It Wasn’t All About Giant Prawns, Seafood & Spices In Tangalle, The First Few Days, 4 to 8 January 2026

…but, admittedly, quite a lot of it was about the grub!

We quickly slipped into the type of institutionalised (in a good way) mode that wonderful places such as the Anantara Peace Haven encourage in their guests. Through our agents, Healing Holidays – click here for our itinerary, we had pre-arranged to play tennis at 8:00 every morning.

That flipping backhand of hers!

The temperature even at 8:00 was a bit hot for Janie – even I felt it on the more humid days. Add to that the bouncy surface that neutralised Janie’s fiendish slice…the conditions suited me more than Janie.

We’d also pre-booked, for the first day, the 5th, a body scrub treatment (to prepare our skin for sun) and a consultation at the spa. Here’s the list of treatments we had in those first few days:

  • 5th – 30 minute body scrub and consultation with Ayurvedic doctor
  • 7th – Pinda Sweda (Ayurvedic hot pouches treatment) followed by 45 minute meditation class
  • 8th – head and neck massage.

The spa was superb. Janie and I were mostly treated by Oka (me) and Lily (Janie), who were excellent practitioners. Meditation was with Vinod. We arranged some more treatments for the second half of our stay.

We had a pool villa, which we made our home for much of the day, most days. The small pool didn’t offer much length for swimming, but it was great for foot-dangling while reading.

I’ll write some more about the reading and the local wildlife (much of which would stop by at our villa, so we didn’t much need to go look for it) in a separate article or two.

Because you, dear reader, came to this article to learn some more about the grub, didn’t you?

On the first evening, 4 January, we ate in the Verala Asian restaurant. Janie can be seen digging in to the giant lagoon prawn dish…

…and we also ordered some Thai style regular prawns, Goong Pad Med Mamuang – so there! Meals in that restaurant are prefaced with a delicious welcome soup, based around coconut milk with spices and either lentils or rice. Janie has the recipes for future reference!

On the second evening, we dined in the main restaurant, as there was an opportunity to try an array of Sir Lankan style dishes. We were particularly taken with a spicy lamb which the chef was cutting from the bone for the diners, but we also tried some small tasters of other Sri Lankan dishes. I particularly like the traditional yellow rice with Sri Lankan dishes and the local daal was very tasty indeed to my taste.

Janie’s only complaint was that I look too serious…or even miserable…in her dinner-time photos. I tried to explain to her that “concentrating on my food” and/or “being super tired in the evening after a day of excessive relaxation is normal and even, possibly, to be encouraged.

On the third evening, 6 January, we returned to the main restaurant (for the last time) for the seafood buffet. We’re not really buffet people, but we did fancy trying the array of seafood available. We tried prawns in more than one style and particularly enjoyed the local fish, barramundi, roasted in a Sri Lankan style.

Concentrating/tiring, not miserable…

On the fourth evening, 7 January, we tried Il Mare, the Italian restaurant, which was really excellent. I went for a seafood pasta (Linguine ai frutti di mare), while Janie went for local tuna steak with mash (180g Bistecca di tonno).

My pasta dish in particular lent itself to the food porn photo treatment:

I was tired/concentrating, not bored, not miserable. Janie lifted her pose performance, showing off her choice of tiramisu, also to demonstrate how posing with food porn photos should be done.

Our fifth meal, 8 January, saw us return to the impressive Verala – not for the last time either.

Despite having sworn, when we were in Portland Maine, just three months earlier, that we were through with wrestling large shellfish…

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day Ten: Orientation In Portland Maine, Followed By Dinner At Street & Co., 2 October 2025

…we decided to attempt it again, as we had happy memories of Hikkaduwa crab from our previous times in Sri Lanka.

Fish cake starters might have lulled us into a false sense of security, as might the choice of “easy access” lagoon prawns again, to accompany the crab.

The Sri Lankan crab curry was hard work but was just about worth the wrestle. We did swear “never again”, again, though. Our exhaustion exacerbated by the unfortunate “lock out” from our villa, as the batteries in our door lock failed between locking up for dinner and trying to return after dinner. The problem was easily fixed, but not before we walked all the way to reception to report the problem. Walking off such a dinner is probably not such a bad idea, but a better idea if done willingly and with expectation!

We had a busy day ahead of us the next day, as we had booked a lunch time cookery session at Mama’s Kitchen, which I’ll describe and illustrate in the next episode.

Setting Off For & Getting To Tangalle, Sri Lanka, 3 & 4 January 2026

“What a prawn!”

Janie (Daisy) & I decided we needed a complete rest break after the circus that was much of 2025. Through our favourite agents for this sort of thing, Healing Holidays, who arranged our most recent previous rest cure for us…crikey…nine blithering years ago…

A Restful Break At The Banyan Tree Spa Sanctuary, Phuket Laguna, 11 To 21 February 2017

…we arranged the simple January 2026 Sri Lanka trip explained in the itinerary linked here.

