20th Century
A History of Pop Music – 1958
Featured song: Jerry Lee Lewis – Great Balls Of Fire This is a series of articles looking at pop music from 1955 when in my opinion proper pop music began up to 1999 when they [more…]
Blog
Democracy
Always Worth Saying’s Election Night Review
I’ve done my bit. The girls at work agreed to vote for Reform. I wrote the name of the candidate on their hands in biro so they knew who to find on the ballot paper. [more…]
Conservatives
Election Night With Going Postal
The Exit Poll At 10 pm on election night, the London media will turn its attention to the exit poll. Prefaced by a cheesy build-up, Puffins might be advised to delay tuning in to the [more…]
Politics
Polling Predictions #21
As you read this we stand on the edge of history, Opinion Polls are not allowed to be published on election day so we can expect a flurry of them by the Wednesday. History may [more…]
20th Century
Desert Mysteries Redux – Part One
In the original Desert Mysteries series, I wrote about a 1939 edition of Blackwood’s magazine bought at an antiques fair that led me to research the lives of the men who had read it and [more…]
Elections
A Tale of Three Manifestos
The manifestos came thick and fast throughout June for the General Election being held on July 4th 2024. 100 parties are involved, standing anything from 635 candidates to just one, with only eight parties fielding [more…]
Hobbies
Cruising From Malta, Part One
I won’t bother taking you through all the preliminaries for this cruise except to say this time I choose to fly to Malta to pick up the cruise ship, P&O Azura. It cuts out a [more…]
20th Century
Report From Kenya, 1955 – Part Three
In 1955, at the height of the Mau Mau Rebellion, my uncle John Alldridge produced a series of reports from Kenya for the Birmingham Mail and the Manchester Evening News – Jerry F Fort Hall, [more…]
Conservatives
Expect the Unexpected, Part Two
Throughout the ballot box’s history, unexpected election results have stunned the public, defied polls, and shifted political landscapes. These surprising outcomes often reflect underlying societal changes, voter sentiment, and the unpredictability of electoral politics. As [more…]