20th Century
Desert Journey, Part One
In 1961 my uncle, John Alldridge spent some time on the set of Lawrence of Arabia and reported his experiences for the Birmingham Mail – Jerry F Akaba, Jordan I am writing this on the [more…]
Travelogue
Travel
Postcard From Keflavik
Art and the terminal Puffins who can see an enviably empty airport car park in the middle of nowhere with the skeleton of a nosedived B-52 embedded in the tarmac embarrassingly far from any runway, [more…]
20th Century
Report From Israel, 1957 – Part Six
In 1957 my uncle, John Alldridge visited Israel for the Birmingham Mail. This is the last of his reports. – Jerry F When an Israeli defines a civilian as a soldier on leave for eleven [more…]
Travel
Postcard from Iceland
A fat lot of help the Sultan of Oman was. About as much use as a chocolate teapot in the Al Hararis Plain during the hottest hour of an Omani desert day. Creepy sleepy sniffy [more…]
20th Century
Report From Israel, 1957 – Part Five
In 1957 my uncle, John Alldridge visited Israel for the Birmingham Mail. This is the fifth of his reports. – Jerry F Eilat, Gulf of Akaba You can’t go home (they said) until you’ve bathed [more…]
20th Century
Report From Israel, 1957 – Part Four
In 1957 my uncle, John Alldridge visited Israel for the Birmingham Mail. This is the fourth of his reports. – Jerry F Kefar Hanasi, Upper Galilee Not so very long ago, Gershon Epstein was a [more…]
20th Century
Postcard From Kaunas
As 2nd cities go Kaunas, seems at least, at first glance, to be a pretty unprepossessing sort of place regardless of whether you arrive by air, road or rail. Arriving by train reveals an industrial [more…]
20th Century
Report From Israel, 1957 – Part Three
In 1957 my uncle, John Alldridge visited Israel for the Birmingham Mail. This is the third of his reports. – Jerry F The first you see of it is a row of whitewashed oil drums, [more…]
Culture
Can You Keep a Secret?
I would like, if I may, to share a secret with you, after all I am sure you can all keep a confidence. As I have mentioned before I have been travelling to Central Europe [more…]