The first at age 11 was alone from Wallington Surrey. to Pyla near Arcachon France to stay with the family of Prince Henri Melchior de Polignac (RIP) at their villa over a private beach. Travelling was by cross channel ferry; train to Bordeaux thence car to Pyla
Travelling to Ireland with school friend John Farr (RIP) and then meeting my now wife hitch hiking in Connemara Ireland. Also Connemara 2025
Train, ferry and train from London to Istanbul
Bus from Istanbul to Ankara
Escape small pox outbreak in Turkey by ferry to Cyprus
Army Land Rover around Cyprus which island was then undivided.
Train from Cairo to Luxor when train corridors filled with prisoners of war,
Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens Egypt deserted because of war.
Gites in France with mrs maytrees and children, for example Dax near to the Atlantic
HCPT journeys from Wimbledon to Lourdes via couchette trains from Boulogne sur Mere eg Lourdes
Caledonian sleeper to Aberdeen Caledonian Sleeper
Sea plane from Vancouver Canada to Vancouver Island ;thence train to Seattle USA
Italy on many occasions with family; also Italian Work
Greece and Greek Islands again with John Farr RIP Greece
Leningrad with mrs maytrees
Sicily when Etna erupted.
Alexa's spider house France
Nicolas Bellord's (RIP) vinyard in Portugal though the neighbouring forest fire was scary
Tangier with mrs maytrees and Edmund
As one who votes an voted tory even in Margaret Thatcher's time, I found the article in The Times about our current Labour prime minister most interesting so reproduce it below as today's blog-post
One of the unique features of the Labour tradition is the role of the churches in its formation, Catholic and non-conformist. European social democracy was anti-clerical and republican. Labour, in contrast, was monarchist and Christian. Clement Attlee went as far as to argue that monarchy was a condition of socialism as it provided the stability and legitimacy required for radical change.
It is often said Labour is “more Methodist than Marxist”, and that is true. The role of the dissenting congregations were a vital source of Labour’s leadership formation and ethos. It is also true to say Labour was more Catholic than Methodist, particularly in Scotland, the northeast and northwest.
When Harold Wilson said Labour was a “broad church” he was not speaking metaphorically. In Edinburgh and Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester, Labour created a common institution built by Catholic and Protestant where there was none before, and through that a common good. In such divided cities, this was some accomplishment. They buried each other’s dead through the Co-op burial societies, thus saving each other the indignity of a mass grave. They built each other’s houses through the building societies and retrieved a home in the world. Contribution, locality and mutuality defined the institutional structure.
Catholic Labour proved to be a durable tradition as it was built on a particular body of thought initiated by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 through his encyclical, Rerum Novarum. The “new thing” he was talking about was capitalism, the idea that human beings and nature — creation itself — could be turned into a commodity subject to fluctuating price on the open market. Catholics taught, in contrast, that there was more to being a person than that. The present Pope took his name to honour this inheritance.
In England Cardinal Manning was an inspiration for this and he marched at the head of dockers in their strike of 1889 along with William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. The Times expressed its outrage at Catholic and Protestant marching together in common cause. Nonetheless, the strikers won their “tanner” and the Labour Representation Committee they established led directly to the formation of the Labour Party.
Catholic social thought resisted the dominion of capital, not in the name of a collective socialist state but as a defence of private property, the family and freedom of religion. Its experience of the French Revolution was of dispossession, persecution and exile. As an alternative to class war it promoted the “common good” and this underwrote its support for the monarchy rather than republics. There was no Christian-Democrat Party in Britain because Labour had already resolved the division between social and Christian democracy within itself.
Catholic teaching was built around three fundamental assumptions: the “dignity of labour” — that the worker was not merely a commodity to be used and discarded; subsidiarity — a Latin way of saying that place mattered and the centralising state was as much a threat as concentrated capital; and solidarity — that all are responsible for sharing the burdens of association through the provision of common goods.
Perhaps the greatest embodiment of this was Derek Worlock, the archbishop of Liverpool from 1976 to 1996. His time included the horrors of Heysel and Hillsborough, the Toxteth riots and the capture of Liverpool council by Militant. Along with the Anglican Bishop David Sheppard, he built a public defiance of both Marxism and Thatcherism. They convened regular meetings with businesses, unions and government to renew the docks and build houses, to reconcile estranged interests and renew civic pride. The dignity of Labour, local associations and solidarity were the foundations of this. When he died, local people paid for a statue of him and David Sheppard that was placed half way down Hope Street, between the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals.
