I know we were busy with other things over the weekend but were it not for Facebook I would have seen no mention of this day on the television yesterday at all. Let’s hope it was mentioned numerous times and I just missed it although I in this modern woke world in which we live I have a nasty feeling they chose not to give it any air time.
I was just watching the Dambusters film which was on over the Bank Holiday weekend and was enjoying the film as usual when it came to a shot of Guy Gibson landing back from a mission and calling for his famous black Labrador dog, however the film had been doctored and had been voiced over as he called for his famous black dog now called Trigger. I was somewhat taken aback and was expecting the arrival of Roy Roger’s horse but no, the famous black Labrador bounded into shot to meet his owner.
Now, having been to the home of the Dambusters Squadron at Scampton and seen the grave of the aforementioned dog I was aware that his name was not Trigger and I have to admit I am not happy with the way this film has been altered and is not now historically correct.
Where will this end, I ask myself shall we see the name of the road sweeper in Fools and Horses also altered for fear that someone may miss hear his name and expect Guy Gibson’s dog to be taking part in the scene.
I have to admit, all this politically correct nonsense makes me snigger and I wonder how long it will be before the Australian character Digger will have to have his name altered and all the words in the script like, bigger, figure, jigger, ligger, rigger, vigour, for fear of them being misheard.
How much simpler would it be to leave the dialogue as it were and to hear the name of the dog as it was during the war when it was quite common to name a dog Nigger without any thought of using it as a racial slur or with any offence meant. It seems to me completely wrong to place a modern interpretation onto an innocent dog’s name, for if we keep removing history from books and films etc we will eventually have no history left, except a record of those who removed it.
I’m delighted to say I watched the Coronation this afternoon and enjoyed virtually every minute, starting with the journey from Buckingham Palace, how can you top the King’s Army marching together with a band and a King and Queen in a golden carriage.
Some marvellous music was playing during the arrival of the Royal party at the Abbey and the eventual walk through of the King, only marred by one man near the back dressed in a rather shabby suit and brown shoes who kept his hand in his pocket and could hardly be bothered to stand up as they passed. He was put to shame by a lady in a wheelchair who with great effort stood respectfully for the King.
It wasn’t until they got further into the Abbey where the posh people who were in the expensive seats showed how due deference should be done with the appropriate bowing of the head. Just in case this is the first time you may have read anything I might have written I think now may be a time to point out my slightly tongue in cheek style of writing, hence the posh people and expensive seats joke.
It seems I wasn’t the only one to notice the blue and yellow carpet which appeared to be a nod to the Ukrainian flag but may have had something to do with being anointed on a field of gold, a mirror of the Royal flags which also contain the two colours, or just a choice of background which would show up the King and Queens regalia to best effect.
The whole event was remarkably well choreographed including the use of que cards although it’s very lucky there was no mix up as the King reciting someone’s shopping list, 2lb of sugar, some toilet rolls and some baked beans for example may have detracted from the grandeur of the event.
The black gospel group was an interesting interlude and thank God they didn’t invite the American preacher that performed at Harry and Meghan’s wedding whose sermon seemed to go on for ever, it felt like an hour and a half but I believe it was about twenty minutes in reality, still long enough though.
I don’t know if the Archbishop of Canterbury is gay but I did think he was at times a tad limp wristed and might have benefited a little had he adopted the Brian Blessed approach to public speaking and at times he seemed to be pushing the religious aspect of the service which made me think of the hoardings one sees outside of some Church’s, “God’s way, or the highway!”
I enjoyed Zadok the priest, it’s one of those pieces of music that gets better as it goes on, unlike the wedding march which I seem to remember get an awful lot worse and for my tastes I would have preferred more of the old-fashioned hymns that one used to sing in school assembly, although this would not please the younger audience who I’m led to believe don’t do this sort of thing anymore.
I loved the tradition of the event, including the King having to change into his shirtsleeves and hide in a cubical whilst he was anointed with oil on his forehead and his chest, I was a little worried that they would repeat the process when it was Camilla’s turn but luckily, they seemed to think smearing oil on her breasts was a step too far.
The Coronating over King Charles was handed many items and held in his hand what I believe was described as a sceptre and I was wondering what made a stick a sceptre and it seems it’s the addition of a lumping great diamond cut from the Cullinan.
