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

Among this month's contributors

The Old Un's Notes

NOT MANY DEAD • Important stories you may have missed

GREAT BORES OF TODAY – SMART WATCHES

Je t'aime, Brigitte! • When I was a boy at the Lycée Français de Londres, I had two pin-ups: Bardot and Joan of Arc

My positive case for negative thinking • Prepare for the worst – and you'll never be let down

OLDEN LIFE

MODERN LIFE

A lovable rogue is born • Forty years ago, Ian La Frenais encouraged Ian McShane to play Lovejoy – after a night on the tiles with Ava Gardner

Supermac's first flight • Mark Bryant salutes cartoonist Vicky, who lampooned Harold Macmillan as a superhero

I do, I do, I do… …and I don't • Amelia Milne's office romance led to marriage… … while Charlotte Metcalf swears she will never walk up the aisle

The Nazi tapestry heist • The Bayeux Tapestry is coming to London. In 1941, Himmler tried - and catastrophically failed - to steal it for his German castle.

Are you U or non-U? • Seventy years after Nancy Mitford's bestseller, class distinction lingers on

Treat old age like a job • Nanette Newman, 91, has all the right qualifications for employment as an oldie

Don't let the tie die! • Male oldies, take note – ties take years off you and hide the dreaded wattle

Let's all fill the sycamore gap – and plant trees

We worship our boring, useless, lazy cat

The art of being honest to bad painters

When oldies become meanies • After 71, people become stingier, a new study says. Mary Kenny, who's morphed from spendthrift to tightwad, agrees

Oh no! Mother's a peeping Tom • The dream hobby for a housebound invalid? Doing a Cleethorpes version of Rear Window

Don't read? Then teach English

John Lennon

Vacani & Ballantine - fifties dancing queens

Wildly divine gannets

Lady Amabel Lindsay (1935-2025)

Your mind - use it or lose it • Crosswords and art can prevent dementia, a new study says

Happy 250th birthday, America! • Independence parties can be tricky - two Presidents died on the 50th anniversary

READERS' LETTERS • The Oldie, 23-31 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7PA letters@theoldie.co.uk To sign up for our e-newsletter, go to www.theoldie.co.uk

Commonplace Corner

BANT

Lord of the slums

Gorgeous George

Sicilian defence

Second Georgian age

Pedants revolt

Splitsville, USA

Trillion-dollar laundrette

FILM

THEATRE

TELEVISION

RADIO

MUSIC

GOLDEN OLDIES

EXHIBITIONS

GARDENING

KITCHEN GARDEN

COOKERY

RESTAURANTS

DRINK

SPORT

MOTORING

Message to the BBC: make iPlayer pay

Don't bank on bank shares

Who pays for dinner? • Modern etiquette is a minefield. Gone are the days when the man always paid - but splitting the bill can be monstrous.

Redpoll

Learning la lingua • Keen to speak Italian - and to keep dementia at...