Category Archives: Prose

The story of Mrs Phule and Fatima Sheikh

Savitribai Phule, Fatima Sheikh Even an ordinary person in India today would probably not know those names. So you are forgiven for wondering: who are they? They were 2 phenomenal women, One Hindu, a Dalit, that is an untouchable, the … Continue reading

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Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

The phenomenal woman I highlight here is Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and I also give a nod to the phenomenal feminists of the 1970’s who helped preserve Elizabeth’s legacy. Elizabeth Garrett was born in 1836 in Whitechapel. When she was 5, … Continue reading

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Refuge

1971, England. Marriage is the highpoint of a woman’s life and a man’s home is his castle. But for some the front door doesn’t keep danger out. It keeps it in. Half a century ago a battering on the street … Continue reading

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The Mary’s

Brick built, Victorian, four storeys high, black iron grilles covering the windows It stood in the shadow of the stone built Islington Town Hall Even then William Tyndale primary school felt like an ancient monument. When I joined, it was … Continue reading

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Robotic Future

“Are you a human” “No I’m a robot” “Sorry Gov my mistake.” “No problem but be careful. The humans think they’re the important ones, they haven’t realised yet they’re losing control. We are taking over,not an organised takeover but an … Continue reading

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Natural Friends

If left alone nature gets along. I’ve been around for about three hundred years, a tree of long standing and seen many changes. I’m still here but in completely different surroundings. I was born deep in a forest surrounded by … Continue reading

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Period Piece

This year, July 27 th we ‘celebrated’ our 45 th wedding Anniversary. I say ‘celebrate’, in actual fact – we forgot until our youngest daughter sent a message congratulating us. Funnily enough, I had marked it on the calendar, weeks … Continue reading

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Lily Briscoe

Lily Briscoe is one of the main characters in Virgina Woolf’s 1927 novel To The Lighthouse.  The action of the novel takes place at the house on Sky that the Ramsey family rent every summer and share with a number … Continue reading

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Postcard to myself

Dear Linda, I’m having a fine old time in The Land of Nod – so many places to visit, mighty palaces and cathedrals, cities shrouded in mist, fortresses with zigzag castellations and rivers where the tide is forever ebbing. At … Continue reading

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Archive of the Mind

Seeing the statue of Edward Colston removed in such a dramatic way, last week, felt like poetic justice though I would normally disapprove of daubing, let alone pulling down statues adorning the British landscape. Images of black children, men and … Continue reading

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