Index of Gransnet guest blog posts

February 2017

Sam Hepburn - That's right - I'm anti-'foodie'. Do you 'get' this new foodie generation?

Sophie McKenzie - Around the world with hand luggage only. Could you manage it?

Chris Paling - Think you know your library? The things you see when you work in a library...

Georgia Hunter - Doing the right thing, then and now. Heroic acts during WWII.

 

January 2017

Alice Keale - The power of coercive control. Domestic abuse doesn't always mean physical violence.

 

December 2016

William Pullen - Empathy walks and why they're important. Would you try one?

Pip Jones - How to handle an invisible friend? Does your grandchild have an imaginary pal?

Patricia Scanlan - Christmas spirit or Christmas pressure? It's exhausting, keeping the Christmas spirit alive...

 

November 2016

John Williams - Dear Dad. The author's heart-warming letter to his late father about his autistic son.

Ann Richardson - In-laws - love them or loathe them? The most difficult relationships of all...

Meik Wiking - What's love got to do with it? What is hygge, and how can it improve your life?

Barbara Fox - The wrong kind of refugee? What's the difference between a WWII evacuee and a Syrian one?

Sarah Beeson MBE - We need to protect our NHS. Why this veteran health visitor is concerned.

 

October 2016

Derek Niemann - The battle to save Britain's ancient woodlands. A fascinating journey of discovery.

Caroline Taggart - Is our language going to the dogs? Or is it simply evolving?

James Rhodes - Do your grandchildren need music? The transformative power of music.

Hope Humphreys - Should illegal drugs be decriminalised and regulated? Should UK drug laws be changed?

Fionnuala Kearney - The highs and lows of my fifties. What has your favourite decade been so far?

 

September 2016

Christine Human - Living with Rosie. At what age would you say no to new pets?

Marian Carter - Children and grief. How do you approach the issue of grief with young children?

Steven Boykey Sidley - Writing music, music writing. Can you describe how music makes you feel?

Elisabeth Luard - Foraging with my grandchildren. A special and necessary pastime.

 

August 2016

Ann Turner - How well do you know your partner? Secrets don't have to be big to cut deeply...

Barbara Hudson - Would you try internet dating? Or maybe you have already?

Steve Croft - Grandkids, obesity and biscuits. Who's to blame for childhood obesity?

Jean Swales - Grandmothers and their granddaughters. What influence have you had?

Theresa Cheung - Is there an afterlife? Life after death - or near death experiences...

 

July 2016

Lesley Pearse - Unexpected friendships. Would you up sticks for a new friendship?

Andy Jones - They don't make romance like they used to. Is this the death of modern romance?

Kate Moore - A bereavement without a death. How can you know your grandparents if they don't know themselves?

Susan Beale - My birth certificate is a lie. The practice that still stigmatises adoption.

Anonymous - A letter to Holly. One grandmother's way of reaching out to her estranged granddaughter.

 

June 2016

Jane Costello - When should children be given mobile phones? Is there ever a right time?

Jean Burnett - Would you take an adult gap year? It's never too late...

Jane Corry - How our granddaughter brought us all together. How one event reunited a fractured family.

Brigid Keenan - Did you give up your career for love? The author on writing, marriage and identity.

 

May 2016

Elaine Everest - The wonder of Woolies. Did you have a Saturday job?

Polly Morland - Why it's never too late to change. Is there an age at which change becomes too tiring?

Vanesa Ronan - Why home schooling is better than school. Would you be happy to see your grandchildren home schooled?

Kate Medina - Surviving the army as a woman. Sexism - still rife in the male dominated army?

 

April 2016

Isobel Clarke - I fell for a romance scam. The perils of online dating were never so real...

Tony Watts - Forget downsizing... What we need is 'rightsizing'. A different approach to the housing shortage.

Penrose Halson - The decline of the marriage bureau. Has dating lost the personal touch?

