Author: Sharon Holland
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The Marathon
Tomorrow, Sunday 27th April, is the London Marathon 2025. My Dad ran the London twice and I also ran a marathon in Cardiff in 2004. Being a very long distance (26.2 miles), the marathon is firstly, definitely not a sprint. Secondly, the marathon is not a race that you can enter the week before without…
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Good Friday – The Curtain
Last Easter on Good Friday, I shared a short devotion in church. Here’s a summary of what I shared. Today, we are thinking about the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. Mark 15:37-38 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. And the curtain [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two…
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An Inspector Calls at the Wales Millennium Centre
Despite helping students to study An Inspector Calls for GCSE English Literature for about twelve years, reading the play many times and being completely in awe of JB Priestley’s genius in writing it, I had never had the opportunity to see it. When I heard that Stephen Daldry’s production of the play was coming to…
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Mother’s Day Thoughts
Until ten, fifteen years ago, Mother’s Day was for me just a day filled with joy, flowers and chocolates. Today I am intimately aware that for many, Mother’s Day is also a day filled with heartache. On Sunday, my daughter will celebrate her first Mother’s Day as Mum and I will celebrate my first as Granny. It will…
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A Royal Opportunity
I had heard that the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, were to visit our town on 26th February, ahead of St David’s Day. This was possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity to see our future King and Queen! I had heard that they were scheduled to visit the market at 11:30am…
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A Covid Diary
Sunday 9th March 2025. On this Day of Reflection marking the 5th anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, I have decided to make my Covid Diary public for the first time. I have removed names of people and some of the places to protect my family and friends. It’s 12,000 words long, so…
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Can We Walk to the Moon? By Mark Dorey
This is the second of my reviews of children’s books written by local authors for World Book Day 2025. You can read the first here https://talkingyorkie.wales/?p=79 Can We Walk to the Moon? is the first of two beautifully illustrated, colour picture books for young children. Through delicious rhyming verse, the story traces the magical adventure…
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Pontypridd Chicken by Gerhard Kress
Saint David’s Day, 1st March 2025 and just ahead of World Book Day seems an appropriate day to publish my review of this children’s book by local author and friend to many of us, Gerhard Kress. Pontypridd Chicken is the seventh book in The Little Old Man With a Looong White Beard series. Pontypridd Chicken…
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Moonpig
The range and quality of Moonpig cards is unrivalled. Since first discovering Moonpig, whenever I want a personalised card, especially when I want to include a photo upload, Moonpig has always been my go-to. Because I have 3 special family birthdays coming up, I thought I would use Moonpig as I knew I could use…
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Time to Talk Day 2025
Okay, what is Time to Talk Day all about? The first “Time to Talk Day” was held in 2014. It was launched by the campaign “Time to Change”, which aims to reduce stigma surrounding mental health issues. Having experienced mental health stigma myself, I was keen to get fully on board with the campaign. (You…