ALL OUR YESTERDAYS

Not just a flash in the pan | HeraldScotland
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tennisjohn
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Hoover Washing Machines: Page - 1
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Fame Repin & like. Noel . Noelito Flow www.twitter.com/noelitoflow ...
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tram
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lockdown car...
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boxing john
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8 things you (probably) didn't know about McCowan's Highland ...
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disc dave

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Spandau Ballet on replacing Tony Hadley: 'We're bigger than one ...
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St Nicholas Street, looking up George Street (With images ...
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Vintage Hair Adverts: 1960s-70s Products, Styles and Tragic Cuts ...
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sport john
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1960's Fashion & Body Confidence | Hairspray UK Tour
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As The Mail gives away 13 great films comedy writer Maurice Green ...
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FSO Cars 125P - Classic Car Review | Honest John
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With belated, but nonetheless grateful, thanks to John and Dave.

180 thoughts on “ALL OUR YESTERDAYS”

  2. I couldn’t stand those films (though I came to appreciate them later).
    Skoda was notorious, too.
    What do you call an open-topped Skoda? A skip.
    My Mum had a Fiat 126 for a while. This model was copied in Poland as well. I once pushed it to 50 mph on the straight bit on the road to Cambus.
    And don’t get me started on the Trabant.

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      1. It’s all relative, the Cubans love Ladas, because that was the only car the USA allowed them to have.
        1. Princess Margaret at Balmoral, checking the dog for men.
        5. Julie Christie. *sigh*
        19. I love the early Carry On films. “You stupid constable!” had my big brother rolling in aisle. No idea either.

        Some personal news: My much better half finally got both tested and given adequate PPE upon the same day, a month after Lockdown. Test negative.
        It’s not over yet though. Stay safe everyone.

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        1. Good news Conan and hope better other half stays safe
          And err ! And umm! And ahh !

          Yerself cor that was a struggle but did mean it 💖

          And gotta a bottle of bleach
          If you need a stiff drink to clear any virus 🦠

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          1. LOL @ Niko.

            If I get down to Edinburgh at some point I’ll call round for a glass of bleach. I’ve got three big bottles of Dettol … we could have a party and sty fit as a fiddle forever.

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        2. Only ‘sigh’ for Julie Christie? I still go weak at the knees just from a mere mention of the name. Don’t make them like that any more.

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          1. Two most memorable first sights of film actors – Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia and Julie Christie in Billy Liar.

            Is the road with the right turn lane showing at bottom of picture Morningside by any chance ?

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        3. If it was Princess Margaret that basket would have been full of gin and carried by a flunky (who would be half her age and pretty with it). I wonder whatever happened to Roddy…

          I’m glad to hear your news. How is your friend who contracted the virus? (Do you contract a virus? It sounds wrong.)

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          1. Still coughing, got his appetite back, and has ordered a couple of bottles of “something nice”* for when the lockdown’s lifted.

            * Knowing him, it’s Kraken spiced rum.

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            1. pretty, maybe (thanks) but flunky, most certainly not!
              I rather doubt whether Meg was into buses?

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  3. Pic 1 is, I think, Mollie Weir, Tom’s sister, in the days before she advertised Flash. Pic 2 – Glesca, obviously – Cambridge Street? Pic 5 – not sure (so many blondes) – Britt Ekland? Pic 6 – Glesca again, Dumbarton Road, Partick, just beyond Partick Station. That N09 tram would be heading for Dalmuir, Clydebank. Pic 12 – Spandau Ballet. Pic 16 – The 1908 London Olympics Marathon. The guy about to breast the tape was Dorando Pietri, Italy, who was disqualified because officials helped him to his feet after he’d fallen. Nobody remembers who actually won but Pietri has never been forgotten. Pic 17 – the Clyde at Glasgow, in its glory days. You can see the Finnieston crane in the background and in the foreground a double-decker vehicular and Clutha passenger ferry are crossing the river between Partick and Govan.

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    1. Got the marathon right, Andi. The London Olympics marathon began at Windsor and ended at Shepherd’s Bush. The water was unusually hot by London standards – ‘grilling’ according to my 1951 Century in Pictures book.

      Pietri, only five-foot two in height, was working as a waiter in London but was a highly-rated international runner. He began his race at a rather slow pace, but in the second half of the course put in a powerful surge, moving into second position by the 20 mile mark, four minutes behind South African Charles Hefferon. When he knew that Hefferon was in crisis, Pietri further increased his pace, overtaking at 24 miles and only two and a bit to go.

      But the effort took its toll and with a mile and a quarter left, Pietri began to feel the effects of extreme fatigue and dehydration. When he entered the stadium, he took the wrong path and when umpires redirected him, he fell down for the first time. He got up with their help, in front of 75,000 spectators.

      He fell four more times, and each time the umpires helped him up. In the end, though totally exhausted, he managed to finish the race in first place. Of his total time of 2h 54m 46s, 10 minutes were needed for that last 400 yards. Second was American Johnny Hayes, with a time of 2h 55m 18s. The American team immediately lodged a complaint against the help Pietri received from the umpires. The complaint was accepted and Pietri was disqualified and removed from the final standings of the race.

