“So, thanks to all at once and to each one, whom we invite to see us crowned at Scone.” “Very good Roger, except it’s pronounced ‘Scoon’”. “But Sir, it says ‘Scone’ here, you could…

The Hallcar Tavern, Pitsmoor. It’s a Sunday evening in the middle of October, and I’m savouring a legal pint of best bitter; having reached my 18th birthday just a couple of weeks earlier.…

Firth Park Comprehensive School, the Brushes Building. It’s a July afternoon near the end of term, and lessons are over for the day. I’m in the music room, sitting behind a drum kit.…

“Wilma, what’s this song called?” “Spanish Stroll.” “So why are you singing it in French?” “I don’t understand what he’s saying in Spanish, summat about rose eater, take care oh.” “What are…

There are two yellow balls in the sky. The first one is the sun, eternal, implacable, blazing down on this gorgeous July afternoon. The second sphere is small, soft and scuffed, earthbound on a parabolic…