Hextol
Stars of the show fail to make an appearance
IT’S been a good few years since Mrs Hextol and I spent time parked in the dark, in a remote spot, with the car windows steamed up.
Last updated 6 February 2012
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Coffee brewed from powder is still my cup of tea
WHY is it so difficult to buy coffee powder these days?
Last updated 30 January 2012
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Skating on thin ice despite good intentions
THERE’S nothing better than a crisp frosty morning for sloughing off slumber and setting the blood coursing.
Last updated 23 January 2012
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Retail therapy isn’t worth car parking mayhem
I MADE the mistake of going to the sales at the Metrocentre shortly after Christmas.
Last updated 16 January 2012
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Thank goodness Christmas comes but once a year!
WELL, that’s another festive period over, and I can come back to work for a rest.
Last updated 9 January 2012
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Delving into the old curiosity cupboard
Mrs Hextol frequently sends me upstairs to hunt out some missing document, photograph or precious artefact, even though she knows the chances of me actually finding what she is looking for are as slim as a super-model.
Last updated 3 January 2012
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Christmas is coming, the geese are getting thin
ARE turkeys smaller than they used to be?
Last updated 26 December 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Hats are off if you want a full head of hair
I HAD the undiluted pleasure of sitting next to a Yorkshireman in Corbridge on Saturday, when Tynedale Rugby Club thrashed the Mancunians of Sedgley Park.
Last updated 19 December 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Flat pack furniture isn’t for the faint-hearted
I FACED a double dose of betes noire on Saturday.
Last updated 12 December 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Being an eternal fall guy isn’t much fun
IS THERE any activity more embarrassing that falling over in public?
Last updated 5 December 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Reluctant admission of failing hearing
THERE are certain ailmentrs which induce merriment rather than sympathy from family and friends.
Last updated 28 November 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Golden memories of fastest woman on earth
THE news that the Olympic Torch is heading for Tynedale next year has for the first time filled me with a frisson of anticipation.
Last updated 21 November 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Caught napping by throttling a bluebottle
I WAS awoken from a dreamless slumber in the early hours of Monday by a cowled Carmelite monk hovering near my bed.
Last updated 14 November 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Courtesy car doesn’t deliver an easy ride
I HAVE come across a lot of misnomers in my time – the civil service, which is often anything but, is one that immediately springs to mind.
Last updated 7 November 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Death-defying duties for DIY dunces
THERE are few things I hate more than wandering snail-like round the lost world of a certain Swedish furniture emporium in Gateshead.
Last updated 31 October 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Still up a height in spite of aerial traumas
WHAT a narrow escape the good folk of Heddon-on-the-Wall appear to have had last week!
Last updated 24 October 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Halcyon days were spent down on the farm
DON’T farmers get on your wick!
Last updated 17 October 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
The joy of cooking has passed me by
WHEN was it that men started taking an interest in cooking?
Last updated 10 October 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Hunger pains led to desperate measures
WHEN I was at school, I well remember the geography master saying to me one day: “Hextol, you look like a five-a-day man to me.”
Last updated 3 October 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
Let the hedge-cutting battle commence
I WAS in the bank on Monday when the kindly clerk noted my pained expression and the sloth-like nature of my movements.
Last updated 27 September 2011
Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk
- Defra – one day I’ll wake up and discover that it was all just a bad dream
- Stop these nudist adverts
- Headteacher’s tribute to 'charming' Cumbrian crash victim Josh Downham
- Ex-Cumbrian council chairman Tony Brunskill admits more child abuse
- New restaurant and bar bring Carlisle city centre jobs boost
- Ex-Cumbrian council chairman Tony Brunskill admits more child abuse
- Cumbrian rugby star Mark Cueto's embarrassing crash
- Headteacher’s tribute to 'charming' Cumbrian crash victim Josh Downham
- Ex-Hearts soccer player jailed by Carlisle court for trying to con finance firms
- A little bit of Carlisle history vanishes with the bulldozers (5 comments)
- Carlisle council vow to keep High Street alive (18 comments)
- Lib Dems accused of wasting money by forcing Carlisle election (6 comments)
- Alzheimer’s services cuts 'a very sad day for Cumbria'
- Cumbrian bus driver hailed hero after saving life of choking toddler (17 comments)
- MPs in call for a wind of change in turbine policy (1 comment)




