http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/ Read the news and views of our Liverpool Daily Post columnists. en-gb Liverpool Daily Post.co.uk no Read the news and views of our Liverpool Daily Post columnists. david charters, liverpool daily post http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/11/18/david-charters-new-radiators-are-slim-slick-quiet-and-soulless-64375-22279343/ Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/11/18/david-charters-new-radiators-are-slim-slick-quiet-and-soulless-64375-22279343/ Yes, goose pimples spread on English flesh with the natural ease of winter leaves falling on a rugby field. We talk of the weather, yet we have never been able to cope with its moods. Do your buttocks still warm to the memory of the grand radiators, which were as much part of our beloved England as the steady rhythm of drips in the bus shelter? See and hear them again, those stout concertinas of iron – grumbling and rumbling, puffing and gasping out their heat in the old schools, hospitals, parish halls, barracks, pavilions, offices and factories. Invariably, they were stationed beneath an iced widow, which rattled in its slots, releasing wicked gusts of chilled air. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/10/21/david-charters-oldies-but-goldies-64375-22077035/ Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/10/21/david-charters-oldies-but-goldies-64375-22077035/ WITHERED leaves blew down the treeless street and they scuttled over the bruised paving-slabs, walked by stooped people, holding down an armada of coat flaps so that their shoulders could push more firmly into the unseen force. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/10/14/david-charters-where-were-we-16-million-years-ago-64375-22026389/ Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/10/14/david-charters-where-were-we-16-million-years-ago-64375-22026389/ ‘DO YOU know where we were 16m years ago,” asked our son, sitting at the kitchen table between wobbling hills of homework, as his cornflakes sighed in their bowl under the insistent press of flowing milk. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/10/07/david-charters-i-feel-that-the-crack-on-the-face-should-be-seen-and-the-one-on-the-bottom-hidden-64375-21978406/ Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/10/07/david-charters-i-feel-that-the-crack-on-the-face-should-be-seen-and-the-one-on-the-bottom-hidden-64375-21978406/ FAMILIAR ears sensed that the customary effervescence was absent in the tones of a colleague describing the crack, which opened like a rail tunnel to Lower Scunthorpe, every time her plumber hunkered down to examine the innards of a sullen boiler. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/30/david-charters-perfection-escapes-us-all-64375-21926490/ Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/30/david-charters-perfection-escapes-us-all-64375-21926490/ WHEN I was falling off the ladder, it would be an exaggeration to say that my whole life flashed before me. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/23/david-charters-the-man-who-uses-the-same-teabag-twice-is-unlikely-to-be-a-friend-to-the-orphan-64375-21877919/ Mon, 22 Sep 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/23/david-charters-the-man-who-uses-the-same-teabag-twice-is-unlikely-to-be-a-friend-to-the-orphan-64375-21877919/ THE pompous economist on the wireless was offering his opinion about the financial catastrophe, which threatens to ruin us all. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/16/david-charters-ah-the-old-problem-life-64375-21824112/ Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/16/david-charters-ah-the-old-problem-life-64375-21824112/ "YOUR laughter does not deafen me,” I said, in a peevish tone, as my latest joke seemed to lose its bearings in the humid air humming around my friend and colleague, who was sitting in the desk opposite mine, watching a skin form over the tea cooling in his stained mug. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/09/muddling-through-has-always-been-my-highest-ambition-64375-21705994/ Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/09/muddling-through-has-always-been-my-highest-ambition-64375-21705994/ IT IS true that, amid all the bumps and balm of life, my highest admiration has been reserved for those, who have squeezed their souls to help us laugh along that auld parade of pantaloons, buffoonaries, fizzing dentures, pork-pie hats, sad eyes, skew-whiff wigs, slow smiles and frozen mirrors. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/02/david-charters-yes-the-italians-are-cool-but-we-are-eccentric-64375-21651239/ Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/09/02/david-charters-yes-the-italians-are-cool-but-we-are-eccentric-64375-21651239/ "TRULY, it is not possible,” invoked the French logician in the sharp navy shorts and thick-lensed spectacles, designed for the magnification of every human foible, as he joined the meandering queue to the ferry’s ticket-office – his frustration and indignation borne on severely white legs, carpeted by priest-black hairs, which stopped abruptly one and a half inches above his ankles. