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Do you know what the traditional gift is for a seventh wedding anniversary? Copper and wool. Who knew? Apparently, the gift of wool represents the “comfort, durability and warmth that couples married this long give one another”. Proverb 31 describes the wives of noble character as women who select wool and “spin yarns with eager…

We’re bombarded with health messages all the time; eat your five a day, drink at least two litres of water a day and exercise regularly. Food and water, some would see, as simply requirements we need in order to survive. Exercise, however, isn’t considered as important and is often the last thing people want to…

82 days to go to the election, just in case you were counting. To lighten this somewhat depressing fact ask yourself the question, which politician’s face do I not want to slap? I suggest your list is not a long one. In the spirit of openness and transparency, I confess that Jeremy Hunt is on…

I always wanted to be a GP. Actually, having been brought up on a farm, I wanted to be a vet. But a combination of discouraging educationalists and James Herriot making it the most popular profession in the world, the animal world was spared. Educationalists, notably my science teachers – and they know who they…

The UK has long been known for its exceptional health service. Being free at the point of use, our NHS is the envy of the likes of America and other developed nations. “Free”, however, it isn’t – we all pay for the NHS through taxes. All £120 billion of it. But, what interests me is…

Working as a surgery receptionist is a bit like bartending: plenty of face-to-face interaction, a host of largely friendly regulars and a good deal of listening to people moan about their lives. This strained analogy ends however when we consider that while most people in a pub are happy to be there, nobody has ever…

Thanks again to the bottomless pit of information that is the BBC, I was introduced to two bits of imagery that fired my imagination this week. The first is by an artist called Patrick Hughes. He creates a world solidified into perspective [that] makes pictures  come alive before our eyes. The second is courtesy of…

A century ago today, the British Expeditionary Force had its first encounter with the German army in advance of the Battle of Mons; a trying experience that marked the beginning of four long years of war. In another life while teaching at a university, this, and other seminal moments in that conflict, were often used…