Lancaster bomber roars over Worcestershire as part of Defford Airfield Heritage Weekend

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Lancaster bomber roars over Worcestershire as part of Defford Airfield Heritage Weekend

I've mentioned before how indebted this blog is to the news feeds & alerts that I'm signed up to in helping me to find vintage news and events near and far and this article is a classic example.

"A picture of a Lanc, and a Heritage Weekend?  I'll have a look at that", I thought to myself - with an eye to putting it on here - when the e-mail alert popped into my inbox yesterday.  And I was not disappointed as I read the splendid article to see the few remaining RAF Bomber Command servicemen who served at RAF Defford gathered together to share memories, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Avro Lancaster gracing the event with a few flypasts over the gorgeous Worcestershire countryside and the whole weekend generally being a rip-roaring success.  It's always heartwarming to see such an important piece of history as the the sole airworthy Lancaster in Britain appearing at events like these and it all certainly seems to have given a well-deserved boost to the new Defford Airfield Museum.

Then I clicked through the accompanying pictures.  Got to the fifth one.  Hang on a minute, that's...!  (Imagine me now doing a double take, taking off my glasses, squinting, putting them back on again etc.)  Yes, fellow blogger Tickety Boo Tupney was in attendance, suitably and immaculately dressed as ever and no doubt helping to lend the event an authentic 1940s air.

So this news item that I might otherwise have missed ends up having it all - a popular Heritage Weekend, pleasant scenery, a Lancaster bomber and another vintage blogger - and earns a place on Eclectic Ephemera!

Agatha Christie sleuth Poirot to return in new novel

Poirot set to return in new novel

In the last few years there has been a spate of new stories featuring beloved literary characters brought back to life by modern-day authors, all with the blessing of the original writers' estates. James Bond was the first to be resurrected, by Sebastian Faulks in 2006's Devil May Care and then Jeffery Deaver's Carte Blanche in 2011. Anthony Horowitz was approached by the Conan Doyle estate to write a new Sherlock Holmes novel and he happily obliged with 2011's The House of Silk, with a second sequel story due be published in October 2014. Even the great P.G. Wodehouse's two most famous characters, Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, have not been immune to this latest vogue with the Wodehouse estate officially announcing earlier this year that Sebastian Faulks would be writing a new Jeeves novel for publication in November.

Hercule Poirot:  Belgian sleuth back from the grave in new book

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Now it seems that the Agatha Christie estate has jumped on the bandwagon by commissioning a new novel featuring everyone's favourite Belgian 'tec Hercule Poirot, to be written by crime novelist Sophie Hannah.  The as-yet-unnamed story will be set in the 1920s (or "vaguely in the 1920s" according to the press blurb - hopefully this just means there won't be much reference to dates or age-defining elements and not some attempt to "bring Poirot into the 21st century" with strange modern influences) and I'm told, sadly, will not feature Captain Hastings (boo! to that, although we have to remember that we have been spoilt by Hugh Fraser's wonderful portrayal of the character in the Poirot TV series and that in actuality Captain Hastings only appeared in eight of the 43 Poirot stories).

Personally I'm rather ambivalent about these modern interpretations - I will probably read all of the above at some point but am in no real hurry to do so.  In most cases there's more than enough of the original author's canon to keep me happy.  Plus I've often found that when reading another writer's interpretation of a beloved literary character no matter how close they promise to be to the original source there will always be an element of their own writing style, their own views on how the protagonist should act, which invariably means that the story feels all the more emulative to me.

Still, good luck to Miss Hannah with her Poirot novel - I hope she does a good job of it.  Likewise Messrs Horowitz and Faulks.  Obviously the main motivator behind these officially-sanctioned books is money - these estates don't run on air, after all - and in the case of this latest Poirot news in particular it is no doubt to keep interest in the character high (especially as the David Suchet Poirot series is about to come to an end this year - boo! again) but anything that ensures such deservedly long-lived fictional heroes remain popular must be good news.

Vintage Adventurer aims to set new world record in U.S. ocean to ocean challenge

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Vintage Adventurer aims to set new world record in U.S. ocean to ocean challenge

Just over one year ago I featured the story of Australian "vintage adventurer" Ron Wade and his intention to drive his 1930 Ford Model A from Beijing to Paris in the Peking-Paris Rally, then across the continental U.S.A. and finally from London to Cape Town - and trying to break world records into the bargain!

