The Joe Collier Blog

A few years ago the chapel opposite our cottage in Brittany was deconsecrated. In no time, Denis, the eccentric and widely loved handyman who worked for the Mairie*, had converted it into a public amenity with the nave a meeting room-cum-exhibition space and the chancel a kitchen and toilet. Outside, he built a ramp for…

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II certainly deserves congratulations - living for ninety-six years, of which seventy have been as Head of State, is an extraordinary achievement. In its coverage of the celebrations the media told how different people have been touched by her reign. This blog is about two such occasions that affected me: both occurred at my workplace - St George’s Hospital…

Most of the garden at our cottage in Brittany is carefully tended. We are not meticulous but when we are living there - nearly half the year -  it gets hours of attention almost everyday. There is, however, an exception; apart from a serious autumn strimming, the meadow near the bottom of the garden is…

This blog is about three men who, between the mid 1950s and the early 1970s, became entangled in the machinery of the Secret Service. Politically, it was a difficult period. In the USA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believed that the fabric of the country was threatened by Communism, socialism and, to an extent,…

Just south of our house in Finistère, tulips are grown in profusion. For most of the year the fields look drab, even barren; in early spring, however, everything changes. For one month there are carpets of the most vivid purples, violets, scarlets and yellows. Sometimes there are broad rows with, say, bands of yellow and scarlet alongside…

After two miserably confining Covid years, we are once again visiting museums, galleries and exhibitions and even going to the cinema. Rohan led the return; I initially resisted. She argued that it was time for us, well, for me, to venture out more, and, of course she was right!  The venues she has chosen have…

There can be few better ways to celebrate a birthday or an anniversary than by sharing a meal together at a classy restaurant. No preparation, no washing up, just two hours being spoiled with wonderful mixtures of flavours and textures rarely matched at home. There is a problem - finding a restaurant for such special…

Over the last few years I have befriended a stray cockerel, an abandoned kitten and most recently a hedgehog. In each instance the friendship lasted weeks. This blog is about three more relationships - all were fleeting with the first two occurring in England and the third in France For walks on muddy days I wear a sturdy…

From King Henry’s Mound in Richmond Park the views are magnificent. On a clear day, St Paul’s Cathedral can be seen ten miles to the east. Windsor, which is sixteen miles to the west, is more difficult and deciding which bump on the horizon is the castle relies heavily on guesswork. As we stared, a couple who…

There are no butchers’ shops near us in Richmond and when a meal has to be special and the menu demands, we almost always buy our meat at a butcher a tube ride away. Being served from a selection of the highest quality products by people who know and love their business is a real…