Have a Go!
REGULAR readers of this column will be aware that throughout the early years of the BBC the only accent heard was Received Pronunciation, which many today would characterise as ‘posh’. … Continue readingHave a Go!
Recent Posts
We Rest on Thee
IN the autumn of 1955, five men working as Christian missionaries in South America decided they would try to spread the word to a hitherto uncontacted tribe in Ecuador. Known … Continue readingWe Rest on Thee
Blue: The confessions of Joni Mitchell
MY choice this week has frequently been described as one of the greatest albums of all time, and the best by a female artist (how long before records by males … Continue readingBlue: The confessions of Joni Mitchell
In Town Tonight
STARTING in 1933, only 11 years after the BBC went on the air as 2LO, In Town Tonight could be described as the prototype BBC chat show. The 30-minute programme … Continue readingIn Town Tonight
Don’t let’s be beastly to the vermin
NEWS to gladden the hearts of animal lovers comes from Germany, where a nine-strong team of rescuers was deployed to save a sewer rat which was so fat that it … Continue readingDon’t let’s be beastly to the vermin
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
BY request of TCW reader ‘Starshiptrooper’, today’s hymn is O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing. This is one of the 8,989 hymns written by Charles Wesley. He lived to … Continue readingO For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
Will the real John Martyn please stand up?
THERE were many embarrassing moments in my journalistic career, and some still have the capacity to make me cringe. One such came on a Sunday in 1976, at the July … Continue readingWill the real John Martyn please stand up?
Listen with Mother
THERE won’t be many people of a certain age who are not instantly transported back to childhood by this: The opening seconds of Listen with Mother preceded 15 minutes of … Continue readingListen with Mother
Put down the toaster and come out with your hands up
WHAT a comfort it is to know that highly paid scientists are beavering away at the frontiers of research to find new ways of scaring the living daylights out of … Continue readingPut down the toaster and come out with your hands up
Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken
THIS hymn, like many others, was written by an Anglican clergyman, but there cannot be many priests with a background like that of John Newton. He was born in Wapping, … Continue readingGlorious Things of Thee are Spoken