20th Century
My Legends of Pop Music – Part Sixty – ELO
I suspect many of you will know my top legends of pop music. The fabulous ELO. They have never done a song I did not like, be them singles or albums. I often play their [more…]
Blog
Fiction
Jinnie’s Story – Book Four, Chapter Nine
Jinnie was sorely tempted to tell her close friends at work that she was pregnant but didn’t, instead she stuck with the plan to tell them at Christmas and decided that as her next antenatal [more…]
18th Century
One Small Step for Man… Brindley and the Trent and Mersey Canal
In an earlier piece, I mentioned the Trent and Mersey Canal, with its company headquarters in Stone, hinting that its history and the political shenanigans behind its construction might be worth an article in its [more…]
20th Century
Champagne, a Plan and A Philosopher
On New Year’s Eve 1946, my uncle reviewed his first year at home since the end of the War for the Manchester Evening News. It would seem that at times he was finding it hard [more…]
Economics
OTF (Own Two Feet) Party, Part Seven
Brief history of welfare One way or another we have always had welfare. The family unit looked after each other to the best of their ability. Religious communities made it a point to care for [more…]
Politics
Nightmare In Bordj Badji Mokhtar
Bordj Badji Mokhtar is an Algerian town in the Sahara Desert on the border with Mali, 1368 miles south of Algiers. As of 2008, there were 16.937 inhabitants in Bordj Badji Mokhtar. Since what I [more…]
Business
Working in Kuwait – Part 2
During my year and a half stay in Kuwait in the late 1970s the country had two big objectives. Increase the number of Kuwaiti citizens Reduce dependence on oil The population was about 1.5 million [more…]
Literature
A Shopping Expedition
AT THE SUPERMARKET I went to a prestigious supermarket near my home town in the south of England today and couldn’t find the aisle displaying butter. A smartly dressed man with a Brand label on [more…]
Arts
Is That True Or Did You Hear It On The BBC?
In his latest book, author David Sedgwick quotes the BBC’s own words back it giving the broadcaster nowhere to hide. Cast your minds back a couple of years to the start of the so-called covid-19 [more…]