Culture
Profession? Northerner!
Last time we looked at the early career of Jimmy Tarbuck. We noted his success hinged upon – or was at least boosted by – a cheeky-chappy persona, quick wit, smart suits and a mop-top [more…]
The North
20th Century
The Crime Reporter, Part 2
Another chapter from “Special Assignment” by my uncle John Alldridge (published in 1960 and now long out of print) When people think of the crime reporter they associate him inevitably with the hurly-burly of Fleet [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty Seven
In the Sleescale constituency office of Major Sir Fergus McDee MP, I have read out from my Royal and Industrial Insurance Company notebook a list of names inscribed on a nearby mining tragedy memorial. I [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty Six
My colleague Captain Davies and I are in the constituency office of wet Tory grandee Major Sir Fergus McDee MC MP. Three hundred miles to the south, former Prime Minister Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty Five
Myself and my colleague Natasha Williams are at our department’s private election night party at a packed and noisy Dolphin Square bistro. In the early hours of the tenth of June nineteen eighty-three, a colour [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty Four
Myself and my colleague Captain Davis are in the constituency office of Sleescale MP, Major Sir Fergus McDee MC. He is standing at the window facing into the room, eying us up. His secretary, Miss [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty Three
Myself and Davies are sat in the local MPs surgery waiting room in Sleescale. In one of the better parts of the town, outside are cobbled streets where old gas lights stand redundant next to [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty Two
Myself and Davies were sat on a hilltop (the flat limestone pavement type) in our bivvys and sleeping bags, squashed together for warmth. We faced towards the coast. At the horizon, a flat sea was [more…]
Arts
The Swaling, Part Fifty One
Myself and Davies are two dots in the landscape running along county roads from Sleescale to a neighbouring town. Occasionally, we take short cuts across farmer’s fields. The weather is cold. So cold that the [more…]