Joan Pollock - Saving Spiti. When adventure becomes a lifetime of dedication.

 

March 2016

Sinead Moriarty - Stuck in Spain. How a time of terrible grief became unexpectedly precious.

Karen Lee - To the outside world. Rebuilding a life after years of psychological abuse.

Ruth Whippman - Are our 60s and 70s are happiest years? Is is just a case of waiting to get there?

Leila Glen - My 7 months in a 3G house. How to cope with three generations under one roof.

Rachel Hore - When is it time to let go? The author on how and when to take a step back.

 

February 2016

Paul Heiney - From grief to empowerment. In an ocean of grief, can one choose to sink or swim?

Katie Fforde - Is ours a better generation of mothers-in-law? Katie's convinced of it...

Paul Brinkley-Rogers - Remembering first loves. Do you remember yours? 

Christopher Matthew - Youthful pleasures? Dream on... The trials of late-flowering love.

Jane Robinson - The stigma of illegitimacy in the sixties. Jane on what it meant for 'wayward women' and their babies back in the 60s.

 

January 2016

Jane Tulloch - Nobody to call me Madam? Jane wonders what's killing the traditional department store.

Kate Bendix - Is supermarket dog food harming our pets? Kate Bendix is arguing for DIY dog chow.

Simon Barnes - Where's your natural haven? The wildlife writer reveals his most sacred spot.

Jenifer Grumbley - Is it really hard to eat healthily? Is eating well really as simple as we think?

 

December 2015

egraham1960 - Christmases past and present. How have your Christmases changed over the years?

Susie Groom - War baby. On growing up in the shadow of war, and the effect it has on family.

egraham1960 - Are today's weddings a waste of money? Is the extravagance worth it?

 

November 2015

Alice Jolly - It's never too late to grieve. On a parent's right to grief, at whatever age.

John Sutherland - My ungrammatical nan. Grandparents, education - and being in the right place at the right time.

John Macnicol - Raising the pension age: is it really worth it? Who stands to lose the most?

Diana Melly - Before feminism. What were the consequences of a lack of feminism in earlier years?

Kate Lord Brown - Grandparents in literature. Should there be more older characters in books?

 

October 2015

Tom Fickling - Are comic books proper reading material?

Melissa Hill - All you need is love. What wouldn't a parent give up for their child?

Natasha Farrant - Do you have to be a good mother to be a good grandmother?

Jane Turley - The problem with plumbers... Ever felt short changed by a tradesman?

Bel Mooney - Why do people make so much fuss? The veteran journalist wonders...

 

September 2015

Margaret - Bereavement: who supports the grandparents?

Jenny Molloy - How the care system changed my life. The lasting effects of being rescued.

Jessica Lahey - To be a great sports parent... Just act like a grandparent.

Jenny Downham - The value of right now. Finding joy in the darkest of times.

 

August 2015

Rachel Elliott - The loss of a grandparent. Is it taken seriously enough?

Kate Long - Permission to be me-shaped, please. The ultimate response to rude weight comments.

Fanny Blake - The 10,000 step tyranny. Are you getting your 10k a day?

Saskia Sarginson - Where does identity come from? The author on finding her true self.

Yasmeen Ismail - Why do girls want to be princesses? Challenging gender stereotypes.

Jessica Madge - A fresh look at heartburn. One woman's determination to find a natural remedy.

Meike Ziervogel - Inside the mind of a female extremist. What drives someone to such extremes?

 

July 2015

Lisa Ballantyne - Daddy's girl. What are the real consequences of an absent father?

Elizabeth Mountford - Volunteering. Elizabeth on the merits of professional volunteers.

Cathy Rentzenbrink - Fates worse than death. When is it time to let someone go?

 

June 2015

Milly Johnson - Cruising convert. Cruising isn't just for the rich and old, you know...

Helen Walmsley-Johnson - Angry Birds and online forms. The form that's fencing Helen in.