We’d been to Sri Lanka several times before – firstly in March 1995…

Anuradhapura And On To Sigiriya Village Hotel, Sri Lanka, 18 March 1995

…and secondly on a cricket-strewn trip to India and Sri Lanka in 2011…

A Valentines Day Massacre In Galle aka The Day I Won The Ashes Single Handed, Galle, Sri Lanka, 14 February 2011

The 2026 Tangalle trip had no cricket planned and indeed no cricket ensued. I did, however, on the day of departure from London, head to my health club in the morning, as the weather was icy, making the idea of tennis with Daisy too reckless, even for us. Towards the end of my workout, I spotted a gentleman who looked uncannily like Virat Kohli up on the mezzanine. When he descended to my level, a closer look confirmed that he WAS Virat Kohli.

Prime Minister’s Office (GODL-India), GODL-India, Ahemdabad, 2023.

In the good old days, Alex Bowden (King Cricket) would have cherished this small moment in his “cricketer spotted” column.

But icy London felt positively warm compared with our seats on SriLankan Airlines. Nothing the steward-folk tried to do to the air conditioning made much difference where we were sitting. We resorted to coats, scarves and (in my case) even my beany.

We’d had a relatively event free check in, although Janie had her hand luggage singled out for a comprehensive search for the second time in a row. She’s hoping to avoid the metaphorical hat trick ball next time. Formalities at Colombo were a breeze compared with equivalent formalities at Boston Logan a few months ago.

US Trip 23 September to 8 October, Day One: London To Newport, 23 September 2025

We got to Anantara in Tangalle before 16:00 which was good timing. Our host Prashan showed us around and took us to our villa. We arranged a late dinner in Verala – the Asian/fusion restaurant. That’s where Janie’s enormous prawn comes in:

I won’t write up too much about this holiday but there are some good “food porn” pictures (only some are food porn/prawn pictures) and wildlife pics too.

Here are the six follow-up pieces – each can be clicked through from here or by clicking the next piece button at the bottom of each piece:

It Wasn’t All About Giant Prawns, Seafood & Spices In Tangalle, The First Few Days, 4 to 8 January 2026
A Day Which Revolved Around Cooking In Mama’s Kitchen, Tangalle, Sri Lanka, 9 January 2026
Tangalle Up In Blue: A Hunt For Short-Sleeved Shirts, Tangalle, Sri Lanka, 10 January 2026
The Unintended Consequences Of Laws: Gun Barrel Polka By David Seidel
Where Plenty Of Wildlife Came On Safari To Visit Us, Tangalle, 6 to 12 January 2026
OK – Quite A Lot Of It WAS About Giant Prawns, Seafood & Spices In Tangalle, The Last Few Days, 10 to 13 January 2026

Just Before Setting Off For Sri Lanka…A Strange Spotting In A Music Video

Look at these (from a bar in Sissinghurst), then at the Mexican music vid

For reasons of my own (I think there was something mentioned about the artistes in The Economist) I was looking at Mexican Corrido music videos that weekend.

I saw this:

Naturally, I felt obliged to submit this music video to King Cricket, despite being in a bit of a rush that morning to get everything done before heading off to Sri Lanka later that day.

Of course I made it. And in February, of course King Cricket published it.

A Device-like cricket-style bat in a Mexican corrido music video

Just in case anything ever befalls the King Cricket website, and yet someone still wants to read it, (a lot of “ifs” there), here is a scrape of that King Cricket article.

Christmas Eve With Banksy, 24 December 2025

What better way to start the holiday season than a visit to an art exhibition? Janie has long been especially interested in street art. We both very much enjoyed seeing street art in its intended environment a few years ago:

An Afternoon Of Bare Peng Tings In Spitalfields & Whitechapel, Alternative London Street Art Tour, 22 July 2022

The Banksy Limitless exhibition collects a large number of Banksy works, plus other works inspired by Banksy, in a pop-up gallery in South Kensington, ironically on the site of a former Christies auction house.

We both went a bit wild with our phone cameras – especially Janie – so you can see more than 80 pictures from our visit by clicking here or below:

For those who don’t want to wade through dozens of pictures – here are a few edited highlights.

This installation by Caroline McCarthy – Promise, from Banksy’s bemusement park Dismaland

I was rather pleased with myself, having used the QR code to download the helpful guide to the exhibits, to assist a fresh-faced young woman from Sydney who was a bit bemused by that exhibit & other items. I said,

I thought young folk like you were supposed to help old folk like us with the tech,

…to which she replied…

I’m useless with tech – it’s a minor miracle that I even found my way to this place.

