Hobbies
Rossendale
It takes a week to cycle from Penzance to Berwick. It took me 40 years. Because on the way, I wanted to include every town in England, in what amounted to some two years of [more…]
Travelogue
20th Century
European Journey 1953, Part Two – Amsterdam
I have been watching them all morning; those bicycle wheels going round and round and round the Leidseplein. There is something hypnotic about it. Something a little frightening too. Like watching life on a perpetual [more…]
20th Century
European Journey 1953, Part One – Brussels
A cold east wind, blowing in short, stinging gusts all the way from the Russian steppes, swoops down over Brussels. It sets all the gilded weather-cocks spinning madly, that boisterous wind. It slaps the cheeks [more…]
History
Postcard From Birmingham
Myself and my wife fussed over our Kitkats and coffees and peeled off the Standard Premium antimacassars to make it look as though were travelling First Class. Little did we realise our day trip to [more…]
20th Century
Report From Kenya 1955, Part Nine
On his way home from reporting on Kenya for the Birmingham Mail in 1955, my uncle John Alldridge filed this report from Uganda – Jerry F Colour problem in reverse Almost 50 years ago another [more…]
20th Century
Report From Kenya, 1955 – Part Eight
In 1955, at the height of the Mau Mau Rebellion, my uncle John Alldridge produced a series of reports from Kenya for the Birmingham Mail and the Manchester Evening News – Jerry F Wally’s lion [more…]
20th Century
Report From Kenya, 1955 – Part Seven
In 1955, at the height of the Mau Mau Rebellion, my uncle John Alldridge produced a series of reports from Kenya for the Birmingham Mail and the Manchester Evening News – Jerry F Nairobi The [more…]
20th Century
Report From Kenya, 1955 – Part Six
In 1955, at the height of the Mau Mau Rebellion, my uncle John Alldridge produced a series of reports from Kenya for the Birmingham Mail and the Manchester Evening News – Jerry F Nairobi With [more…]
20th Century
Desert Mysteries Redux – Part Four
In Part 3, I included a photograph of a Hawker Hart with most of its fabric covering stripped off as a potential Desert Mystery regarding its fate. Further research has revealed that K4907 apparently had [more…]