20th Century
Bax of Delights
There have been quite a few occasions when one wished one was a fly on the wall to listen in on a conversation. The private discussion between Sir Arnold Bax, Master of the King’s Musick, [more…]
Biography
Biography
Lieutenant Rory Stewart – Traveller, Soldier, Gentleman
In the year of our Lord 2002, a remarkable young soldier by the name of Roderick James Nugent Stewart took some good old fashioned shooting leave in Afghanistan. Upon his return to Britain, he documented [more…]
Biography
Anna Soubry
I first came across Anna Soubry MP on an edition of BBC Question Time four or five years ago. Until this auspicious moment I confess I had never heard of the Conservative Member of Parliament [more…]
Arts
Graveyard Shift
I used to work in a cemetery. It was a dead-end job, but you could always bury yourself in your work! Oh, ho ho ho! I humbly beg your pardon. I shall start again. I [more…]
Arts
Æthelberht’s RFA Christmas
I know there’s plenty of former Pusser types on GP, and even a few who have sailed under the red duster. They’ll all be familiar with the Christmas routines for their respective outfits. I thought [more…]
Biography
The Right Way To Put Out A Fire (Finally)
In March 2013 I was appointed to RFA Fort Austin. Within NATO she is classified as an AFSH, that’s to say a combat stores ship with the necessary facilities on board to embark a helicopter. [more…]
Biography
Still Not The Right Way To Put Out A Fire
You may remember some months back I related a story of my first fire exercise sailing under the Red Duster. I was somewhat unimpressed having come from a different seafaring outfit where these things were [more…]
Biography
The Valet’s Tale
My name is William Carew and, until recent events unfolded, I was the valet to Sir Thomas Stradling of St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan. I entered his service while he was [more…]
Biography
The Wrong Way to Put Out a Fire
When I left the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 2015 I joined a shipping company operating out of Barrow-in-Furness. It was a very small outfit which specialised in carrying nuclear cargo between Europe, the US and [more…]