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Showing posts from March, 2012

Interesting People From The Past...

PORTAL of Hungerford, Marshal of the R.A.F. Viscount; Charles Frederick Portal. He served for a time in the Army in the First World War, and before it ended was a Colonel in the Royal Flying Corps. He commanded the British Forces in Aden from 1934-35, and in April 1940 became A.O.C.-in-C., Bomber Command. In October of the same year he became Chief of Air Staff until 1945. He was born in 1893. Sidney Webb. Lord Passfield, was a Labour politician, Londoner by birth and an expert economist. He helped to found the London School of Economics, and as a Labour politician, he and his wife, Beatrice Webb, took active interest in unemployment and social conditions. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1924; and was Secretary for the Colonies from 1929 until 1931. He wrote several books, and was born in 1859. Auguste Piccard was a Swiss balloonist and scientist, and was the first since Coxwell and Glaisher to make a balloon ascent into the stratosphere in 1931 and a second

Enjoying The Spring Sunshine...

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The Smallest Paddle Steamer? Is this the smallest Paddle Steamer you have ever seen? This ever popular picture must surely show the world’s smallest paddle steamer still working on the Norfolk Broads in the UK. The picture was taken, then kindly sent to me by photographer Roy Northwood. During the Victorian period large passenger paddle steamers ran a regular service from the Norfolk coast down to the London docklands.

Interesting Pictures From The Past...

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Enid in Love… Posted on May 19, 2010 by Patrick | Leave a comment The simple art of the classic beauty is delightfully portrayed in this early picture of Enid Stamp Taylor. Thought to have been taken when Enid was in her late teens, it shows the deep sentimentality and loving way that she displayed throughout her short life. Tragedy beset Enid’s life; losing her younger brother at the age of only 9 years, then others members of her family. It is truly remarkable that we can now look back on this lovely lady’s life some  One Hundred Years on, and appreciate the talent and effort that she gave to the early British Film and Stage.

Interesting People From The Past...

Col. Thomas Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) later T.E. Shaw, was one of the most romantic figures of the First World War, his expert knowledge of Arab affairs led to the Government engaging him on special work. He organized and led an Arab army and held Damascus until relieved by General Allenby. Afterwards, shunning publicity, he became Aircraftman Shaw in the RAF. Sadly, he was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1935. Lord Kindersley (baron) Robert Molesworth Kindersley. At fifteen years old he began his working life as a clerk on 15 shillings a week and eventually to Governor of the Hudson Bay Company from 1916 until 1925. A Director of The Bank of England, he was High Sheriff of Sussex in 1928, and President of the National Savings Committee from 1926 until 1946. Sir Alexander Fleming was the discoverer of penicillin. He came to London from Ayrshire in the eighteen-nineties and spent some time in a shipping office before turning to medicine

The Aerated Bread Company...

The Aerated Bread Company started life in 1862 as an Islington Bakers of fine healthy, additive-free bread in England, and within two years opened the first of 250 ABC self-service Tea Shops. In the late Victorian period - an ABC tea room was the sort of place a woman could enjoy a meal unescorted and without risk to her reputation! By 1923 ABC had a further 150 branch shops selling their highly popular ‘graham bread’ and were second only to the famous Lyons Corner Houses. In 1955 ABC… who seemed to be in every major street in London, was bought by Garfield Weston for $8.1 million and added to the high end retailer of Fortnum and Mason. As one American magazine put it at the time - “The Piccadilly Prince is about to marry The Tea Room Cinderella” … Sadly ABC  was gone from our streets by the end of the 1980s - the victim I’m sure… of a mood change in our food and drinking habits.

Interesting Movies From The Past...

THE POOL OF LONDON is a wonderfully evocative film drama of London and The London Docklands in 1950. Shot almost entirely with locations on The Thames and around Central London - it’s a look into a times past world! There are so many dramatic and nostalgic locations in the production- that it’s near-impossible to keep up with them! Released by Britain’s famous Ealing Studios…it features a strong cast in Bonar Colleano  and wife Susan Shaw, Renee Asherson, and Earl Cameron. The screenplay was written by Jack Whittingham and John Eldridge, and the direction was handled by the master Basil Dearden.