Like most people, I was shown a version of the Wild West by Hollywood films, and TV shows. Gunfights, saloon bar brawls, brave sheriffs, and cowardly bushwackers. The nice guys wore white hats and tin stars, the bad men had black hats, robbed stagecoaches, and shot people in the … | Continue reading
T=Technology. It is impossible to fully describe the impact of technology since I was born. I was initially brought up using an outside toilet, and a tin bath filled on Friday nights. The television had one channel, if you were lucky enough that it was working properly. There was … | Continue reading
**No plot spoilers.** This film was shown on TV over the Halloween period. I had never heard of it, but recorded it on the PVR. The action begins in a remote farmhouse in the small community of Brightburn, Kansas. A couple is in bed one night when something like an earthquake sha … | Continue reading
I have posted many photos about London in the 19th century. But I never forget that 60% of my followers are from America, and I want to post things relevant to them as well. So here is a post of photos from the famous photographer, Jacob Riiss, and his images of poverty in New Yo … | Continue reading
S=Science This S is about the applications of science in my lifetime. Things that were unimaginable when I was born are commonplace now. Some of those are materials; things like Teflon, Polyurethane, Velcro, Waterproof Fabrics, Memory Foam, Polyester. They have provided advances … | Continue reading
I found these photos by the keen amateur photographer Edward Linley Sambourne, who was also the chief cartoonist for Punch magazine. They are early examples of candid street photography, using a hand-held camera. He was obviously interested in the fashions of the day, and as you … | Continue reading
R=Regrets. When you reach the milestone of 70, you must surely have a few regrets? I know I do. I would have liked to have been better prepared for my first marriage, that’s for sure. It would have been nice if my second marriage had worked out better too. But it didn’t, so hey-h … | Continue reading
When I went to bed on Tuesday night, it was raining heavily here. I lay in bed listening to the sound of it, driven against the window by strong winds. Then I woke up on Wednesday, and it was still raining torentially. It carried on that way until just after midday, when a break … | Continue reading
I don’t think these photos need any captions. :) | Continue reading
Q=Quality One good piece of advice my dad gave me was, “Pay more for quality”. I took that to heart. A handmade bespoke suit can last a lifetime. Loake shoes may cost four times as much as a high-street brand, but will last you ten times longer. A Sony Colour TV was three times m … | Continue reading
P=Politics From an early age, I became interested in left-wing politics. I was very aware of social injustices, and also inspired by studying the Spanish Civil War, and the International Brigade soldiers who volunteered to go and fight in what was a ‘just war’. In my teens, I joi … | Continue reading
I found some more! I hope you are not bored with these yet? All of these photos were taken between 1880 and 1889, when Victoria was still The Queen. (Some can be enlarged by clicking on them.) An early electric car in Lower Regent Street. You can see the chauffeur and footman in … | Continue reading
N=Nostalgia I have always been a nostalgic person, even when I was quite young. Once life started to become ‘modern’, in the late 1960s, I was only 16, and already looking back to when I was at primary school, spending a lot more time around my family, and living close to the doc … | Continue reading
M=Mum It was always going to be mum for ‘M’. What else could it have been? I have written so much about my mum on this blog, I doubt anyone needs to be reminded of what a great mum she was to me, and what great friends we were. Rather than repeat all that, here … Continue reading … | Continue reading
O=Ollie Ollie has only been in my life for just under 11 years, but has already become such a significant part of my whole life so far. Everyone knows how much I love my dog, my constant companion. He is the heart and soul of my blog, and has become a firm favourite of many … Con … | Continue reading
For the Fallen Poem by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), published in The Times newspaper on 21 September 1914. With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the caus … | Continue reading
Is it just me, or has this year gone faster than 2021? Julie booked our Christmas Day meal with the restaurant yesterday, and not long after that it will be 2023. Each year I get older seems to pass by more quickly. Perhaps that is one of the curses of old age? —————————————————— … | Continue reading
L=London It had to be London of course. Anyone born and raised in that city will know how it gets into your blood. It goes further than being British, or English. You are a Londoner, and that is what you portray to the rest of the country, and to the world. There is history on … … | Continue reading
More everyday scenes from London, photographed around 1900. A policeman directing the busy horse-drawn traffic in Piccadilly. A similar scene in Piccadilly on a different day. Traffic congestion was just as bad 122 years ago as it is now. Piccadilly Circus at the time. Clerkenwel … | Continue reading
K=Kindness. When I was quite young, I don’t remember the exact age, my Mum gave me some advice. “Be kind”. “Be kind to animals”. “Be kind to people”. “Help people when you can”. “Kindness costs nothing”. “If you cannot say something kind, then say nothing at all”. I took those wo … | Continue reading
A random selection of photos from the end of Victoria’s reign, until WW1. (Some photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.) A shop in London selling caged birds, 1895. Singing birds like Canaries were very popular in Victorian households. A group of skilled metalworkers, 1895. T … | Continue reading
J=Jealousy. There are times in my life when I have been jealous, I admit that. After my first marriage broke down, I was jealous of the fact that my wife got to remain in the nice house in Wimbledon, that eventually netted her a small fortune when she sold it decades later. I hav … | Continue reading
I found a nice group of photos taken in London during 1875. The photographers were not credited. The Oxford Arms, in East London. There was a group trying to save this old coaching inn from demolition, and they employed a photographer to publicise their campaign. Sadly, they did … | Continue reading
I=India I have never been to India, but that country featured significantly during two very different periods in my life. My father was a regular soldier. He had joined the British Army in 1936, and served in the Royal Artillery. When war broke out in 1939, he spent some time wit … | Continue reading
