Lapidary is the art of cutting, polishing and engraving precious stones, and in my case, it was limited to just the polishing part, and only with semi-precious stones. I’m not sure how my interest started, but I remember asking Mum for a stone polishing kit for Christmas in 1974. My mum’s cousin, Aunty Marie accompanied […]
Over the years I have enjoyed many hobbies and interests, the most constant being reading and gardening. Cycling too, but I did take a 20-year break from this. I suppose I must also declare another interest, which is writing. I find that I can be quite creative once I start writing, although I do need […]
From being a very young boy, I always had a keen interest in cars, even though my parents never owned one. I went to the motor show every year from the mid 1970s, and collected all the brochures I could find. I was able to quote statistics and data from these and also from the […]
In 1992, I had other concerns rather than the size of my music collection, namely children. In 1991, Geraldine had sadly suffered a miscarriage, and although prior to this, I was quite relaxed about starting a family, this event brought my thoughts into clear focus, and I then fully realised that I wanted to be […]
One set of neighbours who attend the Smithy Close meal are also keen music lovers, and since 2007 they have been organising what they call Brindle Rocks. These are house gigs where various singer/songwriters will play their own music to entertain a few guests. Graham organises the musicians, and his partner Janet, and a few […]
I have never had many close friends. I count several people as true friends, but there are very few who are long-standing. In my experience, friendships grow and wane over time, but I don’t view this as a problem, just a fact. By definition, a friendship must be a two-way thing, and if I’m guilty […]
I consider home to be Brindle, where I have lived for the majority of my life. I lived with my parents in Whittle-le-Woods for 23 years, and then spent five years on the outskirts of Chorley before moving to Brindle in 1988. Occasionally, we have considered moving house, especially when our contemporaries were moving upmarket […]
My earliest memories of holidays with Mum & Dad are day trips on the train to Blackpool or Belle Vue, Manchester. I clearly remember the train journey to Blackpool, and would always be on the lookout for Blackpool Tower soon after the train left Preston station. I can’t remember travelling to Belle Vue – perhaps […]
Looking back on our wedding, everything appears very cheapskate, and I suppose it was, even by 1983 standards. This didn’t matter to us then, and still wouldn’t today. We are both naturally thrifty and we love a bargain and I know that we would both struggle being married to anyone who had a different financial […]
My first experience of girlfriends was at primary school. I became aware, aged about nine or ten, that the game of ‘kiss-catch’, which periodically became fashionable at school (to the dismay of the teachers) had taken on a subtly different feel, and suddenly I found myself wanting to be caught by the girls, but not […]