The first episode of Doctor Who was broadcast on 23 November 1963. Radio Times announced “a new Saturday-afternoon television series of adventures in time and space”. Three of the original features are still with us – the ominous theme tune by Ron Grainer, arranged by Delia Derbyshire in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The Tardis, a 1960s police box…. Continue reading
Posts tagged Swansea
How upstart train company plans to speed the way to the west
When Britain’s railways were privatised in the 1990s, the plan was that passengers would benefit from competition. It didn’t really happen. 30 years on, and many major routes are still only served by one company. But, belatedly, that most traditional of market forces is beginning to assert itself. Independent company Grand Union proposes to take… Continue reading →
Sobers six hit perfection at Swansea: That was the Day
53 years today, on Saturday, August 31st, 1968, Garfield Sobers became the first player in the history of cricket to hit every ball of an over for six. I was there and I wrote a book about it, Sobers six hit perfection at Swansea: That was the Day. Sobers was captaining Nottinghamshire that day, in a… Continue reading →
Is this what action on climate change actually looks like?
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.) There were many articles last weekend marking the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate agreement. There is little more to be said on that we… Continue reading →
Garfield Sobers – genius on a Swansea cricket pitch
Garfield Sobers, by any estimation, was a genius. England fast bowler Fred Trueman described him as a “sublime left-hand batsman” who was “one of the greatest cricketers ever to have graced the game, certainly the greatest all-rounder”. This is the sixth in a series of extracts I am publishing in the lead up to the 50th… Continue reading →
Sobers’ six sixes ground – where tide tables dictated the bowling
“The incoming tide was said to favour the bowlers [at St Helens]. Glamorgan captains of the past such as Wilf Wooller and Maurice Turnbull would consult the tide tables for Swansea Bay before going out to take the toss.” How Garfield Sobers beat cricket’s ultimate record. Extract 5. This is the fifth in a series… Continue reading →