Monthly Archives: October 2026

A return to hall of residence life – in Manchester (Rousse)

Our new home was a small study bedroom in a derelict hall of residence at the University of Manchester. We reached the building by way of the A702. The last part of this road was still under development. It petered … Continue reading →

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National award for mirror software (Rousse)

While I had been attending exercise classes then collecting left-over scraps of Christmas wrapping paper and traybakes, LM programmed with her grandson A. Not long afterwards we learnt that LM had won a national award for app. Everyone was super-excited … Continue reading →

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Chinese to blame for Victorian train carriage catastrophe (Rousse)

We travelled in a tiny single red open Victorian train carriage. It was obvious that the modern station was not designed to welcome such an old-fashioned form of transport: there was a huge gap between the open carriage door and … Continue reading →

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A bad day at the office (Rousse)

It was a great disappointment that my Auntie A failed to turn up as a guest speaker. I was sure that she would have had much say to my work colleagues in the city of London. I had made such … Continue reading →

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Aunties identify adoptees (Rousse)

One sister led me away a short distance from the other. She was desperate to tell me her latest gossipy findings from the past. From her rushed whispers, I learnt of a teenage pregnancy.  The baby put out for adoption … Continue reading →

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Alpine pig-snoring and the price of pork (Rousse)

I met my old university pals HVJ, JS, and SPL in the Alps for a short non-ski winter break. Our accommodation was a large room with four single beds, athough not quite large enough for me to pig-snore without waking … Continue reading →

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Missing Sussex child discovered captive in dirty bungalow (Rousse)

The child had been missing for months. So when TPR and I caught sight of him on a Sussex housing estate, we felt it our duty to follow him back to the dirty bungalow where he lived with his captors. … Continue reading →

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Work as a guerrilla gardener and clandestine cleaner (Rousse)

I sneaked up to the University of Edinburgh’s New College tugging my small trolley of gardening tools. There, out of sight of the few people who were around so early in the day, I tidied up a couple of shrubs. … Continue reading →

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A pea-green tandem and pink counterpanes in South America (Rousse)

We rode our newly-acquired pea-green tandem in the scorching heat through the mountainous deserts of South America. When we took a tumble in the choking dust, we both remembered the advice to avoid injury and fell as if we were … Continue reading →

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