Blue Skies – a story of flight

The pilot knew exactly what was wrong, and that there was nothing he could do about it. But he felt no fear, possibly because everything was happening so quickly, or perhaps because he was busy in his final seconds considering options he already knew were futile. He realised he was about to die, but that…

Read More

Dogger – a story of the rising sea

The ceremonial site had, for years, flooded when it rained hard. The ring of massive oak posts planted in the earth smelt faintly of damp and rot. It had been that way for as long as anyone living remembered. This year, as his extended family approached the site for the gathering, Shrimper detected a new…

Read More

FitzRoy – a story of the weather

The black clouds had returned. They swirled around Robert Fitzroy, battering him. He struggled to breathe, assailed by rage and confusion. Somewhere, crystals were forming, delicate, feathery, in the storm glass that bore his name. The reports which would enable his office to produce the forecast would be ready by now, sitting on his desk….

Read More

German Bight – a story of WW1 at sea

“Dogger – Cyclonic four or five. Moderate. Fog banks. Poor or very poor. German Bight…” “It’s not the German Bight! Because we kicked them out of it!” The only time I saw my Grandfather angry was in 1956 when someone accidentally left the wireless on long enough for him to hear the shipping forecast. I…

Read More