Wednesday, February 18, 2026

The Joy of Six 1477

›
Martin Parr  looks at successful and unsuccessful attempts to depose a prime minister: "Labour, significantly, has never toppled a prim...

The effect on children when a parent loses a parliamentary election

›
Matthew Spender's book A House in St John's Wood is a portrait of his father, the poet Stephen Spender. Stephen's father was Ha...

Spencer Davis Group: Every Little Bit Hurts

›
Recorded at the Marquee Club in February 1965, so Steve Winwood (on vocals and piano) is 16 here.
1 comment:
Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Lloyd George’s oratory owed a heavy debt to the music hall

›
Embed from Getty Images In 1992 the journalist Edward Pearce published a diary of that year's general election campaign. It was reviewed...

Failed teeth op woman admits drug driving

›
This tale of everyday life in Telford wins BBC News our Headline of the Day Award.
Monday, February 16, 2026

Golders Green: A milestone in the history of the tube and suburbia

›
Jago Hazzard sets out the history of Golders Green station, and tells us about the history of the London Underground and of London suburbia ...

The Joy of Six 1476

›
Chris Dillow argues that if government wants to foster economic growth, it will have to fight for it: "Right now, the social transform...
1 comment:

The political effect of our "silent epidemic of loneliness"

›
The Liberal Democrats have proposed a network of "Hobby Hubs" to combat what they call a "silent epidemic of loneliness"...
Sunday, February 15, 2026

See Charles Hawtrey and Joan Hickson staffing St Pancras in 1955

›
So I watched Simon and Laura, and found that, despite the presence of Ian Carmichael, who I always struggle with, it justifies the enthusias...

In which William James uses a ladder to spy on G.K. Chesterton

›
In 1907 the American philosopher William James was invited to deliver a series of lectures to Manchester College in Oxford. (It was not then...

Tyler Ballgame: For the First Time, Again

›
The Guardian introduces us to Tyler Ballgame – this is the title track from his first album, which was released last month: "Not long ...
Saturday, February 14, 2026

The Joy of Six 1475

›
Degenerate Art  on Donald Trump's concentration camps and what can be done to resist their building: "When you consider the number ...
Friday, February 13, 2026

Britain's two most famous TV policemen on screen together in 1964

›
Between 1962, when he first appeared as Charlie Barlow in Z-Cars, and 1976, when he played the character for the last time in  Second Verdic...

John Osborne, Desert Island Discs and No Room at the Inn

›
I couldn't find room for it in my Lion & Unicorn article about the film No Room at the Inn , but I did blog here about my discovery ...

Richard Jefferies Museum plans new Centre for Arts and Wildlife

›
The Richard Jefferies Museum, which is housed in the writer's birthplace at Coate Farm, Swindon, is raising money to fund its plans for ...
Thursday, February 12, 2026

Simon and Laura (1955): How Muriel Box predicted reality TV

›
This short video explores an unexpected and exciting piece of film and television history. Muriel Box's 1955 film explored the perils of...

The Joy of Six 1474

›
Jessica Valenti sounds the alarm about the Heritage Foundation's plan for American women: "Like the conservative movement more bro...

Now Leicestershire Reform want to get rid of their Private Pike

›
Embed from Getty Images When Reform UK formed a minority administration at Leicestershire County Council last May, 22-year-old Joseph Baum w...
Wednesday, February 11, 2026

GUEST POST Lib Dems must be "Tough on billionaires, tough on the causes of billionaires"

›
Anselm Anon says Liberal Democrats should be concerned about concentrations of economic power as well as about concentrations of political ...

Sign language was used in a Leicester Cathedral wedding in 1576

›
Leicester Cathedral held a service on Sunday to commemorate the 450th anniversary of a wedding there in which sign language was employed.  A...

Westminster Hall debate on Russian influence on British politics

›
Embed from Getty Images On Monday there was a Westminster Hall debate on Russian influence on UK politics and democracy, occasioned by a pub...

The Zombies: Care of Cell 44

›
It took 40 years for the Zombies' Odessey and Oracle to be recognised as one of the great albums of the Sixties, so perhaps we shouldn...
Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Finding the last traces of England's lost river

›
When I blogged about the Hulmes Ferry a couple of years ago, I discovered that the Manchester Ship Canal is a canalisation of the lower re...

Tributes paid to Jim Wallace in the Holyrood chamber

›
The funeral of Jim Wallace – Baron Wallace of Tankerness – took place earlier today at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. Eulogies were given b...

Llama drama! "Hero" rescue llamas who narrowly escaped death stop offender fleeing from police in Derbyshire

›
Derbyshire Times wins our Headline of the Day Award by a distance with its tale of crime-fighting llamas. The judges have asked me to point...
Monday, February 09, 2026

Nouvelle Vague – The blog post does not describe the film: the film bends towards the blog post

›
I saw Nouvelle Vague at the Phoenix in Leicester this afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. The film tells the story of the shooting of Jean-...

Labour's problem is that its leadership has contempt for its voters

›
Political activists are treated by their leaders as a stage army to be marched on and berated when they want to show the media how tough the...

The Joy of Six 1473

›
Julia Baird says there are many questions that the people in Epstein's web of connections have never answered, but this one perplexes h...