Alan Russell
Bio
When you read my words they may not be perfect but I hope they:
1. Engage you
2. Entertain you
3. At least make you smile (Omar's Diaries) or
4. Think about this crazy world we live in and
5. Never accept anything at face value
Stories (243)
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Starting out from Hove to Brighton - Part 1
When the great writer Daniel Defoe visited what we now know as Brighton while writing his "A Tour Through the Whole Island of Britain" during the first quarter of the 18th century it was called "Bright Helmston" or more commonly "Bredhempston". He described it as:
By Alan Russell3 years ago in Wander
A jolly jape with a jolly ball
One of our horses, the delightful and effervescent Benney, had to be kept in a stable on box rest for a few days to recover from an injury. To ameliorate his boredom we bought him a Jolly Ball in the shape of a tetrahedron. It is made of highly robust plastic which he has dented but not broken. It has a hole in it through which treats like grass nuts can be put in and from which the horse can release them by moving it around the floor of the stable.
By Alan Russell3 years ago in Petlife
The Atlantic Crossing
The RMS Carmania had slipped away from her strike bound berth and gently moved along the St Lawrence Seaway. Our cabin, A15, was on the starboard side. From the porthole I could see lights on the opposite bank which got further and further away as we started our journey along the widening seaway towards the Atlantic. We felt the ship get into a rhythm as it pushed its way through the water.
By Alan Russell3 years ago in Wander
Omar's Diary to mid January 2023
Life here at Omar Towers has been somewhat frustrating for Lady Servant so far this month. Lady Servant has been waiting for an operation for over a year. It was scheduled for the first week of this month. However, the day before this the nurses had a one day strike and the op was cancelled. It has been rescheduled for 25th January. We are all quietly hoping it goes ahead as planned but in reality are prepared to have another disappointing phone call the day before saying it has been cancelled yet again.
By Alan Russell3 years ago in Journal
Our traumatic departure from Canada
We thought that when we checked into a motel near Montreal that would be the end of our drive across Canada. The plan had been to get to Montreal, have a day to explore the city and then get on board the RMS Carmania along with our worldly goods and cross the Atlantic to our new life in England. The distance we had driven was about 2,400 miles.
By Alan Russell3 years ago in Wander
Guy de Maupassant - selected short stories
My appreciation of short stories was given a false start when my first exposure to this genre was through reading the likes of Frederick Forsyth and Geoffrey Archer. Or watching "Tales of the Unexpected". All of those stories were fast paced and always ended with an unexpected twist that made me smile, made me gasp or wonder how on earth the author came up with that idea?
By Alan Russell3 years ago in Journal
Omar's Diary to 31st October 2022
Words would fail me if I tried to tell you how absolutely thrilled I was to have won first prize with this photograph in a local village show. The brief in the show schedule was for a "Woodland Glade". I just wonder how many of the demographic of Burley village defined as "blue rinses" or "silver seniors" noticed the cheeky activity in the lower right-hand corner of the shot?
By Alan Russell3 years ago in Journal
Confossus in tergo (Ltn)
"do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12 12) Otherwise known as "The Golden Rule". Just in case any of you have been in the political and media equivalent of a Faraday cage since July 2022, here in the UK we now have a new Prime Minister. No, not the one who replaced Boris Johnson in September (Liz Truss) but another one (Rishi Sunak) who replaced her on 24th October 2022.
By Alan Russell3 years ago in The Swamp
The Elvetham Hotel, Fleet, Hampshire
Dates of stay - 26th September 2022 to 28th September 2022 What a fabulous building steeped in history dating back to the days of King Alfred and beyond. The surroundings are imbued with romance. This is where Henry VIII is said to have met and instantly fallen in love with Jane Seymour in the 1500's much to the annoyance of Anne Boleyn. And there is a nearby oak tree that Queen Elizabeth I planted nearly five centuries ago when she stayed at Elvetham. She was feted with great celebrations which I suspect may have been some inspiration for the opening chapter in Virginia Woolf's "Orlando".
By Alan Russell3 years ago in Wander
