20th Century
Slow Boats To Africa, Part Two
In Part One we followed the journey of Irishman Charles Freeman, on the SS Medic down the west coast of Africa, from Liverpool to Cape Town in 1927. The ship was continuing on to Australia, [more…]
Travel
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Kent
Canterbury In our family album, my father and grandparents visited Kent and Sussex for a holiday in 1948. This was a time of great change and transformation in those counties as they, and the rest [more…]
18th Century
A View (120 Miles Or So) From The Greenhouse; Whitby(ish) A Postcard
First things first, as the saying goes. Starting bottom left, the vine flourishes and has benefitted, in no small measure, from a good old fashioned “clip out”, more of which next time. Before we get [more…]
20th Century
Scottish Tour, Part Three
Cape Wrath Cape Wrath is a cape located in the Durness parish of the county of Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands. It is known for being the most north-westerly point in mainland Britain and boasts [more…]
20th Century
Slow Boats To Africa
Previously, in “The Sore Seated Safari”, we followed one Charles Henry Freeman and some compatriots, on a 1929 road trip from the town of Iringa, in Tanganyika, to Nairobi in Kenya. But what were they [more…]
20th Century
A Scottish Tour, Part Two
Loch Ailort As we accompany my grandparents (and their caravan) on their 1956 Scottish road tour, we reach Loch Ailort, a west coast sea loch and popular tourist destination. Or do we? The location of [more…]
Arts
Postcard From November, Part Six
Happy Birthday to Me My birthday is November 4th and as a child my main memory of it was always of my parents laying on a party for my friends who all turned up bearing [more…]
Arts
A Scottish Tour
In 1957, Scotland was undergoing significant social and economic change. The post-war years had seen a boom in heavy industry, particularly in shipbuilding and steel production, but by the late 1950s, this growth was beginning [more…]
Arts
Postcard from Liverpool
Mrs B and I are currently on a QM2 cruise to Liverpool and back to Southampton which occurred because of the cancellation of a transatlantic sailing after a fault was found in the funnel, of [more…]