A Kings

  • The Day I Almost Remembered a Life I Never Lived, I Think.

    By a man who still isn’t sure if he met a ghost or just inhaled too much pollen It’s been said—quite confidently, and probably over a pint—that England, for all its history of wars, plagues, and questionable cuisine, is the most haunted country on earth. Now, I’m not sure who’s keeping score here, because if…

    AKings

  • Lost in Translation: Misadventures Through France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Beyond

    Back when the world was still vaguely sensible and living in England, I decided to take a proper road trip. Not one of those dull “fly somewhere, rent a car” getaways. No, this was the real deal—Hampshire to the Netherlands, with a bit of France, Belgium, and an accidental detour into Germany. Because, as always,…

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  • How I Accidentally Joined the Railway and Dodged a Missile Company

    by someone who wore boat shoes to a railway interview Back in the early 2000s—when Nokia was king and broadband meant waiting three hours to download one photo of a car—I returned to England after a stint abroad. I had a young family, a head full of vague responsibilities, and a sudden awareness that baby…

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  • Driven Mad: A Life in Cars

    You know how it is with people and cars. Some folks couldn’t care less—as long as it’s got four wheels and doesn’t explode every Tuesday, they’re happy. To them, it’s just a box to get from A to B without getting arrested. Others? They treat cars like rolling symphonies. Every curve is sculpture. Every exhaust…

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  • A Jubilee, a Corr, and a Cold Goodbye

    February 2017, London. Cold, damp, and everything was wrapped in that stubborn, bone-chilling English gray. It was the sort of chill that could freeze tea right in the kettle. So naturally, I thought, “What better time for a nostalgia walk?” There I was, hoofing it down the Mall, past Buckingham Palace, when I realized the…

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  • Signals, Screams, and a Bulb That Just Wouldn’t Go In

    Back in my days working for the famed British Railways—now rebranded as Network Rail, presumably to make it sound more modern and efficient, which, let’s be honest, is a bit like renaming a donkey “Lightning” and expecting it to win the Kentucky Derby—I had what can only be described as a classic railway experience. It…

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  • When the World Was Young (And Then It Wasn’t)

    I remember yesterday, when the world was younger—when everything smelled faintly of vinyl records and cigarettes, and no one had yet decided that being permanently offended was a lifestyle choice. The 1970s—at least the bits I can recall—were a curious time. Women’s hair were a towering work of architectural ambition, and the men? Well, they…

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