Category: Scotland

Historical, Scotland, Wartime Memories, World War1 Comment

The Prince of Wales – Part two

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

THE PRINCE OF WALES A SAILOR’S LOG (Part 2) Continuing from this story about the battleship the Prince of Wales and reconstructing the life of a young sailor who was member of her crew for the whole of her short 6 months of life. 1.6 Ships Diary In trying to make a stab at where Jimmy had been and the decorations he was awarded, I have created a Ships Diary for the full service life of the battleship The Prince of Wales: It should be remembered that while you are reading the following that the Prince of Wales only went … Continue reading The Prince of Wales – Part two

Historical, Scotland, Wartime Memories, World War5 Comments

The Prince of Wales – Part one

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories Number 6 A SAILOR’S LOG A riveting look back to the battleship, Prince of Wales and a bit by bit, reconstruction of the momentous experiences of a young sailor from Edinburgh who served as a member of her crew for the whole of her short 6 months of life. 1.1 A Memory Jolted. When, in 2018, my wife and I embarked on a cruise out of Rosyth, (the old and still operational, naval dockyard near Edinburgh) my brain pulled a trigger that fired up a wartime memory. We had just got on board, emptied our cases, had a … Continue reading The Prince of Wales – Part one

Historical, RAF, Scotland, World War13 Comments

The First Air Raid on Mainland Britain in WW2

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories No.3 German bomber of the period – (Heinkel He 111 H) CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF THE EARLY LUFTWAFFE AIR RAIDS *This shows a deliberate change in German bombing policy, from attacking air defences to trying to demoralizing the civilian population. DATES OF AIR RAIDS ON EDINBURGH DURING WW2 WHAT I REMEMBER When, as a 5 year old, I was ‘helping’ my father to apply criss-crosses of Scrim (adhesive tape) to the windows of our North facing second floor tenement flat in the Bonnington area of Leith. (Scrim tape applied to the inside of a window was used to protect … Continue reading The First Air Raid on Mainland Britain in WW2

Historical, RAF, Scotland, Wartime Memories15 Comments

I was there!

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories 2 History records that, for a period of eight months, from September 7th 1940 until May 11th 1941, Nazi Germany subjected Great Britain to a campaign of, intense bombing: Blitzkrieg. During which time the Luftwaffe carried out continuous air raids on London and other strategic targets across the length and breadth of the U.K. What is not so well known though is that almost 11 months before that, on 16th October 1939, the first air raid on the U.K. had already taken place and that it had happened in Scotland. * 1.1 THE INCIDENT I came into this … Continue reading I was there!

General, Historical, Old Edinburgh, RAF, Scotland, Wartime Memories, World War13 Comments

Guns Galore!

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Wartime Memories No.1 Not long after the end of the Second World War, under the starlit sky of an early autumn morning, a chuffing, puffing old railway engine, enveloped in a cloud of steam, shunted a clanking train of open topped freight wagons into the railway siding just to the North of Bonnington Toll in Edinburgh. With the wagon’s brakes secured, the engine steamed off to get on with its next task, leaving the sidings deserted, eerily silent and hidden from view behind the high random rubble stone wall that borders Newhaven Road. Later, with the sun creeping over the … Continue reading Guns Galore!

Historical, Old Edinburgh, Scotland, Stenlake Books, Uncategorized6 Comments

Old EDINBURGH views from above

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

THE BACKSTORY TO My book – Featured in the Edinburgh Life magazine September/October 2024 Old EDINBURGH: Views from above – Published in 2002 by Stenlake Publishing – http://www.stenlake.co.uk. – Whose editor said that, “Of all the books we have published this one is one of my favourites.” THE 1930 BLACK AND WHITE OBLIQUES In the late 1980’s a quantity of glass plate negatives were found in a Lothian Regional Council building that had formerly housed the offices of the City of Edinburgh Corporation. It was evident that they were fairly old. The images were clearly recognizable as being views of … Continue reading Old EDINBURGH views from above

