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

The Old Un's Notes

Among this month's contributors

NOT MANY DEAD • Important stories you may have missed

Jeremy Thorpe's crush on me • I was 20. He was 39. And he leapt over a bench to greet me

Italians make me an offer I can refuse • My wife was caught speeding in Rapallo. Why should I pay her fine?

OLDEN LIFE

MODERN LIFE

A talent to amuse • Rev Peter Mullen salutes the genius of Noël Coward, 50 years after his death

Ian Fleming's last wish • Seventy years after the first Bond book, Algy Cluff recalls his meeting with the writer – and the dream that never came true

Tarzan turns 90 • Michael Heseltine attacks Liz Truss and Boris Johnson but praises Rishi Sunak – and his old foe, Margaret Thatcher.

Cars drive me crazy • Anne Robinson excelled on Top Gear but she still needed help from a man – The Oldie's Matthew Norman – to buy a new motor

Worst films ever • Andrew Roberts lays out the rules of awful British movies – and there are plenty to choose from

Pin-up that won the war • Eighty years ago, Betty Grable posed for a photo that one in 12 Allied servicemen took to the battlefield.

I bought a wood • Joy Lo Dico acquired a smallholding for pleasure – and then the price of firewood started soaring

I'm not the only lonely man • Eight million British men feel isolated. John Matthews is one of them

Finding my feet

Funny girl • Elaine May, 90, has been a legend for 70 years. She starred with Mike Nichols in the 50s and won an Oscar last year.

Kidnapped! • Fifty years ago, Trevor Grove's father, head of the Vestey family's meat- packing business in Argentina, went to play golf – and didn't come home

When Scotland struck oil • Local Hero, the tale of a Scottish village that's about to become filthy rich, came out 40 years ago. Roger Lewis still cries every time he watches it

Tenants from Hell • Don't rent your flat to lawyers or pop stars, Bruce Beresford was told by a friend. If only he'd listened

Buy British – in Canada • When Reverend Michael Coren moved from Britain to Toronto, he wasn't short of Marmite, Dolly Mixture or Glacier Mints

My dream retirement home? Soho

Marmalade addicts – the Queen, Paddington and me

Sixty years on the Street of Shame • As Mary Kenny enters her seventh decade as a journalist, she looks back on the highs and lows of old Fleet Street

Who will end my lady drought? • After 18 years, my old friend has finally found a lover. If only I could be so lucky

I'm on strike – for my pupils' sake

Quite Interesting Things about … authors

Sister Helen, the Angel of Death Row

Dame Frances Campbell-Preston (1918-2022)

Listen more – and don't lose your marbles • Deafness is related to dementia but does one cause the other?

READERS' LETTERS

I Twice Met George H W Bush

Egon Ronay's exceedingly good taste

Oxford eggheads and numskulls • At university, A N Wilson met brilliant dons – and professors who struggled to define a tomato

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