The Legend of Mary Overie

Everyone knows of that famous old miser Ebenezer Scrooge in the the literature of Charles Dickens but right in the heart of one the most Dickensian feeling part of Central London there is a story that predates Ebenezer by 1,000 years and is largely unknown by everyone except for a few hardy visitors to explore… Continue reading The Legend of Mary Overie

Walking in a winter wonderland!

I don’t know about you but I love snow, especially when I don’t have to drive in it. The sad thing is that London doesn’t get a great deal of snow any more. It used to even in the 1980’s but the weather isn’t the same any more which on a personal level is super… Continue reading Walking in a winter wonderland!

Remembering Captain Tom and putting the boot into sycophants

 I just wanted to do a little post to say how sorry I am to hear of the death of Captain Sir Tom Moore who captured the hearts of much of the world in 2020 after he started out to raise £1,000 to help NHS related charities by walking 100 laps of his garden in… Continue reading Remembering Captain Tom and putting the boot into sycophants

An account of when my house was almost hit by a Nazi rocket in WW2

Over the last week or two I have been reading old magazines of histories and memories of my village, rather similar to some of the ones I write myself. A lady by the name of Mollie Thomas strikes particularly close to home as though in her 80’s, writes about her time growing up here in… Continue reading An account of when my house was almost hit by a Nazi rocket in WW2

Coronavirus Diary 72: Being a Good Samaritan to the living and having a hot drink with the dead.

One of the things I really miss about being Excluded and not able to work as well as Shielding alone is being able to help people. I really really miss it. I know I still help lots of people from my chair but like everything in life, things are different if you do them in… Continue reading Coronavirus Diary 72: Being a Good Samaritan to the living and having a hot drink with the dead.

The story of how a Tyneside ship ended up as the Resolute desk of the President of the United States Part Two

Following on from last weeks post on HMS Resolute, we pick up the account in this second blog post. On 10 September 1855, the abandoned HMS Resolute was found adrift by the American whaler George Henry, captained by James Budington of Groton, Connecticut in an ice floe off Cape Walsingham of Baffin Island, 1,200 miles… Continue reading The story of how a Tyneside ship ended up as the Resolute desk of the President of the United States Part Two

The story of how a Tyneside ship ended up as the Resolute desk of the President of the United States Part One

It’s hard to say much about the desk of the Prime Minister outside the Corona virus, it is almost unheard of him or her to address the nation or indeed The Queen outside her customary Christmas message of goodwill and even then she has more desks than I had hot dinners in 2020 so whilst… Continue reading The story of how a Tyneside ship ended up as the Resolute desk of the President of the United States Part One

Meeting James Bond in his London apartment!

On Thursday and Friday last week I did interviews for the Metro and Daily Telegraphs newspapers and so I had to spend a little time going through 2019 photos as the newspaper wants me to send some so as well as general West End photos, I thought I’d look for some that are more me. One of… Continue reading Meeting James Bond in his London apartment!