The Cottingley Fairies…

Posted on 2 November 2010 by Patrick

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. 

There are more pictures of The Cottingley Fairies on http://twitpic.com/photos/patricallaghan3

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Buggleskelly Today…

Posted on 28 October 2010 by Patrick

Buggleskelly Today… The year of 1937 began the birth of Buggleskelly, the mythical Irish railway station set on a stretch of disused line near Basingstoke in Hampshire England. The setting was for the film Oh, Mr. Porter starring Will Hay, Moore Marriot, and Graham Moffat… The film was to become a classic!

A tumbledown railway station, representing Buggleskelly was built at an old halt, and even during filming the line was being taken up by The Basingstoke and Alton Railway Company. The film itself is one of the funniest of British comedies in the Music Hall tradition of the 1930’s. The location of the run-down mythical Buggleskelly station was very overgrown when we visited there with our cameras in 1996, but it was still possible to make out where the booking office, rail lines, and signal box had once stood.

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The Saltair Pavilion…

Posted on 25 October 2010 by Patrick
The Saltair Pavilion First Posted on November 28, 2009 by Patrick

Saltair Pav

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 driving home one night across state, and seeing it at its most erie gave him the idea for the film.

October 2010. Many of you still find this erie Pavilion compelling, so I’ve re-blogged it from November 2009 and given the Pavilion another airing. To the best of my memory the Pavilion had been many things in its life-time; from being a saltwater spa and ballroom to its decline as a sort of Coney Island set-up in the 1950’s. The Pavilion has many ghosts in its past and is never more convincing than portrayed in ‘Carnival of Souls’  The movie seems hard to find on DVD, but if you get lucky and find a copy – then it should be watched, and nurtured, and treasured, but yet, hidden away… For it plays with your mind, plays on your fears, and tempers your thoughts and your soul. 

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Interesting Laws from The 1950’s…

Posted on 22 October 2010 by Patrick

Conspiracy. Anyone can boo or hiss at a theatre if he does not like the act. But if several people get together to hiss an actor off the stage to ruin him, they can be made to pay damages.

Defamation. If it injures a person’s reputation.. putting a waxwork figure of a man in the ‘Chamber of Horrors’ may be libellous.

Trespass. Even touching a neighbour’s property may be trespass, such as leaning a ladder against his wall, letting your animals stray onto another’s land, or planting a tree on another’s land. Flying very low over another’s land, shooting over it, or on to it, or letting a horse’s head project over the fence, also may be trespass. Tunnelling under another man’s land is just as much trespass as walking on it.

Negligence. When a ginger-beer manufacturer sold a stone bottle of ginger-beer with a snail in it, and later a woman who drank the ginger-beer bought from a retail shop, became ill, she successfully sued the manufacturer for negligence.

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Interesting People from The Past…

Posted on 8 October 2010 by Patrick

Sir Charles Laughton. He was first a Scarborough hotel manager, then made his stage debut in 1926 in The Inspector-General. He was a Gold medalist of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and excelled in strong character parts particularly Shakespearean. His major film successes have been as Henry VIII in 1933, and as Captain Bligh in Mutiny on the Bounty. He was born in 1899. 

Sir Laurence Olivier first appeared at the Shakespeare Festival at Stratford-on-Avon and played with the Birmingham Repertory Company from 1925-28. He appeared at the Old Vic in 1936, and was Actor-producer in Romeo and Juliet. His many films included Wuthering Heights, Henry V, and Hamlet. He was born in 1907. 

Sir Arthur Pinero was an actor from 1874 until 1881, when he became a dramatic author. He produced clever comedies at the Court Theatre, London from 1885-93 notably Sweet Lavender. Other plays included The Second Mrs. Tanqueray, The Gay Lord Quex, and Trelawney of the Wells. He was born in 1855.

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Blow-Up at Maryon Park…

Posted on 4 October 2010 by Patrick

Maryon Park, Woolwich, London

Maryon Park was the main setting for the 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni’s cult movie ‘Blow-Up’ featuring David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave. David Hemmings played Thomas, a top London fashion photographer captivated by his photographs of a murder, whilst Vanessa Redgrave is the woman at the centre of his interest. His photographs depict a murder scene… or do they? What you see, and what you don’t see, is the enigma central to the story. My photographs taken in 1998 show a park that has changed little in 32 years, the upper meadow where the supposed murder took place is a bit run-down now, but the lower meadow still has its original tennis courts used in the movie, and much of the scenery is unchanged. Beyond the courts there is a hedge now, the flower beds have been altered since the movie, and there is perhaps a little more litter around, but to be fair… a school party had just left from having a picnic when I arrived!  http://twitpic.com/photos/patricallaghan3