In truth, the guide only provides some enlightenment on the exhibits, but Banksy isn’t supposed to be about crystal clarity, is it?

Daisy – what have you done?

The venue is a big space – it needs to be a big space

In the infinity room

We had a lot of fun and were thoroughly pleased with our visit. The exhibition runs until late February 2026 and we’d both certainly recommend it to friends who dig dis kinda ting.

Janie and I then decompressed over Christmas and did some work during Twixtmas, ahead of our early 2026 Sri Lanka trip.

Cous Cous Club Christmas Dinner At Souk, 17 December 2025

The Cous Cous Club is a gathering of Alleyn’s Old Boys from the mid to late 1970s – most of whom I have therefore known for over 50 years at the time of writing. In fact many of us have been gathering occasionally and informally in this way for decades.

It was one of Rohan Candappa’s ideas to name and brand a well established thing that previously had no sense of brand identity. Rohan used to be in advertising, but now does this sort of thing in his spare time.

I missed the inaugural meeting of the Cous Cous Club at Souk back in early autumn. I was in the USA, talking at the International Tennis Hall of Fame about events 150 years ago, at another of my clubs, that led to the codification of tennis into the modern game as we know it:

1875 And All That

Still, despite the fact that I might easily confuse CCC and MCC in future conversations, Rohan invited me to join the Cous Cous Club for its first Christmas dinner and naturally I said “yes please”.

I was the first to arrive at the restaurant. Most of the party had gathered at a nearby hostelry for a pre-dinner drink, whereas I was coming hot foot from a prior engagement.

My earlier appointment had been a meeting with Professor Tim Connell, to plan my slot at the Gresham Society soirée, which this time will be in mid January rather than during the pre Christmas mêlée. I usually grace the soirée with late medieval music…sometimes more genuine than other times:

Gresham Society Soirée, Including Þe Fair Weather Canticle, 12 December 2022

As the Cous Cous Club was on my mind, I teased Tim with the notion that I was planning, for Gresham Society, a sing-along of very, very old songs: Slade, Sweet, T-Rex, Rod…

But once I realised that Tim was close to tears and/or apoplexy at this thought, I showed him the early 17th century material, with a Gresham College connection, which I actually have in mind for the soirée sing-along. Tim then cheered up and calmed down.

Anyway, point is, as first to arrive at Souk, I got to chat with the charming and friendly waiter who was to be our main host for the evening. When I explained to him what the Cous Cous Club was, and the antiquity of our shared experience, the waiter was quite blown away. I suspect that young waiter has been on the planet for less half the time we Alleyn’s Old Boys have known each other.

No pressure…

…I said to the waiter, who just beamed, knowing that he and his colleagues would be able to cope with whatever collective curve balls our group of old boys might throw at them.

Then the main gang turned up from the pub, followed by a trickle of late-comers.

So who was there?…

…I hear multiple readers cry. Let’s call the register. This is school, after all, even if it is 50+ years on:

  • Nick Wahla
  • Rohan Candappa
  • Claire Brooke
  • Paul Driscoll
  • Simon Ryan
  • Andy Feeley
  • Dave Leach
  • Steve Butterworth
  • Perry Harley
  • John Eltham
  • Me (obvs).

Rohan provided each of us with a fez…apart from John Eltham who, always one of the keenest scouts, had brought his own. Rohan also awarded me my Cous Cous Club membership badge, which felt a bit like being inducted into The Tufty Club, but without first having to cross the road safely.

There were a couple of notable absences, not least Lisa Pavlovsky and Dave Wellbrook. That led, naturally, to those absent friends getting the hardest time of the evening. That might seem unfair, as they had no opportunity on the night to defend themselves, but life isn’t fair. The fact that life isn’t fair is a lesson you learn early at the very best schools. You also learn it at Alleyn’s. And you especially learn that lesson at the Cous Cous Club.

Claire Brooke had come all the way from Harrogate for the evening. Rohan felt, with some justification, that a wrong from the first gathering needed to be put right.

At the early Autumn inaugural Cous Cous Club gathering, Rohan had awarded Lisa Pavlovsky with a trophy recognising her as the first female House Captain at Alleyn’s School.

Lisa, awarded, beaming, early autumn 2025. Photo “borrowed” from Facebook.

But soon after that first event, it emerged that Claire Brooke had been the first female House Captain, albeit a joint one, the previous year. Rohan felt obliged to put matters right:

Claire, beaming, with her revenge trophy, awarded by Rohan, December 2025

Chat soon turned to sport and tales of derring-do gone by. As usual, John Eltham and Nigel Boatswain reminded me about my infeasibly successful/lucky stint in goal against them (Cribbs v Duttons) although the exact details of that story keep changing in people’s memories.

