Engineering
Le Château de Guédelon
Introduction I suppose it is only natural when confronted by an ancient architectural marvel such as a Roman aqueduct or a mediæval cathedral to stare in wonder and to ask oneself, ‘How on earth did [more…]
Articles by Tom Pudding
20th Century
A Passenger’s Tale
How it all began Not long after our new neighbours Ernie and Maisie Allen moved in next door, my wife and I were invited to join them and a group of their friends for drinks [more…]
Hobbies
How to tackle the Going Postal crossword
Introduction When I started work for the local council in 1964, I shared an office with a secretary, the high point of whose life seemed to be the arrival of the monthly NALGO newspaper which [more…]
Engineering
“And what have the Romans ever done for us?”
Introduction It is interesting that in Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ when Reg , the leader of The People’s Front of Judaea, poses that question the very first response he receives from his gang of [more…]
19th Century
The Sharps Model 1874 and Reloading the 45-90 Black Powder Cartridge
Introduction One of my favourite scenes in one of my all-time favourite Westerns is when Josie Wales (played by Clint Eastwood) chased by Union Redlegs casually waits for them to reach mid-river on a hand-hauled [more…]
20th Century
A Massacre of the Innocents
Introduction On Saturday 10 June, 1944, while heading north towards Normandy to help counter the Allied D-Day invasion, German troops of the Der Führer Regiment of the SS Panzer Division Das Reich, committed an unthinkable [more…]
Health
It started with a piss – Part Three
Introduction In Parts 1 and 2 I told the tale of how a routine scan as part of an investigation into a urinary tract infection had revealed a large (63mm) abdominal aortic aneurysm (Triple A) [more…]
19th Century
A Labour of Love
Introduction Hidden away in the heart of France’s Drôme region about 50km south of Lyon is a little known yet magnificently eccentric example of naïve architecture that is well worth a detour or, in my [more…]
Health
It started with a piss – Part Two
First off, aorta explain that the above pun doesn’t really work when the blood vessel that is the subject of these articles is an artery and not a vein but try as I will, I [more…]