Ian Waugh

The South West isn’t a forgotten backwater. It’s bold, creative, with its own voice. We lost local radio & TV — and with it more than news. We lost the mirror showing who we are. The rhythm of our communities. Our power to speak and be heard. Reclaim it — or lose it forever.

BBC News this morning (02 Feb 2026), lead page, presents a gallery of horrors and nasties.

On the evening of 18 April 1930, listeners to the BBC’s evening bulletin heard an announcement that has since passed into legend: “Good evening. Today is Good Friday. There is no news.” #BBC #RadioHistory #BBCArchive #PublicServiceBroadcasting tinyurl.com/yeyvk5uv

I have traced the legend of the Mohocks, aristocratic rakes who terrorised 18th-century streets. Now David Bowie’s final notes reveal he planned to put them in a musical. tinyurl.com/3p52v993 #DavidBowie #Mohocks #OldBritishNews #HistoricalGangs #CulturalHistory #LondonCrime

1885 - From Irish arson to Canterbury highway robbery, a runaway bankrupt, and an 1885 miners' strike — gripping tales from Victorian England. #VictorianHistory #FamilyHistory #BritishHistory #StJamesGazette #Ireland #RailwayAccident #1885News #Genealogy tinyurl.com/yckxyv2j

📜 Industrial Tragedy in 1859: Fatal Chemical Exposure at Torpoint Factory In 1859, two men died after inhaling toxic nitrous acid fumes at a fertiliser factory in Cornwall. #History #Cornwall #IndustrialRevolution #WorkplaceSafety #Genealogy #19thCentury tinyurl.com/szwtzbt7

Petty Sessions: Drunkenness and Livestock Theft in Redditch and Feckenham - 1872 #VictorianJustice #PettySessions #BromsgroveCourt #DroitwichHistory #CrimeAndPunishment #WorcestershireLaw #HistoricalCrime #DrunkennessLaws #LivestockTheft #19thCenturyCourt tinyurl.com/27xed447

Racial and Ethnic Bias in British Newspapers (Pre-1950) #HistoricalBias #PressPrejudice #MediaRacism #NewspaperHistory #BritishPress #ColonialNarratives #RacialStereotypes #EthnicBias #Pre1950Press #HistoricalRacism tinyurl.com/h92p8h8w

As a lad of the 1960s, for me, a spotty, skinny boy, Marianne Faithfull remained my number one. She was everything on so many levels. Adored through the decades to the very end.

Throwback to 1906: Police court cases in Middlesex highlight public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and even an arrest over 'talking politics.' 🍺⚖️ #History #EdwardianEra oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/19/the…

Victorian Justice in 1864 🧐 Drunkenness? £10 fines or jail. Punching a policeman? £20 fine. Illegal prize fight? Deny it, still blamed! 🥊 Selling beer on Sunday? 🍺 Victorian problems, timeless chaos. #History #NottinghamForest oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/18/dri…

Victorian railways in 1887: 919 killed, 3,590 injured. Passengers, workers, trespassers & suicides highlight widespread risks, with carelessness a key factor. Safety still evolving. oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/16/sho… #RailwayHistory #VictorianEra

Forgery, Fake Wills, and Opened Graves: The Shocking 1898 Scandal of Herbert Davies, the 'Genealogist' Who Fooled a Colonel to Rewrite History. 🕰️⚖️ #HistoryScandal #Forgery oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/15/for…

🚂 Railway Robbery in 1884! 🕰️ Four young sailors stole a fellow passenger's bag on a train to Birkenhead. A vivid glimpse into Victorian crime and justice! #VictorianHistory #RailwayCrime #Birkenhead oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/14/bir…

Exploring the forgotten world of rare and short-lived newspapers: niche publications that captured fleeting moments in history, from radical movements to local curiosities. 📰✨ #History #Newspapers #RareFinds oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/12/rar…

Crystal-clear radio in 1947 – without a radio set! 🖥️🔊 Rediffusion brought BBC programmes to homes via private wire, avoiding interference & costly batteries. A glimpse of post-war tech innovation! #History #VintageTech #OldBritishNews oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/11/red…

The Gloucester Journal on Saturday, 23 August 1862, details a legal case involving a young man named Herbert Cresswell. He was charged with and admitted guilt to the crime of forgery. #Gloucestershire #Cheltenham #oldnews #history #oldbritishnews oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/10/for…

Cheltenham, 1830: An unusual incident of wife-selling shocks a bustling corn market. A snapshot of 19th-century England’s social tensions and gender norms—explore the full story with #OldBritishNews. #HistoryRevealed oldbritishnews.com/2024/12/01/wif…

🌄 'From Quarries to Conservation' explores Dartmoor's granite industry & railway, uncovering how labour, industry, & conservation shaped its identity. A story of resilience, transformation, and heritage. 🏞️ #History #Dartmoor #IndustrialHeritage princetownrailway.co.uk/from-quarries-…

Family notices in old newspapers are important - offering a rich resource for genealogical research and insights into social history. Here is an example: Gloucester Citizen (Thursday 8th December 1927): oldbritishnews.com/2024/11/22/fam… #bdm #family #notice #genealogy #history