Open Writing

...I can now enjoy for real, every day, what others may only imagine or remember. Under the expansive Suffolk sky, close to open tracts unchanged since John Constable painted his bucolic masterpieces, and the sea which inspired Benjamin Britten's opera, Peter Grimes, I feel privileged to walk, whenever I wish, on the banks of the River Orwell, largely unspoilt save for the distant view of the science-fiction metal monsters towering menacingly over the container port of Felixstowe, and the millionaire-playground yachting marinas...

Arthur Loosley revels in the freedom of retirement in rural England.

Please do visit Arthur's entertaining Web site http://www.wordsweb.co.uk/

Continue reading "Early One Morning" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...Within minutes I had been ushered inside, 'processed', relieved of my camera and the contents of my pockets and invited to wait in a cell while the officer of the day was summoned...

Arthur Loosley recalls the day years ago when he visited an American air force base in Britain, contrasting it with a recent visit to a British military establishment.

For more of Arthur's ever-entertaining columns please visit And Another Thing... in the menu on this page. Also take a look at Arthur's well-stocked Web site http://www.wordsweb.co.uk/

Continue reading "Plus ça Change - But The Coffee's Better Now" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 10:10 AM | Permalink

...Charity begins at home, it is said, and the junk taking up space in one home is often just what another person needs, wants or will buy on impulse, and the true value of anything is what someone is prepared to pay on the day...

Arthur Loosley tells of the bargains to be found in charity shops.

Do please visit Arthur's entertaining Web site http://www.wordsweb.co.uk

Continue reading ""Can I Try That Dress On In The Window?'' ... "Certainly Madam, Unless You'd Prefer To Use The Changing Room.''" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 10:32 AM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley takes a long nostalgic look-back at the time when hot metal ruled the world of print

When you have finished reading this column please do visit Arthur's entertaining Web site http://www.wordsweb.co.uk/

Continue reading "Imprinted On My Mind" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley proves to himself that even on a nothing kind of day there is still something to write about.

For more of Arthur's tasty columns please click on And Another Thing... in the menu on this page.
And do please visit his highly entertaining Web site http://www.wordsweb.co.uk/

Continue reading "A Nothing Kind Of Day" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

No one could accuse Arthur Loosley of being a sugar addict. "I rarely eat cake or puddings except on those occasions when it would be impolite to refuse, and the last time I had a spoonful of sugar in my tea was at approximately 8.30 am on September 3, 1939...''

For more of Arthur's sweetly-crafted columns please click on And Another Thing... in the menu on this page.

And do visit Arthur's Web site http://www.wordsweb.co.uk/

Continue reading "Do You Like Sugar?" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 11:44 AM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley found that his opportunity to strut and fret his hour on the stage came late in his career, when he had to confront lively groups of 16-to-19-year-olds as a college lecturer.

For more of Arthur's splendid columns please click on And Another Thing in the menu on his page. And do please visit his Web site http://www.wordsweb.co.uk

Continue reading "Making A Drama Out Of A Crisis" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

...There was plenty of room on the bench so I gave him a cheery 'Good afternoon' and took my place beside him.

'It is,' he replied, not for one second diverting his gaze from the distant horizon. He was clearly in no mood for conversation, and why should he want to talk to a complete stranger anyway?...

A thoughtful old man in a Russian fur hat leads Arthur Loosley to contemplate the value of life.

For lots of good reading please do visit Arthur's Web site
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk

Continue reading "Sometimes I Sit And Think..." »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 11:16 AM | Permalink

...The answer, I hear, is 'Plagiarize;
'Let no-one's words evade your eyes!'...

A country ramble spurs good-humoured Arthur Loosley into re-working a famous Lakeland poem.

Do please visit Arthur's Web sites
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "No Daffodils" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 10:52 AM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley tells a tale that might be true - but can you really believe anything you hear?

Do please visit Arthur's fascinating Web sites
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "Can Porkies Really Save Your Bacon?" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley travels far down memory lane, recalling a pussy-cat clock and his only war injury, inflicted by his mother.

For lots more good reading please do visit Arthur's Web sites
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "A Golden Wander And A Lost Cat" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...as a only child I learned the meaning of the saying 'alone in a crowd'. There were three main rules of behaviour to be obeyed: 'Children should be seen and not heard', 'Mother knows best' and 'Don't argue!' Any question or request was placed firmly in the arguing category...

