20th Century
John Alldridge Meets Douglas Bader
In September 1955, the Manchester Evening News sent my uncle to interview Group Captain Douglas Bader – Jerry F There was a time — not so long ago — when for seven weary months I [more…]
Human Interest
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred And Fifty-Six
Monday Good morning from a dry but grotty Westminster. It looks like it’s going to rain at any moment, but the forecast is for a dry day. Today’s big question is, did the Camel actually [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred And Fifty-Five
Monday Good morning from a wet and cold Downing Street where it’s a really horrible Monday morning and the window cleaner is busy washing the windows! An opinion poll out this morning shows that if [more…]
19th Century
A Voyage to India, 1888
In October, 1888, Miss Kate Pettitt sailed from Liverpool to Bombay in the steamship Eden Hall.She was going to India as a governess with an English family from Manchester. The voyage took five weeks, and [more…]
Hobbies
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred and Fifty-Four
Monday Good morning from your favourite cat reporter and chief mouser. Well, it rained again yesterday, just as forecast, but it was a ‘Gray’ day for another reason here at No. 10. Don’t believe what [more…]
Drinking
Non-Alcoholic Pub Drinks
Let’s start with an apology. The title of this article alone will be enough to provoke a sudden and dangerous rise in blood pressure amongst many readers, and for that I am extremely sorry, but [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred and Fifty-Three
Monday Good morning from a not very happy cat. I trotted down to the bottom of the garden and it was horribly cold and wet, and I returned a soggy cold moggy. I must admit [more…]
20th Century
A Ukrainian Enigma
I have an original photograph bought as part of a “bundle” from a militaria seller whose business model is to put together sets of documents, photographs and ephemera that appear to be vaguely related so [more…]
20th Century
European Journey 1953, Part Seven – Trogen
The village lies in a sheltered fold of the mountains, 3,000 feet above sea level. On a fine day you can see clear across to Lake Constance, a bit of burnished silver under the strong [more…]