Exciting news, gang – I have actually found a diary reference to that glorious day on the football pitch, which might well be my only such diary entry in all the years I kept diaries. To be Ogblogged in the fullness of time – watch that space.

Then there was reference to the question “who was the youngest grandfather”, as Andy Feeley has recently become one of those. My arithmetical brain worked out that Dave Leach must have first become a grandfather when he was younger than Andy Feeley is now…which I think is right…but apparently that wasn’t the question. Andy Feeley was the youngest person in the room who is now a grandfather.

My confusion was deemed to be Wellbrookian, which turned the conversation to thoughts of Dave Wellbrook and why he wasn’t with us.

Has the lurgy…

…was as close to a polite answer as we got.

Dave Unwellbrook, then…

…I bet no-one had ever made that joke before.

Talk then naturally turned to Wellbrook’s recent treading of the boards, which several (braver than me) Cous Cous Club members had witnessed.

Wellbrook’s self-image, from Facebook. Is this acting, the method or something entirely other?

Nick Wahla’s review was an absolute classic. I paraphrase:

Wellbrook was very much himself in that performance, but he occasionally lapsed into real acting.

Praise indeed. Nick – you really should turn your hand to being a theatre critic.

Out of nowhere, Perry Harley related a story to me about him meeting Mungo Jerry while on holiday in Bournemouth. Perry wondered whether I remembered any Mungo Jerry songs other than “In the Summertime”.

Off the top of my head, I mentioned “Alright Alright Alright” and “Long Legged Woman Dressed In Black”, which raised much mirth and some scepticism too.

It was hard to disabuse Perry and friends of the scepticism, as neither Perry nor I could get our smartphones to connect to the outside world.

Strange how my memory instantly dredged up these tunes and lyrics from that era, way back when we all first met.

Rohan shot a short clip of video that evening, which I can share with you, dear, long-suffering readers:

I wondered, on seeing that clip, whether I might now, after all these years, be even more gobby than Nick Wahla. Now THERE’S a thought.

Yet, I was hugely honoured to read, on Facebook, that Rich Davies – who is hiding in Canada, blaming a little bit of slightly inclement weather for his absence from the evening – had awarded me the Golden Camel for looking the most Moroccan amongst us. That might have had something to do with the fact that I was the last to remove my fez hat.

Anyway, in case it isn’t clear by now, it was great to see everyone and I’m pretty sure we all had a great time.

Thanks, Rohan, for being such a stalwart organiser of great get-togethers. Much appreciated. And so well branded.

Merry Cousmas everybody.

Wotta Lotta Events In One Week, 8 To 12 December 2025

Colin clinched the china after strivin’ for the Ivan, the beaker for the burlesque is the cup snuck by Chalice…

London Cricket Trust Dinner At Soutine, 9 December 2025

This is the second time we’ve had our London Cricket Trust Christmas dinner at Soutine after our last Board meeting of the year.

Smug and self-satisfied we are not, but we are now able to boast 118 non-turf pitch installations and 21 net system installations completed since we started seven years ago. “Way to go”, as our transatlantic friends might put it, but this is a transformational number of facilities in parks around London that would otherwise have been without.

Chris Whitaker, Ed Griffiths, Ian Moore, Sophie Kent and I enjoyed the meal and the company.

Dedanists’ Society Lunch, Lemonia, 11 December 2025

These images from the Dedanists’ Society website, depicting the lunch last year

Always a highlight of the festive season, this gathering of dedicated realists provided an opportunity to talk real tennis, in contrast with my activities earlier in the week which were about cricket.

Hard ball doesn’t get much harder than this. I tried to be suitably abstemious, or at least minimally lubricated, as I also had an evening engagement that evening…

The Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinner, Goodge Street Spaghetti House, 11 December 2025

A slightly depleted gang gathered for the traditional seasonal Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinner, which has, for decades now, included a form of quizzing for the Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Trophy. More recently, since the demise of NewsRevue founder and mentor Mike Hodd, we also play for a Mike Hodd memorial trophy. I won “the Hoddy” last year, which meant that it was my job to come up with a suitable game/quiz for this year’s contest.

The gang for dinner this year comprised me, John Random, Barry Grossman, Hugh Ryecroft, Chalice Am Bergris, Mark Keegan and Colin Stutt.

Barry Grossman started the game proceedings with the Ivan Shakespeare Trophy quiz. I did rather badly and Colin Stutt did rather well.

Then it was my turn to curate a game/quiz for the Hoddy. Below is the game.

Any reader should feel free to write in, ianlharris@gmail.com, and I’ll gladly mark your questions. No pressure, but Chalice scored eight-and-a-half, which was a joint top score, winning by dint of the humour bonus on one of her questions.

