Hobbies
A trip to Albania, land of the Eagles – Part One
In hindsight, it was a major life change. Hard to believe that it is now almost 30 years ago – the summer of 1994. Leaving a management job with a FTSE 100 British company – [more…]
Travel
20th Century
American Journey 1952, Part Two – Providence
Over the main entrance of Providence City Hall is a bust of one Roger Williams, the founder of this city. You can see another representation of him in Roger Williams Park, where yesterday the youth [more…]
20th Century
Postcard From Peter Hitchens, Part Five
I’ve been following Daily Mail columnist and author Peter Hitchens – literally. The surprise being we only recently fell into correspondence. Both of us are keen on railways and church, enjoyed minor public school and [more…]
Hobbies
Return to Brigg
A few weeks back I did a piece on the spectacular Alishan mountain line in Taiwan. One day, I might do something on the Gono line around the wild, craggy northwest coast of Honshu. Or [more…]
20th Century
Desert Mysteries, Part One
Some years ago, for only a few pounds, I purchased from a local antiques fair a June 1939 edition of “Blackwood’s Magazine”, this magazine and miscellany (pictured) ran from 1817 to 1980. I bought it [more…]
Hobbies
A Scottish Odyssey
The memsahib & I decided on one last Scottish tour of The Highlands, our fifth, before we run down the curtain. I have some Scottish ancestry, my grandmother’s clan was Bruce although a lowland clan [more…]
Culture
An English to English Dictionary
I have long wondered if a dictionary existed that translates the bastardised version of the English language used in America to our original version. That bloke Webster has a lot to answer for, compiling his [more…]
20th Century
The Death Railway, Part Five
David Lean’s 1957 film depicted the bridge as a significant timber structure located in the deep jungle, spanning a narrow river featuring rocks and rapids. This is of course a work of fiction and was [more…]
20th Century
The Death Railway, Part Four
Step forward to the present day; SWMBO and I have been visiting Thailand for many years and decided it was time to head out to the Death Railway as Grandad Humbug had been in Burma [more…]