      But losing had its compensation. Wiki tells us that Queen Alexandra gave him a gilded silver cup. And Arthur Conan Doyle, who had been commissioned by the Daily Mail to write a special report about the race, was very impressed by Petri’s efforts, writing:

      “The Italian’s great performance can never be effaced from our record of sport, be the decision of the judges what it may.”

      Conan Doyle got the Daily Mail to start a subscription to raise money and help Pietri to open a bakery in his home town. The fund reached £300 – about £32,000 n today’s money – to which Conan Doyle contributed the initial fiver (now more like £550).

      Pietri suddenly became an international celebrity. Composer Irving Berlin dedicated a song to him and he received requests to participate in exhibition races in the United States. On 25 November 1908, in Madison Square Garden, New York a race between Hayes and Pietri was organized. Pietri won the race as well as a second similar race on 15 March 1909. He won 17 of the 22 races on his tour of America.

      He returned to Italy in May 1909 and continued racing professionally in his native country and abroad for two more years. He ran his final marathon in Buenos Aires, on 24 May 1910, where he achieved his personal best of 2h 38m 48:2s. He was 26 when he ran his last long-distance race and in three years as a professional runner had earned 200,000 lire in prize money alone, an enormous sum for the time.

      He invested his earnings in a hotel he opened with his brother but was not as successful an entrepreneur as he was athlete, and the hotel went bankrupt. He died of a heart attack in 1942, aged 56.

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    3. Strictly speaking the “Cluthas” were the “up and down” boats that provided a river bus service between Victoria Bridge and Whiteinch Ferry, there were eleven landing stages at various points and the service carried around 3 million passengers at it’s peak around 1900 for a flat fare of a penny.

      However after the introduction and speedy expansion of the electric trams throughout the city usage rapidly declined and the service was withdrawn in 1903.

      As you say the ferry pictured is a cross river service between Partick and Govan.

      Three famous shipyards can be seen, on the south bank in Govan to the right you have Fairfields with Harland and Wolff just upstream, over on the north bank to the lower left you can just see the end of one of the slipways of A & J Inglis builders of the P.S.Waverley.

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        1. But tolerated for his cheery disposition and ability to put out a tune on his “squeeze box” – it certainly wasn’t for his cooking!

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          1. I’m getting McPhail’s recipe for haddies done in engine oil to send to it to Donald Trump. Sure it staves off covid-19.
            Btw wasn’t the BBC portrayal of Sunny Jim a travesty ? He was usually a few steps ahead of the rest, witness chuckle soup.

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  4. Then came the Yugo, and the Dacia. I don’t think Bulgaria made a contribution, but John will know.
    Not long ago, I saw an old Wartburg on the autobahn. Needless to say, the modern Audi Quattro in which I was a passenger left it standing.
    Did MacGowans Highland Toffee not come from Stenhousemuir? Is the factory still there?

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    1. Bulgaria assembled Ladas, Don Don, and there are still plenty on the roads. There’s a perversely nostalgic affection for them, and many people keep a Lada as a hobby car. While trying to find out more, I came across this website which I’m sure you’ll find informative as will anyone with a passing interest in East European motoring in the Communist era.

      https://www.vagabond.bg/travel/high-beam/item/4101-cars-of-communism.html

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    2. Factory gone – no longer a reference point for my progress on foot from Larbert Station to Ochilview.
      The chocolate sided stuff was the luxury the ordinary what I had most often. This product extracted most of my hair first teeth.

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    3. I bought a Yugo when I lived in Perthshire and was going via Braemar and Tomintoul to Elgin. A change from the A9. I could get over the Fair well and had to go back to Dalmungie to get a good fast go at it. Made it to the top in 1st gear. Needless to say I skipped the Lecht and went round via Downside. It was built like a tank but seemed to have the engine of a moped.

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      1. The Dacia?

        I saw quite a few of these on trips to Romania. They had dreadful 2 stroke engines that pumped out all sorts of noxious gases.

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  5. andimac, if that is Mollie Weir, and I don’t doubt it, she is advertising Quaker Oats, not Flash.
    Thanks for the Olympic story. I was looking for that but couldn’t find it. The picture is a still from a moving film, I am sure I have seen it.

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    1. To compensate for the lack of sport, I’ve contributed three historic shots today. I was pretty sure the marathon man would quickly be identified (likewise the boxer) but can anyone name the lady tennis player? I’d never heard of her but she’s right up there among the all-time greats of Wimbledon.

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        1. Correct on the boxer, Andi. Jack Johnson was world heavyweight champ from 1908 to 1915. My book describes him as “Ill conducted, aggressive, quarrelsome, and a merciless opponent, but he was also one of the greatest fighters of all time, and this picture shows how well-equipped physically he was for his chosen trade.

          “At the age of 37, he was counted out in the 26th [!] round of a sensational fight with Jess Willard at Havana, Cuba.”

          The tennis player is not Suzanne Lenglen but there is a connection. The lady pictured lost her title to Lenglen.

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    2. That could have been for a poster. She appeared in many films usually in cameo roles. Radio was what made her, then she moved onto writing. She had regular columns in Scottish papers usually about nothing but it got lapped up by the grannies.

