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Showing posts from September, 2021

The Battle of Britain

 This month there have been many displays through out the UK celebrating the Battle of Britain that was fought in the UK in 1940 between 10 July – 31 October. Adolf Hitler expected UK to admit defeat following the defeat of France but Britain continued its fight defying Germanys hopes of superiority in the air.   There are many interesting memories that were shared from that period by those who lived at that time. My own mother worked with the London Ambulance service as part of the "war effort". She spoke of how she had to travel in the midst of the bombing to assist those in need. Such was the need that removal vans were commandeered and converted into ambulances. She was only 4 foot 8 inches. Can you imagine the fears of drivers, not only dodging the bombs but seeing the ambulance coming along the road and due to her small stature there did not appear to be any one driving! In 1975 I was posted to RAF Brawdy in Pembrokeshire where I was given a new insight into the pilots

A tribute to Jimmy Greaves, a man who did much, but wished for more

 Footballer, televsion personalty, and man who still had higher hopes! James Peter Greaves MBE (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021), or Jimmy Greaves, was an English professional Footballer who played as a forward. He was Englands fourth-highest international goal scorer (44 goals). What a record! However, thats not the full story. He was also Tottenham Hotspurs 's highest ever goalscorer (266 goals), the highest goalscorer in the history of English football (357 goals), and also scored more hjat tricks (six) for England than anyone else. Due to an injury he failed to have a place n the 1966 world cup team.   Such a distinguished football career would have been enough for many folks, but Greavsie still looked for more. After retiring as a player Greaves went on to enjoy a successful career in broadcasting, most notably working alongside Ian St John on Sant and Greavsie from 1985 to 1992. During this period, he also made regular appearances on TV-am.Yesterday it was repored tha

nightmares of 9/11, and the positive memories that came to me

It was 2pm UK time on the 11th September 2001. I was visiting an elderly lady who had at some point suffered from a stroke which had affected her speech and her mobility. As such it was agreed that when visiting her I should knock on the door and  walk in. As I walked in I was met with a lady visibly distressed as she watched her television. I wondered if this was the emotional reaction to a film, looking into the screen and seeing the horrific scenes of what is now known as 9/11. I could not understand. "Is this a film?" I asked "No, no film" she said. It was real, I began to realise as a second plane flew into the Twin Towers resulting in  many deaths and even more nightmares for so many families in New York. Is there anyone who was of an age to see these scenes who could not recount where they were at this time and date. For 20 years the shadow of this horror has been held over so many of us. This past weekend the media has opened it all up once more as it recall

Happy New Year?

Happy New year!   Or as the Jewish community would say    '   shanah tova'   , which   means 'good year', or '   shanah tovah u'metukah   ', which is Hebrew for 'a good and sweet new year'. Jewish communities across the nation will be celebrating the high holidays in the coming weeks. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, begins on Monday night (September 6) as the sun goes down and ends at nightfall on Wednesday, September 8. The beginnings of a new year from one perspective, so what a great time to start this new blog and in the times that lie ahead to see a record of what happens in a journey of life. There will be the positives as well as the negatives, but together we can discover so much to celebrate in the miracle of life. As they celebrate apples are dipped in honey to mark a sweet and fruitful new year and pomegranates, honey cake and round  challah  bread are also eaten. Hope is something we all look for in every tradition. Speaking of hope,