Author: Andrew Green
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Poor boy long ways from home
Has a song title ever said so much in so few words? This one has the reputation of being one of the oldest blues songs. That’s a claim that’s hard to substantiate, but this song certainly has a long history, and it’s still alive and well today. ‘Poor boy long ways from home’, often shortened…
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Stephen W. Williams, engineer, architect, archaeologist
His name’s been familiar to me for years, but it’s only in recent months that I’ve got to know him better. In May this year I happened to stay the night in Penralley House, his home in Rhayader, and earlier in our walk up the Wye we passed Bryn Wern, a country house he designed…
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Hospital notes
1 When I arrive, the ward is full. I’m redirected to where the ophthalmology patients wait. It’s a poor fit: my body part for attention is some way south of the eyes. The surgeon comes, to tell me briefly what could go wrong. A nurse tells me to undress, and leaves two items of hospital…
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Against sport
My title will offend, I know. Almost as much as would a blog of 1800, if one existed, that carried the title ‘Against religion’. But bear with me, even if sport is your religion. I want to argue, why, contrary to a virtually unquestioned consensus, I think the current fetishisation of competitive sport is a…
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Lasseter’s last ride
Our school was just across the road. I could have left our little brick house, Corton Cottage, at one minute to nine and still have been in time for lessons. The school building was small, built of warm stone, and handsome in its modest way. It dated back to the 1860s. At first not much…
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R.J. Derfel ar lyfrgelloedd
Cofir R.J. Derfel heddiw yn bennaf fel y dyn a fathodd y term ‘Brad y Llyfrau Gleision’, teitl ei ddrama a gyhoeddwyd yn 1854, saith mlynedd ar ôl yr adroddiad drwg-enwog gan y llywodraeth ar gyflwr addysg yng Nghymru. Ond dylen ni ei gofio hefyd fel un o’r rhai cynharaf i ysgrifennu am sosialaeth trwy…
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Clearing out
I’ve been clearing out. Clearing cupboards in the front room, full of books, files, magazines, papers, photos, games, maps and other detritus. Many of them have been there since the cupboards and the bookshelves above them were built some thirty years ago. There’s nothing special about such a task, especially for one trained as a…
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The poet and the mapmaker
As the Russian government continues its murderous and destructive war on Ukraine, it seems a good time to turn to a voice for peace. Here’s a poem from the time of what is still called, mistakenly, the English Civil War, by an obscure poet from Norfolk, Ralph Knevet. Entitled ‘The vote’, it is a simple…
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Mysteries of Paraclete
Five minutes’ walk away, where Summerland Lane reduces to a narrow neck of tarmac to meet Newton Road, is Paraclete Chapel. In every respect it’s unremarkable, except for one thing, its highly unusual name. Till recently I’ve not thought much about the word ‘paraclete’, beyond knowing that it was vaguely connected with the Holy Spirit.…
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The bookseller of Stromness
Hanging on a wall in the public library in Stromness, where you can sit in an easy chair and enjoy a view of the waterfront through the picture window, is an oil painting called The bookseller of Stromness. It was painted in 2005 by a self-taught artist from Stornaway, Calum Morrison, who had long settled…