Zia Chaudhry - Culture clash? Not so much. Are we presenting 'culture clash' in the right way?

Gill Hornby - Confessions of a hoarder. When to plan a clear out after the last child flies the nest?

Anna James - Signs of the times. Why we need to update the old 'elderly crossing' road signs.

 

May 2015

Elizabeth Archibald - On secrets. Turns out, we're still searching for life's secrets...

Nancy Costello - Nancy's story. On growing up in Ireland's laundries.

Iona Grey - The things we should've asked. Keepsakes, memories and keeping them safe.

Denise Robertson - Helping the boomerang kids. Young people and the property ladder.

Lori Lansens - Survival tales. Lori's family secrets for surviving to old age.

Lesley Pearse - Down memory lane. Memories of yesteryear, starting with the 1953...

Christine Pye - The bequest. Christine's mother and her very last act of charity.

Jonathan Mayo - Hitler's Last Day. Jonathan on the little details that make great stories.

 

April 2015

Debbie Rix - Are we missing out on gap years? If the kids are all doing it...why shouldn't we?!

Jaki Bent - Grandma in tech. How one grandmother found herself the founder of a tech start up.

Sharon Maas - Growing old gracefully - and quietly. Sharon on the joy of growing older.

Inger Wallis - Inger's story. Inger shares the story of how her sudden stroke has affected her life.

Hattie Holden Edmonds - If angels are real, what else have we got wrong? Hattie wonders what we're missing.

 

March 2015

Erwin Mortier - A stolen future. Coping with a shock Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Derek Niemann - A Nazi legacy. Derek on the shock of discovering his grandfather's SS ties.

Patricia Scanlan - Should you call time on a toxic friendship? Patricia on those fair weather friends.

Helen Creighton - The case for a new Pensions Commission. Shouldn't pensions get a rethink?

Virginia Ironside - Grandparents: the butt of all jokes. How a grandparent's GSOH is their finest asset.

Sinead Moriarty - Should siblings share a bedroom? How sharing with her sister formed a stronger bond.

 

February 2015

Dawn May - Gran interrupted: one year on. Dawn highlights the uncertainties of living with Parkinson's.

Villem Saks - Dog poo wars. Villem wonders whether fouling is really the problem we think it is?

Rita Young - My battle with a frozen pension. Rita describes being cut off financially after emigrating.

Middleagespread - A year of resolutions. One gransnetter on conquering her New Year's resolution.

 

January 2015

Ingrid Harris - Seasoned to perfection. Ingrid on her adventures in the French mountains.

Sophia Tobin - The Angel in the House. Feminine ideals in Victorian England.

Lynne Franks - The love revolution. Grandmothers unite against sexual violence towards woman.

John Sutherland - 15 things to be grumpy about. The journalist and author shares his pet peeves.

 

December 2014

Jo Bloom - Growing into my skin. Jo describes the painful process of feeling comfortable in her own skin.

Celeste Ng - A lesson in authenticity. Celeste goes into the kitchen and back to her Chinese roots.

Ann Richardson - The memories of parenting. The same struggles, with added years of wisdom.

Liz Bowyer - Taking care of Dad. Liz describes the decision to help her father move into a care home.

 

November 2014

Betsy Tobin - The chemistry of creativity. The science behind those creative juices.

Susan Alderson - Help donate a better future. How sponsoring a child opened up Kate's world.

Kate Bendix - In praise of the older rescue dog. Why Kate thoroughly recommends a middle aged mutt.

Sarah Wellard - Where does your food come from? The dangers of intensive farming.

Trevor Lyttleton - Tea and time.  How just a little of both could make a big difference to an older person.

Christopher Matthew - The peasures of being a dog owner. Christopher describes a life enriched by dogs.

 

October 2014

Simon Barnes - Creepy crawlies or small wonders? The upsides to our eight-legged friends <gulp>.

Deborah Gale - Ageing - it means living. Why it's time for society to change its attitude. 

