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
The Photographer C.A. Matthew took many photos of daily life in East London during 1912. His photos of Spitalfields were discovered by modern-day photographer Adam Tuck, in 2012. He set out to recapture the same locations one hundred years later, and rather than try to ‘merge’ th … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-eighth part of a fiction serial, in 762 words. Lee fowler considered himself to be a tough guy, but he soon found out that life in prison was tougher than he had ever imagined. For one thing, the other inmates were not women, and Lee had only ever brutalised an … | Continue reading
Between 1860 and 1900, many photographers tried to capture the plight of the poor living in big cities. Despite the boom of the industrial revolution and the expansion of the empire, most ordinary people lived in awful conditions, facing financial poverty every day of their lives … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-seventh part of a fiction serial, in 805 words. As soon as she arrived at court the following Monday, Marian was met by the solicitor, who was waiting outside. “It’s good news. Fowler has changed his plea to guilty. As well as the defence being sure that you wo … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-sixth part of a fiction serial, in 752 words. By Thursday afternoon, Marian was on edge. Nerves mixed with boredom, four days spent sitting around in court and wondering what was happening. Both the solicitor and the barrister were occupied in the courtroom, an … | Continue reading
Some images from an exhibition held at The Museum of London eight years ago. They took photos of certain areas in 2014, then ‘merged’ them with photos of the exact same spot taken throughout history. (All the photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.) Gloucester Road Undergroun … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-fifth part of a fiction serial, in 743 words. Marian was up early to drive to Lyndsey’s house on the other side of London. A nagging headache reminded her she had drunk two bottles of wine the night before, so she took two paracetamol along with three cups of e … | Continue reading
When I was 17, I met two brothers at the office I was working in. Through those brothers, I met a large group of people, some of whom played together in a band. Two years later, I moved out of my parental home and shared a rented house with four of them. Since then we … Continue … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-fourth part of a fiction serial, in 728 words. The meeting at an office in London was not only with the solicitor, but also the prosecuting barrister. Both men were upbeat about the chances of a conviction, but after the usual pleasantries, they were also adama … | Continue reading
This is the first time I have logged on to WP since Thursday, and I am just back online after a busy weekend away. I will be starting from scratch, as I cannot hope to catch up with all of your posts. The next episode of the serial will appear at some stage later today, … Continu … | Continue reading
I will be offline from Friday for a few days. So there will be no episode of the serial ‘Four Lives’ until next week. Sorry to leave everyone reading it in the lurch, but I hope you all have a marvellous weekend! | Continue reading
In the summer of 1914, life continued as normal in England, with few people aware that the world was about to be plunged into the carnage of WW1 on the 4th of August. A policeman stands guard outside the National Gallery in London. It had been closed after a suffragette damaged a … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-third part of a fiction serial, in 795 words. Inspector Banerjee contacted Marian a couple of weeks later. She wanted her to meet with a police appointed solicitor who was to instruct a prosecution barrister, but only once they had a trial date. To make life co … | Continue reading
There used to be a local man walking a small Lurcher. The dog is named Stanley, and he is very friendly. Recently, I saw Stanley with a lady, and it turned out to be the wife of the man I used to see regularly. She told me the sad news that her husband has been … Continue reading … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-second part of a fiction serial, in 771 words. After the police car had brought her home to Hackney, Marian was unable to get any sleep until she had told Ros everything that had happened. After sleeping through most of the day the first call she made was to Am … | Continue reading
In the year 1880, a leading South London churchman commissioned a photographer to take photographs of street traders in the district of Greenwich. He used the photos for lectures on the condition of the poor working classes in London at that time. Weighing scales. This boy is hav … | Continue reading
This is the twenty-first part of a fiction serial, in 744 words. At no time did Marian feel she was not being believed, but the questioning was no less intrusive. “Why did you go to the pub with a stranger? “Why did you give him a lift home?” “What were you doing outside his hous … | Continue reading
I found some more photos taken in Victorian London by John Thomson. They were commissioned for the book, ‘Street Life In London’, shown below. A signwriter in his studio. A ‘Sandwich-Board Man’ advertising as he walked around. Cheap lodgings and food available for the down and ou … | Continue reading
This is the twentieth part of a fiction serial, in 783 words. Two police cars arrived quite quickly. Marian had given the name of the road she had seen on the sign, and said she was parked behind the closed-down shop. By the time they got there, her dress was torn at the cleavage … | Continue reading