It was a long and often rough road which led to a special meeting of the South Norfolk Planning Committee on Wednesday 8th December to decide whether three wind turbines should be erected on the land between the villages of Dickleburgh, Rushall, Pulham St Mary and Pulham Market. Three and a half years ago, an… Continue reading Renewable hope: 10 lessons after a planning committee considers wind turbines
Read moreOnce when I played this song, a woman in the audience advised me to seek psychiatric help. Derek Hewitson is on lead guitar. D’You Remember the Evening? by TerenceBlacker
Read moreTo an outsider, it would have seemed a normal enough gathering: 25 chaps of a certain background, of a certain age, at a gentlemen’s club in London. Around the long table, there was the usual mix of banterers and jokers, nodders and listeners. It was a reunion of prep school friends, probably much like any… Continue reading We grow kinder as we get older
Read moreHere’s a song dedicated to the expat community…. I’d Rather Be French by TerenceBlacker
Read moreWhat stirring news it has been that the National Grid has performed spectacularly well this year, posting a mind-boggling 45 per cent increase in its pre-tax profits for the first six months of this year. The impression in some quarters has been that it as if a great British institution – the National Health, say,… Continue reading Beware the “vision” and “values” of National Grid plc
Read moreThis is the story of Harry, who doesn’t care where it’s at, so long as love is in the air. Harry Loves Porn by TerenceBlacker
Read moreIs there anything quite as hilarious, yet embarrassing, as the British media moving into royal mode? The simpering fake familiarity, the cringing deference, the solemn recital of every dreary detail of royal domestic life, the unspoken obsession with class: nothing reveals our national character more ruthlessly than a royal wedding. Behind the usual forelock-tugging, something nastier… Continue reading They’re off! The Royal Brown-Nose Handicap is under way
Read moreI thought I’d post a little Friday song for the next few weeks. Here’s my first offering – a song with a message which I wrote earlier in the year. Sad Old Bastards with Guitars by TerenceBlacker
Read moreLast week, it was time to go back to school. For the first time since I was a teenager, I returned to Wellington College. I had been invited back by Anthony Seldon, the present headmaster – or Master, as we call him – to give what he called “a fireside chat” at the Master’s Lodge.… Continue reading 40 Years On: an unsettling trip back to school
Read moreHas there ever in modern history been a sillier, yet also brutally effective, term of abuse than “nimby”? It is a word which might have been formulated by a brilliant but cynical advertising copywriter or perhaps one of the more cunning spin-doctors lurking evilly in the corridors of Whitehall. It squashes any debate around planning… Continue reading “NIMBY”: a byword for lazy-minded prejudice
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