The Martini Collection

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Conversations in a library

By Alan Russell on Thu, 26 Mar 2015

At the back of the small town regional library housed in a 1980’s single story building next to medical centre was the reference and reading section...

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1028 reads

Orlando

By Alan Russell on Mon, 19 Oct 2015

It was the first of several mornings at the stables where everything that had to be done seemed to happen with a light and deft touch. The hay nets...

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1012 reads

That Was a Busy Night

By Alan Russell on Thu, 22 Oct 2015

Even two or three nights later I still cannot work out the contextual setting of a very clear dream I had the other night. Why was I, a mere civilian...

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A review of 'Under The Wire; Marie Colvin's Last Assignment' by Paul Conroy

By Alan Russell on Sun, 25 Oct 2015

For me this was a real page turner of a book which is an experience I have been missing for a couple of years. I have read books by journalists going...

Opinion

Certificate PG

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414 reads

Serendipity

By Alan Russell on Mon, 07 Dec 2015

About a year after my mother died my Dad felt well enough to start clearing out some of her things. Amongst them were a couple of carrier bags of...

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570 reads

Conversation in a barber shop

By Alan Russell on Wed, 09 Dec 2015

It always seems to be raining in Salisbury since I have been working there. This particular morning the rain was sheeting down so violently it was...

Humour

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394 reads

The Blue Blazer

By Alan Russell on Fri, 18 Dec 2015

It is hard to tell when going through old photographs from when you were very young if you can actually remember something from the picture or if...

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769 reads

Never Enough Time - My Life with Terry Biddlecombe by Henrietta Knight

By Alan Russell on Wed, 30 Dec 2015

A few years ago I lost interest in reading biographies of jockeys and trainers. Then for Christmas Heather presented me with ‘Not Enough Time – My...

Certificate PG

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420 reads

Brook Tea Rooms in Swanage Dorset

By Alan Russell on Fri, 11 Mar 2016

Brook Tea Rooms 15 The Parade Swanage BH19 1DA Date 11 th March 2016 We have been regular visitors to Swanage in Dorset for about five years...

Travel

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972 reads

Lunch at the Anchor Bar, Poole Quay

By Alan Russell on Mon, 21 Mar 2016

Anchor Bar Thistle Hotel The Quay Poole BH15 1HD Date and time of visit 19 th March 2016 @ 1230 I looked for a venue for four covers that would be...

Travel

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729 reads

Finders Keepers and the Red Jacket

By Alan Russell on Wed, 30 Mar 2016

As I walked towards the crest of a hill on the path my view of the bay gradually opened up to its full panorama. The sky was clear to the far horizon...

Other Fiction

Story

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431 reads

Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire and Mr McKissock

By Alan Russell on Fri, 29 Apr 2016

This is a place I clearly remember as being a stopping off point on a school trip from Maidenhead in the Thames Valley to Snowdonia National Park in...

Autobiography

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718 reads

The Gin Festival

By Alan Russell on Mon, 09 May 2016

I was not quite sure what to expect when we booked tickets for our selves and two friends to go to a 'Gin Festival' at The Pavilion in Bournemouth...

Travel

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760 reads

A Reed Shaken By The Wind

By Alan Russell on Tue, 17 May 2016

This book was first published in 1957 following his journey through the marshes of southern Iraq with Wilfred Thesiger in 1956. In Gavin Maxwell’s...

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1046 reads

The EU Referendum and a plea to voters

By Alan Russell on Sat, 28 May 2016

At this point of the referendum campaign most of us will have decided how to vote on 23 rd June. Some of us, at this late stage, will still be...

Miscellaneous

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1056 reads

Andrew Lindsay Gordon & 4 prophetic lines

By Alan Russell on Fri, 03 Jun 2016

I am currently reading through Brough Scott’s ‘Henry Cecil – Trainer of Genius’ and came across these four lines of philosophical poetry: Life is...

Quotations

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1127 reads

Splinters in Christchurch Dorset

By Alan Russell on Fri, 03 Jun 2016

Splinters 11 – 12 Church Street Christchurch Dorset BH23 1BW Date & time of visit 03.06.16 @ 1200 How many times have we walked past this place...

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904 reads

Danger Pay - Memoir of a Photojournalist in the Middle East 1984 - 94

By Alan Russell on Sun, 03 Jul 2016

Danger Pay – Memoir of a Photojournalist in the Middle East, 1984 – 94 FROM THE COLLECTION OF NOTES AND DIARIES ACCUMULATED BY CAROL SPENCER MITCHELL...

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707 reads

We do not deserve a 'free' press

By Alan Russell on Sat, 09 Jul 2016

Yesterday while I was having lunch at my desk I was flicking through the websites for the BBC and The Telegraph. On The Telegraph website I had a...

