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 Oldie

Among this month's contributors

The Old Un's Notes

NOT MANY DEAD • Important stories you may have missed

I'm half Joe Biden and half Michael Flatley • How do I stop looking old and doddery? Irish dancing is the answer

Haunted by Michael Winner's ghost • ‘Calm down, dear,’ he said – after my home insurance soared

OLDEN LIFE

MODERN LIFE

'You're nicked!' • The Sweeney began 50 years ago. Andrew Roberts salutes the fine acting, inspired script – and brilliant theme tune

RIP the posh fatty • Tubby Sloanes were celebrated by everyone, from the Two Fat Ladies to French and Saunders. Now they’ve disappeared.

The longest day • On the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Giles Milton tells the moving tale of individual soldiers – and the piper – who landed on the beaches

D-Day on the Home Front • In wartime letters from London, Laura Grenfell wrote about D-Day, VE Day and Joyce Grenfell, her dazzling sister-in-law

G K Chesterton, saint and sinner • On the writer’s 150th anniversary, Rev Michael Coren salutes a genius – with a nasty side

My Odessa family • John Sergeant is horrified by Russian attacks on the great city, home to his mother and grandmother

Do mention the war • As Fawlty Towers hits the West End, John Cleese tells Mark Palmer how it all began – and how Germans love the sublime comedy

Our greatest architect • Edwin Lutyens built houses, churches, a viceroy’s palace – and the Cenotaph. Clive Aslet says he deserves the highest accolade…

Farming today? A complete nightmare

Arms and the woman • Watch out for armpit overspill, ladies!

My vote? None of the above • Why vote for politicians who’ve handed control to the markets?

The strange death of British culture

I'm the neighbour from Hell – in Lisbon and Wales

Mother's fall – and the descent of man • When she took a tumble, a paramedic turned up and started behaving like Benny Hill

I'm dying to cure the cost-of-living crisis • The longer we live, the more we waste our children’s inheritance, says Mary Kenny

If only we could expel the parents

I long to be a lazybones

Baroness (Shreela) Flather (1934-2024)

Watch out, alcoholics and Mrs T • They’re all prone to Dupuytren’s contracture – and so am I

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

Valerie Eliot

Dad's saviour - a naked lady in a pub

The 80-year-old Superwoman • In her four score years, Liz Hodgkinson has never been ill or had a check-up

Knife crime

The art of the steal

Bored in the USA

Teacher's reading list

How your garden grows

OLDIE NOVEL OF THE MONTH Twain again

Map of British drunks • A new book shows how Victorian ‘drink maps’ fought rampant alcohol consumption, from London to Edinburgh.

London's dynamic duo • George IV and John Nash gave the capital a glorious facelift, 200 years...