I should have realised that attempting to use a train to travel anywhere more complicated than London was a mistake. We booked tickets to go to Cornwall this weekend. All peachy - only a small second mortgage required. Now we discover (because we checked - not because anyone thought to tell us) that the train... Continue Reading →
Watches, perhaps because they are so much more personal than almost any other artefact, have a knack of telling stories that bring the past vividly into the present. Here's one of them... In the gathering darkness of the evening of September 28th 1944, a group of 12 German Kampfschwimmer (military frogmen) slipped into the Waal... Continue Reading →
As well as the day job and a bit of scribbling about watches, I work with the splendid Speakers for Schools organisation. In February '17, John Marston, the headteacher at St. Birinus school in Didcot invited me to speak to some of his students. I talked to them about how important it is to fail... Continue Reading →
Oh, look - MMC's posting pictures of watches again. Yes, it's a rather nice GW-5000, the one with the proper screwdown back and metal inner case (G-Shock nerds only need apply). But it's the time on the screen that's significant, not the watch. Why? On 10 December last year, just before 10am, I was away... Continue Reading →
https://youtu.be/OAIro_A1CYw At this time of year, for me, as the temperature goes down and the decorations go up, there’s always a ‘Carols for Choirs’ shaped gap. As a six year old boy treble and then as a young counter tenor and bass, the weeks from September onwards meant only one thing - Christmas. The... Continue Reading →
Today will pass in most people's diaries with never a thought for the man behind so many elements of the watch on their wrist. Abraham Louis Breguet was born 270 years ago today in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Automatic winding, tourbillons, gong-repeaters, more accurate escapements, better hairsprings, shock-absorbing escapements, lubrication-free escapements... Breguet was responsible for either inventing or... Continue Reading →
December 18th. Nick Whitelock sat at his desk by the window and looked out as the cold, winter rain tracked its way down the pane. “Sleet, more like.” he thought to himself. He was, as usual, the last one in the office. The rest of them would be in the Arms by now, backs to... Continue Reading →
Today, George, you delivered your first budget as a Tory chancellor. Those who voted for you - the people who believed Conservatism was about a hand up, not a hand out and who run their own businesses - are now sitting shellshocked, wondering how they could have been so utterly gullible. They should have realised that the die is cast at prep school... Continue Reading →
Diplomacy. The art of telling someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip. I thought of this when an email from Waitrose arrived today. I am no great advocate of being rude to customers. Neither am I fan of sugar-coating the truth. Customers aren't as daft as businesses believe.... Continue Reading →
Sixty four years ago today, George Orwell died from tuberculosis in a London hospital. Not only was he - in my opinion - the finest writer in English, in Politics and the English Language he left scribblers some of the finest advice. Here it is... "A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will... Continue Reading →
MMC Musings 