20th Century
A History of Pop Music – Albums 1966
Featured Album: The Mama’s & The Papa’s If you can believe your eyes and ears This is a series of articles looking at albums from 1960 to whatever year we end up in. I [more…]
History
20th Century
Wendyball – flair or organisation
Back in the good old days, say the 60s and 70s, the top team in world football was arguably Brasil. You were only allowed to play for the national team if you plied your trade [more…]
19th Century
Wealthy Wendyball Wayfaring
As the World Gentleman’s Wendyball Invitation Shield dominates yet another weekend, shall we use our weekly plutocrats’ tour of the North to spy upon the round ball game? I think we might as well. For [more…]
Book Review
Book review: Proto: how one ancient language went global, by Laura Spinney
Who are we, and where did we come from? Might our ancestral languages hold the key? More years ago than I care to remember, as a teenager I came upon an old book published in [more…]
19th Century
The Realer World of Little Trains
Burnham, Starmer, by-elections, defence reviews, World Cups, wars and the cost of living? Meh. Never mind all of that, what’s happening in the realer world of little trains? I have an embarrassing gap on my [more…]
20th Century
A History of Pop Music – Albums 1965
Featured Album: Righteous Brothers – Just Once in My Life This is a series of articles looking at albums from 1960 to whatever year we end up in. I will select a featured album for [more…]
America
The Iran War, “Rope-a-Dope”, and the 1415 Battle of Agincourt
The military consequences of the Iran War have precedence in the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, in which an inferior number of English archers defeated a much superior number of French armored knights. Its implications reverberated [more…]
19th Century
An Easier (Circular) Route to Plutocracy
Known for muck and brass, the grim north of England was formerly a hotbed of the Industrial Revolution, rich in sweat, resources, enterprise and plutocrats. Nowadays synonymous with grim decline, my wife and I have [more…]
19th Century
William Hedley: The Man Who Made the Wheels Stick
Before George Stephenson’s name ended up on everything, a colliery manager from Newburn settled the one argument that decided whether railways would ever work. He won it with a hand-cranked cart, two iron engines, and [more…]