agreed that, the more you see…
Signs of spring #2
Apart from the floral signs of spring, there are also other indications that warmer weather is on the way, including the annual phenomenon known as Tit Monday. Every year, my…
Schadenfreude
I adore and despise the Metro in equal measure. I never take a copy from the poor bastard loitering in the rain outside Cally Road tube, but once down in…
The stuff dreams are made of
A side effect of entering the London Boat Show is that you immediately lose all concept of money. You are horrified by the decadence of the first £700,000 yacht you…
The importance of being In Charge
While it may well be true that absolute power corrupts absolutely, it’s also true that the most comically tiny amounts of responsibility can often have the same effect. I’d like…
Always room to sit down
The other night, due to a combination of a train delay and a lack of spare house keys that is far too boring to go into, I found myself with…
