Lunch with M

You may remember General Raymond E Lee from a recent post: the General’s Moustache. Well I have now got his London Journal which consists of his letters to his wife (and young daughter) living in America while he was serving as Military Attaché in London, 1940-1941.

Hone, Piper and Barillet

The oldest building in Wellingborough is All Hallows, Grade I Listed, dating from 1160. I was in Northamptonshire again this week to see the 20th century windows at All Hallows.

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Categorised as Art

My NBF

A recent post, Barons Court Station, was written by AI and was acceptable. It harvested content from Historic England and Wikipedia.

Pratfall

When I was a child I used to save the best bit, the icing on the cake perhaps, until last. My grandmother warned me of the danger this posed. When she was a child she put the glacé cherries on the side of her plate to savour last. A woman promptly leant over her and… Continue reading Pratfall

Lamplighters

I have recently re-read Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (John le Carré, 1974) in which lamplighters are the dogsbodies of British intelligence doing surveillance and courier work.

Another Blot

It used to be called the Cherry Blossom roundabout – not because of a profusion of flowering cherry trees but because of the proximity of a smelly shoe polish manufacturer: Cherry Blossom.

Baltic Booze

Cast your mind back to 1608. James I was on the English throne – the first Stuart monarch – the Moores were living at Barmeath and the Bellews at Lisrenny.

Olivier Salad

Look at Wikipedia, actually don’t I have done it for you, and there is a long list of comestibles and drinks named after people. Only a few are familiar today: peach Melba, tournedos Rossini, beef Wellington, oysters Rockefeller, beef Carpaccio, omelette Arnold Bennett, Bellini cocktails and you will know others.

Arsène Lupin

It’s very muddling. Auguste Dupin and Arsène Lupin are both French gentlemen thieves (like Raffles and perhaps Simon Templar) created by Edgar Allen Poe and Maurice Leblanc respectively. Lupin has possibilities and there are plenty of short stories and novels, if I get hooked. Meanwhile, let’s start with the beginning of the first chapter of… Continue reading Arsène Lupin

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Categorised as Literature