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…]
WWII
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
Family Connections
Holiday 1932 My father’s parents were married on 8th October 1931. My grandfather, Elihu, was a 25-year-old mechanic. His bride, Edith, was four years his junior and worked in a wool shop. My grandfather left [more…]
20th Century
1938, Part Two
Skegness Skegness is a popular seaside town located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea. Known for its sandy beaches, it is a traditional destination for holiday-makers from across the UK. Its famous mascot, [more…]
20th Century
Hellfire Corner
Dover In this week’s dip into the family album we have moved around the Kent coast from Ramsgate and have arrived in Dover. The White Cliffs, the outline of Dover Castle and the seafront make [more…]
History
Postcard From Manipur
In seach of a hidden gem “Lucky bugger,” muttered Swiss Bob as he sat beside the log fire at the staff end of the Explorer’s Room in the exclusive Going Post Gentleman’s (Ladies welcome) Club [more…]
20th Century
Inquest on Aachen
On 27 October, 1944 my uncle John Alldridge reported from Aaachen for the Manchester Evening News. Six days previously, Aachen had become the first German city to be captured by the Western Allies. – Jerry [more…]
20th Century
Liquid Thoughts on Beer
I was gratified recently to find that my uncle, John Alldridge, occasionally took time off in the 1940s from reporting World War II and its aftermath to concentrate on more important matters, as can be [more…]
20th Century
All That Was Ended, 15th August 1945
In August 1945 my uncle, John Alldridge, wrote this article commemorating the sixth anniversary of the end of World War II for the Manchester Evening News. He ended with the implication that the memory was [more…]