NIcci Gerrard - The Invisible Elderly. How our perceptions of people are affected by their age.

Hilary Boyd - Like riding a bike. Finding a new lease of life through cycling.

Nick Duffell - Wounded leaders start very young. Should young children go to boarding school?

Andrew Motion - Pioneering poetry. The former poet laureate on the joy of learning by heart.

 

September 2014

Kate Mayfield. A deathly fascination. The death rites and rituals of world cultures.

Hattie Holden Edmonds - Do you believe in angels? How little coincidences could be little miracles.

Claire Clark - The complete cake maker. How to add a glamorous touch to any sweet creation.

Glenys Newton - Empty nest. The mixed joy and relief of having the house all to yourself again...

Janie Emaus - The baby boomer bloggers. Janie Emaus on why this generation has so much to say.

Elizabeth Buchan - How far would you go to do what's right? The struggle between principle and protection.

Tore Renberg - How we remember. We don't all remember in words and pictures, as Tore explains.

 

August 2014

Boris Fishman - Dirty apron. What a difference a couple of generations make.

Rosie Staal - Feeling squashed - life in the sandwich generation. The pressures of life at this stage.

Barbara Fox - Life in a vicarage. It's not easy being known as "the vicar's daughter"...

Rhidian Brook - Faith, forgiveness and building bridges. One man's act of forgiveness after WWII.

Ann Davis - Why become a volunteer? Ann gives her top reasons to get involved.

 

July 2014

Mark Haysom - Well, of course, I would remember that! Mark Haysom on the memory that sparked a book.

Margaret Goodwin - Online dating over 50. Dos and don'ts for those looking for digital romance.

Pippa Tompsett - Understanding autism. A 13-year-old's frank look at daily life with autism.

Helen Walmsley-Johnson - Flexible working and older women. How will it benefit over 50s?

Tracey Brown - In the interest of safety... Do health and safety laws keep us that much safer?

Sandi Toksvig - The alternative etiquette. On some surprising ways to be a well-mannered grandparent.

 

June 2014

Helen Walmsley-Johnson - Sexist ageism. The Invisible Woman on this new, noxious mix.

Sarah Boseley - The junk food trap. Obesity and the persuasive marketing techniques of supermarket giants.

Ottilie Kark - Me and my granny. A privileged look into the world of publishing.

Elizabeth Fremantle - Pushy Tudor grandmothers. The strong matriarchs of history.

David Stuart MacLean - Amnesia: remembering before. Helping each other through trauma and recovery.

Elizabeth Nyirafaranga - War and sexual violence. Rebuilding a life after the horror of genocide.

Elizabeth Laird - Great books for grandkids. Where to find the best new writers without relying on the classics.

 

May 2014

Barry Martin - Life lessons from the building site. Barry Martin and the woman who inspired a Disney film.

Dinah Jefferies - Leaving paradise and starting again. The crisis that inspired a novelist.

Sue Howard - The power of reminiscence. How bringing back the past can help dementia sufferers.

Fiona Phillips - The double impact of dementia. Fiona on the disease that claimed her parents.

David Craig - Don't join the "grave brigade". The underhand tactics of so-called "senior wealth advisers".

Richard Hall - Remembering Italy's forgotten campaign. The country's overlooked sacrifices.

Pam Rhodes - Losing my mum. How you never stop missing your mum, whatever age you are.

 

April 2014

Nikki King - Head honcho to proud grandmother. The bliss of her daughter's unexpected twins.

Heather Reyes - For the love of books. The therapeutic act of reading in the face of illness.

Dawn May - Gran interrupted. How a Parkinson's diagnosis inspired Dawn to become an author.

Karen McCombie - How to be an everyday angel. A lesson on the little ways to make someone's day.

Monica Porter - Sex and the sexaganarian. Monica Porter on being sixty and single.

 

March 2014

Maureen Lee - On becoming a writer. The bestselling author talks dramatic aspirations and finally making it.

