When I worked as a schoolteacher, I became well known for sending memos to colleagues. This was in the pre-laptop computer days. When my school, Campion Academy, Northampton, introduced laptops for each member of staff, I graduated to sending emails.

Obviously, I enjoyed writing the emails and, inevitably, some of them contained personal opinion on a variety of topics, expressed in several modes – including poetry and prose, brevity and longevity, humour and the utmost seriousness – and not always to do with school-based matters!

Therefore, on my retirement from teaching, it seemed a natural step to continue these writing practices with a blog. Further encouragement came from my son, Glenn, who gave me a birthday gift of a blog address – something that was different, timely and challenging.

The general purpose of the blog is to provide a personal site for the examination of and commentary on life and times. It is hoped that its scope will be wide – including articles on politics and social awareness, religion and culture, sport, and personal observation.

It is also hoped that, in due course, I will be able to contribute comments and articles to other blogs, even as I give time and space to their considerations.

RSC