Tag Archives: village

Highland tattoo confession (Rousse)

I woke up cold on the floor of our tatty bed and breakfast room, with TPR five feet away tucked up cosy in bed. At least this proved that I’d slept. It was the last day of our holiday and … Continue reading

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French flood wipes out village (Rousse)

My mother and I lived in a log cabin in the upper section of a rural French village. During the day she worked in the cinema further down the valley, quite close to the river and the lake. My daily … Continue reading

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Battle of Flodden commemorations preview (Rousse)

We were stuck in an ill-equipped classroom several miles out of town away from the excellent resources of our main campus. Somehow I had to entertain this small class of postgrad students with no access to the online materials that … Continue reading

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Class-conscious Cotswolds offers mixed welcome (Rousse)

Everyone* we knew had moved to the Cotswolds. We drove down to see if life there would suit us too. My sister J set up an introduction for us with the vicar’s wife, also newly arrived in the village. The … Continue reading

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Time-travelling Rupert Grint (as Ron Weasley) greets Rousse in the Kingdom of Fife

This was one of the most interesting research seminars that I had ever attended: it was just like a circus performance. My favourite act was the set of extremely flexible women gymnasts. They all started off in crab position, tightly … Continue reading

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The shame of Jonathan Ross’ brother’s criminal career (Rousse)

My sister J was a criminal mastermind. Her two children served as the key members of her gang. My mentor – who would eventually become my partner provided that I proved myself – was one of Jonathan Ross’ brothers (although … Continue reading

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Rousse pays homage to shark-wrestling Finnish immigrant

It was a bad day: I lost my shoes (black patent leather Mary Janes), mislaid my headphones, and couldn’t face a bare-footed music-less walk home. To my rescue came Professor JM. She offered me a lift down the A1 with … Continue reading

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Camels and elephants spotted in British coastal waters (Rousse)

Although it had become rather shabby, so far there had been no good reason to redecorate the rooms at the back of our flat. The kitchen was serviceable (provided that you remembered that the hob on the oven could never … Continue reading

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Gywneth Paltrow and Chris Martin discuss kids’ future against the changing backdrop of the Outer Hebrides (Rousse)

For a change we travelled to the guest house across the mountains on foot. This was quite a departure from our usual means of transport, normally tandem over the single-track roads. As the route became steeper and steeper we marvelled … Continue reading

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