The thoughts ran round and round in Henry’s head. Never mind who will rid me of this turbulent priest? Rather, who will rid me of this pain and smell. Is it any wonder that I’m thought to be vile tempered? They think I don’t know because they are too afeard to be heard to mention it. But I see their...

Life for us rats onboard ship is mostly good. And, sometimes, not so good. There’s plenty of room for rats on their own as there is for those with families. Many, many places to make our homes away from the sight of the two-legs. We live where they don’t usually go. Those dark, smelly or unwholesome...

‘Come on. We haven’t got all night.’ The exasperation was all too evident in Keith Ballantine’s voice. It was always the same. Whenever he and his wife, Anne, had to be somewhere at a specific time he had to wait for her. There was always, without fail, some little detail, often to do with what she ...

‘There’s nothing better than this.’ Old Ted looked at his two friends as they shared each other’s company over pints of local ale. They sat on the trestles at the front of the pub with the early autumn sun warming them and a gentle breeze creating a slow movement of the froth in their tankards on the...

I’d like to take you to a land far away…A land without smart phones, PCs, tablets, Facebook, texting or email. A land where letters ruled. This land is the past. My Doctoral research; ‘Any mail for me?: A study of selected correspondences between ship and shore in the years 1793 and 1815’ reveals reflections...