It’s not all about quizzes and awards, of course. Heaven forbid. The chat at dinner was lively and witty as always.

Z/Yen Seasonal Lunch, Watermen’s Hall, 12 December 2025

After a hearty hit on the tennis court at Lord’s and an even stouter Board Meeting at King William Street, the Z/Yen throng retired to Watermen’s Hall for seasonal lunch and festivities.

Secret Santa did his best to liven up the post lunch activities, despite certain seemingly intelligent folk strangely finding the idea of Secret Santa hard to understand…not mentioning any names, Bob Pay.

Then quizzing and singing. As part of Z/Yen’s journey towards net zero…in this case zero effort more than necessary…the Z/Yen seasonal quiz bore more than a passing resemblance to the Hoddy one depicted above…apart from the title and Z/Yen logos where the pictures of Mike Hodd are shown above.

Readers are as welcome to have a go and send in your questions for the Z/Yen quiz as you were for the Mike Hodd one. No pressure, but the combined forces of Juliet and Charlotte managed a most impressive nine. Questions that were too clever for their own good did not find favour with the judge, which was a bit of a disadvantage for the more-propellor-headed attendees.

As a further lurch in the direction of net zero (excess effort), I also road tested the idea of getting a random bunch of people to sing Jacobean songs, which worked almost as well with Z/Yen as it seems to be working with the real tennis community on skills nights. But that’s another story. As (will be) the attempt to get Gresham Society people singing in that manner.

Suffice it to say that the Z/Yen community was so motivated by the “We Be Three Poor Mariners” song that they danced around the Watermen’s table while singing it. Apt, I suppose, at Watermen’s.

This image found on the Italian site linked here.

A Ghost In Your Ear by Jamie Armitage, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 6 December 2025

Horror is not normally a genre that would draw me and Janie into the theatre. But this piece sounded fascinating when it was announced many months ago and we trust Hampstead Downstairs to look after us…even though the tickets came through saying “main stage” rather than “downstairs” (see headline image).

We also trusted that Jamie Armitage would look after us, following a similarly genre-busting experience with his play, An Interrogation, earlier this year – in that instance the genre was police procedurals – a genre we would normally avoid even more emphatically than horror.

An Interrogation by Jamie Armitage, Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, 25 January 2025

We were right to trust our hosts and our playwright. A Ghost In Your Ear, which we saw on the first preview performance, was an entertaining and interesting evening in the theatre. It held our attention and teased our senses throughout its 90+ minutes. If anything, we felt a little over-stimulated, especially aurally so, having earlier seen another performance:

Most Of My Politics I Got From Songs by Rohan Candappa, Hornsey Town Hall Arts Centre, 6 December 2025

What both performances had in common was the use of sound in fascinating ways to trigger the desired dramatic effect. Also, both pieces explored ideas around the notion that the past can haunt the present, be that through nostalgia, elements of our past that were hidden from us…or that we hide from ourselves…or ghosts.

A Ghost In Your Ear uses a technique called binaural sound, which is “beyond stereo”, requiring the wearing of headphones in order to get a more genuine three-dimensional effect from the sound. Ben and Max Ringham are, apparently, THE go to sound engineers for this sort of sound engineering – this production has gone to the go to people. Jamie Armitage explains it in a short vid:

Janie and I certainly both got the sensation that the sound was all around us, which added a fair bit to the horror experience. At one point during our preview, the binaural quality of the sound dropped away for two or three minutes. I don’t think deliberately. For sure the sensation was diminished and then reinstated, when the binaural sound was fully restored. Our contemporaries who are now a little hard of hearing might get less out of the binaural sound effects.

But the reasons for seeing this piece go way beyond the clever sound (and indeed some superb visual) effects. In particular, we were much taken with George Blagden’s acting. He was not only on stage but absolutely central to the action throughout. He must speak 95% of the lines, which he did quite brilliantly – a top notch performance, we both felt.

It is also a very thought-provoking piece, beyond what I had expected from a ghost story play. Without spoiling the effect by disclosing the twists, it dawned on me, as the play unfolded, that people are far more readily haunted by things that have happened to them and things that they have been told, than they are haunted by ghosts. This play, using the “story within a story” technique that has been used since the dawn of story-telling time, deliberately messes with the ghost story genre in that way. Are the characters haunted by a ghost, or are they haunted by a ghost story, or are they simply haunted by their own, natural fears?

Jamie Armitage not only writes but also directs his own pieces. I have oft said that I don’t really approve of playwrights directing their own pieces – it often leads to self-indulgence and missed opportunities. But in Jamie Armitage’s case, based now on two experiences, I am prepared to make an exception. His heavily genre-based pieces work because he is writing his plays while fully-imagining how that genre might work on the stage. Armitage therefore needs to be heavily involved in the production, not just the writing of the play.

