Arrival of my first grandchild means even as a Man City fan I have a soft spot for his Newcastle team
There has been a very important development for Frank Mitchell – the birth of his first grandchild
One of my old teachers crossed my mind this week. Mr Hoben guided me to O level success in economics. He usually wore a grey suit with a V neck jumper over a shirt and tie. His narrow eyes and thick rimmed glasses suggested a crossness but his most memorable feature was his accent. It was regional English and sounded similar to some of the soldiers who would stop and search us as teenagers.
He stretched his words as people from his home town tend to do. His first name was Paul but we all called him Charlie. It didn't take much to get a nickname in the '70s. One day he was chastising a time waster by warning him that he would not accept anyone trying to be a 'Char-Lee' during lessons, and from that day this strict but outstanding teacher from Sunderland had been renamed.
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