20th Century
Lake District Memories
On Christmas Morning 2021 I was taken by ambulance to hospital suffering from a clot on the lung brought on by Covid (Covid Pneumonitis). It was to be the beginning of ten days there, most [more…]
Photography
20th Century
Press Photographer, Part Two
Another chapter from “Special Assignment” by my uncle John Alldridge (published in 1960 and now long out of print) In almost every great news story of recent times Luck has been the deciding factor. You [more…]
20th Century
Press Photographer, Part One
Another chapter from “Special Assignment” by my uncle John Alldridge (published in 1960 and now long out of print) Halfway over Putney Bridge the No 14 bus jolted to a halt. Behind it the rush-hour [more…]
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Part Eight
After last week’s Nostalgia Album sadness at hearing great aunt Ernestine lost her husband in the First War, her son in the Second War and spent much of her life in the Lancaster County Mental [more…]
Hobbies
My Life in a Virtual Bookcase
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need” Marcus Tullius Cicero Having recently downsized, I no longer have room for a permanent display of the books and other items that [more…]
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Part Three
The above photograph appears in our family Nostalgia Album captioned “Mauretania Southampton 1939”. Although every Big Boy’s Big Book of Big Ships says something different, the photograph, languishing in the Worth-Saying family album for 83 [more…]
20th Century
Nostalgia Album, Part Two
The above photograph was taken on March 25th 1936. How can we be so certain? The marquee to the left can be seen at the beginning of a video clip below, the occasion being the [more…]
20th Century
Mystery Album, Part Twenty
My own (reprinted) 1887 Bradshaw’s Guide shows an eclectic array of east coast shipping services connecting ourselves with continental Europe before the days of the noisy and inconvenient aeroplane. Goole to Dunkirk for 15 shillings [more…]
20th Century
Mystery Album, Part Nineteen
Having visited Helsinki Central Station, nearby shopping streets and the cathedral, our mystery family will have made their way back to the ferry at Satama, pausing to have their photograph taken beside the distinctive dockside [more…]