British History

On this day in history….8th December 1932

On this day in history : 8th December 1932 – The death of garden designer and horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll – who created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom….

Portrait of Gertrude Jekyll by William Nicholson, painted in October 1920 after being commissioned by Lutyens – Public domain

Gertrude was born on the 29th of November 1843 in Mayfair, London and was one of the seven children of army officer Captain Edward Joseph Hill Jekyll and his wife Julia Hammersley…. In 1848 the family moved to Bramley House, in the Surrey village of Bramley, near to Guildford….

In 1861 Gertrude entered the South Kensington School of Art to study the paintings of Turner and the writings of Ruskin…. It was whilst at Kensington that she became interested in gardening and creative planting….

Gertrude was to travel widely – recording what she saw by painting in watercolour and oil, particularly the plants, landscapes and local ways of life…. She developed a wide circle of friends including other artists such as William Morris, Helen Allingham, G.F. Watts and watercolour artist Hercules Brabazon Brabazon, who greatly influenced her….

South Border at Munstead Wood by Helen Allingham

After living in Wargrave, Berkshire for a while Gertrude was to move back to Surrey in 1878, to Munstead near to Godalming…. She returned with her mother, following the death of her father, to what was a newly built house – and it was here that she found her love of designing gardens…. In 1882 her mother bought her some land nearby – with the idea that her daughter may one day build her own house upon it….

Gertrude loved to get out and about to explore the countryside, learning about the plants and flora…. She continued to draw and paint them – and she also took a great interest in traditional country crafts…. She learned the skills of wall building, fencing, thatching and was also taught carpentry and metalwork…. She took up photography – which helped her later as her eyesight deteriorated…. Eventually Gertrude became so shortsighted that she had to give up her art and craft work….

And so she began to concentrate on garden design – and then in 1889 she was introduced to young architect Edwin Lutyens…. She asked him to design a house for her, to be built on her land…. Work on Munstead Wood began in 1896….

Lutyens also designed the gardens for the houses he was commissioned to design for his clients – and Gertrude became more and more involved with working with him…. Steadily their reputation as a partnership grew…. She was also to work with architect Robert Lorimer….

Gertrude designed over 400 gardens – most of which are now lost…. However, some have been restored, including her own at Munstead Wood – and also Hestercombe House, Woolverstone House and Upton Grey Manor House…. In 1897 she was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour of the Royal Horticultural Society and the Veitch Memorial Medal in 1929….

Restored long border at Upton Grey Manor House – Image credit : Aquilineyes CC BY-SA 3.0

Gertrude Jekyll’s hand-drawn plans for Upton Grey Manor House, Hampshire – Image credit : Anguskirk via Flickr

Gertrude never married…. She is buried in the churchyard of Busbridge Church, near to Godalming – alongside her brother…. The Jekyll family memorial was designed by Lutyens….

Jekyll family memorial in Busbridge churchyard – Image credit : Carcharoth – own work – CC BY-SA 4.0

Hestercombe Gardens – Image credit : Scott Zona CC BY 2.0

On this day in history….7th December 1983

On this day in history : 7th December 1983 – A tomcat, called George, climbs 160ft up an industrial chimney in Lancashire and refuses to come down – halting the work of steeplejack Fred Dibnah….

Fred Dibnah in 1985 – Image credit : trainsandstuff via Flickr CC BY 2.0

The ginger cat resisted all attempts to coax him down; when Fred climbed up to reach him George moved even further up the chimney…. An emergency meeting was held with the RSPCA and the fire brigade and it was decided that the best plan of action was to leave the tom up there overnight – hoping hunger would force him down….

Fred was not impressed with the feline’s antics – he said : “I have got a few hundred pounds at stake and I cannot be held up by a cat”…. But held up he was – as the following morning George was still up there….

By now George was very distressed…. Fred made a further attempt to reach the terrified cat, who paced at the top of the chimney crying pitifully…. Fred had to admit defeat and an expert cat handler was brought in, who managed to grab hold of George and put him in a cat basket…. Fred then carried him down….

Britain’s favourite steeplejack, who rose to fame through a series of television documentaries, had been delayed by George for 30 hours…. George in turn had used up one of his nine lives….

British History

On this day in history….6th December 1975

On this day in history : 6th December 1975 – The Balcombe Street Siege in London begins – when the IRA take a couple hostage after a gun battle and car chase – and it unfolds live on TV and is watched by millions….

