Author Archives: fortewinks
Pier to Peer: a tale of two weekends
In June this year our planned stay at Breedon Hall luxury B&B in Derbyshire fell victim to Covid; the host’s son had tested positive. Long-lost friends Charles and Charlotte were forced to cancel a full hotel – far worse for … Continue reading
Soho: an Ab Fab Memoire
We’ll be near Soho said a business colleague. Where can we meet for coffee? Reader, there is only one place for coffee in the streets of Soho: Bar Bruno. Meeting over, I wandered my former stamping ground and behind the … Continue reading
In memory of lost friends: funny, clever, kind … and usually badly behaved.
The last 12 months have been melancholy with the loss of a dear friend, one whom I celebrate here. In so doing, it is timely to remember others who passed away in years gone by, but of whom I have … Continue reading
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Pledge to an NHS Pay Rise: C.A Halpin takes art into the Surgery … and onto the Street with a Kickstarter Campaign
“Over the past year, NHS staff have worked tirelessly to cope with the challenge of the Covid19 global pandemic,” says artist C.A Halpin. “We the public have marched, we have clapped, we’ve cried, we’ve mourned, we have all been humbled by the … Continue reading
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Tagged acute, cleaner, Cook, gp, hospital, mortician, NHS, nurse, pay risr, physiotherapist, porters, primary care, public health, receptionist, workers
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My mother makes me: a child’s letter to her working mother.
When we lost our home in the 1990 recession my plan to be a stay-at-home Mum was necessarily shelved; with a one-month old quite literally under my arm, I launched my first business, so that I could craft a career … Continue reading
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Costa del Wick: meadows, marshes and meanders.
A hen party nailed it. Enforced listening to fifteen twenty-something women singing Bohemian Rhapsody at un-rhapsodic volume just fifty yards from our bedroom was not making us happy; the fifth rendition at 5am broke our will to live … there. … Continue reading
Posted in AirB&B, architecture, Buildings, Design and architecture, Health, holiday, Home, Life and romance, London, property, Travel, Uncategorized
Tagged Bicycle, birds, bridges, bushes, canals, countryside, East London, fish, grass, greenery, Hackney, Hackney wick, heron, holiday, lockdown, magpie, parkland, riding, skies, wetland
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In praise of A Certain Age
“Not too bad for an Old Bird?” my question to BB was rhetorical: I felt fabulous. Older, better? Not quite better, but different – fabulous is allowed. The necessary mindshift for women of a certain age has to be in … Continue reading
Posted in Family, Feminism, Friends, Health, Life and romance, Uncategorized
Tagged 50, aging, beauty, Body, face, Feminism, Fun, happy, humour, life, middle age, midlife, mrs robinson, Women
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Mind the Vulture! Cautionary fundraising tales.
Writing about business on Fortewinks is unusual … but SMEs are the lifeblood of British economy. As Forte Medical relaunches its Series A scale-up funding round, my experience of rogue investors may provide useful intelligence for others in the same … Continue reading
Posted in Business, design, Economy, Health, Uncategorized
Tagged Angels, business, enterprise, Entrepreneur, finance, fundraise, investment, sme, VC
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Frames, facades, finials and flourishes: how buildings tell stories.
I have a window fetish. There, I’ve said it. Mullions or muntins* of different widths make my hair stand on end; they let the building down, its facade a jumble. Simply put, both God and the Devil are in the detail … Continue reading
Posted in architecture, Buildings, Craft, design, Design and architecture, Life and romance, London, property, Uncategorized
Tagged architecture, Art, balconies, brick, building design, Buildings, cities, Craft, design, finials, glass, history, life, modernism, sculpture, sculture, steel, streetscape, towns, urban design
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