Author: Thomas Kelly

At 13 I was sent to Bedford School. It had been established in 1552 and was one of the four under the Harper Trust. I had been at Manor House for my prep school and I needed to pass Common Entrance for public school. I duly passed although just I recall and entered this austere…

A letter from Nassau in August 2016 This is a story about people in The Bahamas or the 32 ‘family’ Islands and almost 800 uninhabited sand bars or Cays. Sheikh Abdullah bin Al Nahyan arrived today on his yacht Pelorus from Las Palmas, he is not from Spain of course but as Foreign Minister of…

Saigon May 2016     The Saigon River is silted, heavy and dark. It pushes south, dragging dreams to the South China Seas. And from my window, the evening light is broken apart By bats that whistle and dart towards the trees.   The millions of scooters have woven their route home now And like…

Dining with Royalty can be awkward. Not that I have too much experience, but I certainly have some memories and these reflections. Whatever they might be or try to be, the Royals are different and very cautious. They occasionally allow us to peek under their bonnets. I had been asked to try and get to know…

Cross Roads Prologue: I am fascinated by the minutiae of what I have collected over the years, and more importantly kept. I always maintained a diary and the entries form the backbone of these recollections. In 1978 it was Standard Chartered Bank red leather diary, a sign of importance to me though it would have…