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Whipsnade Tree Cathedral…

Posted on 2 October 2010 by Patrick

A collection of trees and hedges planted in the design of a full size medieval cathedral. Whipsnade Tree Cathedral is a 9.5 acre (38,000 m²) garden near the town of Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. It is planted in the approximate form of a cathedral, with grass avenues for nave, chancel, transepts, chapels and cloisters and “walls” of different species of trees.The Tree Cathedral was planted by a Mr EK Blyth as an act of “Faith, hope and reconciliation” in response to his memories of World War I. As a cadet at Sandhurst in 1916 Blyth had made two close friends called Arthur Bailey and John Bennett who were both dead within eighteen months. In 1930 he paid a visit to Liverpool Cathedral, which was then under construction. Blyth wrote “As we drove south through the Cotswold hills on our way home… I saw the evening sun light up a coppice of trees on the side of a hill. It occurred to me then that here was something more beautiful still and the idea formed of building a cathedral with trees.” Work began in 1932 and continued in stages. The site became overgrown during World War II, but development recommenced after the end of the war. The first religious service at the site was held in 1953, and services continue to this day.In 1960 the Tree Cathedral was accepted as a gift by the National Trust. The independent Whipsnade Tree Cathedral Fund is responsible for the religious use of the site. Services have been conducted by many different denominations. [Picture taken by Tony Jones on 10th September 2005]

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The Aldwych Ghost Station…

Posted on 24 September 2010 by Patrick

The Aldwych Subway Station is a ghost station, built in 1907 as The Strand, it closed its doors to passengers for the last time in 1994… Standing now, on its deserted platform deep below London’s busy streets, I can sense the long-forgotten sounds of opening subway train doors and hurried conversations. I can almost feel those desponding souls living here below ground during those dark and distant days of the second world war. Wartime posters still cling to the walls all around me, and I feel any moment that a roar and bustle will emerge from the dark to penetrate my isolation… But then shaking somewhat and with a sudden inexplicaple cold sweat I tread the upward narrow stairway and thrust myself into the cool fresh London air with gulpfuls of thankfulness, my modern-day fears not welcomed in the dark confines of a terrorised wartime England.

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Television Heaven, The British Film Institute, and The Famous Five…

Posted on 17 September 2010 by Patrick

Well, it’s as if I have stepped back into my happy youth. I still have many of the 21 books of The Famous Five by Enid Blyton in my private collection collecting dust, just waiting for Adrian and Anya to turn the pages and discover an enchanting world of picnic teas and Uncle Quentin. But now, there is a revelation and a redeemed salvation for me to explore alone… Ah’ you see life does turn a full circle… A full circle of magical wonderful escape and of complete and utter pleasure…

Now, Enid Blyton fans, young and old alike, are in for a nostalgic treat when the BFI releases on DVD two rare film serials made in the 1950s and 1960s of the much-loved Famous Five adventure stories. Filmed mainly on location in Dorset, both serials were made by the Children’s Film Foundation. They were originally shown at cinemas around the country, and all over the world. Both volumes feature original illustrations by Eileen Soper on the sleeves and contain comprehensive booklets with essays and biographies. Contributors include Enid Blyton expert Norman Wright, author of The Famous Five: Everything you ever wanted to know!; BFI Curator Vic Pratt and Natalie Morris, Senior Curator of BFI Special Collections.

Five on a Treasure Island, which stays true to the spirit of Enid Blyton’s perennially popular first Famous Five novel, is a ripping adventure tale in eight exciting instalments. The author herself helped to cast this serial which follows the celebrated chums as they search for buried treasure in the ruins of Kirrin Castle. Will the intrepid Five manage to foil dastardly antique shop owner Luke Undown’s desperate attempt to steal Kirrin’s treasure from under Uncle Quentin’s nose? Produced by Rank Screen Services Ltd. Story by Enid Blyton. Director Gerald Landau. Producer Frank Wells. Music Jack Beaver. With: Rel Grainer, Richard Palmer, Gillian Harrison, John Bailey.

Five Have a Mystery to Solve, the Children’s Film Foundation’s second Famous Five serial – with a new cast – sees the Five head off to the discover the secrets of the closely-guarded Whispering Island. Befriending young Wilfred, whose strange gifts include an ability to communicate with animals; the gang find themselves in grave danger when they try to find the truth behind the mystery. Made by Rayant Pictures Ltd. Story by Enid Blyton. Screenplay by Michael Barnes. Directed by Ernest Morris. Produced by John Durst. With: Michael Balfour, Keith Pyott, Michael Wennink, David Palmer, Darryl Read.

Five on a Treasure Island (1957) and Five Have a Mystery.  

Courtesy of Television Heaven and The British Film Institute.

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Goodnight Sweetheart…

Posted on 4 September 2010 by Patrick

With “Goodnight Sweetheart” just finishing its worthwhile run on Freeview television, it could almost be D’eja’ vu when you walk into The Royal Oak public house at Columbia road in the East End of London. It was as if I had time travelled through the time portal with Gary Sparrow into Ducketts Passage and wartime London. I half expected to find Pheobe serving behind the bar, Gary at his piano, and Reg supping a pint at a table. Could this wonderful setting have been a seed in the minds of writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran? Had they visited The Royal Oak all those years ago? I would like to think that perhaps they did. This lovely old London pub can be found @ http://www.royaloaklondon.com

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