You're as old as you feel

Posted by Ray on May 7, 2008 8:53 AM

Through Remember When I have met many elderly people - and I am often amazed by what they have achieved in life, whether it is struggling through being evacuated during the war, serving in the armed forces at any given time, or dealing with the general hardships of life. But one person, Danny White, certainly stands out.

Danny arrived in the Evening Chronicle offices one day with sheet music from the days of the silent movies. He sang during the silent films - obviously many, many years ago.

I interviewed Danny and he related his life story to Remember When, his schooldays, war service, etc. Now Danny was very sharp, definitely left me standing (though that's not too hard) and, later I edited his story for Remember When.

But when I typed in his date of birth I believed I had got it wrong, I had misheard him. So when Danny returned to collect something I had borrowed, I enquired how old he was, saying I had misheard his date of birth and had him down as 100.

"I am 101 on my next birthday," said Danny. Now we have set preconceptions of the elderly, one is that their faculties begin to wane.

Danny was so fit and, all I can say, if his mind was on the wane, he must have been a genius not so many years ago.

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Messages from the past

Posted by Ray on March 14, 2008 3:50 PM

Lately I have beem fascinated by the old adverts painted on walls where shops once stood. If you glance around old buildings you will surely spot one. My first was spotted on Byker High Street, there was an old shop advertisement painted on the side of a wall - so old it offered chimney sweeping or tools for use in shipyards.

I have found it so fascinating (yesterday I found the ghostly letters of an old pawn shop on a building), that I have decided to record them. So if you come across any old adverts painted on walls, give me a shout!

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When there was smoke!

Posted by Ray on March 6, 2008 9:15 AM

I remember the great atmosphere you used to get when going into a pub. The clash of glasses knocking together, the chatter, the smoke, the ambience. What did I say there? The smoke. Of course we've taken that out of the equation with the no smoking rule.

Now let me say straight away that I don't smoke and never have. But I certainly don't think I have the right to tell others not to. I can always move away if I want to.

But what surprises me is the comments of people who previously called for the ban.

Continue reading "When there was smoke!" »

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That's witchcraft

Posted by Ray on February 28, 2008 9:26 AM

Listening to Radio Five Live on my run-in to work the subject of witchcraft came up. Various events from history were discussed and it ended with the presenter saying that the last person to stand trial in Britain for witchcraft did so in 1944, meaning how could we have been so daft in 1944 - it seems we were dafter than he thought.

At a seance in Portsmouth in late November 1941, Helen Duncan, a spiritualist medium from Callander, Scotland, announced that she had contacted a dead sailor who had told her that his ship, HMS Barham, had recently been sunk (with the loss of 861 lives).

The Admiralty were trying to keep this fact quiet from the Germans who hadn't realised they had sunk the battleship and the British, on the grounds of keeping up moral. Relatives were later told of the loss of their loved-one's but also told not to tell anyone else on the grounds of national security.

Duncan was not arrested in the aftermath of the Barham incident but later, in 1944, superstitious intelligence officers learned of the event and feared that Duncan might reveal plans for the D-Day landings.

To make sure she was kept quiet Duncan was convicted under the British Witchcraft Act of 1735 and sentenced to nine months in prison.

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Are we becoming letterless?

Posted by Ray on February 26, 2008 1:16 PM

Are emails destroying the art of letter writing?

I ask this because it is obviously easier to send half a dozen emails, practically keeping a diary of events than waiting awhile and writing a letter full of news of events that have taken place.

I have just put a story together for Remember When, concerning a couple in the Second World War. The lady in question, Joyce, was introduced by letter to a pen pal, George, a Royal Navy sailor who was at sea.