Some Thoughts and Memories

  From about 1962 to 1977 I lived in a house  at 74 King's Road, Windsor. It was set behind some grand old buildings overlooking the Long Walk. It was situated in an exclusive area.  A narrow drive just off King's Road itself led to not just 74 but also to number 76. Both the houses were apparently designed in a very modern style for their time by an architect who lived at the latter. His name was Edward Whiteley. His wife was called Beryl...  Sometimes, I would read books aloud to her outside her front door. She notably introduced me to Alice In Wonderland, and Alice Through The Looking Glass. I introduced her to the comic world of Catweazle which was a well-known TV series. I read the book based on it to her, and she was much taken by it. Infact, I actually met Richard Carpenter the author of Catweazle via the Puffin Club, and even got his autograph which I treasured. We hardly saw Edward Whiteley. Indeed, we used to call him Red Ted as we thoug...

Towards the end of  2024 I thought I would see  the Extinction Rebellion protest which was trying to get greater credible action to tackle Climate Change.For this I arrived at Windsor (which was very close to where I lived) by train and as I walked upto the entrance of the elaborate and huge  railway station where I saw a crowd of musically noisey people going up towards King Henry VIII's  gateway which was the main entrance into Windsor Castle. However, a number of police were stationed to ensure that the protesters could not enter the grounds for fear of some riot. Yet, there were only a small number of people amounting possibly upto two or three  hundred. I expected more to be there but that was not the case. Maybe there were some other protesters elsewhere but nearby the scene which was unfolding before my eyes! Anyway, I decided to sit and watch the protest on one of the public seats leading upto King Henry VIII's gateway. A certain protester in his latter ...

  One evening I was lying on my bed and I heard an announcer on  BBC Radio 4 mention the name Andrew Weatherall. It was in connection with a radio programme called Last Word dealing with recent obits of famous people. The name instantly rang a bell in my head as it was so familiar.....and then I recalled Weatherall from the dim and distant past of the early 1970s. I knew him as a child and went to the same school in Windsor as him. We had a number of chats. I even had dinner with him in Old Windsor where I met his parents...and remember seeing a parrot in a cage too. But unfortunately I cannot recall anything much more about him...except that the last time I saw him he said that he was planning a revolution in music...and hey, presto he seem to have done something like that in later life...yet, I am not qualified to say how important and revolutionary his contribution is to modern music.  Andrew Weatherall / Guardian Newspaper with examples of his "best" work Google searc...