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      1. She certainly wrote loads of books about her childhood days in Glasgow and then how she moved into show business. Like you say, Marcia, she was a player of bit parts as a rule.

        I think she also wrote for the People’s Journal.

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    3. Yep, that was before she became the Flash lady!

      I should have added an acknowledgment to John and Dave for the photos… and I shall in just a second. John provided the Olympics photo. He may tell you more about it.

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  6. #13 is Aiberdeen, the junction of St Nicholas Street and Union Street. What’s missing is the statue of Queen Victoria just to the right of the photo. Along with the Monkey Hoose, it was the place to meet when going on a night oot. When the area was re-developed in about 1970 the statue was moved to Queen’s Cross where it scarcely gets a glance in the middle of a busy roundabout. I once saw it crowned with a traffic cone but it never became a tradition.

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    1. LOL, Dave.

      There was a place like that in Dundee once upon a time, according to my uncle.

      It was at the bottom of Reform Street, opposite the city square.

      It was known as Duffers’ Corner, he said, because that was where so many people (of both genders) got stood up. I assume been “duffed” meant being stood up.

      Dundee has a statue of Victoria too although she only ever passed through on her way to Balmoral.

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      1. Interesting about the statues to Queen Victoria. When I hear “Cross” as a place name, I think of the site of an Eleanor Cross. That couldn’t explain one in Scotland though. So there are clearly other “Cross” names. I see that only two of the 13th century Eleanor Crosses are still standing, and that the monument at the Charing Cross railway station in London is a Victorian era reconstruction of the 1290’s Queen Eleanor memorial cross that was demolished in 1647.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_cross

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          1. LOL……LOL…..I love those place names.

            BTW, I’ve visited locations in Death Valley (on the Nevada/California border) and have driven through Furnace Creek. 🙂

            And I’ve been through Peculiar many times, a short distance south of Kansas City on a principal North-South highway through the city.

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    2. The statue, erected in 1893, was moved in 1964 for the expansion of M&S.
      The original ‘Markies’ can be seen peering round the corner of the Netherkirkgate , 100 yards back on the right hand side. Judging from the empty windows in Claude Alexander the shop is shut so the photo was probably taken just prior to the redevelopment (c.1964).
      Those premises are best known for being the site of Morrison’s Economic Stores (aka Raggie Morrisons) which closed down in the 50’s, a bit before my time. The whole area was pretty much obliterated by further redevelopment c.1985, the St. Nicholas Centre.
      In hindsight the City Fathers obsession with redevelopment hasn’t enhanced the city much. Much of what gave it ‘character’ has been removed, replaced with the bland anonymity / retail chains, indistinguishable from what you can find in 100 other towns.
      Union Street is not what it was, or maybe I’m just getting old….

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      1. Aye, Roddy, They moved the Wallace Tower, a medieval town house to an out of town site and it has been unoccupied there for years. A golden chance to move it back when they re-developed the area opposite Marischal College but no chance. They hemmed in Provost Skene’s House with tower blocks. Sigh.

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      2. I don’t think anywhere, in towns, is like it used to be.

        Largely soulless places now full of phone shops and charity outlets… or the ever present Sports Direct and B and M Bargains, who would have to pay ME to shop there.

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    1. Aye. Good question.

      I haven’t been in the town since the lockdown began. But I’m told by a neighbour (who had to go to the bank) that it is deserted.

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  8. Completely Off Topic, but probably of interest to a lot of Munguinites:

    Craig Murray Defence Fund Launched

    I have made a trivial contribution to this. But, at the moment, it is all I can afford. I consider this to be a true affront to democracy.

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    1. Lets see if I can give you a working link. Which was really the point.

      This has proven difficult, however:

      Click HERE TO DONATE if you do not see the Donate button above. And, no there wasn’t a Donate button above.

      Alternatively:

      Account name
      MURRAY CJ
      Account number 3 2 1 5 0 9 6 2
      Sort code 6 0 – 4 0 – 0 5
      IBAN GB98NWBK60400532150962
      BIC NWBKGB2L
      Bank address Natwest, PO Box 414, 38 Strand, London, WC2H 5JB

      The Click HERE TO DONATE doesn’t work. I am about to write to Craig to suggest his first port of call is not a lawyer but someone to fix his links. 🙂

      This is too important to fail due to technology issues.

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      1. I quite agree.

        As the persecution of Craig Murray (and others) is being driven by the SNP “leadership” I feel it’d be most appropriate for people to cancel their SNP membership and donate the money to those who haven’t attempted to pervert the course of justice/perjured themselves for political purposes.

        I really can’t wait for Alex’ revenge – its going to be so sweet.

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        1. Just read the whole story on Craig’s blog and it really is shocking. Especially tipping off the media before the ‘suspect’ even knows and the police vans roll up. Read all abut it here

          https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/

          There really is something rotten in the state of Scotland for such a concerted effort of persecution, when indisputably contemptuous comments have been made by sympathisers with Salmond’s discredited accusers – with apparent impunity/immunity.

