20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Orléans
In the old photo above we observe Orléans cathedral at the end of a wide cobbled street with a row of cars parked on the right hand side. Not its real name (Basilique Cathédrale Sainte-Croix [more…]
Travel
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Lourdes
Unlike my father, grandparents and daughter, I’ve never been to Lourdes. Given the proliferation of places of worship that have sprung up around the Pyrenean town since the visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to [more…]
18th Century
One Small Step for Man… Brindley and the Trent and Mersey Canal
In an earlier piece, I mentioned the Trent and Mersey Canal, with its company headquarters in Stone, hinting that its history and the political shenanigans behind its construction might be worth an article in its [more…]
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Admired From Nevers to Carlisle
Admired from Nevers to Carlisle As my grandfather’s Ford 8 made its intrepid conquest of the 7,000ft high Pyrenean pass of Col de Tourmalet during the return trip from Gibraltar to Carlisle, we fell upon [more…]
Cooking
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Nature’s Colosseum
Descending Tourmalet Having conquered the 7,000ft Col du Tourmalet for England, our pugnacious Ford 8 trundles down the other side nonchalantly taking for granted the now over-familiar spectacle of Pyerean mountain passes. The cycling data [more…]
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Conquering The Long Mountain
Col d’Aspin Last time on Nostalgia Album the heroic Ford 8, with a hiccup or two, commenced an odd zig-zag route across the Pyrenees as part of my father and grandparent’s 1952 return journey from [more…]
Arts
Towers And Lovers
The train from Cartagena is eleven minutes late arriving into Alicante and almost twenty minutes behind schedule by the time it leaves for Zaragoza. Not that anyone minds, it is the way of the things [more…]
History
Jersey – a Postcard
No, it’s not about trains, in fact there are no railways on Jersey, the horror! Being a pureblood, many holiday destinations (USA, Spain, Cruises) are out of the question at the moment. Not that big [more…]