The Oldie

My no-frills funeral

Jem Clarke is in his very, very early fifties, is five foot zero inches tall and has never left the family home in Cleethorpes, which he still shares with his parents…

Anyone, sat like my mother in front of many hours of daytime TV, is eventually seduced by the repetitive, quick-fire adverts with their abiding message: 90 is the new 75.

Mother was the harshest critic of the old shopping channels. She once put toothpaste

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Oldie

The Oldie14 min read
Pursuits
WELSH WONDERS On a recent cold and blowy afternoon, I spent a few hours in a series of greenhouses, sniffing exotic scents and marvelling at the sheer abundance of flowering bulbous plants. I was just a mile from the National Botanic Garden of Wales
The Oldie1 min read
Bridge
At the other table on this month's deal from the European Open Championships in Strasbourg, East-West had bid on to six spades over North-South's six clubs, doubled and one down. Declaring six spades, West had won North's singleton-heart lead with th
The Oldie4 min read
Readers’ Letters
SIR: In 2016, my book A History of Magazine Design was published by that great oldie of a museum, the V&A. On page 15, there is a cover of the Weekly Illustrated Annual from 1937 (see picture). There were various candidates for ‘The Man Behind the Ca

Related Books & Audiobooks