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Instalment 18: Don Carlo hails from Curacao. Axel can’t tear his eyes away from him when he looks with his neighbour
for fern imprints on the stone dump near the Silver Stream.

I’ve been to watch the Tour de France with my sister, in London, because I’ve been living there for the past six weeks. The Tour’s finish line was within walking distance.

Intalment 17: On the promenade, out of sight of Monsieur Jacques, a bronze man lost
among shopping women, mummy retrieves her pastel green customer card
from her big red purse.

The first thing we noticed about her was her hat; a black hat with
protruding bits. A witch’s hat. This hat moved up and down behind the
fence which surrounded the dog-walking area. These pets had to be
checked in by drivers who wanted to put their car on the Channel Tunnel
train.

Instalment 16: Slowly the growing darkness encroaches on the world outside. The classroom windows become mirrors…

Recently, I went to a meeting of the Torriano Poets in Kentish Town, London. It was a beautiful summer’s evening. The stifling hot room was packed. I estimated that the average age was 73.

I’m in the middle of moving from Arnhem to London and thinking about getting a dog. You will say, ‘What? You want a dog?!’ Well, here’s the story.

Instalment 15: Every Saturday afternoon Axel’s father pays his weekly visit to his mother & Axel learns something about his granddad.

The European elections are imminent and Austria was represented in Europe by a woman with a beard or, if you prefer, a man in a dress: Conchita Wurst. I find this reassuring. Not only because Conchita Wurst really can sing, but also because this Song Contest entry comes from Austria.

Instalment 14: The class falls silent when Miss Tempelman enters.

Instalment 13: Suddenly Axel feels an upward pressure, and he manages to take to the air with pathetic moves of his arms.

The British cherish being islanders. From a geographical point of view,
their country belongs to Europe, but they are of a different view.
Inhabitants of islands are a bit opinionated. Islanders are a bit
eccentric. This is even more true of people who live on an island close
to a big island.

That day, I had given a reading in Birmingham library, a fortress of culture. From the outside it actually looks like a fortress, but inside they’ve created something on a grand scale: a tower of Babel for books.

Instalment 12: Squinting Joep and Carlo Clever have overpowered Manon Lokhof…

Recently, I had to go to the pharmacy. There is always a bowl of liquorice on the counter. Customers who have to wait are allowed to take a piece of liquorice. Most people do; after all, it’s free. I never take one; I’m in a pharmacy, people who go there are ill.

Instalment 11: On the dot of six, soup is served. The Reverend Uncle Peer has made the journey from Meijel in his beige DAF 33 in just under an hour.

The British Museum is showing an exhibition about the Vikings with the title: The Vikings Are Here! There have been times in the past when this wouldn’t have been such a welcoming message.

Instalment 10: Upstairs, Reverend Uncle Peer, with his iron cast Jesuit views, is ensconced in the smoking chair next to the hearth.

Enjoying poetry from the What’s your Place? competition

Departures by GenneRose Nethercott