Patrick George Callaghan

Special Thanks To All Of You I would like to thank you all for your support to my weblog. Since I launched just a few months ago I've had a very positive response So a hearty thanks goes out to each and everyone – Have A Happy And Peaceful Winter Break and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year. Patrick.

Whisky Galore…   Well, would you ever believe it!…  The ‘SS. Politician’ sank off the Scottish Island of Eriskay in 1941, and eight years on the Ealing movie romanced the story of how the islanders seconded some of its 24.000 cases of Scotland’s finest scotch whisky. Whisky Galore can be found at: www.thewhiskygalore.com/ The Water of Life is available in many blended and single malts from Whisky Galore… It was in the summer of 1948 when the Ealing crew arrived on the beautiful Island of Barra in the Western Isles of Scotland. Michael Balcon, head of Ealing Studios had not been happy about the production, saying as he looked at the story board, he just did not understand it!  “It holds few laughs” he was heard to comment. Based on a Compton Mackenzie novel, shooting almost entirely on location presented huge problems, everything, including cast and crew, and a huge amount of camera equipment, had to be shipped from mainl...

Walter R. Hammond.   Played for Gloucestershire as an amateur cricketer in 1920, and when he turned professional in 1923 scored over a thousand runs in his first season for that county. Afterwards, he played for England against Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the West Indies. John Berry Hobbs.   Starting on the ground staff of Surrey County Cricket Club, he was eventually made a playing member and excelled as a batsman. By 1935, when he retired, he had made the  then unsurpassed record of 197 centuries, including twelve in Tests against Australia. During his career he played many times for England.

Isle of the Dead… 1945 Vorvolaka… This nightmare vampire was very much on the minds of the people in the time when Greece fought her war of 1912… A classy screenplay from RKO which features Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helen Thimig, and Jason Robards. It was written by Ardel Wray and Josef Mischel, with masterly direction from Mark Robson. Not a run of the mill - ’ blood and guts’ vampire movie… but a creative story with strong and convincing acting from the whole cast!

The opening lines to ‘The World of Irene Mansell’ by Patrick George Callaghan from 2004… To the south of Kensington Gardens, high above the watchful, glittering towers of the grand Imperial Institute, wholesome breezes fell upon the narrow arboreal road leading to the quiet respectable villas of Dorset Square… Further to the south, the River Thames shone silvery, like the path of a passing snail, in the lowering moonlight… Black of night. She was late. It had gone eleven. Her daughter was never this late. In the basement kitchen of number 10 Mrs Mansell – The Llewellyn’s cook, fussed over her single seed like a preventive hen. Her eyes darted angrily once more to the small window that looked out over the small stairwell running to the street above. She would know her daughter’s footsteps – she would know them well. She tied the leg of Canterbury Lamb for the tenth time, mindful in one last pull, and looked at the slowness of her mantle clock. It...

Harry L. Hopkins was President Roosevelt’s closest friend and adviser and acted as his personal representative during the Second World War. He was given the responsibility of administering the Lend-Lease Bill and visited London and Moscow in 1941. He was formerly U.S.A Secretary of Commerce and born in 1890. Sir Malcolm Sargent has been called “Britain’s Ambassador of Music” He has conducted all over the world and was Conductor in Chief of The Royal Choral Society from 1928, The Halle’ Orchestra 1939-43, The Liverpool Philharmonic 1942-8 and The Huddersfield Choral Society from 1932. He was born in 1895. Bobby Howes was an English stage comedian, who began as a boy at the Battersea Palace. Later he was in a stage dancing team for two years, and with the Royal Gotham Quartette for three years. He served in the First World War and appeared in many revues and plays. He was born in 1895.

Maryon Park… London   The entrance to Maryon Park in Woolwich, London In a stone’s throw from the busy and bustling Woolwich Road is the peaceful and picturesque Maryon Park. When you first enter you are soon aware of the sheer eloquent calm of the place, hardly a sound, but for a gentle breeze rustling the tops of it’s many tall trees or the occasional sound of a child’s laughter. My old Mamiya camera lent a sepia tone to the pictures I was to take there in 1998, and back in 1966 it was the setting for Michelangelo Antonioni’s cult film “Blow-Up” with it’s imortal characters played by David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.

The Cottingley Fairies…   The Hoax began in 1917, or was it really a hoax? The cousins Elsie Wright (16) and Francis Griffiths (10) maintained throughout their lives, right up until old age, that they had clearly photographed fairies at a  Beck in Yorkshire, England. Such was the supposed deception that their resulting pictures have fooled the very best experts in the photographic field, and the mighty Kodak Company would not give any sort of judgement as to the authenticity of the subjects within the plates, even Conan Doyle was convinced the photographs were genuine. “At least Elsie [Wright] gave us a myth which has never harmed anyone and it looks like continuing to fascinate and entertain well into the future. How many professed photographers can claim to have equaled her achievement with the first photograph they ever took?” Geoffrey Crawley. The story was turned into a movie in 1997 entitled FairyTale… A True Story, and boasts an...

There is no man so friendless but what he can find a friend sincere enough to tell him disagreeable truths. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. 1803-73 British novelist. Predictions can be very difficult – especially about the future. Niels Bohr 1885-1962 Danish physicist. A garden is a lovesome thing. God wot! T.E. Brown. 1830-97 Manx schoolmaster. Lord! we know what we are, but know not what we may be. William Shakespeare. 1564-1616 English dramatist. A man enjoys the happiness he feels, a woman the happiness she gives. Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. 1741-1803 French soldier. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Nelson Mandela. 1918- South African statesman.

The Saltair Pavilion Some of you have watched with interest the DVD of ‘Carnival of Souls’ 1962 after my recent blog, and emailed to say that you enjoyed it, but wondered if I knew anything about the creepy derelict Pavilion used in the movie. The Pavilion was built in the 1800′s as a health spa on the edge of The Great Salt Lake in Utah. Thousands came to take to the waters that were heavily salted… the only creatures able to sustain life in it’s saline depths were tens of millions of Brine Shrimps, harvested today as pet fish food… In those days one could simply float without drowning in the water! The end of the Pavilion came as part of The Great Salt Lake began to dry, and by the time the movie ‘Carnival of Souls’ was made in 1962 The Saltair Pavilion was in a sorry state. I hope that makes the film even more interesting for you… By the way, the director had seen the Moorish type Pavilion ...

The Darling Buds Of May… Pop Larkin's Rolls Royce, the picture was taken at the Darling Buds of May Classic Car Rally held each year in Kent - The Garden of England! The famous TV series was set in 1953 in Kent, and portrays a rustic life of idyllic pleasure. It stars David Jason as Pop Larkin and Pam Ferris as Ma Larkin, and is one my fondest Television shows from 1991 to 1993. The TV series was based on the five books written by H.E.Bates.