Now at work, rest and play

Golly gosh, I'd forgotten just how time-consuming a full working week can be!  Still, here we are again, what?  The first week of a new job is under my belt and now I've got some time to sit down and write a few lines of this and that - all that has been leading up to this week just gone.

The week previous - that is, two weeks ago now - I spent some time nosing around my local branches of Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and BHS hoping to score some bargain items for m'wardrobe in the summer sales.  I was not disappointed, either, as Debenhams' sale was in full swing (they don't seem to call it the Blue Cross Sale any more, unless they're saving that for Christmas/January?) and I picked up two smashing pairs of cotton trousers that will go well with the majority of my jackets for a casual summer look.  Most importantly, Debenhams' men's trousers go up to a 34" inside leg - perfect for the long of limb such as myself!

Maine New England Navy twill chinos, £12 from £20 at Debenhams
(**sold out**)

The navy blue is a nice, muted colour - giving off an almost workmanlike vibe - but the terracotta twill is my absolute favourite, adding a welcome and different dash of colour to my outfits.

Maine New England Terracotta twill chinos, £10 from £20 at
Debenhams

Marks and BHS had less on offer (and M&S wonders why its year-on-year clothing sales keep taking a battering - definitely a "could do better" on the men's clothing selection, at least) but I was still able to score this beautiful "Autograph" knitted silk tie for a frankly unbelievable £4 (it was actually still marked up at £7.50 on the ticket - I do like pleasant surprises!).

It actually goes quite well with the terracotta trews, don't you think?  It's wonderful to the touch, of course, and knots well too - something that's not always a given with knitted ties, I've found.

Saturday last found me in Rayleigh for the town's first ever Antique & Vintage Street Market, run by the same people who put on the local Runnymede Vintage, Antique and Retro Fairs that I have been to many times in the past and enjoyed, as has been mentioned on this very blog.  Alas I can't see this street market becoming a regular one as it was really very poorly done with barely half a dozen stalls in the high street (which had not been closed as I was expecting), largely selling stuff that would have better been described as bric-a-brac.  There were supposedly more stalls around the corner outside the local auction house (Stacey's, occasional star of Antiques Road Trip and Bargain Hunt) but we - mother, sister and I - we so disappointed we didn't bother with that but instead hit the charity shops.  There I was able to pick up a nice T.M. Lewin shirt for £3.50 and an interesting CD for £1.

Twenty-four songs from The Radio Rhythm Club, a name I'd never come across before but actually that of a B.B.C. programme broadcast during the Second World War.  The Radio Rhythm Sextet was led by a young Welsh clarinetist called Harry Parry(!) who greatly admired American bandleader Benny Goodman, to the point where he emulated him with his own group of top British instrumentalists of the time.  Sadly Harry Parry died in 1956 at the age of 44; The Radio Rhythm Club and Sextet seem to have been lost to the mists of time, since I can't seem to find out much about them.  The Benny Goodman influence is obvious (but just with a soupçon of British smoothness) and it maybe this overt similarity, plus changing musical tastes after the war, that ensured The Radio Rhythm's obscurity.

Still, after all that, I'm glad I bought the CD as it certainly does bubble along.  I do like the Benny Goodman sound anyway and was only recently thinking about finding some more 1940s music, so this ticks the boxes.  Have a Boogi to this:

What else has happened?  Oh yes, I marked the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War on the 4th August with a single candle and the "lights out" motif, as did most of the country I think.  The B.B.C.'s coverage was rather good, I thought - slightly reserved rather than overdone and all the better for it.

This was the same candle that I burned (we were all given one) at my granddad's
funeral back in 1997. 
I'd never lit it since but it somehow seemed right to use it on the anniversary of WW1

Well, that's all for now, I think.  There's going to be a bit of disorder around here for a little while longer as I continue to settle back into a 5-day working week and get comfortable in the new job but as long as I can post at least once every weekend I'll be happy - and hopefully you, my readers, will be too!  I've already got posts planned featuring the two surviving Lancaster bombers flying together for the first time in 50 years, plus a 61-year-old woman driving a 110-year-old car across Australia!  In the meantime I do still enjoy reading your blogs when I get the chance - usually now a special treat after work! - and I hope you'll continue to stick with mine during this transition.

My Great War reads for the 100th anniversary

When I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my latest book find just before Christmas, I mentioned that it was about something very pertinent to this year's centenary of the First World War (news and events relating to which have already begun to appear, so expect this blog to become heavy with them in the coming months!) - namely the collected early war letters of RNAS pilot Lieutenant Harold Rosher.  I added that it would become a welcome addition to my war library and stated my intention to read all the books in my collection that relate to World War One by the end of 2014.

