Sat in 30C heat, stifling humidity, scorching tropical sun in December and January in Java, Indonesia I suddenly felt a desire to be back in the grip of an English winter.....

Homesick for Winter Give me your winter days Cold wet snowy storms wind and foggy haze Give me your grey clouds Drizzle, pouring rain, drenched for hours Give me tea strong no milk or sugar Dunking biscuits, toast and butter Give me thick coat hat and scarf Afternoons that end at 4 O'clock. Dark Give me the Shipping Forecast as I eat my tea While sat in front of Channel 4, Auntie Beeb and ITV Give me cold crisp morning frosts Complaining how much a loaf of bread costs Give me politeness mixed with sarcastic wit Villages waiting to bloom and a cafe to sit Give me all this & more as I sit in a hot, humid land So far away from dear old England Give me a land of beauty and charm Of hill vale village and farm Give me a beach of pebble and shale Wrapped up against bitter gale Give me town historic and old Where around every corner a tale can be told Give me England Not just any land. My land