The 4 IRA gunmen, who were on the run from the police, forced their way into the flat of husband and wife John and Sheila Matthews in Central London…. Police sealed off the area around Balcombe Street and Dorset Square in Marylebone and a mobile police headquarters was brought in….

The gunmen had been cornered by police after they had attacked a Mayfair restaurant but had managed to make it to their Ford Cortina getaway car…. They opened fire on the police from the car and a chase followed through the busy West End traffic to Marylebone…. The gang abandoned their car and ran down Balcombe Street and burst into a five-storey block of flats…. Sheila Matthews opened her flat door to see what all the commotion was and it was then that the gunmen forced their way passed her and in….

‘Scott’s’ in 2005 – The Mayfair restaurant the gang had originally attacked – Image credit : Oast House Archive CC BY-SA 2.0

The siege lasted for six days; the gang demanded safe passage to Ireland but the police were adamant that there was no deal to be made…. Initially negotiations were carried out by telephone but the gunmen broke this link by throwing the phone out of a window…. The police had to resort to using a loudhailer – eventually the gang asked for the phone to be reinstated; it was the first sign that they were cracking…. Finally the gunmen, Martin O’Connell, Edward Butler, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty – who became known as The Balcombe Street Gang – surrendered…. They were all sentenced to life imprisonment – but later released as part of the Good Friday Agreement….

Balcombe Street. Marylebone as it is now – Image credit : Oxyman CC BY-SA 2.0

British History

On this day in history….5th December 1900

On this day in history : 5th December 1900 – The birth of footballer Jimmy Dimmock, who scored the winning goal for Tottenham Hotspur in the 1921 FA Cup Final and who also won three caps for England….

Jimmy was one of six brothers born in Edmonton, London and played junior football before signing as an amateur player for Tottenham Hotspur in 1916…. His budding football career was halted temporarily by WWI, during which he served as a gunner with the Royal Feild Artillery….

In May 1919 he returned to the sport turning professional with Tottenham – and he was to become a star at a young age…. His first professional match was against Lincoln City and he was to go on to play in some 400 league games for the club, scoring over 100 goals – 12 of which were in FA cup matches…. Jimmy, at 20, was the youngest Tottenham Hotspur player to play in the FA Cup Final – a record for the club still standing today…. In 1921, on a rain sodden pitch, he was to score the winning goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup Final – despite having sustaining an injury early on in the game…. He made his international debut against Scotland in April 1921 – and won three caps for England in his career….

Spurs Captain Arthur Grimsdell displaying the FA Cup to fans on Tottenham High Road after the 1921 final – Public domain

His career with Tottenham ended in 1931 and he went to play briefly for Thames Association FC – and a couple of seasons for Clapton Orient…. In 1934 he joined Ashford Town to play in the Kent League – but retired from the game in 1936….

After his footballing career had ended Jimmy was to work in the road haulage business…. He had married young and had five children by the age of 33…. After the death of two of his young daughters and then his wife he was deeply affected and never got over his grief…. His health declined, resulting in the loss of both of his legs, confining him to a wheelchair…. Jimmy died in the North Middlesex Hospital, Edmonton, on the 23rd of December 1972….

British History

On this day in history….4th December 1937

On this day in history : 4th December 1937 – The children’s comic The Dandy is published for the first time and goes on to become one of Britain’s biggest selling comics….

Front cover of the first published edition – Fair use

It was originally published as The Dandy Comic but in July 1950 it became known simply as The Dandy…. By the 1950s it was selling some two million copies per week – although during World War Two, due to paper shortages it was published fortnightly, alternating with The Beano…. The first Dandy album was published in 1938 as The Dandy Monster Comic….

Dundee publishing company D.C. Thomson had been producing comics since its founding in 1905…. When first launched The Dandy was one of the first comics to use speech bubbles instead of captions beneath the frame….

The very first issue featured Korky the Cat, who also appeared on the front cover – Keyhole Kate- Barney Boko – Hungry Horace – Sammy and his Sister – Freddy the Fearless Fly – Magic Mike and his Magic Shop – Smarty Grandpa – Boaster Billy – Mugg Muggins – Bamboo Town – and of course Desperate Dan all made their debut…. It also featured some picture stories and text stories…. It had a selling price of 2d….

The comic ran until the 4th of December 2012, by now it was only selling around 8,000 copies per week…. It ceased publication on its 75th anniversary, although it did launch online – but this only lasted for six months…. Annuals are still published every year – and there are occasional Summer specials….