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/08/26/david-charters-the-british-leg-is-best-hidden-from-the-gaze-of-strangers-64375-21602086/ Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/08/26/david-charters-the-british-leg-is-best-hidden-from-the-gaze-of-strangers-64375-21602086/ A COUPLE of weeks back, I was strolling through the old town in a pair of long, green trousers, wondering whether offices in the thrilling new Britain should be fitted with food-drips dangling from the ceilings, so that the happy workers need never leave their desks. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/08/19/david-charters-some-said-it-was-the-first-true-british-rock-and-roll-record-64375-21561392/ Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:52:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/08/19/david-charters-some-said-it-was-the-first-true-british-rock-and-roll-record-64375-21561392/ THEY were never what you would call close friends, but the circumstances of life had drawn them together on many occasions – starting on the school playground. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/08/05/david-charters-sadly-steady-work-and-red-wine-make-uneasy-partners-64375-21464365/ Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/08/05/david-charters-sadly-steady-work-and-red-wine-make-uneasy-partners-64375-21464365/ SOME people accept us for what we seem to be. Others want to know what we really are. The second group are the more important and dangerous, for they have a better understanding of human nature. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/07/29/david-charters-summer-holidays-like-christmas-are-to-be-anticipated-rather-than-enjoyed-64375-21420927/ Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/07/29/david-charters-summer-holidays-like-christmas-are-to-be-anticipated-rather-than-enjoyed-64375-21420927/ ‘GOOD Heavens! Teabags on strings, eh. Don’t we live in an exciting and ever-improving world,” I said to my wife, while the kettle burped and bupped to the boil, under the Italian-wood fittings of the kitchen, found behind the conservatory on the south wing of our home. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/07/22/david-charters-smiles-in-a-manner-which-says-caught-you-64375-21380268/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/07/22/david-charters-smiles-in-a-manner-which-says-caught-you-64375-21380268/ THE shapely young woman with lime-green eye shadow, ear-plugs and a very short, floral dress crossed one long leg over the other one on her seat half-way down the carriage of the 8.37 train to work. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/07/15/david-charters-had-my-life-thus-far-lacked-purpose-64375-21340078/ Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/07/15/david-charters-had-my-life-thus-far-lacked-purpose-64375-21340078/ THE grey sky was as sad as an orphan’s limp. But I was sitting in the warmth of our conservatory, sensing an unexpected growth spurt in the nail on the big toe of my left foot. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/07/08/david-charters-an-inner-sense-advises-us-that-something-is-going-to-be-romantic-64375-21300874/ Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/07/08/david-charters-an-inner-sense-advises-us-that-something-is-going-to-be-romantic-64375-21300874/ YOU know, these days, the most under-rated quality in the world is romance. Its slow going is felt by us in so many ways. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/06/24/david-charters-the-world-is-divided-between-the-examiners-and-the-examined-64375-21142870/ Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/06/24/david-charters-the-world-is-divided-between-the-examiners-and-the-examined-64375-21142870/ "WOULD you believe it?" said my wife, who had tucked up her legs on our sofa and was reading the Saturday paper, with her mug of coffee steaming on the side table. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/06/17/david-charters-there-is-so-little-time-between-nursery-rhymes-and-rock-and-roll-64375-21085156/ Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/06/17/david-charters-there-is-so-little-time-between-nursery-rhymes-and-rock-and-roll-64375-21085156/ THE soldier stood tall and he stood proud – his sword glistened and his moustache bristled, his legs stout and his shield defiant. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/06/10/david-charters-and-there-was-perseus-son-of-zeus-in-combat-with-medusa-64375-21047684/ Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/06/10/david-charters-and-there-was-perseus-son-of-zeus-in-combat-with-medusa-64375-21047684/ IT WAS the end of our week’s holiday – a warm, brooding Sunday afternoon. The rain fell greyly from a sad sky, as I sank deeper and deeper into the armchair at the corner of the lounge, slipping into a heavy doze, dominated by thoughts of what had just been and what would be. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/06/03/david-charters-when-going-to-the-cavern-club-one-had-to-make-careful-preparations-to-look-cool-64375-21013223/ Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/david-charters/2008/06/03/david-charters-when-going-to-the-cavern-club-one-had-to-make-careful-preparations-to-look-cool-64375-21013223/ I WAS never a regular “Cave-dweller” myself. That was the name given by the pale compere, with the pout and punning ways, to the boys and girls with dark armpits and cigarette breath, who stepped into the crush of the old fruit cellar.