In this issue

● The Oldie has been dubbed ‘Private Eye for grown-ups’ and is read by intelligent people who are fed up with the formulaic nature of the celebrity-obsessed national press
● As well as having a lively reviews section, The Oldie is packed with the very best cartoons
● The Oldie is published every four weeks and has 92–122 pages. Every quarter we publish The Oldie Review of Books with the main magazine, as well as a foreign travel supplement in January, a UK travel supplement in March, a Christmas Gift Guide in November and a cartoon calendar

Their finest hour – in their finest planes

Eighty years ago, the Battle of Britain changed the course of history, thanks to the Hurricane and the Spitfire, says Leo McKinstry

7 mins

Peter Sellers, the mad magician

On the 40th anniversary of the actor’s death, his biographer Roger Lewis admires a sinister genius, who was quite off his head

6 mins

The oldie easy riders

Country roads are crammed with OAP bikers, says Peter McKay, a ton-up boy for 60 years

4 mins

Naked truth of modelling

Deni Bown became a life model as a broke single mother – and ended up loving it

5 mins

Reaching for the stars – in their dressing rooms

For 20 years at the BBC, Jenny Bardwell sprinkled stardust over dull broadcasts. Now she’s found the old tapes – with their rich, lost voices

5 mins

Hunter on the Heath

For 60 years, Hunter Davies, 84, has walked – and swum – on wild Hampstead Heath

5 mins

Radio's King of Comedy

Martin Jarvis has now recorded 195 Just William stories and PG Wodehouse’s funniest books, he tells Valerie Grove

4 mins

What's the point of the cactus?

‘It seemeth a strange herb,’ wrote the Spanish physician Nicolás Monardes in his Joyful News out of the New World (1568) of his first encounter with a cactus. ’One of its thorns pricked me. They are as sharp as needles and did hurt.’

3 mins

Travel On top of the world

As a boy, Melvyn Bragg biked up and down the fells. At 30, he bought a cottage there. Now 80, he is still bewitched by the Lake District

6 mins

Home, sweet Gothic home

Ever since moving into the Old Rectory at Hedgerley 40 years ago, I’ve kissed its walls every day

5 mins

Read all stories from The Oldie Magazine

The Oldie Magazine Description:

The idea for the Oldie was conceived by Richard Ingrams, who was the editor for 22 years, and Alexander Chancellor.
● The Oldie is 23 years old this year. It is not a retirement magazine but an irreverent humorous magazine packed with great writing. 92% of our readers state ‘reading’ as their number one hobby
● The Oldie has been dubbed ‘Private Eye for grown-ups’ and is read by intelligent people who are fed up with the formulaic nature of the celebrity-obsessed national press
● As well as having a lively reviews section, The Oldie is packed with the very best cartoons
● The Oldie is published every four weeks and has 92–122 pages. Every quarter we publish The Oldie Review of Books with the main magazine, as well as a foreign travel supplement in January, a UK travel supplement in March, a Christmas Gift Guide in November and a cartoon calendar