When Samuel Johnson observed (to his friend and biographer James Boswell), that when ‘a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford’, he’d clearly never hurtled northwards, after four whistle stop days in the capital, thanking the Lord and Virgin trains to be heading…
Author: hacketteonthehow
Big shiny medals and bags of cash
Thanks to having been privileged to represent mountain rescue on a number of occasions, I’ve met some pretty amazing people, been invited to things I’d never have been invited to otherwise, in places I might never have seen. I’ve eaten dinner on the Cutty Sark, nibbled cucumber sandwiches at Buckingham Palace, quaffed champagne in the…
Developing a taste for Cumbria
Given that the walking weather app that is the Gremlin had been delivering almost hourly gloomy updates along the lines of ‘12.00pm: 90% chance of rain. 1.00pm: 40% chance of rain. 2.00pm: 60% chance of rain’ (you get the gist), we fully expected the Taste Cumbria extravaganza to be a little washed out, to say the least. As…
Hippy heaven
Just when you think that’s it, no more Hellenic ruminations from me – for this year at any rate – up pops the airport. Preveza: an establishment as eccentric as the country it serves, although a good deal more organised these days than the first time I flew in and out, some twenty-six years ago, bound…
Party of the gods
If thunder and lightning is your thing, I can recommend no better spot than Vassiliki. I rather think that rascally pair, Eric the Wind God and his old mucker Zeus, have rather enjoyed this week’s humdingers, judging by the way they were throwing our balcony furniture around. What with that and the rattling shutters, all…
Interview with a ‘Nana: Jacquie O’Sullivan, yogi and songstress
It isn’t every day you get to meet a ‘Nana (the apostrophe being particularly important in this case). In fact, I’d be lying if I said I’d given much thought to any ‘Nana at all since, ooh, 1991-ish. Maybe longer ago than that. A passing glimpse at an early-Thursday evening TV screen, TOTP in full…
All hail Eric
Good to see the spam filter as efficient as ever on the iPad during my sojourn in the Land of Milk and Honey. For which read non-existent. So far this week I’ve had two million euros deposited in my personal account, been offered both debt advice and the opportunity to squander my new-found wealth in…
All Greek to me
It’s 2.00am, we’re en route to Manchester Airport – somewhere around Lancaster – and it seems as though dawn in breaking already. It’s only now, living in a dark back road, as yet unpolluted by too many home or street lights, in a county which generally has huge areas of blackness come nightfall, that I…
Secretary of State says no
Finally, something to write home about on the planning front as Allerdale planners refuse permission for a new retail development on Low Road in Cockermouth. They had been ‘minded to turn down the plans for two retail units on vacant industrial land‘ but were unable to do so because the Secretary of State had received a…
Cows and cack
We’ve never been good with cows in our family. I blame my mother and one long-ago sunny, childhood day (I seem to recall a button-under-the-chin swimming cap and a salmon pink, ruched and waffled swimsuit were still the order of the day. I know, I know. Don’t say a word.) Why mention this now? Well, I was put in mind…
Mobile madness
Vodafone. Can’t live with ’em. Can’t live without ’em, eh? I swapped to Vodafone a few years ago, when it looked as though I was going to be spending more time in Cumbria than Manchester and they seemed to offer better coverage than O2. So far, I’ve had little cause to complain and you learn to live…
Double yellow peril
Here’s a pub quiz question for you: When did double yellows first make an appearance on our streets? Answer: 1960. Thanks to the Road Traffic Act. Rule 238 of the Highway Code, if you’re going for a bonus. And since then, they – and the tortured souls whose thankless task it is to uphold the law – have been the scourge of the ‘just dropper-offers’, ‘the quickie…
Hackette on the How 