Walking back to our car on a recent shopping trip into Loughborough we noticed this shop window pictured on the right. Over the last few weeks, when summer arrived and restrictions eased, I have noticed a number of such appeals for Staff Wanted. This got me thinking on a broader level about how things are […]
Editor's Letter
Time & Emotion …
Time’s dance dallies, Dragging here, spinning there. Pinball potent—flashing, ringing, Bouncing, pinging… These are the opening lines to the first poem in my poetry anthology Time and Emotion published in 2006. The book was published at the end of probably the worst and most turbulent half decade of my (Steve’s) life. In December 2000 my wife of […]
Soar Valley Life on Fosse 107
Have you tuned in to Fosse 107 yet and heard our new advert? If not, why not? Listen online via their website at www.fosse107.co.uk If you want a preview of our advert, click on the “Play” button below and let us know what you think in the comments
Thank Heavens For Snowdrops
At this time of year winter can seem never ending, so thank heavens for Snowdrops. The sight of their pointed leaves pushing their way through frozen soil reminds us that Spring is just around the corner and Is so up-lifting. They are much better planted in the green after flowering as opposed to dry bulbs […]
What’s the bravest thing you ever said?
asked the boy, “Help!” said the horse Charlie Makesy Very occasionally in life serendipity throws a help line to us and, as long as we’re open to possibilities and acceptance of change, we move out of being stuck, our lives progress and we grow. A couple of years ago, as Soar Valley Life was growing […]
You don’t know what you’ve got `til it’s…
I guess you can fill in the last word yourself? Of course it’s from that famous song by Canadian singer/song writer Joni Mitchell—Big Yellow Taxi—like the one here that took us to the airport on our way home from a beautiful family wedding on Vancouver Island. Normal life for Mary and I was suspended upon […]
The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie
Scan the shelves of crime fiction in any bookshop and you are likely to find many books focussed on organised crime and institutionalised corruption. The majority of today’s authors are paying homage to the Hardboiled tradition which emerged during the prohibition years (firstly in America) during the late 1920s and 30s. Many deal with society’s winners and losers; […]
High Days and Deadlines
Apparently, we’ve just had the hottest Easter since 1940… Usually, on a deadline weekend, Mary and I are to be found with noses to computer screens and ears to phones, chasing adverts and features; frantically fending off the looming stress of getting the mag off to our faithful graphic designer Ali on time, so as […]
Set in Stone
If you’ve been following the progress of our little extension at Burton Towers on our Facebook page, you’ll understand the relevance of the title and content of this month’s editors’ letter… In the early years of the 20th century a new Wesleyan chapel was built at the top of Wash Lane in Ravenstone. As still […]
