The first thing to be said about the origins of rugby is that there is no concrete evidence that they lie with William Ellis’ handling of the ball at Rugby School in 1823. Ex-pupil Matthew Bloxxam’s claim that this was the case has invariably defied verification (not that this altogether deterred Rugby School, which in… Read More »
Along by the Mole When the rains come and the waters Of the Mole rise up to flood the land There’s an eerie beauty about the place; But the downpours have gone now, And only the squelch of sodden mud Reminds us of the river’s ambition. The weed-edged path we take winds Slowly… Read More »
Any description of the natural, life or social worlds we inhabit, independently of its putative level of sophistication, presumes an element of theory. This is because none of us starts with a blank slate, but rather draws on a symbolic framework handed down and absorbed as if by osmosis from previous generations, lay or expert.… Read More »
Rhymes Poems don’t have to rhyme, If you ask me it’s a matter of time: When you’re not really stressing Because nothing is pressing Then, thesaurus to hand, You invariably land, If fatigued and slow On a fitting bon mot. The Aegean A night flight to Rhodes Town, Thence to Lindos… Read More »
I have often pondered on what I have, or more to the point haven’t, contributed to the socialist movement. My record of activism is certainly parsimonious compared with others I know. I once blogged on what I see as an elective affinity between sociology, education and socialism, at the back of my mind a sense… Read More »
The Youth Inside I used to be able to run, Not the shambolic, nattering of feet No longer responsive to commands; But the hungry eating up of ground That left others in my wake, Set my lungs on fire. The youth inside can sprint, But the old man knows better. The head’s… Read More »
There have been times when I wished that Michael Marmot would attend to what I – as a sociologist – regard as root or fundamental causes of health inequalities, that he would talk and write about capitalism and class division and conflict. We have talked about this. He is of course an epidemiologist not a… Read More »
As a democratic socialist who left the Labour Party after it became clear that Keir Starmer had no intention of sticking with the kinds of socialist policies that Labour stood on in the 2019 general election, I have like many felt uncertain about the way ahead. I welcomed the initiative of the Corbyn Project and… Read More »
A Moment Please ‘Can you give me a minute on my own?’ And he froze like a statue, head inclined, Gazing across the downs, seeing nothing, But owning a moment of open space, Thinking nothing, but feeling to his skin, Absorbing nine decades of this and that. ‘Ok, thank you, we can go now’,… Read More »
I read 107 books in 2020. Interestingly, this total does not exceed those for the last couple of years despite the fact that much of 2020 was spent in lockdowns, bubbles or ‘tiered’ struggles. Twenty-five of the books read in 2020 were novels; 17 thrillers; 24 autobiographies or biographies; 9 books of poetry or the… Read More »