Galen - Have scooter, will travel... Galen's account of her cruise in Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

Nannyah - Who do you turn to? Nannyah on support for grandparents of disabled children.

Dr Luke March - Ukraine and Russia: the love of Big Brother? Putin, the West, and the continuing crisis.

Susan Bradley - Smoking: the end of an affair. Susan on her battle to give up cigarettes.

Virginia Ironside - Child's play. Virginia asks, are we ever too old to make-believe with grandchildren?

 

February 2014

Jane Ainsworth - Home on the waves. Jane's adventures on the high seas.

Dr Rosemary Leonard - Doctor's Notes. A <ahem> colourful insight into a GP surgery.

Candace Drimmer - Escaping gun culture. What would it take to drive you out of your home?

Lesley Pearse - Why I love libraries. The story of Lesley's love of books and libraries from early childhood.

 

January 2014

Edo Zollo - Beauty in older women. One photographer's challenge of the stereotypes around older women.

Elizabeth Edmunds - Justin Bieber's granny. Can we cushion grandchildren from the blows that life brings?

Keren David - Family matters. Is it right to tell adopted children where they come from?

J Courtney Sullivan - Diamonds are forever. The phrase that made the diamond a must-have accessory.

Liz Mountford - 75 going on 40. The pros and cons of being young at heart.

 

December 2013

Philip Hook - How to value a painting. Could that dusty old painting in the attic be a work of art?

Aka - Losing a grandchild. The heartache of that terrible phone call, and the support available. 

Saethryd Brandreth - Christmas party games. The lost art of having fun?

Joel Ricketts - Having the grandchildren to stay. A (very) 21st century guide.

Rachel Edwards Barrott - Grandparents and divorce. On the rise among over-50s.

 

November 2013

Jonathan Mayo - Chicken dinners and fresh paint. A look at the little details of history.

Andrew Davidson - Lest we forget. Andrew's unique insight into the bond between soldiers during WWI.

Villem Saks - How to survive village life. A look into the pitfalls of settling into a small village. 

Jonathan Ferrier - Dyslexia - and making a difference. How a simple assessment can change someone's life.

 

October 2013

Christine Stromberg - Don't tell me what I want. Is advertising undermining our uniqueness?

James Dawson - Teaching grandchildren the facts of life. How to help with those conversations.

Kathy Morris - Female hair loss. Kathy's search for a solution. 

Phyllis Chesler - Once I lived in a harem. Phyllis' journey through marriage in Afghanistan.

 

September 2013

Sue Hepworth - My husband and Asperger's. Sue's discovery after years of marriage.

Melissa Benn - Ten things we should tell our granddaughters. For wisdom, freedom and a good life.

Tom Cheshire - The explorer gene. Can you inherit a passion for exploration?

Frances Johnstone - Being a long-distance granny. What's the best way of coping?

Sophie Hardach - Conscientious objectors. Are we ready to listen?

 

August 2013

Lynn Ruth Miller - A new comedy career (at 70). And ten years on she's a huge hit on the circuit.

Laetitia Rutherford - Writing memoir. Is revealing all about your nearest and dearest a good thing?

Hilary Linstead and Elisabeth Davies - Travelling with a grandchild. Taking a trip with a teenager.

Emma Smith - What price happiness? How Emma gave up her job and was happier for it.

Betty Riegel - Up in the air. Memories of life with "The World's Most Experienced Airline".

Nicola Venning - Happy campers. Three generations under canvas.

 

July 2013

Duncan Goodhew - Why I love swimming. The former Olympic gold medallist on his favourite sport.

Sven and Marisa Poppelmann - What's wrong with school? Is home education the way forward?

Jo Wheatley - The gran who won the Great British Bakeoff. From sofa to celebrity chef.

Caitlin Davies - Teenage babysitters. Would you hire one?