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          1. I fear the SNP leadership has turned into SLAB (same self-serving venality) and have about as much interest in independence as SLAB had. Its simply not in their personal interests for it to happen.

            I realise that’s a somewhat challenging viewpoint for some of you to understand but I wonder if you’ve asked yourself why the two biggest political blogs in Scotland (both pro-indy) changed their view on the SNP leadership after years of staunch support? At the same time?

            Regardless of the Salmond stuff I see no point in granting the SNP yet another mandate in 2021 (if that election even happens) as they’ll do nothing with it. That should be just as concerning (if not more so) to most of us as the events which have already occurred.

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                1. I just think they are throwing away our best chance with their fight.

                  Not nearly “in” enough to know what it’s about. Not nearly clever enough to work out a solution.

                  Just angry. This is more than them. It’s US.

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                  1. The SNP leadership is no longer “Us” as demonstrated (pre Covid-19) by their decision to hold a “party conference” in a location where nobody other than MSPs/MPs and SNP management/employees could attend due to the space available.

                    “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

                    Perhaps thats always the way of things 😦

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          3. What is particularly concerning is their targetting pro-independence people. That Daily Record article last year gave all the details of the prosecution case. I thought at the time that they must know the case will never come to court as the article would definitely be in contempt. And Stu Campbell has reported to the police numerous examples of where the MSM have given details which could lead to jigsaw identification of those granted anonymity. But the unionist press are left alone.

            This is blatant political repression.

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          4. I just want to remind everyone that Craig Murray is not a reliable commentator.

            History tells us he sees conspiracies where there are none; pursues conspiracies long after they have been debunked; assumes authority on topics he has not earned; makes basic mistakes about the powers granted to institutions; and has ideas about independence that are incompatible with democratic process. I would add that he displays the signs of someone who believes they are being persecuted by shadowy forces, like the hero in a political thriller. Occam’s Razor does not seem to be at the centre of his reasoning.

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            1. I used to like Craig. I went to see him talk at a meeting during the campaign in 2014. He was quite impressive.

              And while I still appreciate some of the things he writes, I’m inclined to take the view that he’s a bit of a conspiracy theorist.

              It’s often hard to decide whether people like him are genuine or attention seeking. I simply do not know.

              It remains true however, that this blog doesn’t have the financial resources to afford litigation, nor the widespread readership to crowd fund it… like Stuart, or Alex or even the people who successfully/unsuccessfully pursued Carmichael… or indeed Mr Murray.

              So I tend, possibly in a cowardly manner, to stay clear of something that might end up with me in court.

              This is a friendly community. I’d prefer it not to be torn apart by disagreements over this.

              I repeat to the SNP… You are a very good government; you are shining by comparison with the ragbag in London; you are also our only realistic chance of independence. Bury the hatchet and get on with running the country and and getting our goal.
              I’d like to hope that this matter is now closed on the blog.

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            2. “Pursues conspiracies long after they have been debunked”.

              In a respectful and friendly manner (which is the hallmark of this site) can you please give an example?

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        2. I have to say, though, I wish they would all just put their differences behind them and pull together for what is becoming more and more desperately needed.

          Petty squabbles between NS and AS are pathetic. We expect better.

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  9. I have just looked more closely at pic 20.
    The Ilyushin airliner in the background is an Il-62M (it says so on the engine nacelle).
    It is also Polish (the stroke though the letter L is a giveaway), probably belonging to the state airline LOT.

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    1. I wonder why the FSO was on the runway of what looks like a fairly big airport… It’s not like it’s the kind of car they would have picked up the president in…

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  10. 7 – that car may fail it’s M.O.T.

    9 – when we were young we used to break the toffee by hitting it against the kerb on the street.

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      1. The block of toffee was very had so we smashed it to pieces with the wrapper on. Their chocolate toffee which was 1d dearer was mmmmmmmmmmmm. Thankfully I still have most of my teeth. I hope that my appointment with Natalie will still go ahead later in the year.

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  12. Vestas,

    You say:

    “As the persecution of Craig Murray (and others) is being driven by the SNP “leadership” I feel it’d be most appropriate for people to cancel their SNP membership and donate the money to those who haven’t attempted to pervert the course of justice/perjured themselves for political purposes.”

    I pay my dues.

    What evidence have you that

    “the SNP “leadership”, hasn’t allowed due process?

    In a democracy, they more or less have to. Would you not agree?

    What evidence do you have that they have interfered (which is a word that is, astonishingly hard to spell correctly) in due process?

    I do however think that some part of the government has it ‘in’ for Craig Murray and that that needs to be addressed.

    Hope you can contribute more than I could.

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    1. Not without being charged with contempt of court I can’t. Same as Mr Murray, Mr Campbell and others.

      I’m 100% certain though.

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  13. Well, trispw, perhaps a new post about what Vestas and I are arguing about, and your own views would be a good idea?

    Just saying.

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    1. It really wouldn’t be a good idea. Nobody can say anything candidly without the likelihood of prosecution.

      Plus it puts the onus partially on Tris to remove anything which could be a contempt of court. Nobody needs that.

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      1. Vestas,

        I suppose that that is a valid point. And I would not expect trispw to take it to a ‘contempt of court’ level.

