A drunk woman gesticulates at me. “The back of the line for beer is there.” “What you on about?” I reply (and by now, I’m sober). She goes: “I’ve been stood here for an hour.” “Yeah, I know,” I say. “I’ve been stood...
Read MoreThis Whit Friday found me in the South Pennine town of Diggle which has hosted a brass band contest since 2013 as part of the annual Whit Friday Brass Band Contests in and around Saddleworth. The one defining element of the...
Read MoreMost Northern traditions involve beer. Beer was once a staple food of the North, the idea of it got us through a morning at work, it measured out the time we had for dinner – four pints meant you got an hour, two pints meant you...
Read MoreWe arrived at Pig Row during a storm, Carol was seven months pregnant, I was recovering from spinal problems and the movers hated us for having so many books. It was a far cry from our first visit to the cottage. That had been...
Read More
