Author: Jane
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Hearing Voices – Some Thoughts on Suffrage
My first home was 47 North Hill, Colchester, Essex. Eighty-seven years before I arrived there, over the road, at number 12, the women of Colchester had organised themselves to send the first ever suffragette petition to Parliament. Just thirty-two years before my birth, the Conservative government had passed the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise)…
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So, you’re in love?
There is no manual is there? No go-to online guide or weighty tome to tell you how to be when you are in love, how to cope with the sudden onset of these alarming symptoms. You do, of course, read all about it, talk all about it, think all about it – even become all…
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Friendship: Notes to Self
A while ago, I had cause to stop and take stock of friendships. I jotted down these notes in a moment of clarity to help me focus on when to hold on and when to let go. It was a useful reminder in funky times. Now, I’m sharing… Friendship: Notes to Self. Good ones are…
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George William Manley: Grandpa
My maternal grandfather was 106 years old when he died and had been living at Stisted Hall, near Braintree in Essex (UK). Until the end, he was still sharp and bright and in about as good a physical state as it was possible to be at his age. As you might imagine, and as I…
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Headfuckers
This, dear reader, is a precautionary tale about people, places or experiences that mess with your mind. Headfuckers. That’s it. The name gives the game away – they are bad news. As a one-off, they can provide you with a ‘WTF?’ moment and a story to tell your friends. Trust me, this is definitely the…
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#TeamSkin
In 2019, I was diagnosed with melanoma. It was a struggle to get treated, and treated properly, and this is an understatement. Dermatology in my area had been handled by a private agency in an arrangement which had just collapsed – leaving a newly-formed NHS Foundation Trust to pick up the pieces (the patients). From…
Broad Views 