Author Archives: malcolmsmusingscom

During the 1960s, bands from Liverpool – The Beatles, The Searchers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer… – changed British music culture. One lesser known Liverpool group, The Crossbeats, sung Christian songs. I saw them on several occasions. I remember seeing them with Rachel at her school… They wrote and sung the song ‘HeContinue reading “He Waits”

Yesterday our holiday in Scotland ended. Starting at 07.30 we left behind the Scottish hills and lochs, travelling South to Glasgow and then back into England. Delayed by road works, road closures, Friday evening traffic, and an accident, we finally arrived home at 23.00. It’s home because it’s… ..Lowestoft – familiar surroundings. We were droppedContinue reading “Coming Home”

Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’, includes the lines: If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster     And treat those two impostors just the same. On Wednesday evening we enjoyed thirteen-year-old Alastair playing the bagpipes for us at our hotel. I was impressed by his musical passion, his confident maturity and his cheerful enthusiasm. He’s alreadyContinue reading “The Alastair and Paul Conundrum”

Over the last few days in Scotland there have been several references to ‘Munros’. Apparently a Munro is a Scottish mountain that’s over 3000 feet (914m) high. They’re named after Sir Hugh Munro who first compiled a list of them in 1891. I’ve learnt that there are 282 Munros. Since then, some British walkers andContinue reading “Munro-Bagging”

Fifty years ago I watched ‘The Wombles’. It was a cartoon series on the television about furry creatures with pointed noses who cleared up litter on Wimbledon common. They became popular and sung amusing but irritating songs. One of the Wombles was called Tobermory. Twenty years ago I watched Balamory. It was another children’s televisionContinue reading “Tobermory”

Miranda Hart says that what is most important is not what we do, but why we do it. It’s important to ‘start with a why and live… life with purpose, on purpose’. Encouraging us to ‘hone your why’ she says her ‘why’ is: ‘To help people see who they are beyond the world’s rules andContinue reading “Honing Your ‘Why?’”

Yesterday… visiting the beautiful town of Oban in the West of Scotland… reading Miranda Hart’s ‘I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You’… being increasingly aware of different life’s stages and changes. I was born. Miranda Hart: ‘…there’s only one of you in the whole history of mankind ever. No one who has come before youContinue reading “My Six Stages of Awake”

We spent a large part of yesterday on a coach. Leaving Lowestoft at 5.00am the coach  picked up passengers from various locations in Norfolk and headed for Scotland… …As we crossed the border into Scotland, I smiled as Paul, the coach driver, announced: ‘In Scotland you’re never far from a whiskey distillery, a battlefield, aContinue reading “Loch Lomond”

It was beautiful walking along the beach early yesterday morning. The fine weather brings everybody out. A group of women were doing yoga, a number of families formed a swimming group, runners were out in shorts and t-shirts. Most people were cheerful, happy to say, ‘Good morning.’ If there’s a brief conversation it’s usually aboutContinue reading “A Little Rain, Lots of Rain and Love”

Yesterday we went to Norwich to watch ‘Les Misérables’. In celebration of forty years of the show, amateur groups are performing it for the first time. NNOS (Norfolk and Norwich Operatic Society), in collaboration with other local theatre groups, is one of just eleven companies, across the country, to be granted permission. We thoroughly enjoyedContinue reading “Beyond the Barricade”