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

The Old Un's Notes

Among this month's contributors

NOT MANY DEAD • Important stories you may have missed

My sad, brief encounter with Noël Coward • The Master's Jamaican house is in a tragic state

Taxed to the max • The agony of hanging on the telephone, trying to get a tax refund

OLDEN LIFE

MODERN LIFE

Fifty years of The Good Life • The sitcom is a subtle study in comedy, class and poignancy.

Paul Eddington

Guarding Churchill on his last journey

Ancient Roman holiday • Our greatest war photographer, Don McCullin, 89, found solace in capturing classical statues for a new book

Commando still on duty • Achtung! For the comic that gripped a generation of schoolboys, the war is never over.

PG's tips for liberating the spirit • Wodehouse created a world free from boring, dangerous views

My very late Valentine • Nigel Pullman has been single for 60 of his 77 years. Now he's tying the knot

Chewelry – the school craze from Hell

Confessions of a bag lady • The countrywoman in town is a beast of burden

The American cost of growing old • Pray for good health – or pay for exorbitant oldie healthcare

Feed the birds – and save them

Tenerife minibreak saved my marriage

Dover's lost its soul • While trendy Deal is toasted as Hoxton-on-Sea, its poor neighbour is in a sad way.

Lost Shangri-La of Cleethorpes • The Lloyds car park was my last refuge in town – until the bank closed down

Cordon bleu guide to disgusting food

Thou shalt not be a pompous judge

Marigold Johnson MBE (1932-2024)

Losing the will to live • God save me from motor neurone disease or terminal cancer

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

A Queen set in stone? • Plans are under way for the monarch's monument in St James's Park

Commonplace Corner

RANT

Dickens on the couch

Hitler's royal servants

Not so Gorgeous George

Pontiff pontificates

Profile in courage

My Sweet Carolines • How thrilling it was to write about Caroline Lamb and Caroline Norton

FILM

THEATRE

RADIO

TELEVISION

MUSIC

GOLDEN OLDIES

EXHIBITIONS

GARDENING

KITCHEN GARDEN

COOKERY

RESTAURANTS

DRINK

SPORT

MOTORING

Smartphones aren't so smart

Don't let Rachel Reeves steal your cash

Join us for a tour of The Real Rajasthan • With Sam Dalrymple 20th to 30th January 2026

Willow tit

On Byron's hippie trail • When Chris Jagger followed the famed route in the sixties, he used Robert Byron's 1937 classic travel book as his guide

A Rum Castle • Kinloch Castle, a Scottish island palace built by a cotton king

Golden age of the silver screen • Simon Callow tells Louise Flind about his heroes, Orson Welles and Charles Laughton – and his...