Arts
Another Caribbean Christmas, Part Four
Day 6 – Wednesday 29th December – St. Maarten Good morning from the beautiful tiny island of St. Maarten. I woke as we approached the port just as the sun was coming up, I think [more…]
Travel
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Part One
No mystery here, this is Elihu, your modest reviewer of photographs grandfather. His father was also called Elihu and his grandfather was the John who Puffins with instant recall will remember lost half of the [more…]
History
Postcard From Osh
A promise was made to Puffins regarding a dispatch from Kazakhstan to report upon the fighting between Kazakh forces, Russian paratroopers and ‘fuel protestors’. Located at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, a correspondent was only 12 miles [more…]
Arts
Another Caribbean Christmas, Part Three
Day 2 – Christmas Day – Barbados Christmas Day dawned another warm and sunny morning. As per the itinerary we were still berthed in Barbados awaiting more passengers. I watched a truck being loaded with [more…]
20th Century
Mystery Album, Part Twenty
My own (reprinted) 1887 Bradshaw’s Guide shows an eclectic array of east coast shipping services connecting ourselves with continental Europe before the days of the noisy and inconvenient aeroplane. Goole to Dunkirk for 15 shillings [more…]
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…]
Arts
Another Caribbean Christmas, Part Two
Day One – Christmas Eve I woke up at 04:15, before my alarm went off, with my stomach turning over, I was either worried about the antigen test and failing at the last hurdle, or [more…]
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…]
Arts
Another Caribbean Christmas, Part One
I have been looking forward to getting back on board a cruise ship for some time now. Covid has caused the cancellation of 3 cruises for me so far (June 2020, Christmas 2020 and June [more…]