In the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia

Hopefully you will have read the previous post about the classic epic  movie, Lawrence of Arabia, it’s not entirely necessary but it sets this post in perspective. I came to Lawrence through the film and after watching it, you do get a good idea of what he must have been like.  Lawrence was also a… Continue reading In the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia

Lawrence of Arabia

This is the first section of a two part article about T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia.  This first part will be about the better known side of Lawrence and especially the film whilst the second part will be a more personal look at Lawrence and my journey in his footsteps. You can… Continue reading Lawrence of Arabia

Qasr Amr – pleasure palace of the Caliphs

Qasr Amr is located on the desert road to Azraq and only a short distance from Iraq.  It is possibly the highlight of the chain of desert castles built in eastern Jordan.  It was built by Caliph Walid I around 715AD.  As the name suggests it was originally part of a castle but now all… Continue reading Qasr Amr – pleasure palace of the Caliphs

The destruction of historic Mecca by Saudi Arabia

Below is another article which I have recently written for the Muslim Academy site which is run to increase East-West understandings. If the first church of St. Paul was to be destroyed or the house of Mary, mother of Jesus, were to be razed to the ground there would be a near universal outcry; yet… Continue reading The destruction of historic Mecca by Saudi Arabia

A Soliloquy to my childhood city or a brief guide to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

Though I have lived in the London area for most of my life, I still don’t really consider myself as being at home here.  No offence to anyone but home is always home and the city I consider home is that of Newcastle Upon Tyne in the North-East of England some 320 miles away. Newcastle… Continue reading A Soliloquy to my childhood city or a brief guide to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne

Body of King Richard III found under council car park

‘Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of Kings’.  Well we could do that but the ground outside is frozen at this time of year and besides, the previous sentence refers to King Richard II. Getting to the point, history is being re-written today as archaeologists have confirmed that… Continue reading Body of King Richard III found under council car park

Queen Victoria and her Munshi, Abdul Karim

As regular readers may be aware, I am putting out tentative feelers in the way of free-lance writing.  Amongst the first of my commissions is to write a series of articles for The Muslim Academy Website which is a not for profit organisation set up to create cross cultural discussion promote the sometimes  lesser known… Continue reading Queen Victoria and her Munshi, Abdul Karim

What’s in a name? The name’s Liddell, Stephen Liddell.

Today is one of those days where I had a whole slew of subjects that I could write about but one thing led to the other which is why I am here writing about Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet whose birth was celebrated on January 25th as it is every year.  Or actually I’m… Continue reading What’s in a name? The name’s Liddell, Stephen Liddell.

Why don’t we eat horse meat?

This week much of the news in the UK and Ireland has been dominated by the discovery of horse DNA in a number of popular supermarket beef burgers where a sample from a Tesco burger revealed that rather than being a beef burger, there was in fact 29% horse-meat.  Knowing the low quality of some… Continue reading Why don’t we eat horse meat?

Calligraphy: The Art of writing or why I bought a Fountain Pen

I don’t know about you but I hate pens. Not all pens but just the cheap throw-away biro type pens that we all seem to have to endure these days. The sort of pens that 20 years ago would be attached to the end of a chain at banks or medical practices. Sufficient to write… Continue reading Calligraphy: The Art of writing or why I bought a Fountain Pen