Arthur Loosley finds food for thought in the good-old bad-old days of family Christmases.

http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "A Christmas Cruel" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...The merchants are still making yuletide pay, as tradition urges us to buy more greetings cards than ever before, and expensive but useless gifts to hasten the depletion of the world's material resources and add to the planet's ever-growing garbage tips, and the merchants of death continue
to profit from massive arms sales at Christmas...

Arthur Loosely casts a sober eye on the season of spend, spend, spend.

Continue reading "God Bless Us, Every One" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 11:22 AM | Permalink

...the amazing mixture of aromas: the fatty smell of butter on the marble slab, bacon hanging from a hook at eye-level, jute fibre sacks of dried beans, peas and other commodities on the floor in front of the counter, open boxes of freshly-picked apples, lamp oil dispensed from a drum, moth-balls, the rich smell of new leather from boots and riding tack...

Arthur Loosley takes a deep breath and revives some olfactory memories from childhood.

For further generous helpings of pleasure please visit Arthur's Web sites:

http://http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "The Village Shop" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:02 PM | Permalink

...The vision from the glossy pages hands me my coffee; I hand over the ransom and look for somewhere to sit.

All of the chairs at the tables are occupied so I lower myself into one of the deeply upholstered sofas, wondering if I will ever be able to get up again and reflect on the good old days when I could go into a coffee bar, perch on a stool, ask for coffee and be understood. It didn't cost an arm and a leg then, either...

Arthur Loosley goes through the semantic maze of ordering a drink in a fancy modern coffee bar.

For lots more good reading please visit Arthur's Web magazine www.wordsweb.co.uk

Continue reading "I Only Asked For A Cup Of Coffee" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:10 PM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley ponders the meaning of 'Being There' and suggests that we shouldn't always believe what we read.

To read more of Arthur's well-crafted words please click on And Another Thing... in the menu on this page.

Continue reading "The Invisible Reporter" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley ponders the power of poetry.

Do please visit Arthur's hugely entertaining Web sites:
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "Let The Words Speak For Themselves" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

...For my light lunch I had a plate heavily loaded with whitebait, served with freshly baked crusty whole-grain bread, while out on the beach the gulls enjoyed their regular daily feast donated by or stolen from the visitors who sat with their paper-wrapped fish and chips for which the town is famous...

The inimitable Arthur Loosley takes us on a tasty November trip to Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast, once the home of one of Britain's most famous Twentieth Century composers, Benjamin Britten.

Do please visit Arthur's Web sites where you will find a picture of the beach at Aldeburgh:
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "A Trip To Aldeburgh" »

Written by Arthur Loosely - Published at 12:38 PM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley spends an afternoon sitting in a public square, musing on why so many are unemployed at a time when there is a shortage of workers.

To read more of Arthur's lively and always surprising columns please click on And Another Thing... in the menu on this page. And for a further feast of entertainment do visit his Web sites
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "Where Are All The People?" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Arthur Loosley recalls a brief encounter with a perspicacious lady in a chip shop.

Do please visit Arthur's entertaining Web sites
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Continue reading "This Must Be The Plaice" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Our new columnist Arthur Loosley remembers the Co-op milkman's horse, enjoying his oats from a nosebag at the kerbside every morning while the milkman enjoyed a leisurely cuppa with the lonely widow living at No 21...

Do please visit Arthur's Web sites
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

For an extra treat click on Gallery on this page and see some of his pictures.

Continue reading "Hurrah For The MTGGs!" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Today we welcome a new columnist to Open Writing. Arthur Loosley is a retired journalist and lecturer who is enjoying a life of leisure and discovery in East Anglia after a busy life working for newspapers in London, south-east England and the Midlands. Voluntary work for a charity shop and as a museum guide has provided him with plenty of reminders of days gone by, which he likes to share and discuss.

His passion for writing is insatiable, his journalist's 'nose' keeps him well supplied with subject matter and he never goes anywhere without hia 'third eye' - a pocketable digital camera. Rarely a day passes without several new articles begging to be written!

In his first column for us Arthur writes about Frinton-on-Sea, a small cliff-top town on the Essex coast which tries hard to pretend that it is still in the Edwardian era.

Do please visit Arthur's Web sites
http://www.wordsweb.co.uk
http://groups.msn.com/wordswebforum

Also take a good long look at the pictures he has contributed to Open Writing by clicking on Gallery on this page.

Continue reading "A Town That Time Forgot" »

Written by Arthur Loosley - Published at 12:12 PM | Permalink