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History

Pompey Bar Room Banter 9: Dick Luff and the Queens Head

5th October 2025

Actor and writer John Bartlett whisks us back in time to the eccentric, ‘wondrously wayward’ life of Hampshire publican Dick Luff.  The Queens Head, in the outwardly tranquil township of Sheet, is situated at the [… read more ]

Memoir

Pompey Bar Room Banter 8: Smouldering Eric and the Fifth Hants

4th January 2025

The Fifth Hants Volunteer Arms – or the Fifth Hants as it is frequently referred to – stands tall in the landscape, and whilst not dominating the street, it is surely synonymous with it. It [… read more ]

History

Pompey Bar Room Banter 7: Pottery Clive (Part II)

10th July 2019

Over the years, the story of the Still and West pub in Old Portsmouth has intersected with the stories of many local people. One such person is author, actor and playwright John Bartlett who concludes [… read more ]

Memoir

Pompey Bar Room Banter 6: Pottery Clive (Part I)

5th July 2019

Over the years, the story of the Still and West pub in Old Portsmouth has intersected with the stories of many local people. Author, actor and playwright John Bartlett is one such person.  In the [… read more ]

Memoir

Pompey Bar Room Banter 5: Hey Big Spender

25th May 2018

Writer and actor John Bartlett remembers an iconic Portsmouth pub and some shambolic yet hilarious musical goings-on within. The Sir Robert Peel was built in 1967 and demolished some forty years later. It had little [… read more ]

Memoir

Pompey Bar Room Banter 3: Mr Difannyous, Part I

25th August 2017

John Oke Bartlett continues his storytelling of Portsmouth’s pub history and the larger than life characters he has met along the way. In the third of the series, we meet Ted, a regular at the [… read more ]

Memoir

A Casualty of the Great War?

20th April 2017

S&C Contributing Editor John Oke Bartlett revisits a family mystery of war, trauma and Christmases past. Nana didn’t talk much about life with her first husband Victor Nash. According to my parents’ marriage certificate, Victor had [… read more ]

Memoir

Guns, Glitter and Gewgaws: A 1950s Christmas

24th December 2016

In a S&C Christmas exclusive, actor, playwright and S&C Contributing Editor John Bartlett recalls the Christmas customs of his childhood. Some of these customs remain with us, others now seem alien or eccentric. In 1956, [… read more ]

Memoir

The Sailor Dad I Never Knew

21st October 2016

S&C Contributing Editor John Oke Bartlett never really knew his father, who served in the Royal Navy in World War II. Now, some years after her death, he’s compelled to record as much as he [… read more ]

History

On the Lash at the Dockyard Gates

28th March 2016

Actor and playwright John Bartlett spins an atmospheric yarn of love, tragedy and the lash set in the Portsmouth dockyard of old. “Farewell, farewell my own true love, this parting gives me pain You’ll be my hope, [… read more ]

Posts pagination

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Latest News

News

Green Open Homes Week: How Portsmouth Residents are Taking on the Energy Crisis

26th June 2026

Energy prices are a growing concern – but for some, getting ahead of the crisis has paid off. Local residents have been opening their doors to Nicholas Sebley of Portsmouth Climate Action to reveal how they [… read more ]

News

Portsmouth UCU Branch Condemns Iran War and Calls for University Ethics Review

27th May 2026

The Portsmouth branch of the UCU (University and College Union) has passed a motion condemning the US and Israel’s illegal wars against Iran and Lebanon, and calling for an ethical review of the University of [… read more ]

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News

Planetbuilding Blues: Science Fiction Special

11th May 2026

Writer and planetary modeller David Angus reminisces about science fiction (SF) conventions over the years and his friendship with SF icon Brian Aldiss. During Easter I was in Birmingham Exhibition Centre at a science fiction convention. [… read more ]

News

The People’s Emergency Briefing: How to Combat Climate Change in Portsmouth

8th May 2026

Climate change is undeniably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, existential threat facing humanity. It is, however, quite difficult to grasp, and understand the impacts it currently has, and will have, not only [… read more ]

News

Planetbuilding Blues: Space and Time Projects

9th April 2026

  Writer and planetary modeller David Angus details his latest projects, including Time Travel (and Dinosaurs) in Gosport. I’ve worked a lot on Jupiter’s moons, as you do. Callisto has already been mentioned in earlier [… read more ]

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