Looking just now for some papers about St Augustine’s I came across this intriguing envelope My father was always very careful to date everything, and so he wrote Basia’s performance in the Albert Hall. 18 March 1961. I was very curious about this envelope, so hurriedly opened it to find this souvenir programme. Yes, almost […]Read Post ›
I’m afraid I can’t actually remember it. It must have been September 1959. I was just six. I should have been seven, but somewhere along the line I missed a year. I moved up from Marlborough Infants School, putting Mrs Brock and Mrs Edwards safely behind me. A lot of my friends came with me […]Read Post ›
Village life has almost passed us by since we first started weekending, now almost weeking here. Lots of reasons for this, none very good, but things seem to be slowly changing. A few weeks ago we were asked if we like opera, because opera is coming to town. Yes I said. Where will it be? […]Read Post ›
Traditionally a time for reflection and fun, I thought I would have fun reflecting on the year by looking at all the photos I have taken this year on my phone. No, I am not going to show you them all, but I have judiciously picked out one or two from each month which have a particular […]Read Post ›
A big thank you. Last Thursday was an eventful day. Note the word eventful. I organised an event and it happened last Thursday. A few years ago, I was approached by someone to help in the Polish Underground Movement Study Trust’s archives (more about them later) and while there I was asked what I could […]Read Post ›
A few weeks ago my best friend’s brother died. He was also my husband’s cousin, and I’ve written about Tom before, I think. It was sudden, and shocking, and extremely sad. Tributes and memories poured in and many people came to the funeral. Including Tom’s childhood friends and members of his group, Just an Odd […]Read Post ›
Robert Edward Gordon; my godfather. Of course he wasn’t born Robert Edward Gordon 104 years ago today. He was born Zbigniew Szczepański, in Poznań, I believe, 6 days after Poland regained her independence after 123 years of partition. I imagine his mother must have been thrilled to give birth to her first and I believe […]Read Post ›
George Sand has always been a very romantic figure in my imagination. Ever since I was at my boarding school in Ealing, when Mother Mary Dominic swore me to secrecy not to let the other nuns know that I knew, she divulged that Chopin’s lover, that very wicked woman, had actually been a pupil at […]Read Post ›
I am not a natural camper. I can count the number of times I have attempted this activity on the fingers of one hand. (I’m not counting the outrageously luxurious glamming I have enjoyed in Uganda and Tanzania.) just the times I have agreed to sleep in a tent. Or even in a car. The […]Read Post ›
Two weeks ago I was invited to attend a very special concert in the Cadogan Hall. At the time it did not seem such an unusual thing to do – but who knows when I will ever go to a concert again? Not just me, in fact. Am I being over dramatic? Who knows? We […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 