A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
IF it is possible to have a least favourite plant, mine is bracken. And I will be seeing a lot more of it before long, because when ‘rewilding’ comes to … Continue readingWith fronds like these, who needs enemies?
STONE walls are very common round here, some of them proper traditional dry stone, some with a bit of mortar in the centre and some with mortar throughout, like a … Continue readingWithin these walls
BEFORE Covid, before even the spectre of nuclear war, there were posters in every public building warning about another dire threat to the British way of life. It was less … Continue readingBeetlemania
This was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was first recorded by Bobby Vee for Liberty Records on March 28, 1962, but as far as I can see … Continue readingBobby Vee: Go Away Little Girl
IT is bluebell time and the roadside verges here in Lancashire are full of flowers. But all is not as it seems. A friend sent me this glorious picture of … Continue readingBluebell hanky-panky
This is by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, but it is a long way from their best work. In fact it’s terrible. It was released in April 1962 and reached … Continue readingBobby Vee: Sharing You
This was Simon and Garfunkel’s first recording, made in 1957 when they were aged 16 and still at school. It reached No 49 in the US. It’s not hard to … Continue readingTom and Jerry: Hey, Schoolgirl
This was written by Curtis Mayfield and released in December 1963. Early in 1964 It reached No 5 in America and No 40 in Britain. Later in 1964 it was … Continue readingMajor Lance: Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um
THE ‘rewilding’ mania is becoming more worrying and more sinister. Until fairly recently it was easy to laugh at the crazy idea of bringing beavers back to Britain some centuries … Continue readingSheep Hater of the Week
COMMENTERS sometimes reminisce about the late TV presenter Jack Hargreaves, so I thought I would recall few of his programmes. I have to admit that I don’t really remember him, … Continue readingGentle Jack, a TV natural