General, Historical, Scotland5 Comments

Magazine contributions

Change Therapy

Over the last few years, I have contributed a number of articles to Edinburgh’s most prestigious magazine, The Edinburgh Life. 1 The subjects of my articles in this bi-monthly magazine are of a historical nature, specifically areas that I have a keen interest in; old Edinburgh and Leith and Aerial Photography. My first published book was called Old Edinburgh; Views from above – A series of oblique air photos of Edinburgh taken in 1930. Then I went on to publish 3 fictional paperbacks about Sailing in the West of Scotland. These days, as I approach my 90th birthday, in October … Continue reading Magazine contributions

Historical, Scotland, Uncategorized15 Comments

The Bridge of Sighs – Edinburgh

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

[*Supporting information on my article EDINBURGH’S BRIDGE OF SIGHS in the November/December2022 edition of the Edinburgh Life magazine* by Johnny Jones/ Jack Jones/John A Jones] Hidden and Enigmatic Statue I was born in 1934 and as a child every time my family walked over the Dean Bridge, my father would lift me up to let me see ‘The Little Sailor Boy’. He would tell me that the statue had been put there in memory of a sailor who had committed suicide by jumping off the bridge and that it had been put there to act as a warning to others … Continue reading The Bridge of Sighs – Edinburgh

Golf, Scotland5 Comments

I’ve given up Golf – 4 of 4

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Now that I have accepted that my last chance of getting a hole in one has gone, all that is left for me to do is clear out my locker, hand in the key and make way for one of the younger, fitter members. However my playing partners and I have managed to spend a good portion of this last year out in the fresh air enjoying the camaraderie of playing the game that has, for so many years, been an important part of our lives. As a non-playing member I can still meet up with and enjoy the company … Continue reading I’ve given up Golf – 4 of 4

Golf, Scotland1 Comment

I’ve given up Golf – 2 of 4

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

Most golf books are written with the intention of helping players to get to the top of their game, but here from personal experience I can now reveal what happens to golfers who have gone over their peak, slid down the slippery slope and arrived at the bottom. In thinking back to our decision, we must have felt then that the writing was already on the wall as, during this past year, our gradual descent from grace has become more and more apparent. In some ways our decline was exacerbated by the course closures brought about by Covid, and we … Continue reading I’ve given up Golf – 2 of 4

Golf, Scotland1 Comment

I’ve given up Golf – 3 of 4

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

I, like my partners, now find that staying on an even keel to play a shot has – bit by bit – become a lottery. Our stance has narrowed significantly, a shoulder turn is almost non-existent, keeping the left arm straight is a no go position, with the inevitable result that we have lost our confidence to strike the ball cleanly. Consequently, the ball no longer flies as far as it once did, to the embarrassing extent that, any of the ground-staff working more than 150 yards ahead of us, now know that our tee shots offer no threat to … Continue reading I’ve given up Golf – 3 of 4

Golf, Scotland4 Comments

I’ve given up Golf – 1 of 4

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

For my two regular playing partners and myself, with a combined age of somewhere in excess of 260 years, the 31st of December last year was a momentous day. Exactly one year before that we had agreed to hang up our clubs at the end of the season and transfer to non-playing membership of the world’s 4th oldest golf club – the Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society in Edinburgh. And on balance, it has turned out to be a decision that has proved to have been made just in time! A few years ago our group numbered around a dozen but … Continue reading I’ve given up Golf – 1 of 4

Charity, Golf, Scotland6 Comments

Donors raise £1200 for charity

Johnny Jones - Nonagenarian Author

The last few months have been hectic, with the launch of my 3rd book, A Storm On Any Course. To celebrate the launch of the final book in the Zander Trilogy, and my retiral from writing, we put out an offer to not only purchase a copy, but to also have their names printed at the rear of the book, under the title of Donors. All money received would be donated to our nominated charity, Get2gether. (They arrange social activities for people with disabilities in safe and friendly places in Edinburgh and the Lothians). With very limited access available, due … Continue reading Donors raise £1200 for charity