Author: cottagecapers

Hi, I'm Hazel.... I write purely for pleasure; I love to delve in history, customs, traditions and nature....or whatever else grabs my attention at the time.... I am in no way an expert on what I choose to write about - I simply love to find out about things.... Whilst I always endeavour to get the facts right - occasionally I may get things wrong.... I guess you could call this my disclaimer.... I hope you enjoy reading my blog posts.... If so please give me a follow on Twitter or sign up via email for future posts.... If you are on Facebook Cottage Capers has a page with lots of ‘mini blogs’ and snippets.... It’s where we ‘like-minded’ folk can interact.... Hope to meet you again soon....

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….9th July 1955

On this day in history : 9th July 1955 – Dixon of Dock Green is shown on British television for the first time…. With Jack Warner playing the part of George Dixon the series ran for 21 years….

Image credit : Leonard Bentley via Flickr

The programme, created by Ted Willis, ran on the BBC between 1955 and 1976 for 22 series with 367 episodes….and centred on everyday life in an East End of London police station…. It dealt with petty crime in a reasonable and human way….

Jack Warner had been a comedian on the radio and continued to play comic characters in his early film career…. However, in the early 1940s he began to extend his range, becoming a character actor….displaying warmth and maturity…. ‘George Dixon’ made his first appearance in the film ‘The Blue Lamp’ in 1950….

As a TV programme Dixon of Dock Green aired at 6.30pm on a Saturday evening….and always started with one of its famous lines….”Evening, all”…. In 1961 it was voted the second most popular TV show, with an estimated 13.85 million viewers…. Dixon was popular among the police themselves; Warner was made an honorary member of both the Margate and Ramsgate police forces…. On a visit to the studios, where the series was made, HM The Queen said she thought Dixon of Dock Green had become part of the British way of life….

However, towards the end of the 1960s ratings had begun to decline – faster paced cop shows, such as Z Cars and then later The Sweeney, were becoming increasingly popular…. Loyal fans stuck with Dixon though; in one episode when the character was shot over 4,000 letters were received by the BBC inquiring of his well-being…. An announcement had to be made on TV to say he was alright….

But by the mid 1970s Jack Warner’s own health was beginning to suffer….he was looking frail and no longer looked the part in a police uniform…. The series came to an end with the last episode being shown on the 1st of May 1976…. “Goodnight, all”….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….8th July 1967

On this day in history : 8th July 1967 – Vivien Leigh, English film actress, whose films include ‘Gone with the Wind’ and ‘A Streetcar named Desire’, dies after a recurrence of tuberculosis….

The 53-year-old, two time Academy Award winning actress, was found by her husband, Jack Merivale, in their Belgravia apartment…. It appears she had collapsed whilst attempting to walk to the bathroom – her lungs were filled with fluid….

Vivien had the previous month been struck down by a recurrence of TB – a disease that had plagued her for half her life….although she had appeared to have been getting better after this last attack….

Photograph by Roloff Beny, 1958 – Copyrighted free use

She had been born Vivien Mary Hartley on the 5th of November 1913 in Darjeeling, India…. Her father was of French descent and her mother came from Ireland…. Vivien was educated in a Bavarian convent and she then attended finishing schools in England and Europe….

Her very first appearance on the stage was at the age of three, when she played ‘Little Bo Peep’ – but her first serious role was at the age of fourteen….

Vivien married London barrister Herbert Leigh Holman when she was nineteen – and the couple had a daughter, Suzanne…. Vivien first came to the public’s attention in 1935, as Henriette in the stage play ‘The Mask of Virtue’…. It was at this time that she first met Lawrence Olivier….when he stopped by to congratulate her on her perfomance…. Although he was also married, to actress Jill Esmond, there was a strong attraction between Vivien and Lawrence from the start…. Vivien’s own husband had an intense dislike of the theatre; this would undoubtedly have put pressure upon the marriage – soon Vivien and Lawrence were involved in a passionate affair….

It was in 1939 that Vivien began to show the first signs of bipolar disorder – for which there was no treatment at the time…. Her marriage to Herbert ended in divorce in 1940 – and on the 31st of August of the same year she and Lawrence were married…. She was to suffer two miscarriages during the marriage – which was to end in 1960, after twenty years….both went on to remarry….

Vivien and Lawrence in Australia, June 1948 – Public domain

In 1944 Vivien was first diagnosed with TB in her left lung…. On the day of her death, a Saturday, all of London’s West End theatres extinguished their lights for an hour during the evening in her memory…. A memorial service was held at St. Martin-in-the-Fields and her cremated ashes were scattered upon the lake of her summer home, Tickerage Mill in East Sussex….

Vivien won two Oscars during her career; the first for her portrayal of Scarlett in ‘Gone with the Wind’ and the second for ‘A Streetcar named Desire’…. Undoubtedly she found everlasting fame as Scarlett O’Hara – a role she was chosen for out of over 1,400 other women….

As Scarlett O’Hara – Trailer screenshot – Public domain

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….7th July 2004

On this day in history : 7th July 2004 – Bolton born Fred Dibnah, steeple jack, steam enthusiast and TV presenter, goes to Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE from the Queen…

Fred Dibnah at Alder Mill around 1981 – John Harwood via Flickr

Fred had planned to drive Betsy, his beloved traction engine, to the Palace – but was refused permission as the Royal Parks Agency were concerned its weight would cause damage to the surface of The Mall…. Instead he was allowed to drive the engine to Wellington Barracks, which is just a short distance from the Palace….

