Lost in Words

  I’ve noticed something recently about ChatGPT that is decidedly strange. My relationship with it has changed, and not because of me. The ...

For many households in Britain there was a time when paying for electricity did not involve monthly bills, online accounts, or direct debits...

  We live in a world that often treats retirement as the end of productivity. We step away from the world of work, close the door, and are e...

  The Big Freeze that was the biggest freeze, bringing the country to a standstill.   The winter of 1962–63 is remembered simply as the Big...

  Changing expectations and the quiet revolution inside British homes. In the 1960s and 70s Britain , housework was seen as " women’s w...

I was reading an article recently about the average life span. It informed me that, on average, we have about 4000 weeks of life . From birt...

  Caravans, B&Bs, and seaside towns — before travel overseas became routine. In the sixties and seventies, for the majority of ‘Brits’, ...

  A writer rarely enters a room without quietly taking notes. Not with pen and paper; that would be too obvious, but with something far more...

  I recently caught a winter cold , which turned into an infection ,  or it came with it, just before Christmas. It was just a cold, or so I...

  Will we have a White Christmas? Where I live, it looks like rain.  There was a time when I remembered snow at Christmas. There’s a saying...

  Christmas Was Once Banned in Britain It’s strange to imagine, in an age where Christmas seems to start in October, as the shops gear up fo...

    The Twelve Posts of Christmas 2025 is my festive wander through memories, traditions, mishaps, and moments — from childhood Christmases ...

      The First World War was unlike anything the world had seen before. A conflict of mud, wire, artillery and unimaginable loss. By winte...

So yes, did you know people really did phone the Speaking Clock  — thousands of calls a day — just to set the time? Another wonderfully pe...

  So yes, did you know that flared trousers were once so wide they regularly got caught in people’s bike chains? It’s one of those silly ...

It begins in October, with the sound of a loud bang in the early evening, followed by an occasional whoosh. It tells me Bonfire Night is al...

Whatever happened to storytelling ? It’s a question I’ve found myself asking quite a lot lately. I read that people want real stories, the ...

In 2022, I wrote a book called Son of My Father. I remember the moment the title came to me. I was pacing around my home, thinking — search...