After the Coronation there were some fabulous shots of the wonderful carriages and the Prince of Wales and his family on the way back to the Palace, however I’m led to believe it could have been marred by some of the “not my King” protesters who were arrested. Rather amusingly one of the leaders of this group was quoted as saying about the Coronation, “it is a celebration of a corrupt institution and it is a celebration of one man taking a job that he has not earned. All I can say about that is, if you don’t think Prince Charles has earned the job by his over seventy-year apprenticeship, then I suggest you require your head examining.
I was a little disappointed as the fly past was restricted by the low cloud as I always enjoy the Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane but then I had an awful thought, just suppose they had gone ahead and one of the planes had crashed into the balcony killing all the assembled members of the Royal family leaving the only survivor as Harry who was out the back having a fag. God forbid!
Well, that’s my review of a rather splendid day and one to remember, history in the making before our very eyes, I think he will make a pretty good fist of the job of being King and look forward to his long reign. God save the King.
We went to Frisking the Whiskers at the weekend and had a splendid time meeting friends, shopping for vintage clothes and dancing quite a lot, what more can you ask?
I also celebrated my birthday over the weekend and have to say thank you to all those who wished me Happy Birthday, I was also delighted when I got home and did the arithmetic to find I was a year younger than I thought I was. Hurrah!
We went to the See you at Sywell event at the weekend, lovely to see friends, dress up, dance and generally have a dam good time.
Sadly, Angella seems to be allergic to having her photo taken so the only record we have of the event is one photo of me outside the wonderful Art Deco Aviator hotel.
Mystic Meg has died, apparently her death came as a complete surprise to her.
We went to the GER Club in March Cambridgeshire for a forties dance and what a pleasant surprise it was, the club was founded in 1947 by a group of railway men hence the name, The Great Eastern Railway Sports Club. The land on which the Club stands was purchased in 1921 and a bowls Club was formed in 1922. On this land the railwaymen of March decided to build a club house to create good relations between the Railwaymen and Towns folk of March, the Club was finished in 1947.
Never having gone there before we were delighted to be entertained by the Ashby Little Big Band and Blitz Dancers, so we managed plenty of dancing whilst running into friends from our balboa dance class and very nice to see them too.
Rather conveniently we found a hotel within walking distance just down the road which was a converted cinema, now a Weatherspoon pub which was originally built in1929 and called the Hippodrome which as you will see from the picture retained many of its original features, this being the view from the balcony.
The whole weekend was remarkably reasonably priced both at the GER and the Hippodrome and with the cheapest price for a pint of beer at £1.71 a pint one wonders why anyone would be rushing for the modern trend of levelling up, unless they would want to pay £6.00 or more for a pint.
Thank you to the GER and the Hippodrome, we had a fab time and look forward to repeating it again next year.
THIS IS JUST A TEST!! CLICK ON THE IMAGE.
We went to the Coco Club ball at the weekend and took no photos so in the best tradition of “make do and mend” I have borrowed the poster from the event as a taster of the fun we had.
What a wonderful time we had at the Midland Hotel in Morecambe for a thirties weekend, hosted by Mark and Hoc Ewing which finally leaves us able to upload the obligatory photo on the stairs in this iconic Art Deco building.
We decided to go up the day before to visit Carnforth railway station, the location used in the 1945 film Brief Encounter and to get a photograph under the famous clock on the station platform, only to find the clock was missing and had apparently been taken away by the people who own it for repairs never to return. One hopes it will come back at some time in the future and be reinstated on the platform or at least in the station Heritage Centre.
Not to be disheartened we decided to make use of the café on the station which appears not to have changed very much since 1945, one was almost ready for Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson to appear at any moment, although I would doubt whether it originally had a cappuccino machine, I can’t see Trevor Howard as a skinny latte sort of chap.
This next photo was as close as we could get to the shot of standing under the clock at Carnforth station and we decided not to re-enact the scene where Trevor Howard removes a piece of grit from Celia Johnsons eye as the staff in the café must have seen it done a million times.
Finally, on to the weekend at the Midland with everyone dressed appropriately it was like being back in the thirties with music, a great band, the usual wonderful dance lessons from Mark and Hock and a fabulous bunch of people with which to enjoy it all.
And finally, as they used to say on the news a quick shot of the sunset which Morecambe is apparently quite famous for.
A big thank you to Mark and Hoc for hosting such a wonderful event and I have to say both Angella and I are looking forward to doing it again next year.
The Diary of a Country Bumpkin 