20th Century
Newport Dock Disaster
Newport in South Wales sits astride the mouth of the River Usk and so its history has long been connected to maritime commerce, with wharfs recorded lining the banks of the river since the 1500s. [more…]
20th Century
20th Century
Erich Bachem – an engineer years ahead of his time (ii)
Introduction From January 1943, with the commencement of American daylight bombing of German targets complementing the existing night time raids by the British Air Force, Luftwaffe superiority in the skies over Germany and its occupied [more…]
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Part Fourteen
Last time, we followed my father and grandparents in their Ford 8 across the channel and down to the southwest of France via Louviers and Tours, all the way to glamorous Biarritz in the extreme [more…]
20th Century
My Legends of Pop Music–Part Forty Two–Thin Lizzy
My Legends of Pop Music – Part Forty-Two – Thin Lizzy If get this right, there will be many cover versions by future bands. I shall try and link live versions if they exist from [more…]
20th Century
The War Correspondent, Part One
Another chapter from “Special Assignment” by my uncle John Alldridge (published in 1960 and now long out of print) When the first great war correspondent, William Howard Russell, went out to the Crimea for the [more…]
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Part Thirteen
Previously on these pages, Puffins have learned that everything was better in the old days. Malta was better as a Crown colony, railway stations were better with splt-flap Solari rattle boards rather than giant RGB [more…]
20th Century
My Legends of Pop Music – Part Forty-One – Chuck Berry
My Legends of Pop Music – Part Forty-One – Chuck Berry If get this right, there will be many cover versions by future bands. I shall try and link live versions if they exist from [more…]
20th Century
The Woman Reporter, Part Two
Another chapter from “Special Assignment” by my uncle John Alldridge (published in 1960 and now long out of print) One august day in 1947 a young girl with long legs and a mop of unruly [more…]
20th Century
Postcard From Latina
If one, parent’s night, your daughter’s Italian teacher tells you Latina is the ugliest city in Italy and adds in a whisper, “And then there’s Mousillini”, don’t agree with her until you’ve visited. Situated on [more…]