Personal Stories

In the early dark hours of 23 June, I was woken by a biblical thunderstorm. It was as if a ginormous faulty light was flashing on and off and a thousand whips were being cracked. The crashing...

I was on my way to have a facial when my electric bicycle stopped working. The on/off button just dropped off in the street, after days of becoming looser. This was a rare occasion when being early...

The recent news that an American worth $115 billion plans to spend all his money before he dies, has made me happy. This philanthropist will likely keep enough to fund a luxurious lifestyle and make...

There I was watching Vanya frantically pushing his front door to stop a couple of hired gophers from getting into his parents’ magnificent Brooklyn mansion where he’s living the life of riley with...

I’ve been down a TV rabbit hole. After the first couple of hours, I said to myself - okay this is manageable. What’s the worst - 8 or 10 hours of obsessive viewing? I’d say that I know discipline. I...

10.15am: I’m thrilled that I’ve slept ten hours and happily make my get-the-day-on tea. I’ve no mini Christmas tree this year but I have brought the outside in with a wreath I made in a workshop at...

The Banks children give their grumpy father an advertisement for their ideal nanny in the film Mary Poppins. He then tears up the note and puts the pieces in the fireplace and they travel up the...

When it comes to karma, what’s not to believe? This Sanskrit word which literally means ‘action’ refers to the cause and effect between what people do and consequences. In Christianity this moral...

As much as we're fascinated to know how the wealthiest live, we also ought to know how the poorest exist. Cue Dr Katriona O’Sullivan who has bravely shared her story in a novel that is being...

Last week I heard a witty woman on the radio suggest an alternative Olympics. She was wondering what would happen if each country had to pick their competitors via “random conscription,” instead of...

Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself - is a saying I've always kept in mind. Recently I was listening to a radio item when I learnt that variations of this wise motto have Olympic...

On an evening stroll around Belsize Village, I chanced upon such a beauty that I instantly fell in lust. A sleek two-seater Ferrari, translated in my imagination to a regal black panther, compelled...

Call me behind time but I only just watched the 2020 Oscar winning Nomadland. What I love about this beautifully scripted and superbly filmed movie is how it shows the power of a kind community to...

I’m a hyper local lass. It could be a habit left over from lockdowns, but truth is everything I need is in Belsize Park, Hampstead, Camden or on the Finchley Road. In the spring and summertime, I...

Rather than thinking forwards with New Year solutions, for this New Letter I'm going to look back in kindness and consider what I've achieved these last twelve months. There were the work...

I’ve just recovered from an inflammation which forced me to spend a week in bed and only go out for food essentials, despite the early October t-shirt weather which I really wanted to be in. I was...

It’s five years since I first had the idea for a local print magazine for Belsize Park. I was on one of those going-nowhere lockdown walks when I chanced upon a celebrity comedian and after a short...