Greece, my Motherland, is close to anarchy and social collapse. The Greek people – the poorer classes that is - are close to despair. Meanwhile, the rich have been quietly shipping their cash reserves out of the country… an estimated 85 billion euros over the past few months. Much of this wealth is landing in London. Estate agents in Knightsbridge, [...]
Archive for the ‘Society’ Category
Brussels fiddles while Athens burns.
Posted in Politics, Society, Uncategorized, tagged Brussels, European Union, Eurozone crisis, Greece, My Archipelago, The Castle at Taunton on February 15, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Hugh’s Fish Fight: A parable of good in a wicked world.
Posted in Politics, Society, The Environment, Uncategorized, tagged EU Commissioner for Fisheries, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh's Fish Fight, Maria Damanaki, My Archipelago, River Cottage, The Castle at Taunton on August 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
There are moments when I feel the world is confronting some kind of Armageddon. The pillars of our society appear to be crumbling. Everything we have grown up to trust is now turning out to be false or fractured. The meek and law abiding citizen has become an innocent victim of events. As world stock markets plunge, [...]
Michael Caines, the Dean of Exeter and how charity is good for business
Posted in Hotels & Restaurants, Society, Uncategorized, tagged Abode Exeter, Dean of Exeter, Exeter Cathedral, Exeter Cathedral Choir, Exeter Cathedral Third Millennium Campaign, Jonathan Meyrick, Michael Caines, My Archipelago, Richard Hooker, Rupert Brooke, Shakespeare's Sonnet 116, Somerset Community Foundation, T S Eliot Four Quartets, The Castle at Taunton, The Royal Clarence Hotel Exeter, Wilfred Owen on May 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »
On Friday, Louise and I enjoyed another excellent lunch at Michael Caines’s restaurant, Abode in Exeter- aka the Royal Clarence Hotel. It was a beautiful afternoon, and our window table overlooked the Cathedral and the Green where office workers, families and lovers were snacking and gossiping in the sunshine. In the foreground, opposite the hotel’s entrance, the statue of Richard [...]
Hospitality, Hospitals and a weekend break with the NHS
Posted in Hotels & Restaurants, Politics, Society, Uncategorized, tagged Cardiac Catheter Lab Taunton, Cardiac Catheterisation, Dr Dan McKenzie, Dr David Beacock, Dr Tom MacConnell, Musgrove Park Hospital Taunton, My Archipelago, National Health Service, The Castle at Taunton on November 3, 2010 | 4 Comments »
In my bay, behind the drawn curtain, I heard the rich sing-song tone of an African accent advancing. As she progressed down the length of the ward, she paused by each bed, pronouncing the same words of introduction to each patient. Eventually, she arrived with me and gently drew the curtain aside. “Hello! My name is [...]
Island Postscript… Please support the Skiathos Dog Shelter!
Posted in Society, Travel, Uncategorized, tagged Greece, Greek Animal Rescue, Helen Bozas, Panaghia Kounistria, Skiathos, Skiathos Dog Shelter on June 27, 2010 | 2 Comments »
The canine rights record of the Balkans cannot be described as proud. But over the past fifteen years, a typically, wonderfully, endearingly English initiative has blossomed on this tiny Aegean island of Skiathos to rescue abused and abandoned dogs, and find them good homes elsewhere in Europe. In 1995, Helen Bozas, the inspiration behind the Skiathos [...]
Tales from the Quantocks: 2. Village Funeral
Posted in Society, Uncategorized, tagged Glastonbury, Somerset parish churches, St Mary's Church North Petherton on May 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Among the social duties of our lives, I tend to dislike funerals. More particularly, I dislike the crematorium funeral where coffins and mourners are processed on a conveyor belt. You line up, you wait, you enter by one door and after your half-hour slot, you are ushered out of the exit door as the next coffin rolls up. These places are [...]