Now Mr Wade and his car have made the news again and I'm delighted to see that they are on the verge of embarking on the second stage of their around-the-world adventure - the "Ocean 2 Ocean America Challenge" - having successfully completed the gruelling Peking-Paris Motor Challenge in a remarkable 33 days earlier this year!  I never doubted that they would do it and the old Model A has proven to be a sturdy motor car I knew it would be.  (Incidentally if you ever get the chance to read the account of the original 1907 Peking-Paris race by Luigi Barzini Jr. - son of the journalist who travelled with the winning car - I can highly recommend it.)

The next challenge for Ron Wade and his Model A begins, fittingly enough, on Columbus Day (the 14th of October) when they begin the Ocean 2 Ocean challenge - to drive across the U.S.A. from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific (and, in a nice touch, Mr Wade will carry a bottle of water taken from the Atlantic Ocean and empty it into the Pacific upon his arrival!).  Here they hope to break their first record - to undertake the journey in less than 60 hours!  Will they do it?  Well, you can follow their progress on the Vintage Adventurer website; I for one am sure they'll manage it.

I'm equally certain they'll beat the London-Cape Town record too, although that attempt has yet to be confirmed.  No doubt we will hear of Ron Wade and his Model A again when it is; in the meantime, good luck to him in the Ocean 2 Ocean and "good on yer, cobber!" for being such a gentlemanly good sport all in the name of charity and "vintage" adventure.

Squads & Shirts

Hello-ello, remember me?!  I wouldn't blame you if you don't!

Once again I feel I must apologise for the lack of activity hereabouts; certain factors have meant this poor little blog has been awfully neglected recently.  Until things pick up, here's the first of two or three posts related to my 30th birthday a couple of weeks ago on the 19th August - a short presentation(!) of some of the things I got that are of a vintage bent.

Beige wide herringbone classic fit from Charles Tyrwhitt

Although not properly vintage as in "old", men's shirts can have a timeless quality to them particularly if one is discerning with the cut, style and colour (no bright colours or cutaway collars here!) and as my wardrobe needed refreshing some brand spanking new ones made their way to me in the week following the 19th.  A chap doesn't turn 30 every day so I decided to treat myself with some birthday money to four shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt, one of the newer (but no less worthy for that) names on London's famous Jermyn Street.

Light yellow wide herringbone classic fit from Charles Tyrwhitt

The herringbone shirts are easily equal to the two from Ede & Ravenscroft and Hawes & Curtis (both bargainous £3.95 charity shop finds from last couple of years!) that already grace my wardrobe and the poplins aren't far behind either.

Cream poplin classic fit shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt

I kept largely to plain, simple shades to maximise their use (and, of course, because they suited my taste!).  I fancied a bit of a pattern for at least one, though, and the red and blue check caught my eye.  The beige shirt has also has hints of pink to it in some lights, which is a bonus.  I'd love to have been able to show you some pictures of them as worn, or at least at chez Partington-Plans, but my ancient digital camera chooses not to show them in all their glory regardless of the ambient lighting so I'm afraid you'll have to make do with these borrowed images.

Red & blue grid check classic fit shirt from Charles Tyrwhitt

Likewise with the two new cravats I got from Tom Sawyer Waistcoats - two new colours/designs to add to my growing collection. 

Aubergine & mauve circles day Cravat, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Both should go well with most of those shirts, don't you think?  I hope to be able to bring you a proper outfit post or two (with my own, better pictures!) featuring combinations of them all, plus an extra-special surprise clothing present that is still in the final stages of completion.  You'll just have to wait and see what it is!

Richmond check day cravat, Tom Sawyer Waistcoats

Finally for this post, a new DVD (one of four but the only one set in the 1940s) - Gangster Squad!

I had really wanted to see this at the cinema back in January but alas it coincided with a hospital stay so it had to end up on the DVD list.  I had seen nothing of it beyond the trailers and of the four films I got this was the one I had the least expectations of, so I was more than delighted to discover that it really is a very good film that could easily stand comparison with the likes of The Untouchables and L.A. Confidential.  I would certainly recommend it and, if I get my act together, it may one day feature on the currently dormant Film Friday gangster series of blog posts.  Maybe.



That's it for now, though, but I hope to be back before too long with the aforementioned extra birthday posts plus more usual fare.

Pip-pip!