The year before WW1 broke out, a photographer climed into an early aircraft to photograph London from the air. Given the limitations of cameras and unreliable aircraft at the time, I think the results are outstanding. St Paul’s Cathedral. The Tower of London, and Tower Bridge. Tr … | Continue reading
H=Holidays Some of my earliest memories are of going on our annual summer holidays when I was a child. They were always in Britain, and usually by the coast, or an easy drive to the sea. I was constantly car sick as a child, and with no motoways then, the trips from London to Cor … | Continue reading
I had never heard of this photographer before, and found some of his photos online. He visited the districts of Liverpool 8 and Everton in 1975, with the intention of documenting ordinary people living in deprivation in those working class areas. I think his black and white image … | Continue reading
G=Growing Up This was my first choice for ‘G’. I started to write about growing up, and then I remembered I had already posted something almost identical, back in early 2021. So I deleted the part I had started to write as a draft, and I am adding a link to the 2021 post instead. … | Continue reading
F=Friends. Being an only child with no siblings to play with, friends became important to me at an early age. Once I went to Primary School at the age of 6, I soon discovered that being good at sport, especially football, was a good way to make friends. But I was below average at … | Continue reading
E=Examinations When I was young, the big examination that everyone talked about was called the ’11-Plus’. At primary school, we didn’t have exams beteen the ages of 5-10, but we did have ‘Tests’ as we got older. They took the form of essays, handwriting, or simple times tables an … | Continue reading
An uneventful week that began with me coming down with something on Tuesday that I thought might be Flu. Sore throat, persistent cough, and aches. I spent three days taking various tablets and going to bed early, and by Friday afternoon it had gone away. ————————————————————————— … | Continue reading
D=Divorce When I got married for the first time in 1977, I expected it to last my lifetime. Divorce never entered my mind, even though my parents had split up the year before, and had gone through the divorce process earlier that same year. Eight years later, and my wife had othe … | Continue reading
C= Cold and Cars I could not decide between these two choices for ‘C’, so included them both. Cold. Many of my childhood memories are about being cold. Until I was fifteen years old, I did not live in a house with central heating. We relied on one main coal fire for warmth, with … | Continue reading
Some early photographers were interested in documenting the patients and equipment in hospitals. I found some good examples online. Babies in incubators. Crystal Palace Hospital London, 1910. An early form of X-Ray machine being used, 1913. Lydia Ward for children. Guy’s Hospital … | Continue reading
B=Bermondsey. Very few people will know about the existence of Bermondsey. It was once a London Borough, and is now just a district, consumed into the huge Borough of Southwark, in South London. It had its own council, Bermondsey Borough Council, responsible for refuse collection … | Continue reading
I watched a report on the BBC about statistics for England and Wales regarding the numbers of people born outside those countries, but resident in them as of late 2021. (Scotland was not included as it had not participated in the survey.) I looked up some of the details available … | Continue reading
It didn’t do to get to the club until late, so we went to the local pub for drinks before taking the bus into the West End. You had to be eighteen of course, whether to buy drinks in the pub or be allowed into the club later. We were only fifteen, but wearing smart … Continue rea … | Continue reading
A=Ambulances An obvious choice of course. Until I retired in 2012, I spent over one-third of my life working in emergency ambulances as an EMT in Central London. Up to the time I left in 2001, being an ambulanceman defined me. From having to work shifts, to being a union organise … | Continue reading
My recent serial Four Lives concluded yesterday with the 30th episode. As usual, I like to look at how it was received, and the stats it generated on my blog. This serial was written mainly from the point of view of four very different women, not that easy for a 70 year-old man. … | Continue reading
This is all 30 episodes of my recent serial in one complete story. It is a long read, at 24,536 words. Marian. It was pouring all the way home, and the walk from the bus stop had soaked her feet. All she could think about was getting in, and putting on some cosy pyjamas. There … … | Continue reading
I watched this Australian film recently on television, attracted by some great reviews, and the fact that it had won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. (Although I will avoid plot spoilers, I have to state from the outset that this film contains unsettling images … | Continue reading
This is another moan from me about messing around with the time by putting the clocks back and forward. This is 2022. Farmers have headlights on their vehicles, and computer-guided ploughing. Kids in most areas get taken to school by car, or go on a school bus or coach. In cities … | Continue reading
Originally posted on Loren Berg's Blog: My friend Antony sent me a link to this blog post from Loren Berg. Some funny cartoons to cheer up a dismal Sunday in Beetley. Loren Berg's Blog View original post | Continue reading
This is the final part of a fiction serial, in 867 words. After serving five years and one month of his nine-year sentence, Lee Fowler was given parole. There were the usual restrictions. He had to report to the local police station, and attend meetings with his probation officer … | Continue reading
The weather continues to act strangely in Eastern England. It has been unusually warm, reaching 22C on Saturday, despite cloudy skies. My shorts have been on since last weekend, and it seems as if Autumn is on hold for now. Maybe we will go straight into Winter? ————————————————— … | Continue reading
Originally posted on beetleypete: Dear Love As well as qualifying as one of my significant songs, this post is also something of a film review in miniature too. As well as the music, I can recommend the film ‘Big Driver’ that includes this song on the soundtrack. Earlier this yea … | Continue reading
David is a blogger who was a licenced Black Cab driver in London for a very long time. It takes years to pass the test to become one, known as The Knowledge, and is not for the faint-hearted. The iconic Black Taxi (also seen in other colours) has been a feature of London’s street … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-ninth part of a fiction serial, in 917 words. As Lee aproached the end of his fourth year of imprisonment, Marian was preparing for her wedding. Once her and Michael had bought an attractive two-bedroom cottage in Arkley, not far from where Michael had been liv … | Continue reading