 

June 2013

Eileen Sutherland - It's never too late (to learn to surf)

Kathleen MacMahon - What brings me joy. Unexpected delights in everyday life.

Richard Scott - The power of singing. How singing can lift your spirits and change your life.

Harry Pearson - Cricket - a game for old bats? How women ruled the Yorkshire terraces.

Michael Blastland/David Spiegelhalter - What's the risk to your grandchild? On stats and scaremongers.

Marcus Berkmann - On middle age. And a lot of seething in silence!

Colin King - Picture perfect. Illustrating books for children.

 

May 2013

Gwyn Bailey - We paid our taxes. Why pensioners should not have their benefits taken away.

Jessica Madge - Magic? Or Science? Merging magic with science and our fascination with the supernatural.

Regina Silvers - The Granny Peace Brigade. Art work inspired by a group of older activists.

Loraine Fergusson - With love from Graz. Uncovering her parents' love story from their WW2 letters.

Jolyon Connell - The Great Gatsby. How good a novel is this slim and largely plotless book?

Caroline Flint - Call the midwife! Delivering nine of her 12 grandchildren.

Sally Curtis - Going it alone. Coping with the first year of widowhood.

Rosie Goodwin - How to write a novel. Top tips from the bestselling author.

Kate Figes - On infidelity. Why do people have affairs? And can you ever get over being cheated on?

Julie Summers - Hitler, marigolds and the golden thread. The WI during WW2.

 

April 2013

Victoria Williams - Why I love the 5:2 diet. Intermittent fasting and losing weight.

Anna Wallas - All you need is a good man. Did the feminists really have it all wrong?

Deborah Moggach - Looking for love. Playing the dating game at 50+

Sabine Durrant - Changing faces in the park. People, places and the passage of time.

Diana Green - Marathon running.... at 78. Read and be in awe!

Renata Calverley - The kindness of strangers. An extraordinary childhood on the run from the Nazis.

Polly Coles - Venice in peril. What it's like to live in a city swamped by tourists.

Shane Spall - The river of entrapment. Nautical life...in continuous rain.

 

March 2013

Daisy, Denise and Kate (Walker Books) - Tips for writing children's stories. And getting them published!

Enid Richemont - Telling tales. Is technology changing the way we read?

Jude Irwin - When my parents developed dementia. And the NHS can't help.

Rupert Christiansen - Learning to love my late father. On love, loss and betrayal.

Mollie Moran - The real Downton Abbey. What life was like below stairs in the 30s.

Sarah Wellard - Grandparents mind the childcare gap; what's going to give: pensions or childcare?

Graham Walker - Losing my sight. Rebuilding confidence after going blind.

Ursula Buchan - Digging for victory. Gardening during WW2.

 

February 2013

Dea Birkett - Why museums matter... and they're about far more than ancient relics.

William Nicholson - Screenwriting versus novel writing. Team work v solitude - which wins? 

Jessica Fox - Love letters. Falling in love...with a place.

Denise Johnstone-Burt & Louise Jackson - Choosing a shortlist for the Gransnet (and Mumsnet) Book of Bedtime Stories.

Lesley Pearse - Being a writer, a mum and a gran. Combining career with family.

 

January 2013

Jane Maas - Why women aren't getting to the top. Is it really because they don't actually want to?

Gaby Hinsliff - Grandparents and childcare. How much is too much?

Judith O'Reilly - A whole year of doing good. On trying to do a good deed every single day.

Virginia Ironside - On grandparents. And why they're so important.

Beth Britton - Dad, dementia and me. On her father's illness - and how children can really make a difference.

Emma Milne - How to get a girly girl in the garden. Encouraging grand/children's love of nature.

 

December 2012

Gwenda Gofton - A cover girl at 77, From a 1950s US road trip to the cover of a brand-new book.

Hilary Boyd - Gran lit. At last! A new publishing phenomenon: move over chicks - the grans are coming.