A Ghost In Your Ear was really worth seeing. Don’t take our word for it – this link should find formal reviews for the production – once those reviews come out – I think weekend 12-14 December.

Well done Hampstead Theatre Downstairs – another top notch production. This one runs until 31 January 2026. Highly recommended by me and Janie if you get to book it in time.

Most Of My Politics I Got From Songs by Rohan Candappa, Hornsey Town Hall Arts Centre, 6 December 2025

Cometh the hour, cometh the Candy

I have known Rohan Candappa since we were eleven. I met him on my first day at Alleyn’s School, the secondary school we both attended 1973-1980. There he is in my first year class, 1973/74:

My First Class At Alleyn’s School, 1S, And Some Nicknames, guessing 8 January 1974

This half-century-old remembering is relevant to Rohan’s show, not least because most of the musical material into which Rohan is delving relates to the years that he and I were still in full-time education – including the university years following school.

Also to say, although Rohan and I lost touch after school, we have very much been in touch with one another again for best part of the last 20 years.

When Rohan “shouted out” to ancient pals, like me, that he would be doing a free gig as part of the Hornsey Town Hall Arts Centre grand opening day, how could I possibly say no? Even though Janie and I had tickets to the theatre that evening – it seemed to me that the hike from Hornsey to Hampstead Theatre (by car) would easily be achievable – thus we agreed to do both events.

We thought Rohan might need the support. We needn’t have worried on that score:

Nor need we have worried on behalf of Hornsey Town Hall Arts Centre generally – the place was heaving with visitors on its opening day:

Rohan was performing in the former Council Chamber, which was mighty grand. Janie and I had a theory that it would be good to get into the chamber early, as there would be good seats and not such good seats in such a place. We were right.

There’s me, one of the first to get in. Indeed, only the lady in the red hat – whom you might have got from central casting to play the role of the enthusiastically-right-on elderly lady – beat us to it. Apart from Rohan and the technical dude, obvs.

The lady from central casting danced magnificently to Free Nelson Mandela at the end of the show

Rohan started the piece with a bit of Hornsey Town Hall history from January 1937 – when Oswald Mosely held a public meeting there and protesters bravely made a scene.

The Hornsey Six 25 January 1937

Article from 26 Jan 1937 Daily Herald (London, London, England)

Rohan thought that four gutsy protesters had embedded themselves in the hall and taken on the fascist mob, but the embedded Daily Herald article [did you see what I did there?] suggests that there were six brave hecklers.

A more detailed article from the Wood Green and Southgate Weekly Herald gives more detail, including the ominous phrases:

…one man who persisted was forcibly removed. It was related that he afterwards received first aid from the Fascists’ own first aid men.

I dread to think.

I also especially “like” the picture of Oswald Mosely in this Daily Express article about the event. We should have a Private Eye-style bubble caption competition for that photo (which remains in copyright, hence the link rather than an embed). My bubble caption entry would read:

…up yours, Candappa!

Badge of pride, Rohan. Badge of pride.

Anyway, Rohan took us on a tour de horizon of political songs from the 1970s and early 1980s, including Part Of the Union by The Strawbs, The Killing Of Georgie by Rod Stewart, Ghost Town by The Specials…you’ll get the idea if you are of our generation. Actually, you’ll get the idea – if not the nostalgia fix – however old you might be.

Most of Rohan’s choices were items I might have expected…although he omitted the two tracks that I had mentally put on my list of essentials before we arrived – we’ll return to those…

…but he did choose some items that were refreshingly and interestingly unexpected to me. For example, I wasn’t expecting All Gone Away by the Style Council, but was glad to hear it again in this context.

Nor was I expecting quite so much emphasis on anti-apartheid politics, despite the fact that my own political awakening was much-triggered by that cause. Rohan played a short excerpt from Coal Train by Hugh Masekela before playing the whole of Peter Gabriel’s Biko…

So which two “essential” tracks (in Ian Harris terms) did Rohan omit?…

I hear all you inquisitive readers cry.

Stand Down Margaret by The Beat and (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang by Heaven 17.

I had told Rohan (and his wife Jan) that I would demand all my money back if Rohan didn’t use both of my “essential” political songs and he used neither of them. Honourably, Rohan has promised to refund both me and Janie every penny I had forked out for those event tickets…

…what do you mean, the event was free?

I sense that this performance piece, which was excellent and suitably moving in parts, will serve as a pilot for one of Rohan’s more honed pieces in the fullness of time. I might have to pay for tickets to see the honed version.

As it was, the after show period between 5:30 and us needing to head off towards the Hampstead theatre gave us time for a very pleasant wine bar drink with Rohan, Jan and another of our pals from school, Steve “Peanut” Butterworth.