        I love this web site, and would hate it to become a victim of legal prosecution. Though I would support it with my somewhat tiny funds. Would you? I am bereft that discussing legal ‘decisions’ are enough to suppress opinion though.

        YMMV.

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        1. Its the way of things these days I guess.

          I think FWIW they have Craig Murray “bang to rights” – his Yes Minister parody would have allowed me to identify “Mr Marmalade” and hence his wife even had I not known that info already.

          The question is why Leask, Farquarson, Carrel, Garavelli, Hutcheon et al aren’t being charged. Their articles/statements/posts allowed people to identify the Alphabet Sisters just as clearly as Craig Murray. I know for a fact that Police Scotland have had complaints about ALL of them.

          The Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service is run by ScotGov, not Westminster so its not some UK state conspiracy. Its entirely Scottish.

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          1. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the *independent* public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Her Majesty’s Lord Advocate, who under the Scottish legal system is responsible for prosecution, along with the area procurators fiscal.

            Not SNP then.

            Independent Judiciary and all that.

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            1. Indeed but people follow “guidelines” in their jobs don’t they? Well they do if they want to get anywhere other than their current job…..

              I was actually aiming to prevent the inevitable “it’ll be the security services” reply by pointing out that the entire process is within the control of ScotGov.

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      2. Well, so far we haven’t had anything that could be contemptuous, as far as I can see.

        This is why I steadfastly refused to carry anything at all about any court cases that are ongoing…

        Stuart and Kezia, Alex and his accusers…

        Whatever. I tend to keep out of it.

        I’m just very sad that this is happening. I like them both and I respect them for what they have done.

        Why they cannot see that they are splitting the movement I cannot see.

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    2. So no?

      A couple of hours have gone bye. I would really, really like to have your opinion. Because I both respect you and consider you a friend.

      I think this is just wrong.

      Perhaps your mileage may vary?

      If you do, then put up a post that explains why I am wrong. It is the least that you could do.

      I am pretty angry about this.

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      1. Douglas: As Vestas says, this is a minefield of possible trouble. I’m not well enough informed to present an argument, nor do I have legal representation to hand.

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        1. Point taken, somewhat. But I have never, ever, read a comment, by you, that appeared to be engrossed with legality. You normally say what you mean without fear or favour. Why not now?

          It is why I admire what you do. This, however, is an attempt to turn our politics into a legal minefield where legitimate comment is challenged as being illegitimate.

          I do not think that a court of law is the final arbitrer. I do not think that they have the final say.

          I think we do.

          But, that’s just me.

          I am annoyed as fuck about this.

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          1. I normally don;t touch controversy, Douglas.

            You have to be cleverer than I am to tread the line between critical comment and contempt or other illegality.

            There are plenty blogs which do though.

            I’m sorry if I’m disappointing you over it. But that’s the way I feel.

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    3. I’ll consider it, but I’m disinclined to be drawn into this argument about which I know so little.

      My only point really was that there will be time after independence, which is now desperately needed, for the Salmond v Sturgeon dispute.

      So, I say, just stop it and get on with independence for the loonies in this Tory government which still has 4.5 years to run.

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      1. But it is not about Salmond and Sturgeon. It is about Craig Murray’s right to comment on Salmonds trial. And why, forsooth, anyone should try to stop him!

        This is about the rule of law and frankly I have no idea why you even mention my heroine – that would be Nicola, btw – who has stayed out of this pretty well.

        I read Craig Murrays posts more or less when they were published. Thay seemed to me, and on re-reading, still seem to me to be a judicious and fair description of what went on.

        I am not at all impressed with how the Scottish judicial system has, and intends to continue, to harrass him.

        They, trispw, are wrongfully prosecuting someone. Check out his blog, lest this is your final word on the matter:

        Craig Murray Defence Fund Launched

        I think it is disgusting.

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        1. Thanks for the like. It means a lot in that we can agree to disagree and stuff. Given that we agree on 99.9% of what actually matters, which is pretty unusual. And I do take on board what Vestas and you have said. I would subscribe to a Munguins Republic defence fund, but I would prefer to not to have to.

          Point taken.

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    1. Perfect guess! But how on earth did you know about her,Don Don? I consider myself reasonably well-informed on sporting matters but she’d never registered with me till I came across her in the ‘Çentury of Pictures’ book. Certainly a serious omission on my part…

      The caption says: “Without a doubt the greatest woman player of lawn tennis till the time of Suzanne Lenglen. Lambert Chambers is shown playing at Wimbledon when at the height of her powers. She first won the women’s singles in 1908 and six times thereafter. She was eventually beaten in a memorable match by Suzanne Lenglen in 1919.”

      In the modern era, only Martina Navratilova has more Wimbledon singles titles (9) with Steffi Graf matching her seven.

      Wiki adds that Lambert Chambers also won a gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics and captained Britain’s Wightman Cup team. In the 1925 Wightman Cup, at the age of 46 [!], she played singles and doubles matches and won both.

      How did she managed to get round the court at all in such an outfit? She looks better equipped to be competing on a judo or karate mat.

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        1. LOL. That’s true. Tennis is by and large a warm-weather sport. It must have been hellish, and movement restricting.

