Jubilee Fever!

It can not have escaped anyone's notice that the UK have had an extra long weekend in order for the public to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The second Monarch to achieve such an event. There have been street parties, Community spirit and a real sense of embracing the achievements of The Queen.

I know that there is a whole debate on the role of Monarchy - should we have them? why bother? etc etc. This post is not about that. This is about the achievements of a lady who is a Great Grandmother who still works, and does so very hard. I truly hope I am not working the hours she does when I am 86! I know that she has a team of people to assist her in her daily life and obligations, if I was in her shoes I would want people to help me. When I reflect on my day job, I realise I do have people to help me. The difference is whether I am good, great or bad it does not appear in the press or on every social media devise possible and beamed around the world in seconds!

I recently had a conversation with someone who complained about the cost of the Monarchy and about the contribution the Royal Family make. My response was look beyond the cost. Look at the wider picture and understand how we as a Nation came to be, the division between Monarchy and State. Look at the achievements created during the last 60 years. The Coronation was beamed to a few households who had a television. Now we can watch the television on a devise the size of book. Many households have more than one TV. In fact as I write this I am watching the re runs on Sky News of the Jubilee event that is took place on the Thames yesterday on my iPad.

The event itself was I think remarkable and inspired by a painting by the Venetian artist Canaletto.

Whether or not you are a fan of The Monarchy you can not fail to view the painting that acted as inspiration and realise that what was achieved yesterday was a very close second. 

You can read and see various photographs from the following newspapers:

Daily Mail

The Telegraph
The Independent

Sky News
BBC

The Diamond Jubilee Official Website
Jubilee Time Capsule

What were you doing at the time of the 1977 Silver Jubilee or the 2002 Golden Jubilee?

Whatever your feelings on the subject, the Diamond Jubilee is a special event in British and Commonwealth History. And lets not forget we do love our pomp and ceremony!

Weekend Cooking - Expensive Biscuit!

Most of us throw away old stale biscuits. Well here is one that wasn't!

This news article was found in the Junior Newshound section of the  local paper - The Herald Express which covers Torbay in Devon England 13th October 2011.

Quite remarkable!

Linking to Weekend Cooking hosted by BethFishReads

Postcard Friendship Friday - Postcard Collection and Archive

I spotted a week or two ago, an article in the local paper - The Western Morning News, which is the regional newspaper for Devon and Cornwall, about a postcard collection relating to boxing memorabilia in Plymouth.

This particular collection belonged to the boxer Archie Smith, whose real name was Archie Le-Santo. The collection of 82 cards was left to his daughter when he died and is going to the auction rooms on 3rd September and is expected to fetch between £200 & £300.

Western Morning News 23rd August 2011

Submitted as part of Postcard Friendship Friday hosted by The Best Hearts are Crunchy

Sunday Stamps - A Collection of Penny Blacks

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Welcome, to the latest Sunday Stamps posting.

I had planned to post a completely different post this week, but then this morning, whilst reading the paper; The Western Daily Press dated 27th August 2011, I spotted the following picture of a collection of Penny Blacks. The collection sold at an auction in Sherborne in Dorset for £2,400. A rather impressive set. I was though, slightly surprised that they didn't sell for more.

Western Daily Press 27th August 2011

Submitted as Sunday Stamps hosted by Viridian's Postcard Blog

Weekend Cooking - An Old Cookbook with a Difference

I often spend an hour or two reading the newspapers over the weekend. Sometimes, I strike it lucky with some amusing or interesting article that catches my eye. Here is a recent find

Published 13 August 2011 in Western Morning News

Hopefully, the story can be read from here, but the brief synopsis is that the lady pictured discovered the old book, published 260 years ago, in 1747, whilst clearing her late mother's home. The book is titled "The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy" by Hannah Glasse. From reading a description of one of the recipes, they are anything but plain and easy. There is even medicinal recipes included.

Weekend Cooking is a weekly event and hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Postcard Friendship Friday - From Wales 1970 to Cornwall 2011.....

Last weekend I spent an hour or two catching up on a small pile of newspapers, having a read. I like to ponder over the amusing articles that I might find. Here is one that I thought would make an interesting submission for Postcard Friendly Friday.

Published in the Western Morning News 19 August 2011

Hopefully the article can be read, but a brief synopsis is, the postcard was posted in North Wales on 17 April 1970 and was addressed to Mr & Mrs Keat of Butts Cottage Blisland which is in North Cornwall. The postcard was delivered to the current owners on August 4th, 2011. The senders of the postcard were JR & PG Rowe who resided in Whitecross, of which there are two in Cornwall. Interesting, Royal Mail suggested that it had not been in the postal system for 40 odd years,but......

Submitted as part of Postcard Friendship Friday hosted by The Best Hearts are Crunchy

Simple Pleasures - Phone Boxes

A simple pleasure for me is finding some time to read the local newspapers and enjoy some of the more wacky and interesting bits of news. Well, here is an article from the local regional newspaper from a few weeks ago. This article is looking at the new lease of life that the familiar UK phone boxes get. This is part of a scheme run by BT (British Telecom), called the Adopt a Kiosk Project. This particular phone box is in the Somerset parish of Westbury-sub-Mendip where it has been turned into a library.

Western Morning News - 31st July 2011

Simple Pleasures is hosted by A Collection of This & That

Remembering V J Day

Memories my late Father in Law shared with the readers of the Annandale Herald
(Dumfriesshire Scotland) 18th August 2005

Treasure Chest Thursday - Richard Edge 1807

I sat reading the Western Morning News published yesterday 16th April and turned towards the back where there is always details of forthcoming auctions of collectibles. Every now and again something catches my eye. Yesterday's edition was no exception.

This is from the forthcoming auction of Bearnes Hampton  & Littlewood of Exeter scheduled for Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th April 2011. (I am not connected to either the seller of the item or the auctioneers)

Described as West Country Documentary Pottery Flagon with an expected auction price of £200-£400.

This is an item of someones family. Sadly about to be sold to the highest bidder. These types of items are usually engraved to commemorate an event, this is probably a birth as a marriage would normally show details of the bride.

The details are of Richard Edge and the date May (12) 1807. 

A very quick search revealed a few entries for Richard Edge, but none in the West Country, but, upon thinking about it, it could well be a simple case of the pottery alone is from the West Country and not the recorded event. It was not uncommon for existing pieces of china and pottery to have the engraving added at a later date.

Sunday Obituary - Greyfriars Bobby

Not quite an obituary for the Geneabloggers Sunday's Obituary theme, but I thought I would share something that I spotted while catching up on my newspaper reading.

This is a newspaper article from the Western Morning News which is the regional newspaper for Devon & Cornwall England for Saturday 15 January 2011.

The caption which hasn't really come out that well in the photo reads:

"To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the One O' Clock Gun which fires daily from Edinburgh Castle. Here Brian McKenzie and dog Blue lay a wreath in Edinburgh at the grave of Greyfriars Bobby, the dog which walked the streets of Edinburgh in the 1850s."

A pension surprise

Over the last year or so I have looked at the Financial Times online, mainly with a view to us doing some preparation for the future. This morning I spotted an article "Pensions: a long and a happy one - but not for trustees"

This article can be found at:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6353fcca-eace-11df-b28d-00144feab49a,_i_email=y.html

The article mentioned the company that I work for, but what was especially interesting was that a barrister had ploughed through old cases to provide examples to illustrate the risk of pension scheme members living longer than expected.

The fascinating example provided was of a widow from the US called Alberta Martin who died in 2004 who had been in receipt of a war pension from her late husband who had fought in the American Civil War of 1861-1865.