Alan Russell
I am a very lucky person. I live in a beautiful area,the New Forest,have a happy home that I share with my wife and two felines. More,much more than this I travel many highways,to interesting places and meeting interesting people.Carp diem.
"Crawling" in Berkeley Square
BERKELEY SQUARE IN central London belies geometry and ornithology. Despite its name it is not a square but a rectangle or an oblong whose length is approximately north to south and width east to west. Berkeley “Oblong” or Berkeley “Rectangle” just lack the elegance and romance that “square” conveys. And just imagine how the song “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” would sound if was based on real geometry. “A nightingale sang in Berkeley Oblong” or “A nightingale sang in Berkeley rectangle. It just wouldn’t have worked. The romantic song about nightingales is based entirely on lyrical and ornithological licence. Over the 250 years since the square was originally laid out there have been no recorded sightings of nightingales inhabiting the square, passing through or even stopping off to do a gig for romantic couples.
Alan RussellPublished 12 days ago in Wander
The Jurors
ON THE WAY from Staines to Windsor the road, the A308, runs between the Thames on the right and the fields of Runnymede on the left. In those fields are some big chairs clearly visible from the road. Why were they there? A place for a picnic but if so why? There were no trees for shade. Not there was any on this December day. No hedge lines to shelter from the wind. There they were, in the middle of a field.
Alan RussellPublished 27 days ago in The Swamp
Where modern democracy started
“Given by our hand in the meadow that is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the 15th day of June in the seventeenth year of our reign (ie 1215) (Extract from the closing paragraph of the English translation of the Magna Carta held at The British Library).
Alan RussellPublished 30 days ago in The Swamp
Forever an Acre of America by the River Thames
THE EVENTS OF 22nd November 1963 have been forensically analysed. Acres of paper and gallons of ink have been consumed in the quest for the truth. Yet, 57 years later there is no substantial evidence that could be brought into the courtroom of history and bring this American tragedy to a close.
Alan RussellPublished about a month ago in The Swamp
Life to 5th January 2021
Oh well, here we are waiting for midnight to strike heralding the imposition of a national lock down here in England. Deja vu; again.
Alan RussellPublished 2 months ago in Humans
The Guildhall Library, City of London
This one Saturday in February was especially cold. London seemed to be blanketed in one continuous and seamless cloud whose grayness carried the threat of snow. It diffused the sunlight so much that what did filter through was flat and devoid of shadows. The wind came at me head on regardless of which direction I was walking along a gridwork of streets unchanged since medieval times. Its cold energy wheedled its way through the weft and weave of my multiple layers of clothing.
Alan RussellPublished 2 months ago in Journal
Omar's Diary for December 2020
THE RED THING Leading up to Christmas Day there was much discussion amongst the Servants about the possibility of a new car arriving on the driveway of Omar Towers. If these discussions come to fruition, then I for one will be much relieved and dare I say “happy”. It will mean the “red thing” will be gone.
Alan RussellPublished 2 months ago in Humans
Life to 28th November 2020
Wednesday was one of those days full of promise. Good weather, a chance to ride on one of our horses across the New Forest and a genuinely relaxing day. A promise that was soon to be broken by a loose rock and a hole but more of that later.
Alan RussellPublished 3 months ago in The Swamp