          Like a man having to play in a dinner suit complete with bow tie!”.

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        2. PS: Charlotte Cooper Sterry won five singles titles at Wimbledon and the first female Olympic tennis championship in 1900. I wonder if she wore the high collar and tie. 😉

          She came back for a picture at age 90:

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  15. John, I confess: I searched the internet. Lady tennis-players of the 1920s.
    Dorothea’s face seemed to fit.
    I live in Germany. Local legend has it that a teenaged Steffi Graf got her hair styled at a hairdresser in the town.
    Boris Becker lived locally as well.
    A more contemporay sporting hero is F1 driver Sebastian Vettel. I know someone who went to school with him.

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  16. Danny, who is that in the middle ? It is not Omar, so I will take a wild guess.
    Boris Pasternak?
    Damn it, I’m wrong again.
    It must be David Lean.

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          2. They are Renault running gear.
            They make the Logan,the stepway as well.
            The cheapest one is the White Saloon,only colour at that price.
            A four wheel drive is offered.

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  18. Jack Johnson (#8) “on October 13 1911, became a freemason in Forfar and Kincardine, No. 225 Lodge, in Dundee.” There was opposition at the time, and “the Forfarshire Lodge was suspended by the Grand Lodge of Scotland. Johnson’s fees were returned to him and his admission was ruled illegal.”

    However, the lodge apparently now considers Johnson one of its own, and was reportedly happy when Donald Trump posthumously pardoned him in 2018 for his US federal morals conviction.

    https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/660146/i-am-a-freemason-and-as-long-as-i-live-i-shall-be-one-pardon-for-boxing-hero-celebrated-by-dundee-masons/

    Johnson, the controversial “colored” champion since 1903, had won the heavyweight boxing title in Australia in 1908. Racism permeated his first defense of the title in the USA, in what was at the time considered to be the “fight of the century,” in Reno, Nevada, on July 4, 1910, against James J. Jeffries, the “great white hope.” The victory of the black man in Reno ignited race riots across the United States, and film of the fight was suppressed for years.

    More about Jack Johnson and his Freemason connection in Dundee.

    http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/2018/05/was-pardoned-boxer-jack-johnson.html

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    1. Fascinating story, Danny. And a most improbable connection between Scotland and an all-time sporting great. Freemasonry? I’d never have believed and would have assumed anyone trying to sell me the story was having m on. Can you do funny handshakes when wearing boxing gloves? Johnson obviously thought so, judging by his comments to the Dundee reporter.

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      1. John…..I too was surprised at Jack Johnson’s unlikely connection with Dundee and Freemasonry when I saw a reference in the Wiki article. A black man certainly would not have been accepted for membership in an American Masonic lodge at the time.
        The handshake in boxing gloves would indeed be problematic. 😉

        Membership in the Masonic Lodge was apparently once a big deal. Fourteen American presidents have been Freemasons beginning with George Washington. (This doesn’t include Thomas Jefferson whose membership in the Masons is disputed.) George Washington was inaugurated in 1789 for his first term as president, at Federal Hall on Wall Street in lower Manhattan. When they realized that nobody brought a Bible for George to swear the oath on, they went down the street to the Masonic lodge and asked if George could borrow their big one. The George Washington Masonic inauguration Bible is still there and is occasionally trotted out for inaugural oath taking if a president wants to use it.

        Lots of pictures were painted of George in his Masonic apron and regalia. This one, presiding over a meeting of his home lodge in Alexandria, Virginia. He laid the cornerstone of the Capitol in his new city BTW. Probably wore his apron as shown here. 😉

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      2. PS John……Speaking of Scotland’s connection with American sporting greats, you’ve probably heard of the (much more likely) connection of the great Georgia golfer Bobby Jones with the Old Course at St. Andrews. There’s a Ben Franklin connection too.

        What happened as Jones was flailing away at his ball in the bunker of the 11th hole of the Old Course in the 1921 Open is variously reported. One story is that he angrily tore up his score card and walked off the Old Course, vowing never to return. But Wiki says:

        “Jones had a unique relationship with the town of St Andrews. On his first appearance on the Old Course in The Open Championship of 1921, he withdrew after 11 holes in the third round, when he failed to complete the hole (in effect disqualifying himself), and tore up his scorecard, although he finished the round and indeed played the fourth round as well. He firmly stated his dislike for The Old Course and the town reciprocated, saying in the press, ‘Master Bobby is just a boy, and an ordinary boy at that.'”

        But all was forgiven when he won The Open on the Old Course in 1927:

        “Later, he came to love the Old Course and the town like few others. When he won the Open at the Old Course in 1927, he wowed the crowd by asking that the trophy remain with his friends at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club rather than return with him to Atlanta.”
        “In 1958, Jones was named a Freeman of the City of St Andrews, becoming only the second American to be so honored, the other being Benjamin Franklin in 1759. As Jones departed Younger Hall with his honor, the assembly spontaneously serenaded him off to the traditional tune of “Will Ye No Come Back Again?” in a famously moving tribute.”

        Jones was instrumental in building the Augusta National in his home state of Georgia where the Masters Tournament is played annually.

