I believe that the abolition of Grammar Schools in the 60s was the most regressive step in the history of education in this country. It resulted in the levelling down of education in general, and ensured that the old Public School system of election and promotion in politics, banking, media, Civil Service, business etc. would continue for generations to come. In all walks of life we see people ruling over us whose only qualification for office...

I’m lost in the magic tonight. When a writer has to leave a story for too long they have to reacquaint themselves with the characters. So I am living in ‘A Wizard’s Magic’ and getting to know my hero and heroine again and actually liking them. And like a reader, I am wondering where this story will lead them and how will it end? It is so easy to lose the thread of a story when you can’t sit and write 24/7 and that’s what happened to me…I couldn’...

Maslow’s hammer – if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail . I don’t believe in a market for healthcare. I don’t believe in a market for schools. And I don’t believe in trickledown economics, the belief that giving money to the rich helps the poor. When I see the innocence of children I can believe in God. As Dr Benjamin Spock wrote for post- Second World War baby-boomers: ‘Each child is retracing the whole history of mankind,...

A couple of gems for you this week from Terrence Oblong and OverTheTop1 via Seashore plus a relatively easy Inspiration Point to get your creative juices flowing: http://www.abctales.com/story/terrence-oblong/rock-broken http://www.abctales.com/story/seashore/infectious http://www.abctales.com/inspiration-point-ip Have fun!

Where's the ba? In the net... I must admit I’d a fiver on Celtic to win at 33/1. You know it’s not going to happen, but think it might. And at those odds, you can’t really lose, although you did. We all know how it works. Barcelona need to have an off day as they did on Saturday against a newly promoted team. The Celtic goalkeeper has got to have the game of his life, as David Marshal once did, or even Frazer Foster. Here De Vries came in to...

It has come to my attention this week via the Official Fan Club that it was 58 years since Cliff released his first hit single Move It!, on 29 th August 1958. It rose to number 2 in the charts, sadly pipped at the post by the Kalin Twins’ rendition of an undeniably catchy little ditty ‘When’, which is still occasionally given air time, although their name has more or less been forgotten, whereas Cliff’s fame and popularity appears to be...

‘Dear Brother, here where the doors are closed I have learned to walk through brick walls A copper-pot spider was my good friend and many lizards fed my heart Now every dream I see assumes the shape of a skeleton key. Once I heard Grandfather’s voice calling me back through the trees but I can’t go home that way I will remain by an older path over the plains on the river My offerings as I travel through the city of temples will be bones and...

gloat ɡləʊt/ verb gerund or present participle: gloating dwell on one's own success or another's misfortune with smugness or malignant pleasure. "his enemies gloated over the Huns death" synonyms: delight in, relish , take great pleasure in, enjoy greatly, revel in, rejoice in, glory in, exult in, triumph over, crow over; It was a long time coming, a few phoney wars and some people might even have watched Scotland playing Malta, but then the...

Synaesthesia was the theme of your work last month and your poems emerged with similar considerations: social treatment of individuals with sensory differences. Take time to read how varied and imaginative the poetry was: Noo gave us history and the flavour of fireworks: http://www.abctales.com/story/noo/something-fireworks Linda tackled the reality of life with synaesthesia: http://www.abctales.com/story/linda-wigzell-cress/meltdown Philip took...

What a night! First on washing hands after late post-cricket dinner we find hot water coming out of bathroom sink cold tap as well as hot tap. Take advice, use all water facilities then turn off immersion heater at fuse box as can't get to airing cupboard where it is due to using room for Xmas decs, deceased parents’ effects and any other homeless lumber you can think of. Oh joy! Find plumbing insurance doc but surprise doesn’t seem to cover the...