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John Barber, Author

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A Message of Hope

16th April 2020 | 7th July 2020
John Barber

If you wish you can scroll down to the end of this page to understand what this is all about.

In common with another 1.5m people I have been instructed to stay at home for 12 weeks as I have an underlying health problem.

Like other people I have resorted to hobbies to pass the time. One has been to re-write my web pages. This page like all of my website is coded on WordPress with the new Gutenberg block editor. This has been a steep learning curve so apologies if some pages still look odd.

One project has been to place my 13 scrapbooks of newspaper clippings on line. This is in itself a challenge as after 40+ years the type is fading fast and difficult to read. Even the best OCR programmes translate the words into a language last seen on the walls of the pyramids.

I keep in touch with family and friends by phone. The last conversation I had with a friend of over 60 years ended with a resolution to mark the end of the lock down with a drink.

My wife is mildly active on social media and messages always conclude with the same wish: ‘when this is all over, we’ll meet for a coffee again’. Words repeated every time I manage to speak to a near neighbour over the width of several low brick walls.

How strange that this reminds me of a letter written by folk singer Tom Paxton on the rear of the album cover to ‘Ain’t That News’ in 1965.

Tom Paxton – Ain’t That News

It was a message to his own friend of long standing – John Cherry, a coloured American, although not actually stated. It was about another deadly virus then sweeping America – namely racism and the efforts of the civil rights movement to overturn it. The freedom he mentions is not the lifting of the lock down but something more basic.

His words need no more explanation from me to see how they resonate in today’s difficult times.

They’ve been fighting for years and they’ve won some very important battles. We owe them a great deal, more than we can repay …. it looks like now we are going to be free. And even though there’s much more to freedom than a cup of coffee; still, that’s one cup of coffee that is going to taste just fine.

All my previous posts archived here:

  • November 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • July 2020 (2)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (2)
  • April 2020 (2)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (3)
  • January 2020 (2)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (3)
  • September 2019 (2)
  • August 2019 (2)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • April 2019 (1)
  • March 2019 (3)
  • February 2019 (2)
  • January 2019 (3)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (3)
  • February 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • November 2016 (10)

Hertford blog posts

  • Hertford Lockdown Blues 3rd November 2020
  • Regeneration – sort of! 21st October 2020
  • A Time to Remember 12th October 2020
  • Premier Inn Checks Out 27th September 2020
  • Pub – not as we know it 28th July 2020
  • The Village Inn 28th July 2020
  • Hertford Saved! – Doomed! 26th June 2020
  • Fore Street – Solved!! 27th May 2020
  • Seed Warehouse 18th May 2020
  • A Message of Hope 16th April 2020
  • Hertford East Station 8th April 2020
  • Isolation for Folly Island 21st March 2020
  • Bircherley Green 2020 28th February 2020
  • The Great Wen 21st February 2020
  • Everything must go! 5th February 2020
  • Hertford Retail Check 29th January 2020
  • 2020 – a New Year 2nd January 2020
  • A Christmas Carol 12th December 2019
  • Yarn Bomber’s Tree 22nd November 2019
  • Good, Bad and Ugly 31st October 2019
Previous post Hertford East Station
Next post Seed Warehouse

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Hertford Lockdown Blues

Hertford blog3rd November 2020

Regeneration – sort of!

Hertford blog21st October 2020

A Time to Remember

Hertford blog12th October 2020

Premier Inn Checks Out

Hertford blog27th September 2020

Pub – not as we know it

Hertford blog28th July 2020

The Village Inn

Hertford blog28th July 2020

Hertford Saved! – Doomed!

Hertford blog26th June 2020

Fore Street – Solved!!

Hertford blog27th May 2020

Seed Warehouse

Hertford blog18th May 2020

Hertford East Station

Hertford blog8th April 2020
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