Latest Posts

The colours of paint used in our kitchen over the years

Published on 3 December 2023 in House, kitchen

A refurbishment of the kitchen in our Victorian era house has unveiled the interesting paint choices of previous owners.

The complete and utterly accurate schedule of all of Tony Dibbin’s radio shows (maybe)

Published on 1 December 2023 in Radio

Diagram showing Tony Dibbin's radio shows. These are: Real Radio New Zealand (Weekdays 3-6pm local time - 2-5am UK time), Dragon Radio (weekdays 6am-noon), Nation 80s (weekdays 10am-2pm), Absolute Radio (10am-1pm), Nation Radio (1pm-4pm), Nation Radio (Saturdays noon-6pm), Nation Radio (except Scotland) (Sundays noon-4pm), Arena Radio (Sundays 8-10pm)

No, you've done a comprehensive schedule of Tony Dibbin's radio shows.

My earliest memories of Doctor Who

Published on 23 November 2023 in BBC, Television, TV Programmes, Doctor Who

Davros's head in a glass tube in Doctor Who serial, the Revelation of the Daleks

Celebrate 60 years of Doctor Who by trying to recall my earliest Doctor Who memories. And then working out how scarily young I was.

Giving caged hens get a new home

Published on 22 September 2023 in House, Life, chickens

Two chickens exploring the garden for the first time.

In 2021 we got some chickens. This year we got some more as we rehomed three chickens who had lived all their lives in cages.

Historical Cloned Beer Reviews: Boddingtons Bitter (Tony’s pre-1970s clone)

Published on 8 July 2023 in Beer, Homebrew, Cloned Beer Reviews

A can of Boddingtons, next to a stemmed half pint glass containing some of the beer. A second, paler beer is in the backgound.

After recently brewing Boddingtons Bitter using a recipe from 1945, I decided to have another go using a recipe that recreates the beer from the 1970s,

Why did Barley Wines become known as “Old Tom”?

Published on 9 May 2023 in Beer

A Robinsons Old Tom Strong Ale pump clip

Robinsons Brewery have an excellent beer called Old Tom. But it's not the only Old Tom beer in history. Why did this name become synonymous with strong ale? (tl:dr - I don't know.)