BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Yesterday I wrote an article about a scheme being run by a county council somewhere in deepest South West England. It will effectively provide free publicity for the scheme, which has admirable aims, throughout several towns within its catchment area. I duly did some research and churned out exactly 500 words. As a courtesy I sent a draft to the appropriate council … Continue reading Councils’ Anodyne Nonsensical Drivel
BY RALF HEED At last, a campaign discerning pooches everywhere can get behind. These delightful Country Squire Magazine people have recommended a petition asking the Government to treat the theft of dogs – dognapping – as the shameful crime it is. Before I met my human family, I spent some time in a home for hounds who had fallen on hard times. Of course, all of the … Continue reading Heed Ralf
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN What we know: On Tuesday afternoon an Airbus A330 operated by Pakistan International Airlines was intercepted by RAF Typhoon fighters over British airspace. Originating in Lahore, the airliner was en route to London Heathrow when it was diverted to Stansted Airport in Essex. It landed without incident at 14:50 and was held away from the airport terminal. Police officers boarded the aircraft … Continue reading Mystery at 30,000 ft
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Whilst I cannot claim expertise in the multitudinous idiosyncrasies of the English Language (a fact the once optimistic yet, alas, ultimately disenchanted publisher of my lesser-known novel Osprey would undoubtedly attest – if he still took my calls*), whenever the use of a particular word or phrase gains unexpected traction in general usage, it seems I cannot help but notice. Especially so when … Continue reading The Misrepresentation of Ethical
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Yesterday, after far too long a wait, the fading embers of a long-forgotten love affair burst explosively back into flames. I’ve owned my Peugeot 205 GTI since the nineties. When, on that cold winter’s night back in 2007, I left it parked on the drive, I never meant for it to stay there. But stay there it did. For a variety of … Continue reading A Fine yet Humble Chariot
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN The village of High Lane lies roughly twelve miles to the south and east of Manchester. It sits, to use a tired cliché beloved of estate agents everywhere, at the point where city meets country. Here some 6000 residents make their home at the very edge of the Greater Manchester conurbation. Despite straddling the busy A6, High Lane enjoys an unusual situation … Continue reading Protesting the British Way
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Well Fake News is certainly making the, erm, news lately, isn’t it? In an extraordinary press conference last week (a conference which, if nothing else, showed that the next four years will certainly not be devoid of amusement), US President Elect Donald Trump didn’t just level the charge at Buzzfeed (I don’t know them either), he also called into question the veracity … Continue reading Inexcusably Inaccurate: BBC News
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Here we go again. Another year, another crisis in the NHS. This time the ante has been well and truly upped by none less than the British Red Cross (BRC), which, coincidentally has a brand-new Director of Media. Former Digital Editor at (believe it or not) The Guardian, Polly Curtis has certainly hit the ground running. In a statement released on Friday, … Continue reading NHS: Astonishingly Profligate
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN The day dawned one of those nasty, dank mornings that thankfully only January can conjure up. 2014 had just given way to the new year but the holidays were already a memory. Shorn of the previous week’s gaiety, the free world was still shaking off its collective hangover. Reality bit hard as everyone knuckled down to get through the worst month of … Continue reading #JeSuisCharlie
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN It’s Christmastime And Geldof’s here to rant and rave At Christmastime He tells us all how we should behave And from their world of plenty They invade our privacy The celebrity bandwagon’s here again Let’s say a prayer Prayer that it’s the last one Last Christmastime That they come to spoil the fun There’s a man on television He’s a … Continue reading Bandaid 32
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Even now, more than nine years on, I can clearly remember the cold, dark evening of March 1st 2007. I arrived at my father’s care home expecting to find him unwell; Mum had been very concerned when we’d spoken earlier. Nothing, however, prepared me for the sight that greeted me as I knocked on the door and entered his room. Dad was … Continue reading Panorama & Care Home Scandals
BY MATTHEW CORRIGAN Twenty years ago a restless youth spent an idyllic spring and summer working throughout Western Brittany. Last week, after far too long a delay, I finally managed to return for an all too brief seven days to what, for me, is the loveliest region in France. It’s clear some things haven’t changed during the last two decades. The warmth of the Breton … Continue reading Countryside Landscape Vandals
