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…]
Literature
20th Century
This Is My England, 1950 – Part Two
From Haddon Hall to Tideswell is only about ten miles. But to get from one to the other you have to travel across some of the bleakest, wildest, most God-forsaken country in England. On these [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary – Week One Hundred And Seventy-Seven
Monday Good morning everyone, and welcome to another week of my musings. I took a slow walk down to the bottom of the garden this morning as it is getting a little more pleasant in [more…]
Arts
Macbeth Act 1 Scene 1
Welcome to the second of Crom’s Deep Dives. I was touched by some of your comments on the first of this series and found they motivated me to find the time to commence this second [more…]
Arts
Always Worth Saying’s Question Time Review
Question Time 2nd March 2023 The Panel: Graham Stewart (Conservative) Jonathan Reynolds (Labour) Tom Harwood (Journalist) Juergen Maier (Businessman) Kirsty Blackman (SNP) Venue: Sunderland The first question, dear God, was about Brexit despite the fact [more…]
Fiction
Jinnie’s Story – Book Five, Chapter one
When the meeting with the Super Burger team had concluded with an agreement in principle both sides shook hands. They further agreed that everything they had discussed was subject to the full acceptance of their [more…]
Arts
A Postcard From a Long Christmas Cruise, Part Seven
29th December – At sea The ‘Phantom Door Banger’ was late this morning. I was up and dressed when ‘its’ door crashed at 07:20. Guess who forgot to put their clock forward? Mind you, having [more…]
Culture
A View From The Greenhouse; New Beginnings
It’s that time of year again, when I choose to bore the bi-weekly pants off you all by relating my erstwhile greenhouse adventures and, more often than not, misadventures. As always this “diary” will be [more…]
20th Century
This Is My England, 1950 – Part 1
Since this journey must begin somewhere, let it begin here in Bakewell with the story of a tart. A Bakewell tart, which, of course — as they are quick to point out — isn’t a [more…]