My Somerset Life
Brian Snellgrove
Latest Entries
Speaking and being listened to
Being Listened To – The Courage to Speak and the Wisdom to Remain Silent One of the things I value most in human relationships is the experience of being genuinely listened to. I do not spend my entire life talking to...
A 258-Mile Journey – Old Friends, Spiritual Connections and a Few Thoughts About Life
Giving the Volvo a Proper Outing Today I gave my trusty old Volvo 2.5 a proper workout, driving across the country via Cirencester and eventually returning home via the M5, making a journey of 258 miles. The Volvo is...
The LIons – a hidden army of community volunteers
From an American idea to a worldwide movement The Lions movement began in Chicago in 1917, when an American businessman named Melvin Jones proposed that business and professional people should use their abilities not...
Russell Brand – Two-Tier Justice, Double Standards and the Question of Personal Responsibility
I really have difficulty understanding the two-tier system in which people who come into our country uninvited, sometimes with standards of behaviour rather different from our own, appear to be treated with deference....
The Crime of Thinking – and a Journey into the Unknown
Today the sun is shining, the sky is blue and a distinctly chilly wind is reminding me that November has arrived. It is one of those days when the world looks inviting through the window but becomes rather less...
Stroke – Every Minute Matters
An illuminating evening with Dr Emily Abab, organised by the Friends of Somer Valley Medical Group. There are occasions when a few minutes can make the difference between life and death, or between a full recovery and...
The Nest – An Island of Sanity in a Complicated World
There are occasions when you meet someone and realise, within a few minutes, that you are operating on much the same wavelength. Differences in age, background and experience become almost irrelevant because you...
When Good Will is not Enough
Most of this was above my head. I am not a political or bureaucratic person but did my best to understand the goings-on. I have anonymised all aspects of this meeting - location and speakers - partly because the...
The Value of Talking Things Through – A Meeting of Minds
I had a private meeting this morning with someone whose identity, together with the substance of our actual conversation, will remain confidential. Suffice it to say that we share certain interests in building...
Working with Nature – The Green Mantle Story
This early afternoon event took place at the Somer Centre here in Midsomer Norton, organised by the University of the Third Age (u3a). norrad.u3asite.uk My original intention in attending was to gather information,...
Letting the Brain Do the Work
I was up until 1.30 this morning, not because I couldn't sleep, but because I experienced one of those sudden bursts of inspiration when ideas arrive in such rapid succession that it seems a pity to interrupt them by...
Remembrance Sunday 2026
This morning I attended a Remembrance Sunday service, an occasion which always gives me cause to reflect not only on the enormous sacrifices made by previous generations, but also on the rather troubled world we have...
Welcome to My Somerset Life
A dairy by Brian Snellgrove
2,146,489 words across 2,052 articles
Inspired by Samuel Pepys’ Diary 1633-1703