Well, the other day, with the germ of an idea for a post in my mind, I got out all said books (including In The Royal Naval Air Service, 3rd row far right) and laid them out to take a picture of them for this blog.  I think I may have to revise my target!  The end of 2018 seems more realistic now I've reacquainted myself with the number books I have on the subject!

As you can see most of them focus on the aeronautical aspect of the Great War; no surprise really as that has always been my abiding area of interest.  In fact all but three are purely about aerial warfare.  True World War I Stories (2nd row from top, 3rd from left) is just that and was picked up from a library sale a few years ago for 50p.  Before Endeavours Fade by Rose E. B. Coombs (top, 3rd from left) was given to me by my stepfather several years back and is actually something of a guide book to the battlefields, detailing towns, landmarks and other locations that saw action as well as the innumerable memorials throughout Belgium and France.  Although now nearly 40 years old this book will doubtless be interesting and a still-useful guide if I should choose to visit the areas covered.

Once I realised just how many books I had, I got that nagging feeling that there were probably one or two more lying around somewhere that I'd forgotten about and such proved to be the case! 

Goodbye to All That is an autobiographical account of the the First World War (and the author's early pre-war life) by Robert Graves, the poet, scholar and author who served in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and was good friends with Siegfried Sassoon.  I picked up this copy for a few pence in Homebase (yes, the DIY people - my local store has a small second-hand book concession by the tills!) a year or so ago and it has been sitting patiently in my "to read" pile.

The rest all focus on the RFC and/or the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (except In the Company of Eagles, a novel by Ernest K. Gann about a duel between French and German pilots) with no less than four devoted solely to Manfred von Richthofen.  These include his own [translated] memoirs and a fascinating in-depth record of his 80 career victories.

German War Birds is a splendid book from the 1930s, written by the mysteriously pseudonymous "Vigilant" (generally agreed to be one Claud W. Sykes and probably a serving RAF officer hence the name), details of some of the lesser-known German pilots of the Great War and is written in wonderfully charming Thirties style.  I picked it up in 2003 from the wonderful book stalls that can still be found underneath Waterloo Bridge.

Many of the other books are written by well-regarded aviation/military historians such as Peter Hart, Alan Clark and Norman Franks.  Then there are the famous wartime memoirs of Cecil Lewis (Sagittarius Rising) and Victor Yeates (Winged Victory), not to mention James McCudden's Flying Fury.  Finally there is, of course, Biggles - who nearly 20 years ago introduced me to the fascinating world of dogfights, biplanes and heroic flying that I would later go on to read so much more about.  The First World War stories fully deserve their place here, being inspired by true events and stories that the author W. E. Johns (himself a bomber pilot in the war) saw or heard.

Finally, as a bit of light relief, Practical Flying is a good read - it being a facsimile of the standard training manual given to pilots joining the RFC.  I doubt there'll ever be any call for me to fly a Sopwith Camel, but you never know!  I actually got it (and a real hip flask!) with the old PC simulator, Flying Corps, way back in the late '90s and am pleased to report that the old game still runs so I can at least take my bus up for a spin virtually if not in reality(!).  Incidentally I'm amazed to see how far computers and graphics have progressed - the modern equivalent of Flying Corps, Rise Of Flight, looks incredibly realistic and expansive.

Just as soon as I've finished reading my current tome, Waiting For Hitler, which is an equally enthralling series of accounts from the first year of the Second World War when the invasion of Britain looked likely, I shall begin working my way through these Great War books.  Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while!  But no, in all seriousness, I really looking forward to doing this; in the centenary year of the start of the Great War it just seems the "right" way to go about commemorating the occasion.  I may even post a review or two up along the way.  Then there's my film collection too, I haven't even touched on that yet.  If that's not enough the Daily Telegraph is also marking the anniversary by making available online copies of every one of its newspapers from 1914 to 1918, each day for the next four years!

What have you got planned for the 100th anniversary and are there any more(!) books you would recommend I seek out?

Southampton's 'oldest film' reshot in city centre

Southampton's 'oldest film' reshot in city centre

A pleasing little heritage project here as a Hampshire museum looks to retrace the steps (or should that be rails?) taken by the first moving picture camera to appear in Southampton.

I always find these kinds of "revisits" to be intriguing as it can be incredible to see certain areas and buildings virtually unaltered by the passage of time, yet others completely changed.  In this particular case there may well be more of the latter, as the earlier film apparently shows much of Southampton as it was before the Second World War.  In this I also have a personal interest, as my great-grandparents were born in Southampton in the 1880s and lived there for many years, so the original footage at least will likely show the town as it was when they were there and it will be fascinating for me, their descendant, to see what it looks like today.

Once again ideas such as this are, in my opinion, an excellent way to engage the younger generation in the history of their town.  To be able to see 100 years' difference side-by-side should make it easier for them to relate to the past.  I hope this reshoot is a success and it would be great to see it taken up by other towns wherever possible.

