Arts
Fish & Ships
I’d like to begin by introducing you to a rather special lady. She was born in February 1957, the first of twelve sisters. A real local lass, she lived and worked from the Humber all [more…]
History
20th Century
Mystery Album, Part Nineteen
Having visited Helsinki Central Station, nearby shopping streets and the cathedral, our mystery family will have made their way back to the ferry at Satama, pausing to have their photograph taken beside the distinctive dockside [more…]
20th Century
My Legends of Pop Music – Part Twenty-Eight – Chas ‘n’ Dave
If get this right, there will be many cover versions by future bands. I shall try and link live versions if they exist from the tellybox or a film, the sound quality may not be [more…]
19th Century
Crimean War, Part Six
In 1954, as the centenary of the end of the Crimean War approached, my uncle John Alldridge produced a series of articles for the Manchester Evening News which vividly described that campaign. In this article, [more…]
20th Century
Book Review: The Ratline
I don’t read non-fiction books that often, however I’m glad I picked The Ratline up when I was idly browsing suitable reading material for a holiday last year (the holiday got cancelled). For, those (like [more…]
20th Century
A Very British Message to Garcia
Previously, my colleague Fred Brownbill wrote of US Navy SEAL Marine Commander Brian Bourgeois, commanding officer of SEAL Team 8, who was killed in the first week of December 2021 while fast-roping from a helicopter [more…]
20th Century
The Desert War – January 1942
The start of 1942 saw the British starting off on the front foot but ending the month retreating eastwards as the Germans and Italians advanced and as usual there was lots of action on the [more…]
20th Century
Mystery Album, Part Eighteen
From Helsinki Central Station, a five-minute walk takes one past the Ateneum and along Ateneuminkuja and Yliopistonatu to Senate Square, at the north end of which and up some steps sits Helsinki Cathedral. Billed as [more…]
20th Century
My Legends of Pop Music – Part Twenty-Seven – The Four Tops
If get this right, there will be many cover versions by future bands. I shall try and link live versions if they exist from the tellybox or a film, the sound quality may not be [more…]