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985 reads

The Last of the President's Men by Bob Woodward

By Alan Russell on Mon, 11 Jul 2016

The Last of the President’s Men by Bob Woodward. Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2015. ISBN 978 – 1 – 4711 – 5650 – 2 (Hardback £25.00) 291pp, or 978 –...

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686 reads

My Mum, Dementia and the family

By Alan Russell on Mon, 11 Jul 2016

This is a very rough unhoned piece that I wanted to publish in its own rawness so please forgive me if any splinters of literary clumsiness cause...

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1212 reads

Lessons from the Pugs

By Alan Russell on Wed, 27 Jul 2016

Next to my car in the car park was a four wheel drive with the tailgate open. The owner, presumably was sitting on the tailgate holding two leads in...

Spiritual

Story

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419 reads

The George on Holyport Green and a special Landlord

By Alan Russell on Mon, 01 Aug 2016

I first met Ray Binding when I went into his pub, The George on Holyport Green . He was a small man with a cherubic face whom his daughter likened to...

Autobiography

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525 reads

Les Mots by Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 - 1980)

By Alan Russell on Thu, 04 Aug 2016

I picked up this book in an Oxfam shop during one of my many travels around the country. It caught my eye because at the time I was looking for...

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556 reads

Earthly Heaven on Horseback

By Alan Russell on Wed, 10 Aug 2016

As to the spiritual meaning of heaven I have absolutely no idea if it exists or not. All I know is that one late summer evening I was able to feel at...

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741 reads

Bryn doesn't carry passengers

By Alan Russell on Sat, 03 Sep 2016

There are two ways of describing Bryn. A negative description would be that he is ‘nervous’. A more positive description of his behaviour would be...

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418 reads

HSBC - Time to Vent and Rage with a marmalade sandwich in hand

By Alan Russell on Tue, 20 Sep 2016

Listen up there dear readers if you want to find out the best way to get some response and action from HSBC. Are they the listening bank? Not sure...

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651 reads

Garden border, George Orwell and Slag Heaps

By Alan Russell on Tue, 04 Oct 2016

About five years ago I built a raised border by the front step of our home to cover up the austere ugliness of the bare concrete it had been made...

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2248 reads

Babylon and F Scott Fitzgerald Revisited

By Alan Russell on Thu, 20 Oct 2016

I was introduced to the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald by one of my teachers, David Gowers. To prevent anyone who is interested in English cricket from...

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438 reads

Tormore Whisky, The Stag and Hounds and the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

By Alan Russell on Fri, 28 Oct 2016

The Stag and Hounds at Braywick between Maidenhead and Windsor is where I had my first taste of English bitter that I paid for legally myself as I...

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2169 reads

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Deconstructing a letter in a local paper

By Alan Russell on Tue, 01 Nov 2016

Below is an extract from a letter that appeared in our local free newspaper the other week: We have the new leader of the Lib Dems saying that we...

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429 reads

Studland, missing fingers, a rabid dog called Bob and a privy

By Alan Russell on Sun, 06 Nov 2016

When we first arrived from Canada in the early 1960’s my parents would take us, that is my two elder brothers and me to a farm on the road from...

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1953 reads

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Environmental paradoxes on a very local scale

By Alan Russell on Sun, 20 Nov 2016

One of our local papers in the New Forest area is the New Milton Advertiser and Lymington Times which has been published weekly without interruption...

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741 reads

Retirement - Timing is Critical

By Alan Russell on Wed, 28 Dec 2016

For our Christmas entertainment in 2016 we bought two DVDs. One was ‘Billy Connolly Wild Horse Tour’ and the other one was ‘I Am Bolt’. The first one...

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734 reads

The bus ride

By Alan Russell on Fri, 13 Jan 2017

The little community bus that runs between Ringwood and Poulner had swallowed most of its passengers by the time we arrived at the stop in Meeting...

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371 reads

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We need a strong fourth estate

By Alan Russell on Wed, 18 Jan 2017

‘I spent a lot of time on my – farewell address talking about the state of our democracy. It goes without saying that essential to that is a free...

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655 reads

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You want to leave a legacy?

By Alan Russell on Sun, 12 Feb 2017

My Dad was nearly 93 when he died recently. It was not unexpected given the combination that he was very old and was suffering from a brain tumour as...

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2114 reads

1500 Paces

By Alan Russell on Sat, 18 Mar 2017

Sometimes I can work best late at night and sometimes I can work at my best early in the morning. This one day was one of those early morning days as...

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1493 reads

Two for Chelmsford for 23rd March 2017

By Alan Russell on Wed, 22 Mar 2017

I had a quick canter through the race card for Chelmsford for Thursday 23rd March 2017 and there are two handicaps with horses running that could be...

Unclassified