Saturday 26 September 2015

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:


Q1. Wigan

Q2. Lynda-Lee Potter (nee Lynda Higginson)

The initial clues, rather obviously, appear to place us in the town of Wigan, in Lancashire. The settlement at one time had a pier, probably a staithe (possibly from the Norse word for landing stage, according to some of the sources I checked), on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. An author who was disappointed at not viewing it, was probably Eric Arthur Blair (aka George Orwell), who published a work called 'The Road to Wigan Pier' c 1937, which describes the dire state of the housing stock in Wigan, which may have 'slid to startling angles', due to subsidence from collapsing mine workings, below the town.

The rugby club mentioned in the hints, may be Wigan Warriors, who were one of the clubs instrumental in founding the Northern Rugby Football Union c 1895. A comedian who had a long running radio show, called 'Ray's a laugh', was Ted Ray (aka Charlie Olden), who according to some of the biographies I looked at, was born at 110 Great George Street, Wigan, on the 21st of November, 1905. The music hall entertainer, who starred in a film called 'By the Shortest of Heads', is probably George Formby', who was born at 3 Westminster Street, Wigan c 26th May, 1904. Also born in Wigan c 1848 was the medicine manufacturer, Sir Joseph Beecham. Beecham had adverts for his company's products placed on the sails of ships and on billboards, with slogans like "What are the wild waves saying? (Try Beecham's Pills)" .

There does appear to be a monument to a royalist army officer, one Sir Thomas Tyldesley (born at Woodplumpton, c 1612 ), who was slain during the battle of Wigan Lane, c 1651. The Leeds and Liverpool canal, descends some two hundred feet, through twenty ( or twenty one locks, depending on which references you check), from Wigan top lock, by the Kirkless pub, down to the junction of the Leigh branch. Following the Leigh branch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal, East south east, brings us to the town of Leigh, where it joins the Bridgewater canal, which appears to be carried over the Manchester Ship Canal, by a marvel of Victorian engineering ( constructed c 1894), the grade II listed, Barton Swing Aqueduct.

The puzzle author has been a bit crafty here, because there was more than one 'First Lady of Fleet Street' but the one who most fits with the given clues, is Lynda-Lee Potter, who was born in the Firs Maternity Home, Leigh c 2nd May, 1935. Potter wrote a column for the Daily Mail and published a book called 'Class Act: How to Beat the British Class System' .

N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive comment related to solving the puzzle, he will endeavour to publish it.

Saturday 19 September 2015

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:

Q1. William Alexander Baxter

Q2. Dufftown

The initial clues seem to place us near the village of Cullen and the town of Buckie, in the Speyside/Moray region of Scotland. The dismantled railway described by the puzzle author, which was built by the Great North of Scotland Railway company (GNSR), is probably the Moray Coast Raiway, which used to run from Portsoy, to Lossie Junction. Couldn't find a reference detailing a castle in Buckie but the one in Findochty village, which has Buckie as part of its address, is thought to be of sixteenth century origin.

Constantine II appears to have had two sons, Cellach (died c ad 937) and Indulf, who some of the references I checked, claim died in the Battle of the Bauds, near Cullen, fighting some Scandinavian tourists c960, 961 or 962ad. Travelling west from Buckie would bring us to the Spey Viaduct, which some sources claim, is around nine hundred and forty seven feet or three hundred and sixteen yards in length. It seems to be part of the Speyside Way hiking trail now.


Going south on the  East bank of the Spey, would take us to the town of Fochabers, where the food manufacturer, William Alexander Baxter was born c 25th September 1877, at George Lane. One of Baxter's products, was soup, which is probably what the 'super chap' hint refers to.


Nine miles south east of Fochabers, lies the town of Keith, which is where the Keith and Dufftown heritage railway (aka 'The Whisky Line'), can be found in. From some of the sources I checked, it does seem to use a diesel locomotive and passes through a station at Drummuir. Drummuir has a Victorian Gothic style castle which appears to be owned by Diageo now. Drummuir castle was built c 1847.

The heritage railway stops in Dufftown, which sounds more like a place which makes beer but there are more distilleries than you can shake a stick at there and it was here, c 19th December 1839 in Conval street, that the distiller, William Grant was born. Grant appears to have been a very hard working polymath and entrepreneurial type, who had many different jobs while saving for thirty years to buy the Glenfiddich distillery. Balvenie castle c 12th century, is situated in the town.