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  19. Can anyone identify the Doncaster bus – is it a Bristol (which marque could only be bought by publicly owned operators) ?
    Never saw any up here till early 60’s and the “tin front” era and only saw older models a couple of times in Carlisle.

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      1. It’s an Albion, enlarge the image and you can just about make it out at the top of the radiator.
        I’ll do some research.

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        1. Its a Nov. 1950 Albion Valiant belonging to South Yorkshire Motors. It started life as a coach with Burlingham bodywork (reg. JWT 112 – see below) but was re-bodied by Roe c.1958.
          It’s re-built registration was changed to TWY 8 but retained on original chassis. It is now preserved (having lain idle between 1981 & 2010) in Dewsbury bus museum..
          The original engine has been replaced by one from an ex-Glasgow Corporation Albion, presumably the original was irretrievably seized up!
          !
          However its original Burlingham body was then replaced onto another Albion, a 1941 Valkyrie CX13, which originally had a Duple body; this vehicle also still exists, having been restored in 1969. So both original chassis and body survive albeit as separate vehicles.
          Who said bus-anorakdom wasn’t interesting?

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          1. It doesn’t happen nowadays but after the war supply shortages meant that coaches were often cannibalised to provide the higher capacities required.
            Post-war bus bodies could also be of questionable build quality so perfectly good chassis were often re-bodied going on to serve for many more years.
            Interesting but incestuous at times,making it difficult to keep track of changing chassis, bodies,registrations..

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            1. 57. DYG 53: South Yorkshire, Pontefract - preserved
              that’s the original Burlingham bodywork, on DYG 53, very stylish, a ‘proper’ bus.
              Don’t suppose anyone’s interested but me? (sad face)

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              1. I think it is beautiful, Roddy.

                It makes me think of Miss Marple or Miss Read. Fares of 1d and 2d and bus conductors.. the countryside… buzzing insects and peace.

                Thanks.

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  21. Danny, I don’t know if you wanted an in-depth (or tongue-in-cheek) reply about Zhivago leaving his wife for Lara (the sainted Christie’s character), but as you well know the situation was complicated.
    On the one hand, he had a child with his wife (by the end of the film the child grew up to be Rita Tushingham).
    On the other hand, he first treated Lara in his medical capacity (doctor/patient), then worked with her during the war (doctors and nurses), and finally, she was his muse.
    So, difficult choice. Geraldine or Julie? I’d go with the blonde.

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    2. DonDon…..Thanks for the interesting comment. I love that movie, although it initially received bad reviews that greatly disappointed David Lean, who had just received good reviews for Lawrence of Arabia. The comments I’ve read about the Dr. Zhivago film tend along the lines that Lean turned Pasternak’s great novel into a soap opera. I’ve read that some Zhivago movie lovers thought that Zhivago was a cad, as he would take leave of his pregnant wife to go meet Lara.

      I thought that Geraldine was cute, but Julie was pretty. So take your pick…..LOL.

      As for soap opera, there was Charlie Chaplin’s messy personal life, which caused playwright Eugene O’Neil to disown his daughter Oona when she ran away with Chaplin. Oona was Chaplin’s fourth wife, and they had eight children, the first of whom was Geraldine, who looks just like her mother. Geraldine is on the left in this 1961 family picture of Charlie, Oona beside him, and six of their eight children.

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      1. I remember seeing Petula in concert a few years ago. In the introduction to her version of “This is my Song”, a dreadful dirge written by Chaplin for his film “Countess from Hong Kong” (a terrible film too, despite its massive star cast) she talked about how happy he was that the song at least, had been a hit. (In fact a massive hit, all over the world in 4 different languages…god knows why!)

        Anyway, he invited her over to his home in Switzerland, in fact close to where Pet and Claude lived. She reported that “the house was full of young children… his!!!! He was an amazing old man!”

        I suppose he would have been in his late 70s by that time.

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        1. Tris…..I had no idea that Petula had any connection with Chaplin. There is simply no limit to the people Petula has met and the things she’s done. That’s a fantastic picture!

          I remember reading about Countess from Hong Kong and how it was a box office failure which was savaged by the movie critics.

          Chaplin was 54 when he married 18 year old Oona O’Neill, which caused a scandal. They had eight children. He would have been 78 when the film came out in 1967.

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          1. I thought somewhere about there. But Pet said some of them were very young children, so he was a quite an extraordinary man.

            Apparently they had a great afternoon together. She played the piano and he danced and sang.

            It’s said that the catalogue of superstars who graced his film areed to make it before they read the script, assuming that as it was Chaplin, it would be a massive success.

            Wrong!

            Petula wasn’t his first choice to sing the song either. He wanted Al Jolson and he wouldn’t believe them when they told him that Jolson was dead. They had to take a photograph of his grave.

            Clark was his second choice, although it’s a bit of a leap from Jolson to her. When she was sent a tape of it, she was horrified.

            “I can’t sing this”, she said to Claude. They had played the tape over a few times, but Pet said absolutely no way was she singing “I care not what the world may say, without your love there is no day”.

            Later that day the kids’ nanny was humming the tune. Claude noticed and though…well, if the tune is that memorable, maybe it has something.