Fred collected his medal wearing morning dress and a top hat…. When he had initially learned of the honour he had said…. “I’m looking forward to meeting the Queen but I shall probably have to get a new cap”…. He went on to say…. “And I’d like to meet Prince Charles because we share the same views about modern architecture”….

He had received the accolade in the 2004 New Year Honours List for his services to heritage and broadcasting…. Fred had been famous in his home town of Bolton long before his TV days, for toppling many of the area’s landmark chimneys which had served the old mills – and which had dominated the skyline…. He became known nationally in 1979 when the BBC made a documentary entitled ‘Fred Dibnah, Steeple Jack’, earning producer Don Howarth a BAFTA for best documentary….

Fred Dibnah visits the Great Central Railway Works at Loughborough, as part of his final televised tour of Britain’s industrial heritage….

After receiving his MBE Fred said…. “I was slightly nervous shaking hands with the Queen, she asked if I was still climbing chimneys. It beats me how she keeps tabs on everybody. I never thought I would be receiving an MBE”….

Fred Dibnah, June 1985 – trainsandstuff via Flickr

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….6th July 1978

On this day in history : 6th July 1978 – Three bags of horse manure are thrown from the Public Gallery of the House of Commons during a Scottish devolution debate….

It was during points of order; Labour MP Tam Dalyell was on his feet speaking about the Scottish education system when he was pelted with manure…. Dalyell was determined to carry on with his speech regardless….much to the approval of his colleagues…. One MP remarked that he could not sit down ‘because the Bench has been soiled by some offensive matter that has just been thrown from the Public Gallery’….The sitting was suspended for twenty minutes whilst a clean-up operation took place….

Tam Dalyell – Open Media Ltd CC BY-SA 3.0

A number of protesters, including 26-year-old Yana Mintoff, daughter of the Maltese prime minister, had smuggled in the bags of manure hidden under their clothing…. The doorman later said he thought there had been a funny smell but assumed the group just needed a wash…. Yana Mintoff and fellow protester John McSherry were arrested and later fined….

Yana Mintoff Bland (right) in more recent times, receiving a biography about her father, Dom Mintoff – Josgre CC BY-SA 3.0

At the time Dalyell remarked the protest was about Malta rather than Scottish education and said he didn’t take it personally…. In reality it was actually a protest against the presence of British troops in Northern Ireland…. Yana said she had thrown the manure as a protest in support of political prisoners in Ireland…. For her it was about human rights – she believed prisoners were being subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment in the prisons of Northern Ireland….

British History, Uncategorized

On this day in history….5th July 1888

On this day in history : 5th July 1888 – Three matchgirls are fired from Bryant and May, accused of telling lies to a journalist about their working conditions; 1,400 female workers go on strike….

The mood amongst the Bryant and May factory workers had been darkening for a number of years…. It was a time when employers could do pretty much as they pleased…. Employees could be fined for being late, or even for talking…. In the early 1880s boss Theodore Bryant had even deducted a shilling from each pay packet to purchase a statue of William Gladstone…. Such was the disgust, that at its unveiling in 1882 some workers attended the ceremony to throw stones at it…. Some strike action was taken between 1881 and 1886 – but it had little effect….

Workers in a match factory (possibly Bryant &; May) – The Graphic – Public domain

Conditions at the factory in Bow, East London were appalling…. Girls as young as 12 worked long hours for very little pay….and the work was dangerous…. Lack of ventilation meant the dreaded ‘phossy jaw’ was almost inevitable….

The phosphorous fumes created during the manufacturing process caused a type of cancer which led to facial deformities…. Phossy jaw is a painful swelling in the jaw that produces a foul smelling pus…. the jaw would then turn green and black as the bone rotted away…. The condition would be fatal without surgery….

In 1888 journalist and campaigner for women’s welfare and rights, Annie Besant, wrote a radical article entitled ‘White Slavery in London’…. She told of the terrible conditions in the factory – respectable Victorians would have been shocked when they learned of the appalling working environment these workers had to endure…. The Bryant and May bosses were furious and singled out three girls they believed were responsible for talking to Besant….and they were sacked….

However, the rest of the match girls decided to take action….1,400 workers went on strike which in turn effected some 3,000 Bryant and May staff…. For three weeks production came to a standstill….strike headquarters were established and workers had to rely on donations from the public as there was no strike pay or indeed benefits available then…. The public showed their support by not buying Bryant and May matches…. Rallies and marches were organised and there was a visit to Parliament to speak with MPs….

Clashing with police at a match strikers’ march – Public domain

The bosses threatened to relocate the factory but finally after three weeks gave in to the workers’ demands….and the 3,000 returned to work – fining had ended and the three girls were re-employed….

Things did not end there though…. On the 27th of July 1888 the first meeting of the Union of Women Match Makers was held…. Premises were secured using money left over from the strike fund and the union grew….eventually being renamed so men could join too….

1889 saw a sharp increase in strike action, such as the Great Dock Strike…. Many workers had gained confidence because of the victory of the match girls….