The Lushers Invitation Girls Rowing Competition was an important event, not so much for the sport of rowing, but for the students at the school. Held a month or so before the state titles each year, it was an opportunity for the best young women rowers to assess the preparation of their main competitors. For [...]
When Sir Murray St Clair rang suggesting that they meet at the club for lunch, Elliott Price knew he had to accept. There was something in Biggle’s voice, a reticent foreboding not common in a simple invitation. Sir Murray and Price were both members of ‘McDouall’, an exclusive Gentleman’s club in the city. The club, [...]
The principal, Mrs Clutch, came to address the class personally. In one hand she carried a long brown janitor’s jacket. With a sombre voice, she spoke of one rotten apple spoiling the whole barrel and then asked Ruth and Jane to come to the front of the class. Principal Clutch outlined the special permission for [...]
Twenty years ago this week, my partner Janet and I were in London on holidays. All the news was about the turmoil in Eastern bloc countries following Gorbachev’s announcement that they would be allowed to choose their own path. Increasing numbers of people from Hungary and Czechoslovakia took him at his word and were sampling [...]
Annabelle and Shelley were hiding in the trees when Ruth and Jane arrived at the boat shed that afternoon. They watched silently as the rowers launched a pair and gently stroked their way out into the middle of the river. As soon as the rowing shell was out of sight, the spies emerged from their [...]
The day started, like every other day at Lushers College for Ladies, with roll call and prayers in the year Common Rooms. Jane Thomas and Ruth Goldsmith sat together on one side of the Year 11 room, while Annabelle Purvis and her brat-pack fan-girls sat at the back. The school Chaplin, male of course, delivered [...]
Elliott Price accepted the invitation for drinks at Sir Murray’s house with as much good grace he could muster. He was not in the mood for another one of Biggles interminable air force stories, told with ever-increasing grandiosity. Elliott’s disdain was made all the more profound by the news that they would be joined by [...]
When Sky’s grandfather died some years ago, her father John Price, as the oldest son, had automatically inherited the family estate: A quaint practice, which the aristocracy of the old country and the squattocracy of the new still had in common. The original Price property was one of the largest and most prosperous during the [...]
Web accessibility is at the cross-roads. The WCAG of 1999 is not able to meet the needs of the web today, with its enhanced interactivity, greater community engagement and the proliferation of new technologies. WCAG 2.0 is supposed to address this problem by looking not at the technologies used to generate web content, but at [...]
The Merlin freezer in the “Thomas Delicatessen and Fine Foods” deli had stopped again and Dean Thomas was on his knees gently trying to coax it back to life. As he whispered words of endearment and encouragement, Ray Purvis entered the shop and watched in silence. “Come on, you contrary bastard,” Dean shouted and lent [...]