As Steve discreetly put it to Janie:

…a lot of people had far worse nicknames than mine…

…without naming names…or nicknames.

Once again, I dread to think.

A Short Tribute To Jacquie Briegal, Who Died 27 November 2025

Jacquie enjoying a brace of buff butlers, Janie & Kim’s party, 2016

I was so saddened to learn that Jacquie died on 27 November. She, and the Briegal family of which she was the matriarch, had been part of my family life for as long as I can remember…indeed, longer than I can remember.

Adam Green, Mark Briegal, Hilary Briegal, Michael Green & a very little me, c1963

Jacquie was my second cousin. Her mother, Sadie, was my mother’s first cousin. Thus I was, technically speaking, Jacquie’s generation in my family. Through one of those generation shift things that happens in some families, I am a similar age, indeed a bit younger than, my own generation’s children. Jacquie and Len were good pals with my parents. I am good pals with Mark and Hilary and Adam. Jacquie’s mother Sadie and my Grandpa Lew Marcus…well, that’s another story. Family legend has it that Jacquie’s lovely father, Josh Moliver, would patch up the frequent tiffs between Sadie and Lew, by visiting with a bottle of schnapps as a peace offering.

A gathering of Pizans & Molivers, late 1930s, at the Bledlow Ridge farm. Jacquie third child in line, I believe – from the front Hannah Pizan (latterly Green), Hazel & Jacquie Moliver, Sidney Pizan.

Just in case you think this flashback doesn’t go back far enough, my mother actually attributed the friction between her father Lew and Sadie to the previous generation; Jacquie’s grandmother Annie:

Auntie Annie [Kraika, nee Marcus] used to make big about Lew and Beatrice’s [my parents’] “premature baby” Harry!! Fell out over it at times. Sadie & Lew were always falling out and then making up!

As my Uncle Harry was “prematurely” born just after the first world war (and just a few months after my grandparents got married), I am resuscitating a broyges that dates back more than a century. You can thank me (or quarrel with me) afterwards for that.

Jacquie to Mum: “we’ve put that all behind us now, haven’t we, Renee? Mum: “more or less…”.

There are/were many branches to the Marcus family, from whence this connection comes, but somehow the Kraika/Moliver/Briegal connection (Jacquie’s) and the Pizan/Green connection, plus my own branch of the Marcus family remained solid despite various family upheavals over the last century or so.

Thus, perhaps unusually, these second cousin branches are amongst my closest relatives and people with whom I feel the closest familial ties. Janie takes pains to say that she hasn’t a clue who ANY of her second cousins might be and indeed has no contact even with her first cousins.

Anyway, this tribute is about Jacquie, not family trees, but my point is, my own memories of Jacquie, over many decades, are mostly associated with the sort of events which most of us enjoy with close family and close friends.

My diaries, covering the 1970s and 1980s, have many mentions of visiting the Briegals or the Briegals visiting us. In those days, this might be for second night of Pesach (Passover), sometimes breaking the fast at my parents’ place, sometimes around the Xmas seasonal holidays (I remember mum and dad doing New Years Eve with Jacquie and Len quite often) or random “no reason” get togethers.

My dad was a real “cobblers children” photographic man when it came to documenting family events with pictures – he tended not to do it. It wasn’t really the thing to photograph “regular” family gatherings back then.

On occasion, my mum and dad would go for short break holidays with Jacquie and Len. Jacquie was very tolerant of my mum, who could be awkward at times but basically had a good heart and Jacquie recognised that. Perhaps more importantly to Jacquie (or just as importantly), my Dad and Len enjoyed each other’s company and especially enjoyed having a few glasses of wine together.

Dad: “suits you, Jacquie!”. I’m guessing Spain in the 1990s

By the end of the 1990s, the Christmas tradition shifted from mum & dads, or Jacquie & Len’s place, to Janie’s place, as we always felt a desire to reciprocate the warm hospitality we had enjoyed at other times of the year.

Janie tended to do almost all of the catering role – the centrepiece very often being a roast goose, because Dad and Len were partial to goose. Jacquie could be encouraged to “go with the flow” and make sure that my mum didn’t fret. On the one occasion that Janie’s mum, The (now late) Duchess of Castlebar, also attended, Jacquie did a great job of preventing Len from throttling the Duchess. Jacquie was a great reconciler; by all accounts like her dad in that respect.

My job at Christmas was to devise games and miscellaneous entertainments for those days. I recently found an old box with index cards, post-it notes, dice and bundles of 5p pieces. I recognised the materials for charades and that type of game, but I cannot recall what we were doing with all of those dice and shilling-bits. Must have been part of one of the games, but I only remember us talking crap, not playing craps!