Electric Palace cinema in Harwich celebrates centenary

Electric Palace cinema in Harwich celebrates centenary

An Edwardian cinema in an Essex port town celebrates its 100th birthday now in this article from the B.B.C.  

The Electric Palace also has a remarkable history and its very existence is testament to the care and knowledge of local film enthusiasts and the goodwill and understanding of the current Town Council.  Once again we see good old-fashioned civic pride making it possible for this beautiful building to still be here a century after it first opened.

Designed by architect Harold Ridley Hooper (who went on to help create several buildings for Butlins Holiday Camps in the 1930s) the Electric Palace was built to show the "Bioscope" moving pictures of former travelling fairground showman Charles Thurston.  This soon expanded into showing films of the period and the Palace did a roaring trade throughout much of the Great War years.  It did less well from the 1920s on, despite the addition of mains electricity in 1924 and sound in the 1930s (the original pre-1924 Crossley gas engine and 100V DC generator can still be seen, unrestored, inside the building) and remained virtually unaltered from its original form.  Then in 1953 it was the victim of the infamous East Coast floods when seawater got inside the cinema.  By 1956 it had closed completely and it was to remain derelict for almost twenty years before being "rediscovered" by a local university lecturer.  Along with the Harwich Society he managed to get the Palace listed as "a building of sociological interest", much to the annoyance of Harwich Town Council who had intended to demolish it(!).  Even some of the townspeople were in favour of it being pulled down, citing its then run-down appearance, and the whole thing apparently made the national news!  Thankfully historical merit prevailed and the Electric Palace Trust was formed in 1975, staffed entirely by volunteers.  The reluctant council granted a "repairing lease" and it took 5 years to restore the cinema to its former glory; the grand reopening taking place on its 70th anniversary in 1981 with the Blue Peter team (and the original accompanist on the piano!) in attendance.

Today the cinema is still almost completely run by volunteers, with the freehold now in possession of the Trust.  Due to the way in which the Palace is run it only shows films on Wednesdays and at the weekend, supplemented with regular jazz concerts.  It also retains two original 60 year-old 35mm projectors which it still uses to show modern films in that format as well as historic films from the British Film Institute.  A new digital projector will ensure that the Electric Palace continues to show new films for many years to come.

It is heartwarming to see how a community has come together with the local council over a period of many years to preserve such an important historical landmark and get it to its centenary.  It must be quite an experience to watch a film - particularly an old one - in so stunning a building.

Vintage Rolls-Royces honour Spirit of Ecstasy

Vintage Rolls-Royces honour Spirit of Ecstasy by itnnews

Another car manufacturer, another anniversary. This time it is the renowned luxury car maker Rolls-Royce who are celebrating 100 years of their famous Spirit of Ecstasy, or Flying Lady, bonnet mascot.

Although Royces have been built since 1904 it was from 1911 that the Spirit of Ecstasy began to appear on that imposing Grecian grille. Like many great designs it was modelled after a beautiful woman, in this case the mistress of a Tory politician(!). It is rather fitting that the MP in question was Lord Montagu of Beaulieu (an avid motorist who is said to have introduced King Edward VII to the joys of motoring and who became the first person to drive a car to the Houses of Parliament), whose home later became the site of the National Motor Museum.

In pictures: Spirit of Ecstasy Centenary Drive

Since 1911 the Flying Lady has become one of the most well-known symbols in motoring throughout the world and synonymous with one of the most opulent brands available. It is impossible to think of Rolls-Royce without thinking of the Spirit of Ecstasy and what started out as a one-off commission for a single customer has since become a cornerstone of the whole company. A Royce just wouldn't look the same gliding to a halt outside the Savoy without the Flying Lady adorning its nose (although that is now technically possible as all modern Royces have the ability to retract the mascot into the grille to stop it from being stolen!). I think it's safe to say that for as long as there will be a Rolls-Royce there will be a Spirit of Ecstasy atop its prow. Here's to the next 100 years!

I have to admit that I've always been more of a Bentley man myself (ha! to listen to me you'd think I'd been swapping between Bentleys and Royces all my life - I wish!). However there have been a few Royces down the years that I really like, so to help celebrate here are a some of my favourite examples of cars sporting this famous Lady:

(All images courtesy of Supercars.net)

The 1914 Silver Ghost Labourdette Skiff I have already blogged about in my post about wooden-bodied cars, but it deserves another mention here.

In my opinion some of the best Royces of the 20s and 30s were from Rolls-Royce of America Inc. with coachwork by Brewster of Springfield, Massachusetts. The epitome of Art Deco, roaring Twenties glamour!

How about a 27-litre V12 Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engine, later used in the Spitfire fighter, underneath that Spirit of Ecstasy? Then she really would be a Flying Lady! Amazingly in the 1970s a 1931 Phantom II was re-engineered to accept a Merlin engine and later restored in 2007. One can scarcely imagine what it must be like to drive a car that has 1,100 horsepower and was able to out-accelerate a 1958 Vanwall F1 racer! And what must it sound like?! Glorious, in every sense of the word.

