Spring? Yeah right!

Hello everybody, I’m writing this editorial on the day of the spring equinox. At last the days are longer than the nights, and spring is supposedly well under way. How come then it’s wintry here in North Yorkshire? I think nature is having a laugh at our expense.  I’ll just have to put the shorts and sunglasses away for another day or two.

Liz and I have just come back from a few days away, visiting friends in Belfast. It was a good rest, but we also managed to see some of the sights, including a trip round the Crumlin Road gaol. The gaol has been closed to prisoners for 20 years, but it makes an interesting museum, complete with condemned cell and execution chamber. The highlight of the trip was a visit to the Titanic museum. It tells a fascinating story, not only of the ship and it’s fate, but the city and people who built it. It also does a cracking afternoon cream tea!

Now we’re back home I’m planning to get round to some serious work on the family history project. I’ve started by sorting through the six large boxes of family documents and photos that have lived in my loft for years. There’s lots of useful information there and some fascinating glimpses into the past, including my grandfather’s diary from the end of the first world war. Next week I’ll post some more information about what I’m planning to do with all the research: I’m hoping there’s a couple of good books in there somewhere.

This Friday I’ll be publishing a book review on a collection of short stories I read recently The Vampire and Other Tales of the Macabre. It’s an interesting mixture of stories from the nineteenth century, and might be a good read if you like a bit of spine tingling on dark and stormy nights.

Regards

Dave