20th Century
My Uncle David
My dad was one of eight brothers. The oldest of these, born in 1915, was called David. I can remember him from the 1950s but he was always a bit distant, a bit odd in [more…]
20th Century
20th Century
European Journey 1953, Part Three – Hamburg
You climb into an aeroplane at Amsterdam Schiphol and as soon as you are comfortably airborne, you order an excellent dry sherry and nibble at a picnic lunch which you don’t really need. You try [more…]
19th Century
Postcard From Birmingham, Part Three
Chamberlain Square Having checked out the Council House and Town Hall during our day trip to Birmingham, myself and Mrs AWS nip around the back and into Chamberlain Square, the centrepiece of which is the [more…]
20th Century
Scandal After Midnight
Busy times for Mrs Francis Killen. The adverts had been placed. The VIPs were on their way. The early weeks of 1960 saw her guests begin to converge on Merseyside. If her curly-wired bakelite GPO [more…]
20th Century
Desert Diorama, Part Three
Some model kits come with suitable figures to assemble but recently I have taken to buying figure kits made via rapid prototyping techniques by new manufacturers in China. The sculpting of these and also ICM [more…]
20th Century
European Journey 1953, Part Two – Amsterdam
I have been watching them all morning; those bicycle wheels going round and round and round the Leidseplein. There is something hypnotic about it. Something a little frightening too. Like watching life on a perpetual [more…]
20th Century
More Little Women
The Puffin is a well-travelled and well-connected bird. Last week’s unread article detailed the need for little women in my evening job’s bargain retail outlet to tunnel next door to Discount Toy Canyon and steal [more…]
20th Century
Desert Diorama, Part Two
In parallel with building the baseboard, desert and buildings (see Part 1), I started to collect and assemble the DAK armour, vehicles and figures to populate the diorama. My preference is for kits made by [more…]
19th Century
Moving the Talai
August 14, 2024 The evidence of colonial Britain’s attempt to eliminate the Talai a century ago is only now coming to light, as the last of the survivors seek justice. Above: Kibore Cheruiyot Ng’asura, 102 [more…]