N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive comment related to solving the puzzle, he will endeavour to publish it.




Saturday 12 September 2015

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:

Q1. Dundas Aqueduct

Q2. Bradford-on-Avon

The initial clues seem to place us in the village of Claverton, next to the river Avon and the Kennet and Avon canal. A twenty three year old statesman, called Winston Churchill, according to the spiel on the American Museum in Britain web site, made his first political speech at Claverton manor (which appears to be where said museum is currently situated), c 26 July 1897. There seem to be two pumping stations on the Kennet and Avon canal, one at Crofton, which was steam powered and one at Claverton, which is powered by the river Avon turning a waterwheel, which raises water from the river, around forty eight feet into the canal, to keep it topped up. The pump at Claverton, according to some of the sources I checked, was opened for business c 1813.

The canal was constructed by a civil engineer called John Rennie the Elder (born c 1761).
Rennie the Elder designed London Bridge, though it was actually his son who finished building it, as
Rennie senior passed away before he could begin work on it. The bridge is now situated on Lake Havesu, in Arizona, where it was relocated after being purchased by Robert McCulloch c 1968.


Travelling around one and a half miles south of the pumping station, would likely bring us to the Dundas Aqueduct, which carries the Kennet and Avon canal, across the river Avon. The Kennet and Avon canal connected to the Sommerset coal canal at the aqueduct but this seems to be no longer operational and has fallen into a state where it is no longer navigable.

The Eastender had to look up what a charter house was but it seems to be a monastery that was run by the Carthusian order. There is a village called Hinton Charterhouse in the location described by the puzzle author and there was a priory of Carthusian monks there c 1222. The only Charterhouse older than this one that I could find, was the one at Witham, which dates to c 1178.


Following the canal East, would bring us to the Avoncliff aqueduct and this lies to the south west of Bradford-on-Avon, which appears to be where c ad652, a Saxon king called Cenwalh of Wessex, did battle with the local British tribes. The  Norman bridge in the town had a 'lock up' added to it c 17th century and some references claim that it was a chapel dedicated to St Nicholas (on account of there being a Gudgeon fish on the weather vane above it), while others claim it was a jail for drunks, who while incarcerated there, were said to be 'Under the fish and over the water'.

The Saxon chapel in the town (St Laurence's), is thought to have been built by St Aldhelm (born c 639, feast day 25th May).

N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle, he will endeavour to publish it

Monday 7 September 2015

Sunday Times Where Was I? Holiday Competition

Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers, this week, seem to me to be:

Q1. Trevor Howard

Q2. Margate

The initial huge giveaway clue (might as well just have written the actor's name as write 'Brief Encounter'), places us in Cliftonville, which according to some of the biographies of the famous old British actor who starred in Noel Coward's film, was where Trevor Wallace Howard Smith (aka Trevor Howard), was born, circa 29th of September 1913. His acting debut appears to have been in a play called, 'Revolt in a Reformatory'. Mr Howard liked a good bucket and was on one occasion lifted by the Russians in Vienna, for impersonating an officer.

The second actor was a little harder to track down, a lot of the players in the cast of 'You Know What Sailors Are', seem to have been born abroad but I did eventually track one down who was born in Margate c 1929, one Peter Barkworth. Barkworth starred as one of the traitors ( Berkley, who got his
comeuppance after upsetting Richard Burton in a cable car) in 'Where Eagles Dare', a film which reminds the Eastender of his last skiing holiday.

Margate did have a jetty/pier, which seems to have been closed c 1978. There is a gallery there called the Turner Contemporary Gallery (built by architect David Chipprfield c 2011). JWM Turner used the alias Admiral Booth as he was having a fling with a landlady in the town, called Sophia Booth. On one occasion, after smoking a bit of skunkweed, he declared that "the skies over Thanet are the loveliest in all Europe"

The town does seem to have had a lido and the Phoenix that the puzzle author is referring to, is probably the grade II (star) listed , Dreamland scenic wooden rollercoaster, which was such a popular attraction, that people tried to burn it down in 1949, 1957 and as recently as 2008.


NB Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured, if you have a  non abusive posting that relates to solving the puzzle, he will endeavour to publish it.