Clubland’s War Heroes
Private members' clubs were far more than dining rooms and drawing rooms during the Second World War. They became recruiting grounds, meeting…
Literature & Arts
Slide Back the Air
In this short reflective memoir, Colin (as Sid) discovers the value of solitude, long walks and quiet observation, revealing how imagination flourishes…
Review
The Third Person
Can dandyism survive the twenty-first century without losing its meaning? This beautifully produced volume by Rose Callahan and Nathaniel Adams examines style…
Village Voices: “Children should be seen and not heard.”
Early Warning Signs, Part 3. Before screens, schedules and constant supervision, childhood meant wandering wherever curiosity led. In this evocative memoir, Colin…
Recommended
Beau Brummell’s Most Famous Retort
Beau Brummell transformed elegance into an art form and wit into a weapon. Friend and rival of the Prince Regent, arbiter of…
A Week of Foreign Weather
In which the author endures seven days of a temperature absolutely unacceptable for Oxfordshire, and tries everything to escape, overcome and survive…
The Tin Roof Symphony
Early Warning Signs, Part 2. A corrugated tin roof, a wooden bench and the sound of rain become the backdrop to one…
Obituaries
Barry Martin (1943-2025)
He spent sixty years making art out of movement — steel rods that crept in and out of their own structures, discs…
Members
Early Warning Signs
How does an eccentric begin? In this opening chapter of his memoir, Colin reflects on childhood, solitary curiosity and the quiet habit…
An Unsentimental Question in the Night
In front, it wasn’t the dunes; in front, was the sea. He ran into the flood. “But I was outside, too,” said…
Expressing Random Thoughts
More Artworks by Colin Shaddick
Developing Characters
More eccentric drawings by Colin Shaddick
Recommended
The mermaid in a dog collar
From a vicar who dressed as a mermaid, preached with nine cats in church and created what became the modern Harvest Festival,…
Reflections Before Lunch
Set within the quiet rooms of an ancestral Irish country house, this contemplative piece explores memory, landscape, inheritance and identity.
Sid’s World
A series of light-hearted, whimsical images about Sid, a character invented by Colin Shaddick.
They Turned Out to Be My Friends
A personal recollection of representing The Eccentric Club in Devon by our member Colin Shaddick, who won one of The Most Eccentric…
The Twitcher
I’ve always loved sketching. Much of my childhood was spent doing just that.
On A Cold Step
A new poem by Colin Shaddick.