20th Century
This Is My England, Part Eight
Look at Tolpuddle now, with its neat thatched cottages, its tall chestnuts in splendid flower, all in all as pretty an English village as ever found its way on to a Christmas card, and you [more…]
20th Century
20th Century
Better Views?
Monte Carlo Casino After spending much of one’s life in Carlisle, it might be difficult to be sniffy about Monte Carlo but as time goes on, it does become easier. On this page from the [more…]
20th Century
The Sore Seated Safari, Part Two
We left our travellers on the evening of September 25th, 1929, as they settled down for a night’s sleep in the village of Bereku, Tanganyika, about 37 miles north of Kondoa Irangi. Today it boasts [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – April 1943
The Axis forces will surrender in May so April sees the Allies squeezing the Axis into a smaller and smaller area. On the 1st the US 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions attacked Italian positions at [more…]
19th Century
African Regime Gone Bad, Part One
The first of 12 articles, building a clearer picture of what happened and what was not reported. It has heavy relevance in this part of the world and is being watched like a hawk. Needless [more…]
20th Century
This Is My England, Part Seven
There is one date in history that no Englishman can escape remembering — Battle of Hastings, 1066. So being quite close to the place we thought we would go and see how that famous battlefield [more…]
20th Century
Postcard From Monaco
After spending much of one’s life in Carlisle, being unenthusiastic about Monaco might be a challenge. Or might it? First, a disambiguation. Monaco is the name of a principality of less than 500 acres which [more…]
20th Century
More Buried Treasure
Amongst a century of detritus at the BBC there lies some buried treasure. Between layers of fake news, preachy left-wing documentaries and un-funny comedy, the BBC’s iPlayer hides a gleaming gem of an old archaeology [more…]
20th Century
The Sore Seated Safari
In the cupboard to the left of my desk, sits a large cardboard box filled with old family photo albums. These arrived in my parent’s house in the early 1980s, after the death of my [more…]