The Day Before

I reckon the reason ZANE supporters give so generously is that, when they read the walk solicitation over breakfast, they say, “For goodness’ sake, not again. Surely, they’re too darn decrepit to be doing another walk! I suppose we’d better sponsor them – next year, they’re bound to be dead… Now, where’s the cheque book?”

So, lo and behold, here we are once more – asking you, please, to sponsor us again…

Cicero Says…

In 44 bc, the great Roman orator Cicero wrote an essay called Old Age to reassure his chum Attica that retirement and growing old were nothing to fear. He praised exercise, gardening, lively conversation, friendship and a good diet. Thanks Cicero – we tick all those boxes.

Two thousand years on, those over 70 are in better shape than ever. A recent International Monetary Fund report, analysing data from 41 countries, found that a widespread healthier approach to ageing means that the seventies and eighties are the new fifties and sixties. “We are getting smarter and staying smarter for longer.”

Sir Muir Gray, Professor of Primary Care at Oxford and a longstanding advisor on healthy ageing, is unequivocal: “Seventy need not be old, and ageing should not cause many problems until your nineties.

So here we go – boots checked, sticks cleaned, Macs oiled and water bottles filled – let’s hope he’s right!

Disclaimer

I hope you enjoy this commentary on politics, death, religion, sex and money – the issues that really matter. Please note that the views expressed are entirely my own and do not reflect those of ZANE or anyone who work for the charity. You may not agree with them, but I hope you’ll keep reading.

The Centre Cannot Hold

Dennis Silk, a great warden (headmaster) at Radley College, used to tell parents that if they and the school stood united on matters of discipline, many problems would simply dissolve and the boys would flourish.

But times have changed. Today, many parents haven’t a clue what’s truly best for their children. Some even try to be their “friends” – how daft and damaging is that? 

Reins and Rules

Years ago, Jane and I were involved in the management of Whaddon Chase Pony Club. Such clubs are hugely popular havens of innocent fun, mopping up the energy – and hormones – of mostly country-based, adolescent children. Meanwhile, their parents enjoy peace of mind, knowing their kids are safe, healthy and happily engaged.

For one action-packed week in the summer holidays, the schedule was filled with pony trials, races, events, competitions and parties. Our children loved every minute and the bonds they formed with fellow campers were so strong that many of those friendships have lasted to this day.

Of course, there were sensible rules – the young need that. We maintained tough parental control: no smoking, no drinking, no sex and no drugs – ever. If that last rule was broken, the culprits were summarily expelled. Parents hoped for the best and it all worked fine.

So, what’s this got to do with Dennis Silk’s speech to parents? One parent, Henry Dupree (not his real name) was father to two of the campers. His background was impeccable: Winchester; Magdalen, Oxford; and a former cavalry officer. In those days, he was a prosperous banker. Charming, with a pink-cheeked aura of entitlement, he wore tailored waisted suits and a gold chain. A mine of mildly dirty stories, he was “Plum Bum” to his friends. You know the type.

Of course, a few kids nicked wine from their parents for illicit parties, and some smoked fags behind the stables. Snogging in the hay happened, of course – if not then, for goodness’ sake when? But the point is, the children mostly respected the rules.

But then I saw Plum Bum actually giving his daughters wine and gin to smuggle in, thereby undermining the authority of the responsible adults. He was “ho, ho, ho” about the sex stuff as well. When I politely challenged him, he looked me at me as if I was a pompous ass. I can still hear the drawl:

“Come on, Tom, don’t be stuffy. Times are changing, they’re only young once.” All the clichés followed – something about “wild oats” and so on.

I was furious. He had learned nothing from his privileged background and simply couldn’t grasp that by ignoring the rules, he was inviting chaos.     

Years later, at a dinner, Henry told me quietly, “I have two grandchildren… both illegitimate. I must say, I don’t like it.”

I said nothing – for what was there to say? He was a nice guy but stupid… I suppose he meant well.

Bacchanalian Chaos

Let’s fast-forward to July 2025, when press reports revealed that up to 500 teenagers – many attending expensive schools, some as young as 14 – were discovered having sex on Polzeath Beach, the so-called Riviera of Cornwall.

They ripped up young trees for firewood and tore benches worth thousands from their moorings to burn. At dawn, rangers discovered a scene of devastation. The sand was littered with broken glass, excrement, smashed bottles, vapes, cigarettes and girls’ underwear. Scattered among the debris were unconscious teenagers who had been using marijuana, cocaine and ketamine.

A local resident said, “There are drugs on the beach. There are teenagers often drunk on alcohol supplied by parents. They drop their young children here at night, in the dark, and leave them with hundreds of older teenagers with no adults present. I cannot understand it.”

Why do the likes of Plum Bum and the parents of the children on Polzeath Beach allow such degenerate chaos? Are they stupid, negligent or just hopelessly naive? Do they simply fail to understand what a duty of care to their children entails? Or worse, do they even know what a duty of care is?

But it’s not just moronic “posh” parents – children are being abandoned across the adult world. The police have all but given up enforcing laws against illegal drugs, thereby effectively decriminalising them – and in doing so, they are enabling more children to use them, causing enormous damage to their bodies and brains. And children are being prematurely sexualised – instead of being protected by adults in a position of authority and trust, they are losing their precious innocence – exposed to debauchery, and in some cases, gross abuse.

Plum Bum might protest that what happened in Cornwall was extreme. But as soon as he and his kind encouraged children to break the rules and defy authority, the seedy Bacchanalian events on Polzeath Beach became an inevitable outcome.

A culture endures through its children. Parents instil in them the values of the society they inherit so that they, in turn, can pass those values on to future generations. Without this, things fall apart – and the centre cannot hold.

Plum Bum may be dead now, but his legacy marches on.