What is of interest is that the altar boy whose job was to press “play” on the cassette recorder that amplified Worlock’s sermons to the local congregation was Andy Burnham. And then he had to press “stop”. The boy was on his own, there were no mobile phones and he had no choice but to listen. And now, when he speaks, his words echo those written by Warlock and Sheppard in Faith in the City and With Hope in our Hearts.
He talks about the importance of place and of home. His first initiative was on homelessness, and it wasn’t just about houselessness but about lonely, unstable, estranged individual lives. Home, family, work, place, these are the sublime catechisms of Catholic social thought. The basis of solidarity. And the significance of his renunciation of Thatcherism is that she initiated an era in which “political power was centralised, economic power privatised, large parts of the country deindustrialised, and they still haven’t recovered”.
Burnham thinks Thatcher’s pursuit of markets led to the abandonment of a sense of right order. Nothing was sacred and entire regions degenerated. In short, she liquidated solidarity by degrading work and industry. He wrote in The Times that over the past 40 years, “local apprenticeships faded, technical education was pushed into the background and practical skills came to be seen as somehow second class”. And the remedy requires “a wholesale change in the architecture and culture of the British state recognising the primacy of place”.
Worlock was close to Frank Field, MP for Birkenhead, who more than anyone in Labour warned of the dangers of a welfare system without contribution and accountability. Burnham has retained Pat McFadden, graduate of Holy Cross Roman Catholic primary school in Glasgow, as work and pensions secretary. James Purnell is chief of staff and Graeme Cooke is head of policy, both experienced and expert state reformers. Shabana Mahmood puts security and civic order at the centre of her calling. John Healey is deeply aware of the ineffectiveness of the state from his time at the Ministry of Defence.
Under Sir Keir Starmer the Labour Party was in real danger of losing the trust of the working class and its relevance as a political party. It was a crisis of identity: it could no longer say what it believed in or was for and became afraid of the future. It had become a legalistic procedural liberal party without a notion of nation, class, place or the common good. It became part of the polarisation that still defines our time and not its reconciliation.
At its moment of existential peril Labour turned to a neglected but profound aspect of its tradition. At a moment of national malaise, it turned to its roots as a guide to its renewal. In all he has said so far Andy Burnham is channelling the voice of Derek Worlock. Whether he serves as a ghost or a guide will define the fate of his government.
Lord Glasman is a Labour peer
Mrs maytrees was admitted to St Georges NHS hospital on Friday. She attended A&E there on doctor's orders. The GP had provided a detailed written report of the difficulties. Mrs maytrees was at once admitted to St George's specialist care ward where many friendly staff made her comfortable and safe.
St Georges is a university teaching hospital with open visiting hours. When I attended, mrs maytrees who had been given a bed in a secluded alcove, was with several members of staff. These included the lead doctor, a trainee pharmacist, his mentor and several nurses and carers.
Whilst an in-patient, the hospital provided all medications and drugs that she had previously been precribed, which I found impressive,
The staff were all excellent. The most recent comment to her by a consultant signifies that she may be discharged later today
Meanwhile soon it will be the Kingston NHS hospital for me, where a cataract operation awaits this afternoon.
Many criticise the NHS but so far we surely cannot complain,
Spending an afternoon with friends who made a delicious lunch for us to enjoy together in their sunny garden yesterday, was a real treat
The lunch included a wonderful home made quiche for which we all congratulated the cook Ann, who with her husband, had so kindly invited us to join them.
Many houses in the region are large with for example the house next door having much building work taking place. One house had had a three storey garage built apparently large enough to accommodate the owner's Maserati motor cars. Another was having a similar garage erected apparently for the same purpose. Underground swimming pools and cinemas were also apparently being built.
Yet our friends who used to live in a terraced house in Wimbledon told us that the value of that small Wimbledon house was currently greater than that of their existing home - absurd.
We briefly discussed politics given that the UK is again about to change its Prime Minister. Surprisingly to me anyway our hosts strongly supported Nigel Farage whereas I loathe his politics though none of us were keen on the Labour Party.
The Ladies tennis final at Wimbledon was more exciting to watch than those of previous years despite both players being friends from the Czech Republic
As for the football, England struggled in their match against Norway but eventually Jude Bellingham scored to level the full tume outcome at 1-1.
The football World Cup continues to be fascinating to watch freely on TV at home despite the cost of tickets and FIFA control for those brave enough to travel to Mexico, USA and/or Canada.
Last night the penalty shoot out between Egypt and Australia was riveting as had been the match itself which finished after extra time at 1-1.
