We have just returned from a wonderful ten days in Scotland. The trip was not part of our original summer plans, rather it was a hasty rethink prompted by a wretched pandemic. From late May to early October we would normally be in our house in France. Last summer we managed a visit squeezed between two…
A House of Contrasts
When our miserable year’s lockdown was over, the first museum Rohan and I visited was the house of Joseph Mallord William Turner. The exhibition there was a modest affair. The house, however, which was designed and built by Turner was a delight and a revelation. In 1807 Turner, then 32, bought two plots of…
Diggerland, the Butler and a Change of Heart
A few weeks ago Rohan and I took our son Joshua and grandson River to a Diggerland Theme Park. Joshua was sure River would love it. We arrived early and stood alone in front of the main entrance next to an almost empty car park. If we were amongst the first we would avoid long…
Abram Games: The Man Behind the Icon
Just over seventy years ago, on May 4th 1951 to be precise, the Festival of Britain opened to the public. Within a week, my parents, my five year-old sister, Sarah, and I had visited the exhibition and I have never forgotten the aura of the occasion and the excitement it engendered. I don’t understand why…
A Change of Heart
This blog arises out of my love of wood and my reverence for trees, sentiments that developed when Rohan and I spent a weekend in a cottage in Dorset. I was twenty five and having just qualified as a doctor, was doing my first job as a house surgeon. That weekend we were the guests…
The Need To Be With Others
Little good has come from the pandemic, although it has taught me how much others mean to me. I now know that I cannot do without family and friends. I can’t imagine how I would have managed this last year without the close and steadfast companionship of my wife, Rohan, and the precious visits -…
Two Letters to Celebrate
Like many people, I have my heroes. Perhaps surprisingly, my current favourite is the French cartoonist Jean Plantureux. This blog is about Jean - alias ‘Plantu’ - and tells how I discovered his cartoons, and how two letters have meant that his hero status has been consolidated. The story starts with my struggle to learn…
A Week with My Mother
I have just spent a week with my mother - or so it felt. In fact she died 34 years ago when she was 78 and our time together now came courtesy of her biography. Professionally she was an actor and March 4th this year saw the publication of ‘The Performer’s Tale: The Nine Lives…
Vaccination: A Bitter-Sweet Affair
It was a wonderful feeling. Within seconds of being vaccinated, and after almost a year of gloom, isolation and anxiety, there was suddenly the prospect of a future free of the threat of illness. I would no longer be barred from being with friends and family, from going to theatres, restaurants and shops - the list is endless. I was given…
Three Mind-Tickling Jokes
Being amused is a wonderful treat. At one extreme, whatever was funny causes a burst of uncontrollable laughter that takes over the body. At the other, a wry smile is the only sign of a contentment which, for a moment, dominates the mind. Interestingly, although the time and place of the guffaw-inducing episode is usually…
The Joe Collier Blog 