Literature
Embers of The Affair, Part Two
A la recherche du temps perdu (Proust) There was a time There was a time now long away, when I had peace, a quiet mind, my days were slow, my heartbeat too, those days before [more…]
Blog
Drinking
Cruising to the Canaries – Part One
Day One – Saturday As I have made the Baltic level of the P&O Peninsula Club, I have a few perks on this holiday, one of which is an early boarding time. Today I am [more…]
20th Century
Always Worth Saying’s Railway Review
One tires of the streetcars of Paramaribo, the mineral railways of the Amazon, and even of rural Albania in the 1980s. Railway Review’s roving reportage shall change continents and seek excitement (but not too much) [more…]
Fiction
The Past is Present, Chapter Thirteen
Dave and Sally were down for breakfast at 07:30, He was sure the information he had discovered last night was the clue to the case, his plan was to go straight to Jane Goodley with [more…]
20th Century
The History of Pop Music – 1981
Featured song: Squeeze – Labelled With Love 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 stopped making it. [more…]
Arts
Always Worth Saying’s Glasto Review
Glasto 27th-29th June 2025 Present: Charli xcx Bob Vylan Neil Young Venue: Glastonbury What a struggle it was, but on your behalf this humble reviewer — devastated by the absence of Question Time during the [more…]
Arts
Jinnie’s Story, Book Eight – Chapter Eighteen
Jinnie had a sense of déjà vu as she stood in Terminal Three arrivals by the exit from the customs hall waiting for Monica to appear, it was not so long ago that she had [more…]
Going Postal
Bash 2025 Report
The site has changed under the new owner. Perhaps not quite as bucolic but it’s good to see the place busy and hopefully making money because the alternative would likely be another housing estate. Things [more…]
19th Century
Sir Joseph Whitworth and the Confederate Sniper
Introduction In March 2024 I purchased a first generation, Birmingham-made Parker-Hale replica of a Whitworth military pattern muzzle-loading rifle of the late 1850s. These iconic rifles gained legendary status following their use in the American [more…]