Category Archives: Writing

The Dark Magic of the Msoura Ring

Posted on August 7, 2017 by

“As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.” Herman Melville, Moby-Dick In the north of Morocco, in the countryside south of Tangier, is an … Continue reading →

Posted in Magic & the Supernatural, Writing, Stonehenge, Antiquities | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Choirboys

Posted on June 21, 2017 by

Last Sunday, my daughter Tanith presented me with a unique and unforgettable handmade card and a very welcome bottle of superior red wine for Father’s Day, while my son Jack bought me a book that had long been missing from … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, Diary, Mourning, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Scipio and Leonardo

Posted on June 6, 2017 by

Last Saturday, I was browsing through some books on sale at a stall at Exeter’s Respect Festival, when a historical novel dealing with Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus leapt out at me. I had previously read a trilogy of books dealing … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing, Antiquities | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Stonehenge Tunnel – “This is the business we have chosen”.

Posted on March 12, 2017 by

Once this latest farce has run its full course, I would imagine that most observers would regard the saga of the Stonehenge Tunnel to be little more than another short-lived episode in the history of the ruins on the plain, … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities, Current Affairs, Stonehenge, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Honour of William Peter Blatty

Posted on January 13, 2017 by

In the 1970s, when I was a teenager, I became fascinated by both the film and the novel of The Exorcist, while I remain so to this day. I could write at enormous length about why this should be, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Dead Poets, Deep Purple, Diary, Language, Magic & the Supernatural, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Real Books, Fake News

Posted on November 25, 2016 by

Yesterday, I picked up a second-hand copy of John Le Carre’s novel A Most Wanted Man, while I also received – as a belated birthday present – a pristine hardback copy of The Tarot, a non-fiction study of these mysterious, … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, Diary, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Tribute to Richard Cavendish, genius author of The Black Arts

Posted on November 16, 2016 by

I do not know of a single person who has not suffered in some way during 2016, not only on account of one or more of their cultural or childhood heroes dying, but also because of the way they perceive … Continue reading →

Posted in Language, Magic & the Supernatural, Stonehenge, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments