Ravenswood, 47, Bristol Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset August 31st, 1954 Dear John, I just went for a run on the sands with Spike. It’s my favourite place to be, whether I’m practising my throwing arm with Spike or playing beach cricket with Traps. Or just trying to reach the sea, which I’ve never seen come […]
Posts in the Childhood category:
Childhood – my own as well that of almost all my patients of 40 years – is a thread throughout my writing
Letters to Myself 14
216 Clydesdale Road Antigonish Nova Scotia 12/12/13 Dear Johnny Boy, High time I wrote again! I was just reading a book about yummy things to eat when you are a boy, and it got me remembering all sorts of things I used to love. And I often cook meals that Mummy used to make […]
Letters to Myself 14
216 Clydesdale Road Antigonish Nova Scotia 12/12/13 Dear Johnny Boy, High time I wrote again! I was just reading a book about yummy things to eat when you are a boy, and it got me remembering all sorts of things I used to love. And I often cook meals that Mummy used to make (I […]
Letters to Myself 13
Letters to Myself 13 Ravenswood 47 Bristol Road Weston-super-Mare Somerset November 9th, 1952 Dear John, Thank you for your last letter. It’s nice that writing these letters helps you remember things you thought you had forgotten. Sometimes I forget things, too, but it’s mostly when I’m trying to conjugate a Greek or Latin verb. But […]
Letters to Myself 12
216 Clydesdale Road, Antigonish, Nova Scotia November 5th, 2015 Dear Johnny-Boy, It was lovely to get your last letter. I remember taking those piano lessons, and not enjoying them very much. I think Mummy was disappointed I didn’t get into them the way she obviously did. It was probably because I resented all that […]
Letters to Myself 11
Ravenswood 47 Bristol Road Weston-super-Mare Somerset July 20th, 1951 Dear John, Thank you for your last letter. It was great to hear about all the books in the Narnia Chronicles. Mummy took me to the book shop the day the second book, “Prince Caspian”, came out. I’m reading it every night in bed and […]
Exeat
Extract from my memoir: News that will change my life’s course forever Exeat 1: Three weeks into my first term, I’m summoned to housemaster Mr Berridge’s study. I rise from my breakfast of congealed bacon and baked beans, fearful I’ve broken some obscure house rule and am to receive the ultimate punishment: six of the […]
Letters to Myself 9
Ravenswood 47 Bristol Road Weston-super-Mare Somerset December 4, 1950 Dear John, Thank you for your last letter. It was lying behind the gas fire in my bedroom. It was a bit brown and crinkly. I think this was because Mummy let me have the fire on before I went to bed last night, […]
Boarding School
Writing to myself as a young boy has me revisiting long-forgotten memories. So I’ve decided to borrow another bit from my memoir to recall the awful day I was shipped off to boarding school at aged twelve – a rite of passage for many middle-class English boys. I’ll leave you to judge what lasting effects […]
Letter to Myself 7
Ravenswood, 47 Bristol Road Weston-super-Mare Somerset March 10, 1950 Dear John, Thank you for your last letter. I enjoyed it very much, especially about the history of Canada. I don’t like the history or geography lessons at school, but I liked hearing a bit about where you live and what happened long ago. I […]