20th Century
The Prostitute’s Padre
On 30 July 1937 a man entered a cage at a Skegness amusement park. In the cage were two lions, one male, one female; Freddie and Toto. According to their owner, both animals were “docile” [more…]
Biography
Arts
In Chaos there is Fertility
I would be very surprised if any of you good Going Postal readers would say of Sir Malcolm Arnold “never heard of him” when I tell you that he was the composer of film scores [more…]
15th Century
The Amazing Life (And Death) of Xpoual (Es-po-al) De Colon
There is no definitive date for the birth of Xpoual de Colon. It is believed he was born between August 26th and October 31st in 1451 in Genoa, although there are also claims that he [more…]
20th Century
Uncle Fred, Edwardian Metropolitan Policeman
Uncle Fred’s Early Life ‘Uncle Fred’, as we all called him, was, in reality, my maternal grandfather’s uncle, and my great great uncle. He was the only other member of my grandfather’s family I ever [more…]
20th Century
Celebrating The World’s Longest Serving Monarch
The recent Jubilee bank holiday weekend provided an opportunity to pause for thought and consider the service rendered by the world’s oldest and longest-serving monarch and head of state. No, not her. She gets enough [more…]
Biography
Sailing my life away (II), part 3
I have seen SB’s notice he is running short of articles again and have difficulty doing what I promised last time because I’m still on my land voyage by caravan. I don’t have all my [more…]
Biography
Sailing my life away (II), part 2
Hello again Puffins. I’ve been pretty snowed under for the last few months with Property Management problems and having been on one of my caravan expeditions for the last few weeks. MY CURRENT LAND-VOYAGE BY [more…]
Arts
THE FINAL HONK
Yesterday, I spent some time with the dead. I hadn’t intended to visit the natural burial ground set just below the Jack and Jill Windmills on the South Downs but the weather was good and [more…]
Arts
Three Men on a Bike, Part Four
Two weeks after setting forth from Croydon we finally free-wheeled into St.Nazaire on the southern coast of Brittany, somewhat short of our initial target of St.Tropez. The tandem and single bike had survived various alarms [more…]