            They asked Chaplin if they could change the lyric (which is really old fashioned), but he said no.

            Claude reckoned it would work in Italy and France, so with Chaplin’s permission, he commissioned writers to do lyrics for it in French and Italian, and for good measure, German.

            A few weeks later, they went into a recording studio and recorded the continental versions. When they were in the bag, the producer said, “we should do an English version”. Pet said, “no. it won’t work in English, it’s far to slow and dreary and old fashioned”, but apparently the producer said :”Petula, the tape is running”.

            So she did it. And a few weeks later it was No 1 on the charts in a fair number of countries.

            As she said…”so, what do I know?”.

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            1. Tris….Oh what a wonderful experience that afternoon with Chaplin must have been. But he was surely losing a bit of his mental sharpness by then. Not knowing that Al Jolson was dead! Jolsen died in 1950.

              And what a great story about the song! Love it! And how great it would be to hear Petula tell it!

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              1. LOL… yeah maybe he was a bit.

                On another occasion introducing the song, she said… “He asked me to sing the song… It appears that the divine Sophia doesn’t sing too well… what a shame, that!” with a look down to her own rather more modest chest!

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                1. Sophia had her own considerable talent, but it surely wasn’t singing….LOL.

                  I simply can’t imagine what Chaplin thought Al Jolson could have done with that song. 😉

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                    1. I loved your story about her visiting Petula in hospital. Nice to think that she was also something of a character in real life. 🙂

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                    2. Absolutely. In these days nursing sisters were terrifying characters whose word was law, but Rutherford just brushed her out of the way and demanded champagne glasses… and got them!!!

                      She had a strange life though, not altogether happy, but she was much loved.

                      Liked by 1 person

              1. To be honest, it wasn’t really the way he wrote it. She did gig it about a bit to make it a little more palatable for her mainly teenage fans.

                There were other version of it that stuck more to his original idea…

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                1. This is more like I’ve heard. Sort of a Mario Lanza arrangement…..LOL. I still can’t imagine what Al Jolsen could have done with it. 😉

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                  1. I suppose he must have known Jolson back in the day… But it just wasn’t Jolson’s style… nor for that matter Clark’s.

                    It very much was Secombe’s

                    Judith Durham did a version too… although I’ve only ever heard it once.

                    I’ve found it. She keeps to to his original lyric, unlike Pet.

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                    2. Al Jolson himself sang the vocals for Larry Parks who played him in “The Jolson Story”, released in 1946. He does a version of Anniversary Song that’s a bit more subdued than the boisterous vaudeville style he’s known for.

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  22. Marcia. A toffee hammer. Nae household shud be athoot ane. Brekkin it on the causey-stanes is nae uise. Ye’ll jist tine the wee bitties doun the syvver.

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  23. When I read it, the thing that struck me about Dr.Zhivago was how much poetry there was in it. Probably a Russian thing.
    Now, it is arguable whether Nabokov can be counted as a Russian writer at all (he lived in America and wrote in English), but there is a hell of a lot of poetry in Lolita.
    As a child in pre-Revolutonary Russia, Nabokov learned English from his nanny. His Scottish nanny. Look for Scots words in Lolita.

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    1. DonDon….Of course I first saw Dr. Zhivago long long after its theatrical run, when some of the initial negative reviews of the 1960’s had cooled some I think. There was the “soap opera” criticism of course, and the charge that Lean didn’t have a very good screenplay of the novel to film, so he was left with making “pretty pictures”……….of Omar Sharif’s big dark eyes for example looking out of the boxcar at the big bright moon illuminating the beautiful snowy Russian landscape going by. The first time I saw it, I thought that Sharif’s big eyes and the big moon and the snows of Russia looked absolutely AWESOME! 😉

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        1. Tris……Zhivago is not long ENOUGH for me. But then I’m not a film critic. 😉 I have a DVD of the 3 hr-20 min film, and I’ve watched it countless times.

          For a movie to be LONG for me, it has to be bad…..or boring. So “2001: A Space Odyssey” is LONG because it’s bad……and “Gone With the Wind” is LONG because it’s boring………..but “Dr. Zhivago” is magnificently EPIC in its run time……LOL.

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          2. Ah but “2001: A Space Odyssey” is much more interesting if you are aware of the “back story” of Stanley Kubrik’s involvement in providing the special effects for another err…production, a government job this time!

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            1. LOL…I can be prompted to speak at length about all the ways that “2001” is Stanley Kubrick’s supreme example of self-indulgent cinematic garbage. (I do prefer things like dialogue and a story line in a film.)
              As for faking the moon landing…..I’ll turn that one over to the conspiracy theorists for comment. 😉

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  26. Cairnallochy, somebody upthread said Spandau Ballet. I wouldn’ t know.

    Danny, there is lots to remember in that movie: Rod Steiger’s creepy politician, Alec Guinness the creepy secret policeman, Tom Courtenay the creepy fanatic.
    Mutineers murdering their officer, Cossacks massacring protesters, cavalry charges, the massacre of the military cadets.
    And some of the early critics complained that it was slow-moving!

    Liked by 1 person

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