A quiet little corner

Is what this blog is in danger of becoming.  Ray Noble & his Orchestra featuring Al Bowlly do indeed pose the pertinent lyrical question.

But don't worry, folks!  With luck vintage news will pick up again in the coming weeks and autumn is just around the corner - my favourite season and a chance to dig into my more substantial "A/W" (as the fashion houses would call it!) wardrobe.

A week has passed since my 30th birthday and I hope before too much longer to have an extensive post written up to do it justice - as soon as mater gets photos of the day to me (and finishes off her present!) and the Royal Mail deliver some remaining gifts (the perils of a bank holiday weekend!).  Until then here's a little taster of where I went the Sunday before my birthday - and it was a lot busier than this!

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The Crooked Billet/ Osborne's Cafe, Old Leigh[-on-sea] Essex

Plans for Crystal Palace replica

The Crystal Palace, newly re-sited on Sydenham Hill, 1854

Plans for Crystal Palace replica

This article from a couple of weeks ago, which I had originally intended to post at the time(!), details the tantalising prospect of a once-major London landmark making a reappearance in its old location.  That landmark?  The Crystal Palace!

The original façade; The Great Exhibition 1851

Built in Hyde Park in 1851 to house the Great Exhibition (a sort of Victorian World's Fair), The Crystal Palace was a symbolically massive 1,851ft long and 128ft high and made out of the then new cast plate glass.  Although originally intended to be a temporary structure, the architect Joseph Paxton's use of innovative materials and modular design - not to mention the vast size of the building - meant that at the end of the 6 month Exhibition it was decided that The Crystal Palace would be dismantled and rebuilt on Penge Common at Sydenham Hill in Bromley, south-east London (eventually lending its name to the park and the surrounding area).  In the event it was not only rebuilt but also substantially extended and redesigned, to become the building we remember today. 

Over the next 82 years The Crystal Palace would play host to many hundreds of expositions, shows, concerts, exhibitions, festivals and meetings; it moonlighted as a Royal Navy training base during the First World War and played host to the original Imperial War Museum from 1920 to 1924.



Having been saved from potential destruction in 1913 when the original owners declared bankruptcy and restored to its 19th century glory in the 1920s, disaster struck on the night of the 30th November 1936 when an explosion in a ladies' cloakroom caused an initially small fire in one of the offices.  A combination of high winds, wooden flooring that ran throughout the building and the many flammable objects - including fireworks - stored within meant that very quickly the whole place was ablaze and despite the best efforts of 400 fireman and 89 fire engines the entire structure burned to the ground in a matter of hours.  Contemporary reports show that the glow from the flames could be seen in eight counties; 100,000 people - including Winston Churchill (who later said "This is the end of an age") - turned up to watch the battling firemen trying to save it.  Unfortunately the building's insurance cover was not enough to meet the proposed cost of rebuilding, which was put at £2,000,000 (£111,000,000 in today's money).  Only the north water tower escaped destruction (the south tower also survived the fire but was dismantled shortly thereafter when it was discovered fire damage had made it structurally unsafe) - at least until 1941 when it was demolished for reasons unknown, although it was thought to possibly offer a handy landmark to German bombers.  The grounds were also used to house radar manufacturing facilities.



Now, in 2013, there seems to be a chance (albeit slight) that an exact copy of The Crystal Palace may rise Phoënix-like, as it were, on the original site thanks to a Chinese developer.  Quite what their angle is in all this (beyond the money) I'm not sure - I'm usually slightly dubious about Far East-backed concepts like this (hence the reason, apart from the somewhat questionable taste of it, that I haven't featured the proposed "Titanic II" replica stories that have been doing the rounds on the Internet in recent months).  Still it would seem that Crystal Palace Park is in need of redevelopment and the glass-and-iron wonder that gave it its name, glinting in the sunlight atop Sydenham Hill once again (I can just imagine it!) might be just the ticket (although it's early days yet, still something to keep an eye on)!

Hither and yon

Apologies for another long period of radio silence (what is it this time, 3 weeks - but who's counting?).  A little hiccough rendered me slightly indisposed again but now normal service can resume, although regrettably health will probably not permit my attending this weekend's Barrelhouse Stomp - still, there will be other events of that I have no doubt.

In the meantime here's a jolly little 1932 ditty by Roy Fox & his band featuring Al Bowlly and Nat Gonella, a favourite of mine which poses the musical question I'm often asked (and ask of myself).  Cheerio for now!