Journalism
Finding Ngozi
For obvious reasons myself and Swiss Bob don’t know each other’s true identities nor are we ever aware of each other’s exact whereabouts. Secret messages whizz around the globe. A sentence is out of place [more…]
Journalism
19th Century
The Wild West Trail, Part One
First of a new series by my uncle John Alldridge. This article first appeared in the Derby Evening Telegraph in November 1967 – Jerry F Just 139 years ago, on a powdery ledge of sandstone [more…]
20th Century
How I came to mistrust, then detest the Main Stream Media
Ed. This was sent to me in 2018 by Moscow Fred, sadly he was never able to finish it. RIP Fred. I was reminded of it by the documentary on The Herald of Free Enterprise [more…]
20th Century
Stalybridge – Clubs, Pubs And Poets
I’ve never been myself, but I’m prepared to bet that Stalybridge is rather different today from when my uncle described it for the Manchester Evening News in February, 1947 – Jerry F A blizzard was [more…]
20th Century
Inquest on Aachen
On 27 October, 1944 my uncle John Alldridge reported from Aaachen for the Manchester Evening News. Six days previously, Aachen had become the first German city to be captured by the Western Allies. – Jerry [more…]
20th Century
The Central Landing School, RAF Ringway, 1940 – 1942
On June 5, 1947, the eve of the third anniversary of the 6th British Airborne Division’s landing in Normandy, my uncle John Alldridge of the Manchester Evening News reviewed the achievements of the establishment responsible [more…]
20th Century
The British Army Against Illiteracy, 1948
In August 1948 my uncle, John Alldridge, reported from Germany on the steps that the British Army was taking to combat high levels of illiteracy in the ranks – Jerry F The young soldier stood [more…]
20th Century
Liquid Thoughts on Beer
I was gratified recently to find that my uncle, John Alldridge, occasionally took time off in the 1940s from reporting World War II and its aftermath to concentrate on more important matters, as can be [more…]
20th Century
One Degree of Separation
My niece tapped on the home office door. When she was smaller I would babysit and sell her pieces of paper as her need to draw and write would keep her occupied. Yes, sell. We [more…]