20th Century
The Dreaming Spires
The 1949 page of our old family photo album is confidently captioned ‘Bournemouth’ but neglects any images of the Hampshire Riviera resort. Not to worry. They say that getting there is half of the fun [more…]
History
Economics
A Murder-Mystery of note?
In 1910, seven men gathered on Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia, USA, to plot the establishment of the Federal Reserve Bank, in order to wrest control of money creation from the US government [more…]
20th Century
From Palestine to the JFK Assassination
Lyndon Johnson’s installation changed the geopolitical topography JFK’s death was followed by his brother within five years; his son 36 years later Killing Kennedy was not the main objective but to install Lyndon Johnson The [more…]
20th Century
Report From Israel, 1957 – Part Three
In 1957 my uncle, John Alldridge visited Israel for the Birmingham Mail. This is the third of his reports. – Jerry F The first you see of it is a row of whitewashed oil drums, [more…]
Arts
Christmas, How Did Yours Go?
I saw a piece to camera from Sonia Poulton before Christmas who felt Hollywood was less than helpful in its portrayal of a Christmas as a sugary confection of unreasonable expectation. True of course because [more…]
20th Century
Postcard From Kiruna
Having been presented with the key to the door, my wilful 21-year-old self used the opportunity to close the lock tightly behind him and allow the trade winds to billow his sails north, all the [more…]
Arts
The Staffordshire Oatcake: a regional delicacy
When someone mentions the word ‘oatcake’, what is it that you first think of? I’d be rather surprised if many of you will not, like I used to do, immediately think of the commercially produced [more…]
20th Century
Grand Scarborough
Scarborough Beach Scarborough Beach is a renowned seaside destination known for its two sweeping sandy bays divided by the iconic Scarborough Castle. The North Bay offers a quieter ambience, while the South Bay is livelier, [more…]
19th Century
Meet The Family
In part one of this odyssey into the past, you’ll recall me being curious and excited in anticipation of the results of a Christmas present DNA test: Who Do I Think I Am? In part [more…]