The Oldie

The idea for the Oldie was cooked up 25 years ago by its founding editor, Richard Ingrams, and his much-lamented successor, the late Alexander Chancellor. Their aim was to create a free-thinking, funny magazine, a light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity. The Oldie is ageless and timeless, free of retirement advice, crammed with rejuvenating wit, intelligence and delight. With over 100 pages in every issue, The Oldie is packed with funny cartoons and free-thinking and intelligent articles covering a wide range of topics – from gardening and books to travel, arts, entertainment, and so much more.

The Old Un's Notes

NOT MANY DEAD • Important stories you may have missed

An everyday story of lesbian lust • There've been gay girls in Borsetshire before – now we've been treated to their first ever on-air kiss on The Archers

Put the brakes on, Cycling Mikey • The two-wheeled vigilante should stop harassing gridlocked drivers

OLDEN LIFE • WHAT WAS bicycle face?

MODERN LIFE • WHAT IS micro-cheating?

My invitation to Camelot • Richard Harris enchanted Bond Girl Madeline Smith with poems and letters but, to her eternal regret, she spurned him

The Man with the Golden Pen • Ian Fleming was an underrated figure in the Second World War and after – and an influence on John le Carré.

Jobs for the girls • Women were once confined to typing, cooking – and ironing Mr Right's shirt. By Ysenda Maxtone Graham

My interview Hell • When Griff Rhys Jones spoke to a journalist, he didn't realise every self-righteous ninny on Fleet Street would lacerate him

Lodging with Uncle Tony • Lady Antonia Fraser tells Harry Mount about staying with Anthony Powell, her uncle, as he began A Dance to the Music of Time in 1949

The British Atlas • In his new book, Peter Bellerby, the only bespoke globemaker in the world, reveals his secrets to making the perfect planet

Twig lit • As a Twiggy musical launches, Valerie Grove recalls writing the Neasden icon's autobiography in 1975

Life on the edge • Sasha Swire walks the windswept, wave-battered South West Coast Path, home to Butlin's and solitary bird-watchers

Dad's Salerno elegy • Eighty years ago, Richard Oldfield's father wrote a heartbreaking tribute to two comrades, killed in battle

London calling • Duncan Campbell was an original presenter for LBC, Britain's first commercial news station, at its chaotic launch, 50 years ago

Look back and hanker • Fon Askew has suffered from acute nostalgia since he was a boy

The strange decline of literary journalism • Oh for the golden age of Orwell, Muggeridge and Powell

Alderney's inconvenient truth • An inquiry into Nazi atrocities on British soil will be painful

The old South Bank show – bear-baiting

Hell is other people at breakfast

Let's get back on track • The mad decision to close train ticket offices is very bad news – and not just for oldies, says Mary Kenny

Keep an eye out for eyelash extensions • They improve your look – as long as you avoid the Miss Piggy effect

Haunted house whodunnit • The chief suspect in the Cleethorpes murder? Mother says it's me

I believe in miracles – on exam results day

Smashed gravestones and broken hearts at George Herbert's church

Tom Stacey (1930-2022)

The younger you look, the healthier you are • A new scientific study relates well-preserved looks to less illness

READERS’ LETTERS • The Oldie, 23-31 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7PA letters@theoldie.co.uk To sign up for our e-newsletter, go to www.theoldie.co.uk

Donald Sinden

My drag act in a Kuwait jail

Books

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