20th Century
Postcard From Carlisle
When in the vicinity one feels obliged. After all, I am a Carlisle lad. During my previous life more interesting I found myself nearby and could adjust my schedule. If I was shot by an [more…]
Postcard
20th Century
Postcard from Cyprus, 1996
By the early 1990s, computing in the Ministry of Defence was moving from huge, multi-million pound machines housed in air-conditioned rooms out into the offices on minicomputers and personal computers running Windows. It’s hard to [more…]
Arts
Queen of the Hebrides – Personal Recollections
17.30 Saturday 31st October 2015 For the second day running, we sit on the hard plastic chairs at Glenegedale Airport, staring despondently out of the windows into the grey Islay gloom, with only the occasional [more…]
History
Postcard From Osh
A promise was made to Puffins regarding a dispatch from Kazakhstan to report upon the fighting between Kazakh forces, Russian paratroopers and ‘fuel protestors’. Located at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, a correspondent was only 12 miles [more…]
Arts
Another Caribbean Christmas, Part Two
Day One – Christmas Eve I woke up at 04:15, before my alarm went off, with my stomach turning over, I was either worried about the antigen test and failing at the last hurdle, or [more…]
History
Postcard From Kyrgyzstan
There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell Swiss Bob but haven’t got round to. Perhaps you could oblige? Next time you bump into him, drop into the conversation that, after two years sitting around on [more…]
Arts
Postcard from Sunny Skeg
The announcement over the two-carriage rattle-trap train’s tannoy told us this we’d reached the terminus and bid us ‘Welcome to sunny Skegness’. Bearing in mind this was December on the East Coast, these wry words [more…]
20th Century
Postcard From Summer 1954, Part Six – Rhyl
In 1954, the Manchester Evening News launched a “Special Investigation” and tasked my uncle, John Alldridge, with answering the question – Holidaymakers, do you get value for your MONEY? What follows is his report on [more…]
20th Century
Postcard From Summer 1954, Part Five – Llandudno
In 1954, the Manchester Evening News launched a “Special Investigation” and tasked my uncle, John Alldridge, with answering the question – Holidaymakers, do you get value for your MONEY? What follows is his report on [more…]