Ysenda Maxtone Graham - What kind of insomniac are you? Something new to consider in the small hours.

 

November 2012

Nickie O'Hara - Five generations. On having children young - and multi generational families.

Sir Michael Parkinson - My mother and dementia. How small things can make a big difference to sufferers.

Derek Niemann - Beatles and blackbirds. How a lifetime love of wildlife was born.

La Bloggeuse - Pensioners are the future. Not a drain on society - as some would have it - but an asset.

Maxine Linnell - Now and then. Book research takes author back to the nightclubs of her youth.

 

October 2012

Angela Clutton - My autumn parkin. Why there are so many delicious varieties of this treacly treat.

Joan Lockwood - Recycling - and growing your own. Making use of anything and everything in the garden.

Joyce Hopewell - To the manor born. How she came to be born in a castle.

Jean Burnett - How I became an overnight success - after several decades! On finally getting published.

 

September 2012

Katherine Fry & Rowena Kirton - Whatever happened to grammar and spelling? On declining standards.

Geraldine Bedell - Why isn't everyone online? The real reasons that people steer clear of the internet.

Harrikat - Ripping off the elderly. High pressure sales scams on vulnerable people.

Christine Rola - Bread making in a windmill. A new experience - with very tasty results.

 

August 2012

Tristan Rothwell - Getting a tattoo. How to go about it. And are you ever too old?

Angela Neustatter - Why home matters. Working mums - and why home is more than bricks and mortar.

Penny Dale - How I'm learning from my grandson. Inspiration for her best-selling books from a digger-mad boy.

Tricia Senior - Travels with my toilet seat. How public 'conveniences' can be anything but. 

Janey Fraser - Childcare for beginners. Tales from a serial au pair employer.

 

July 2012

Jenny Bowman - Finding my family history. Tracing her family tree and finding relatives near and far.

Liz Beresford - When granny went vegetarian. Explaining vegan/vegetarian choices to the grandchildren.

Nicola Venning - Too old for festivals? Never! Why Glastonbury doesn't have to be the province of the young.

Sarah Reed - Our dementia journey. How dementia changed her relationship with her mother - and her life.

 

June 2012

Steph Savill - Car insurance - and women drivers. How premiums are set to rise after an EU gender ruling.

Jane Pearce - Dawn French, Dustin Hoffman and me. A career as a film extra when you're hitting 80.

Janice Bhend - Long distance grandparenting. How to cope when your family moves thousands of miles away.

Beryl Kingston - Keep politicians out of education. Do parents know best when it comes to children/learning?

 

May 2012

Clare Burkhill-Howarth - A love of books. Sharing the joy of reading across the generations.

Fanny Blake - Time traveller's strife. How the days seem to pass ten times faster as one gets older.

Birdsong - What I want to be when I grow up. Ambitions as a youngster - and as a gran.

Ariadne - Lending a hand in South Africa. Helping out with irrigation projects in KwaZulu-Natal.

Jessica Mann - Not so good old days. Did women really have it better in the 1950s?

 

April 2012

Chris Moon-Willems - Caring for Mum and Dad. Poignant experiences of looking after elderly parents.

Janey Fraser - Granny goes to playgroup. Looking after grandchildren can mean heading back to pre-school.

Kerri Sackville - The truth about long-term love. The joys and perils of knowing your partner inside out.

Dorothy Tappenden - Living with learning disabiility. Family life with her son Robert.

 

March 2012

The Women's Room - What not to wear. Fashion trends to be avoided by those who are older and wiser.

Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall - Grandparents in Ethiopia. What it's like to be a gran in Addis Ababa.

Sheena Byrom - Remember grans, mum's the word. Knowing when to keep advice to yourself.

Anne Mackle - Empty nest? Enjoy! Making the most of new-found freedom.

Anonymous - Give God a laugh, tell him your plans. Living with dementia.

Janet Ellis - When children leave home. Staying in touch after the nest is empty.