Thursday 14 November 2013

From Dublin Streets to Kentish Lanes

It seemed odd that the police were stopping taxi drivers to breathalyse them. In England, we assume - perhaps naively – that no one who earns their living by driving would risk their license by doing so under the influence. Our Dublin taxi driver explained to us that it’s fairly common to be pulled over by the Gardaí … and I suppose we should be reassured by it.
I was in Dublin in grey, early September to help provide some family therapy training (along with my fellow trainers from the Nova Scotia adventure, Chris and Julia.) Early starts and long days meant there wasn’t much daylight left by the time we got back to the very comfortable Ashling Hotel. No time to visit the museum or even the Guinness Museum though, luckily, Guinness isn’t only found in museums. But then nor is it always found in pubs. I managed to find an Irish pub that didn’t sell Guinness; The Porterhouse in Temple Bar specialises in ‘craft beers’. One in particular, called Galway Hooker, was rather tasty. What more innocent pleasure can there be, I put it to you, than to enjoy a Galway Hooker at the Porterhouse?
After my week in Dublin I was worried that summer was already over but my wife Sue and I managed to squeeze in a week’s holiday in Kent, courtesy of daughter Katie who now lives in an idyllic corner of the garden of England. So, at the end of September, we bade the season farewell in a bliss of bike rides down country lanes, sailing past windmills, feasting on blackberries from the hedgerow.
 And then and only then, it was autumn …

2 comments:

  1. Hi Tony, not really expecting you to remember me - but this is Stella Backhouse from Miss Davies' class at the Lancs School. I just wanted to let you know that when I was at my dad's house last Christmas, I read your article on Malcolm Saville and was prompted to Google you. That's how I found your blog. Reading it made me wonder what was stopping me from having one of my own - so I started one, and it's doing pretty well. You can view it here: http://grumblingappendix.wordpress.com/
    I wanted to thank you for playing a big part in giving me the kick-start I needed. The power of written words: you never know who's reading them and what effect they will have. Kind regards.

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  2. Hi Stella,
    I was amazed to learn that you have become a reader of 'Passengers in Time'. Of course I remember you — and the redoubtable Miss Davies. I'm thrilled that you have been inspired by my little article on Malcolm Saville to search me out and to start blogging in your own right. I will have a good old read of 'Grumbling Appendix'. Lovely to hear from you again after forty odd years!

    ReplyDelete

About me

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Tony Gillam is a writer, musician and blogger based in Worcestershire, UK. For many years he worked in mental health and has published over 100 articles and two non-fiction books. Tony now writes on topics ranging from children's literature to world music and is a regular contributor to Songlines magazine.