Royces quickly became popular with the super-rich Maharajahs of India, who decorated their cars in their own inimitable fashion. Words can't do justice to this Silver Ghost, so I won't even try. I love the whole thing, but the snakes on the wings are a great touch(!).

This 1935 Phantom I Jonckheere Coupe is simply gorgeous. Its streamlined shape just screams 30s Art Deco decadence. Check out the circular door!

The body for this 1947 Phantom III Labourdette Vutotal Cabriolet cost $44,000 alone, which equates to about $325,000 in today's money! Those inserts are actually brass, not gold, in case you're wondering. My taste's not that vulgar(!).

A question of time, or: Where did the last ten years go?

As this first year of a new decade draws to an end it would seem to be a suitable opportunity to write about an anomaly that has been in the back of my mind for a while now. This is not just going to be a blog bemoaning the speed in which the last 10 years have passed – although I do find myself more and more wailing “It wasn't that long ago, was it?!” – but something linked to the passage of time.

To put it another way – if I were to say “80 years ago”, what time period would you think of? I, for one, still think of eighty years ago as being 1920-29 but it’s not, is it? Eighty years ago would put us firmly in the 1930s. Seventy years ago the Second World War was raging; in a little over a year’s time it will be the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic and two years later 100 years since the beginning of the First World War. This is what I can’t get my head around; my brain – my internal historic clock, if you will – is stuck. I still think of 70 years ago as the Thirties, 80 years as the Twenties and so on. It’s as if, linearly, the last ten years are meaningless. Go back even further and it gets even vaguer – 100 years ago still conjures up images of the late Victorian period; any time between 1880 and 1900, really, when again 100 years ago is actually 1911(!).

source

It’s then that it suddenly occurs to me that the eras of which I am most fond are drifting further into the mists of time – very soon I shall be hankering after the clothes, the manners, the machines of one hundred years ago! How did that happen?! If I still think of it as 70-80 years ago, it doesn’t seem so bad somehow. And I wonder, as time marches on, whether these periods be forgotten by all but those of us with an interest and if others will look upon us vintage enthusiasts with even greater puzzlement as our favourite eras become ever more removed from the present. When the last World War Two veteran dies, will our memory, our understanding of that time change? Or is there something about those early decades of the 20th Century that still resonates with us today and so will ensure a more permanent place in our minds?

Speaking as a vintage aficionado and history buff I find that immersing myself in my chosen period as much as possible keeps it fresh and ageless as well as sometimes, as I mentioned previously, leaving me feeling out of step with the modern age. A good example would be: music. I tend to listen to more music from the ‘20s and ‘30s than from any other time period, although I do of course listen to and enjoy some modern artists as well. The upshot of this constant Jazz Age soundtrack is that I forget that the music is so old – it takes on what I imagine must be the same characteristics as modern music does to most other people. Even when I hear a tune that is new to me, I don’t think “that’s an old song but I’ve never heard it before” but rather “wow, that’s a new tune!”

So I may have just answered my own rambling question – if you really feel an affinity to a certain period, then the passage of time since is immaterial. Again we are not trying to pretend that the last however many years never happened or that somehow then is preferable to now but that by living in the image of the best of those times we are in some small way keeping their memory alive.

100 up!

I'm pleased to say that this very post marks my one hundredth such epistle since I first dipped my æthereal toe in the then-murky waters of blogdom back in November 2009.

As I recall I jocularly predicted at the time that this blog would either set the Internet alight with wonder and brilliance or else sink without a trace in less than month.

Well I am pleased to say that the latter instance did not occur and I am still here 7 months later blogging away happily, having very definitely caught the bug. Total World-Wide-Webbular domination is not yet on the cards though, I'm afraid!

When I set out to start this blog I wisely kept to something straightforward that even a semi IT-literate amateur such as myself could maintain and I'm pleased to see it working so well. I always felt that there was the opportunity for a chronicle of cheery, interesting and [predominately] vintage-related news items and such has proven to be the case. I have also had my eyes opened to a whole new world of like-minded blogs, events, and people that I may never have otherwise come across, so it has all been most definitely worth it.

I must extend my gratitude to the news sites I get the stories from, particularly The Daily Telegraph and the BBC - without them I almost certainly wouldn't have a blog. Last but by no means least I would like to thank the 8 people (so far - there's plenty of room for more!) who have taken the time to follow my random postings - thank you for making me feel like I'm actually passing on stories over the wires rather than just rambling away to myself in vain.

Here's to the next 100 posts and many more besides; I hope that you will continue to read with me all the amusing, light-hearted and interesting articles that are still to come.