The Oldie Blog
A brief history of self-isolation We’ve been self-isolating for millennia, says Sam Llewellyn, and we managed – even without Netflix https://bit.ly/3a1tceb My Oxford Blues As Oxford threatens to remove Homer and Virgil from the classics course, classics don John Davie laments a tragic decline in rigour, language skills and essay-writing, disguised by rampant grade inflation https://bit.ly/3b8nqt0 Private Eye poet pays tribute to Wilfred De’ath In a moving poem, Private Eye’s teenage poet E J Thribb remembers
The Oldie’s Gentleman of the Road https://bit.ly/2ujup4l Che O’guevara’s Irish roots The revolutionary ended up on an Irish stamp thanks to his chance meeting with a 16-year-old barman in a County Clare hotel in 1962. John
Mcentee talks to that barman, creator of the iconic poster, to celebrate St Patrick’s Day https://bit.ly/33patgx Oldie cartoon predicts the discovery of a 20,000-year-old mammoth fridge Stone Age man kept his mammoth lunch frozen for maximum freshness, scientists have discovered – and it was all predicted in this Oldie cartoon https://bit.ly/2itdess Belgravia is more than a TV series. It is one of Britain’s great contributions to urban planning Nikolaus Pevsner, the great German architectural historian, thought Belgravia’s garden squares were Britain’s great contribution to global architectural history, says Harry Mount https://bit.ly/3a0ivsf Thinking inside the box As oldies are encouraged to stay at home and watch Netflix because of coronavirus, Miriam Gross says the streaming network produces greater art than cinema and theatre https://bit.ly/2u1ehel Goodbye to Berlin – and the Cabaret years As renowned Berlin nightclub Griessmuehle closes down, Dea
Birkett remembers the city’s glorious heyday https://bit.ly/2x2eq8i Coronavirus empties London – it’s like the 1970s Harry Mount bikes round London and finds it empty https://bit.ly/38zwqcb Oldies won’t panic – they’ve been through the war For all the horrors of the coronavirus, older people remain calm because they’ve seen worse, says Hunter Davies https://bit.ly/2iufg9p Beware the Ides of March! Julius Caesar and his dying words – in Greek Caesar was murdered on 15th March in 44BC. His last words weren’t ‘Et tu, Brute?’, explains Harry Mount https://bit.ly/3a1t4v0 The Pharaoh of West Yorkshire John Marshall’s Victorian factory in Leeds had the biggest room on earth and a grass roof grazed by sheep. Now it might be used for a northern outlet of the British Library, writes Lucinda Lambton https://bit.ly/2wuaic1 Greek and Roman myths – the greatest stories ever told A marvellous new Titian show at the National Gallery, reopening soon, draws entirely on the Greek and Roman myths. By Harry Mount https://bit.ly/3b4dxzn
Back on the fags Formerly reformed smoker Ferdie Rous is back on the fags – and he hates them https://bit.ly/39yx9fe RIP Michel Roux (1941-2020) Michel Roux, the chef and restaurateur extraordinaire, has died. Fellow chef Rowley Leigh remembers learning his trade under the watchful eyes of Roux and his brothers https://bit.ly/33svfkl Relaxing in la zona rossa in coronavirus-bound Bologna On holiday in Bologna, Inigo Barker discovers Italy split between sheer panic and devotion to la dolce vita https://bit.ly/3a0ixxv Just say non to more Parisian bicycles Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, wants to introduce more bikes to the city. Tom Hodgkinson warns us against them https://bit.ly/3d7hqxs Fat Britain gets a pat on the back The BBC’S new documentary about obesity, Miriam’s Big Fat Adventure, promises little more than cliché and claptrap, says Ferdie Rous https://bit.ly/2wnxayr Cicero approves of Genesis The pop group Genesis are reforming, all at the age of 69. Cicero, an expert on old age, would have approved https://bit.ly/2vuqi7i RIP Rosie the Riveter Rosalind Walter, one of the inspirations for the famous wartime character, has died, aged 95. What a gal, says Dea Birkett https://bit.ly/3a1wwml A child’s memories of occupied Jersey As the 75th anniversary of VE Day approaches, Joan Watts remembers the tough days of the German occupation of the Channel Island https://bit.ly/33zrauw The only way forwards is backwards Mary Killen and Giles Wood, from
Gogglebox, love watching old films on Talking Pictures TV – as do veteran journalists Sir Peregrine Worsthorne and Paul Johnson. Gyles Brandreth agrees https://bit.ly/3b044sw Too immature for prison? The Scottish Sentencing Council has said that criminals under the age of 25 should not got to prison. Theodore
Dalrymple objects https://bit.ly/2qskbhq Happy 100th birthday, Ronald Searle! The greatest cartoonist of the 20th century, Ronald Searle (1920-2011), was born 100 years ago. Harry Mount remembers, with joy, interviewing him for his 90th birthday https://bit.ly/2x3qcpk Keep the ladies for ladies! The House of Lords is debating whether to restrict at least half of public loos to women only. Michael
Leapman salutes the measure https://bit.ly/3bago9z The treasures of Sutton Hoo The Staffordshire Hoard of extraordinary Anglo-saxon finds will be on show at Sutton Hoo from May. But who’s buried there? asks David Horspool https://bit.ly/2iuu5t9