By the late noughties, though, dad and then, soon after, Len, died. The family gatherings for a heimische Christmas didn’t seem appropriate any more, so we started going to restaurants together instead.

Strangely, while rummaging for something completely different earlier today, I stumbled across some misfiled papers – our order at The Devonshire for Xmas 2010:

I can also authoritatively tell you from my markings on the wine list that we ordered the Pelorus Cloudy Bay fizz, Argentinian Chardonnay, Chianti (Len & Dad would have approved), and Californian Orange Muscat for pudding.

Even more latterly, Jacquie kept the family gathering tradition going for so-called fast-breaking until she was just shy of 90 years old. The International Pickled Herring Of The Year Competition (IPHY Awards) attracting global audiences and acclaim.

International Pickled Herring of the Year (IPHY) Awards, aka Dinner at Jacquie Briegal’s Place, 1 December 2018

But really I should leave the last word to Jacquie herself. She really was very patient and kind with my mum, even towards the end for mum, when dementia was setting in and mum’s manner increasingly random.

The following short “vox pop” was filmed, I think by Kim, at the little party we threw for my mum at “Noddyland” (our house) when mum turned 90, in 2012.

Jacquie’s death really is the end of an era for our family. But she will live on in the hearts of all who knew her and loved her.

Real Tennis British Open At Queen’s & Victory In Australia by Richard Whitehead At Lord’s, 22 & 26 November 2025

Richard Whitehead talking, Alan Rees listening.

Two Men’s Singles Semi-Finals & The Women’s Singles Final At Queen’s, 22 November 2025

Janie and I warmed up for this event by having our regular hour of “lawn” at Boston Manor, albeit at 10:00 rather than our regular hour of 11:00. We then hot-footed it (if you can hot-foot by car) to the flat dropping off some old computer equipment headed for charity, then picked up Janie’s flashy new specs, then got to The Queen’s Club about 30 or 40 minutes into the first match.

Simon Talbot-Williams greeted us both warmly from his stewarding position, while simultaneously telling me off “for being late”, before helping organise our seating.

Just as well we warmed up for the event, as the dedans gallery had a real chill breeze feel to it, despite the nicely positioned radiator near our feet.

Must have felt even colder up there in the “makeshift media gallery”.

We caught the end of the match between Nicky Howell and Rob Fahey. Then saw all of the match between John Lumley and Bryn Sayers.

After taking some tea and chatting with the assembled real tennis glitterati, Janie and I saw Claire Fahey’s historic win in the final against Tara Lumley.

Our first sight of women’s tennis played at the highest level

Historic, in that the women’s final hadn’t been at Queen’s for decades. We both thought that the format including both men’s and women’s matches was an excellent idea.

More of this men’s and women’s tennis on the same day, please, Janie and I say.

On searching on-line for the results, Google’s AI Overview, for once, has not hallucinated. The following summarises matters expertly.

Men’s (Open) Singles Semi-finals

Two Men’s Singles semi-final matches were played during the afternoon. 

  • Fixture: N. Howell bt R. Fahey
  • Score: 6/2 6/2 6/5
  • Start Time: 2:00 PM
  • Fixture: J. Lumley bt B. Sayers
  • Score: 6/5 6/3 6/2
  • Start Time: 4:00 PM (approx) 

Women’s Singles Final

Claire Fahey defeated Tara Lumley in the final match, which began at 6:45 PM. 

  • Fixture: C. Fahey bt T. Lumley
  • Score: 6/0 6/0 

What the AI cannot do is express how much we enjoyed our afternoon and early evening at Queen’s, watching high grade tennis. It’s just a shame it was unseasonably cold!

Victory In Australia by Richard Whitehead, MCC Library Book Club, Lord’s, 26 November 2025

Janie and I very much enjoy these library book club supper evenings. This one, at which Richard Whitehead discussed his book about the 1954/55 Ashes tour, might not have attracted our attention, but for Alan Rees (head librarian) taking pains to let me know how much he had enjoyed that book and was thrilled to have secured an evening with Richard.

Save the date…

said Alan a good few weeks before the evening was announced. Hence, once it was announced…we pounced to get tickets.

We were very glad we did. The food and company is always good. On this occasion, as a bonus, we found ourselves next to my real tennis pal of old, Jim Chaudry. Jim has been “off games” for some while now, but I occasionally see him at cricket and have spotted him a few times at the library book club dinners, but until this time, not at my table.

Jim knows how to hold his knife and fork, whereas…

The food was, as always, excellent. Janie went into full tilt food porn photo mode this time.

Both courses depicted on arrival at her place. Thanks, Janie.

As usual, after the talk, the Q&A, and the book signing, Janie and I went home thoroughly pleased and satisfied. That’s some of my holiday reading for our next trip sorted out for sure.