Reiver
John Watts’ coffee shop - Carlisle’s Harrods?
Published 1 December 2008
WHAT recession is that, then? While most of the world seems financially troubled, customers at one Carlisle business are clearly above that sort of thing.
Shock! Lindsey goes blonde!
Published 1 December 2008
IN ENGLAND, WAGs – wives and girlfriends of footballers – have acquired a rather unsavoury reputation.
Whose Post Office?
Published 1 December 2008
Post office queues have frustrated the good folk of these islands for as long as post offices have existed.
You’ll find Cumbria’s X-Factor talent in the marts ring
Published 24 November 2008
THE X FACTOR: how appropriate that Simon Cowell’s parade of identikit singers has inspired a contest involving sheep.
We don’t want toilet talk here, you know
Published 24 November 2008
MAYBE it’s just the British who do toilet humour.
Ready to ‘redefine’ sporting majesty
Published 24 November 2008
EVERY atom of Cumbrian darts player Peter Manley shown on TV in high-definition glory? This intriguing thought has surfaced in The Times newspaper, courtesy of columnist Giles Smith.
Have we a spy in the House?
Published 17 November 2008
SUAVE and smooth with a glint in his eye. But that’s enough about Cumbrian MP David Maclean – what about Napoleon Solo of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.?
Why the QE2 won’t be visiting Silloth
Published 17 November 2008
THE QE2’s final voyage last week made headlines after it turned into one of those great British cock-ups which newspapers revel in.
It’s finally happened, I’m an Eddie spotter
Published 17 November 2008
THERE was a time when Reiver might have mocked people who were fascinated by the goings on at Eddie Stobart Ltd.
Will the real Cllr Young stand up?
Published 10 November 2008
Stewart Young is the new leader of Cumbria County Council.
To nomads holidaying in the Lakes’ newest accommodation, bring your own camel please
Published 10 November 2008
Tourists in west Cumbria have just been given the chance to live like the nomadic tribes of central Asia.
Rory’s in Delap of the gods... and headline writers
Published 10 November 2008
Never one to shy away from a good pun, or even a bad one, Reiver has been relishing Cumbrian footballer Rory Delap’s rise to prominence.
Name sets teeth on edge
Published 10 November 2008
A READER has contacted Reiver about a dentist at the new NHS practice on Victoria Place, Carlisle.
From the land of the sinking sun
Published 4 November 2008
IN THE spirit of “If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry”, a reader from the Far East has sent Reiver this Oriental take on the credit crunch...
Strong on the wing
Published 3 November 2008
WHEN a football match finishes 11-0 you might think the main talking point will be the scoreline.
A high point of mining
Published 3 November 2008
HONISTER Slate Mine owner Mark Weir is definitely Cumbria’s highest flying entrepreneur.
Sing... even when you’re not winning
Published 27 October 2008
THERE’S not much to shout about at the moment for fans of Cumbrian football clubs.
Bragg brilliance on a budget
Published 27 October 2008
Reiver has been enjoying the new BBC series Stephen Fry in America. An hour in Fry’s company is always a pleasure and in this programme he visits all 50 US states, in a London black cab, for reasons which I have so far failed to grasp.
Carlisle – as interpreted by the magic of dance
Published 20 October 2008
HOW would you describe Carlisle? Reiver is willing to bet that you wouldn’t call it “a place where women warp and swarm, goats trot on ancient mountain switchbacks, ghosts shimmer quietly and wolves tear away at fences.”
