Tired of Gibsplaining every time Gibraltar hits the headlines? Fed up of the constant, basic errors you see or hear about everything to do with the Rock and its people? Then here’s a handy FAQ with some key information that you can cut out and keep or better still, share with anyone who might benefit…
Writing
Top 10 tips for travelling to Gibraltar with the kids
Travel tips in the new, parenting magazine Mum on the Rock. Gibraltar is a gorgeous place to visit, read on…. http://www.mumontherock.com/travelling-to-gibraltar-with-the-kids-ten-things-you-need-to-know/
Burnt out babysitters
A piece I wrote for Gibraltar’s new parenting e-zine, Mum on the Rock about a generation of grandparents who are struggling with the demands of full-time childcare. They thought they’d raised their children and could enjoy their retirement. They were wrong. http://www.mumontherock.com/burnt-out-babysitters/
Age of entitlement
Here’s a piece I wrote for the new, parenting magazine Mum on the Rock on a form of benign neglect by parents. Are you guilty of this? http://www.mumontherock.com/age-of-entitlement/
Scratching the glass ceiling
Your starter for ten: name a top female conductor (no Googling please?) That’s any Musical Director or conductor of the world’s top 15 orchestras? After 2014’s Last Night of the Proms you might have heard the name Marin Alsop along with the sound of a glass ceiling being scratched, if not shattered. Seven years ago, Marin…
Holiday heaven – Clydey Cottages, Pembrokeshire
Sheer, luxurious, family-holiday-heaven in a beautiful spot in Pembrokeshire. That’s how I would describe Clydey Cottages. The phrase ‘rural idyll’ was invented for it. We spent a wonderful week there with our two young sons in August 2013 and wished we’d spent two. They really have thought of everything – dreamy, chocolate-box cottages with every…
“Gibraltarians have come into their own” – my article in the New Statesman.
My favourite meal as a child growing up in Gibraltar was “tortilla de patatas” (Spanish, potato omelette) with a dollop of tomato ketchup and baked beans. As an adult I’m still partial to this curious, Anglo-Spanish, culinary combination, which perfectly encapsulates the hybrid nature of the Gibraltarians. Fiercely British with a strong, Mediterranean influence, all…
Musical legacy
It’s amazing how a piece of music can move you to tears, give you goose-bumps. I came across this clip of the stunningly beautiful “Ave Maria” written by the late, Gibraltarian guitarist and composer, William Gomez, conducted by another supremely talented Gibraltarian, conductor Karel Chichon. This was performed by the Latvian soprano, Elina Garanca at…
Everyone lost and saved
The four words said it all. They were on a card stuck to the back of the runner in front of me. “I am running the Race for Life for…everyone lost and saved.” There were many similar messages on the backs of the thousands who gathered at Epsom Downs on this gloriously sunny and warm, Sunday…
Model train rides
There’s a quiet corner of the Surrey countryside that is forever England. You wouldn’t believe it but through an unprepossessing railway arch in Leatherhead, lies the world of the model steam railway. On 12 days a year this 9-acre site is open to the public for train rides run by the Surrey Society of Model Engineers (SSME.) …