History
Postcard From Birmingham
Myself and my wife fussed over our Kitkats and coffees and peeled off the Standard Premium antimacassars to make it look as though were travelling First Class. Little did we realise our day trip to [more…]
Hobbies
20th Century
Desert Diorama, Part One
As well as researching “Desert Mysteries” and the exploits of the “Desert Fox”, amongst my other hobbies is the construction of scale model dioramas. For a diorama, I design and build by hand the baseboard, [more…]
Authoritarianism
A View From (The Tap Just By) The Greenhouse; Show Edition (Can I Still Say That)?
The middle of August and, as I type, we have 30mph winds and rain that could penetrate plate armour. I’m putting it down to “Global Warming”, I’m sure it has little or nothing to do [more…]
20th Century
Report From Kenya 1955, Part Nine
On his way home from reporting on Kenya for the Birmingham Mail in 1955, my uncle John Alldridge filed this report from Uganda – Jerry F Colour problem in reverse Almost 50 years ago another [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred And Forty-Five
Monday Good morning and hello from a not very happy cat this morning. I thought that Legohead was supposed to be going off on his holidays and I was going to have a nice peaceful [more…]
20th Century
Desert Fox: Erwin Rommel’s Photograph Collection
The Vietnam War started in 1955 and ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975 when the Americans left in a hurry. It has been described as the first televised war but a claim to [more…]
20th Century
Report From Kenya, 1955 – Part Eight
In 1955, at the height of the Mau Mau Rebellion, my uncle John Alldridge produced a series of reports from Kenya for the Birmingham Mail and the Manchester Evening News – Jerry F Wally’s lion [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred And Forty-Four
Monday Good morning and what a fabulous one it is, not a cloud in the sky and my it’s warm. I am a bit disappointed with the Olympics so far, as I write this we [more…]
21st Century
Postcard From The Antebellum, Part Two
On Thursday, 25th July, Mrs AWS and myself struck out for Birmingham New Street. One of our Standard Premium day trips, it’s memorable – even without hindsight – by a heightened presence of the transport [more…]