Category Archives: London

M & S; Big Versus Small and the Innate British Sense of Belonging

What is national identity? How do we define it? In our British culture there are a number of different touchstones of our national identity – and here’s one of them. M & S. This is not so removed from the subject of my fiction – as I believe that Marks & Spencer has something toContinue reading “M & S; Big Versus Small and the Innate British Sense of Belonging”

A Man We Owe Our Freedom To

On a recent visit to the Churchill War Rooms in London, I experienced in my imagination what it would have been like to work as part of Winston Churchill’s team underground during the Second World War. As I walked through the offices and passed the displays and spent time in the Churchill Museum, I wasContinue reading “A Man We Owe Our Freedom To”

Skillman & Sons: The Tool Shop Opposite the Woolwich Ferry – and Traditional Britain Reborn

The London postal service once had to deliver a letter from India addressed as follows: “The tool shop opposite the Woolwich Ferry London” It arrived safely at its destination: A.D. Skillman & Sons, 108 Woolwich High Street, London SE18. Skillman and Sons of Woolwich (founded by my grandfather Alfred Daniel in 1900) was a bywordContinue reading “Skillman & Sons: The Tool Shop Opposite the Woolwich Ferry – and Traditional Britain Reborn”

“Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 4 – Cottingley Fairy Photographs and Esoteric Teachings

I want to be a very serene loving being in tune with the universe. So said a fellow-member of my study group at  The Theosophical Society, at 50 Gloucester Place, London W1. She spoke those words in answer to a question from my next inspirational figure. He had asked, “Why are you here? What doContinue reading ““Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 4 – Cottingley Fairy Photographs and Esoteric Teachings”

“Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 3 – Sir Laurens Van Der Post, Explorer of the Spirit

We shall not cease from exploration wrote TS Eliot in his poem “Little Gidding”. And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. These words seem very appropriate for author and explorer Sir Laurens Van Der Post (1906-1996), whom I first cameContinue reading ““Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 3 – Sir Laurens Van Der Post, Explorer of the Spirit”

“Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 2 – The Curious Case of the Kindly Professor and the Cunning Cult Leader

This sounds like a case for Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson, doesn’t it? The kindly professor in question is: Dr Raynor Johnson, Physicist, and Master of Queen’s University Melbourne – scientist turned spiritual seeker. And the cunning cult leader is: Anne Hamilton-Byrne,a “self-appointed mystic” who led a cult proclaiming herself to be a reincarnationContinue reading ““Mystical Experiences and Glimpses of Eternity” Mini Series Part 2 – The Curious Case of the Kindly Professor and the Cunning Cult Leader”

Romantic Moments

What are the most romantic moments of your life?  As a mystery romance novelist I have my own ideas! The setting for my novel Mystical Circles is a gracious farmhouse in the Cotswolds; surrounded by garden, orchard, and its own land rising up the steep side of the valley to a ridge overlooking  the panorama of the SevernContinue reading “Romantic Moments”

On the Outside Looking In, Royal Barges, Rowing Boats, Glimpses, Panoramas and Artistic Vision

As I watched The Diamond Jubilee River Pageant on TV and tried to work out whether I wished I was there, or whether I was glad not to be, I remembered these words in a radio interview several months ago. ‘I have always felt myself to be on the outside of everything, looking in.’ IContinue reading “On the Outside Looking In, Royal Barges, Rowing Boats, Glimpses, Panoramas and Artistic Vision”

Offerings to the Water Spirit

“If there is magic on the planet it is contained in the water” (Loren Eiseley – American anthropologist, philosopher & natural science writer). I’m led to reflect on this every time I come upon a pool of water in a public place – whether that be the pool in the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew,Continue reading “Offerings to the Water Spirit”