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. Weston Park
Q2. Albrighton
The initial clues seem to place us at Lilleshall Abbey, north east of the town of Telford, in Shropshire. The English Heritage web site claims that it was built by Augustinians c 1148. Travelling five miles or so, south east from the abbey, would take us to Weston Park, which was the family seat of the Earls of Bradford (motto Nic Temere, Nec Timide, "neither rashly nor timidly"), until the seventh earl, gifted it to the nation as they could not afford to pay the high death duties on it. The house lies in one thousand acres of parkland, which was landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. An architect called 'James Paine' (born c 1717) according to some of the references I checked, built the Temple of Diana there c1760s.
Two miles or so, south south east of Weston Park, lies White Ladies Abbey and this is where Charles II, is said to have holed up c 1651 while on the run. English Heritage, claim that the abbey is 12th century in origin. Driving south from Weston Park would likely take us through the village of Tong, which is thought to be the model for the village that Charles Dicken's used in his book 'The Old Curiosity Shop', which was published c 1841 and this is where the quote "Five and thirty pounds a year in this beautiful place", comes from.
A politician who became president of the board of trade c1823, was William Huskisson. Some of his biographies say that he was educated at Brewood in Staffordshire, Albrighton in Shropshire and Appleby, in Leicestershire. The one which is in the area to fit in with the clues, is most likely Albrighton and this is a short distance south east of Cosford airfield(aka RAF Cosford), which has been home to the RAF's No1 SofTT (School of Technical Training) since c1993. The aerospace museum there, has the three Vs as exhibits and these are not a pop group but examples of some of the Royal Air Force's cold war era V bombers, the Victor, the Valiant and the Vulcan.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Saturday, 27 June 2015
Saturday, 20 June 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. Hoy
Q2. Lamb Holm
The initial clues seem to place us at Kirkhope cemetery, near Osmondwall, on the island of Hoy (name derived from the Norse word Haey, for 'high island'), in the Orkneys. If you convert thirty five thousand, five hundred and eighteen acres into square kilometres, you get around one hundred and forty three and this is the figure given for the area of Hoy, in some of the sources I checked. The highest point on the island, from looking at the OS map, seems to be Ward Hill, at four hundred and seventy nine metres, or one thousand five hundred feet, in old money. The puzzle author has been a little crafty here, by calling the site of the memorial to the Longhope lifeboat disaster, which took place c 17 March 1969, a churchyard, as the map does not show a church in the vicinity, thus making it more difficult to locate. A solitary bronze statue stands in the graveyard, looking out towards Cantick Head, where the Longhope lifeboat 'TGB' capsized in a force nine gale, en route to rescue the crew of a Siberian freighter (some references claim that it was 'Liberian') called 'The Irene', resulting in all eight of the crew being lost. The crew of the freighter were rescued by auxiliary coastguards, who fired lines to the ship with rockets. The Cantick Head lighthouse appears to be around seventy two feet high and was constructed by David & Thomas Stevenson c 1858 (not to be confused with the 'Ruff of Cantick' light, which is listed as a navigational beacon).
The writer probably gets the ferry from the port of Lyness and then passes the sparkling sounding island of Cava. The Cava light is listed as being thirty six feet high in some references, not twenty nine but the destination of the ferry north from Hoy, is the port of Houton, on the island of 'Mainland'. After driving east from Houton and passing the naval graveyard of Scapa Flow, you would reach the principle settlement on Mainland, which is Kirkwall and driving six south south easterly miles to the third island, over the causeway on the Churchill barriers, you would arrive at the island of Lamb Holm and a church which was cobbled together from two Nissen huts, by Italian prisoners of war c 1943-1944. The roman numerals MCMXLIV are set in mosiac, in or on the edifice and mean '1944'. Mr Churchill ordered the barriers constructed, after a uboat (U-47), sneaked in to Scapa Flow c 1939 and torpedoed the battleship 'HMS Royal Oak'
Q1. Hoy
Q2. Lamb Holm
The initial clues seem to place us at Kirkhope cemetery, near Osmondwall, on the island of Hoy (name derived from the Norse word Haey, for 'high island'), in the Orkneys. If you convert thirty five thousand, five hundred and eighteen acres into square kilometres, you get around one hundred and forty three and this is the figure given for the area of Hoy, in some of the sources I checked. The highest point on the island, from looking at the OS map, seems to be Ward Hill, at four hundred and seventy nine metres, or one thousand five hundred feet, in old money. The puzzle author has been a little crafty here, by calling the site of the memorial to the Longhope lifeboat disaster, which took place c 17 March 1969, a churchyard, as the map does not show a church in the vicinity, thus making it more difficult to locate. A solitary bronze statue stands in the graveyard, looking out towards Cantick Head, where the Longhope lifeboat 'TGB' capsized in a force nine gale, en route to rescue the crew of a Siberian freighter (some references claim that it was 'Liberian') called 'The Irene', resulting in all eight of the crew being lost. The crew of the freighter were rescued by auxiliary coastguards, who fired lines to the ship with rockets. The Cantick Head lighthouse appears to be around seventy two feet high and was constructed by David & Thomas Stevenson c 1858 (not to be confused with the 'Ruff of Cantick' light, which is listed as a navigational beacon).
The writer probably gets the ferry from the port of Lyness and then passes the sparkling sounding island of Cava. The Cava light is listed as being thirty six feet high in some references, not twenty nine but the destination of the ferry north from Hoy, is the port of Houton, on the island of 'Mainland'. After driving east from Houton and passing the naval graveyard of Scapa Flow, you would reach the principle settlement on Mainland, which is Kirkwall and driving six south south easterly miles to the third island, over the causeway on the Churchill barriers, you would arrive at the island of Lamb Holm and a church which was cobbled together from two Nissen huts, by Italian prisoners of war c 1943-1944. The roman numerals MCMXLIV are set in mosiac, in or on the edifice and mean '1944'. Mr Churchill ordered the barriers constructed, after a uboat (U-47), sneaked in to Scapa Flow c 1939 and torpedoed the battleship 'HMS Royal Oak'
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Sunday TimesWhere 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. Chirk
Q2. Henry Robertson
The initial clues, seem to place us in the county of Wrexham, in the town of Chirk, in Wales, which does appear to have a castle and which according to some of his biographies, is where a footballer called William Henry Meredith (aka Billy Meredith) was born, c 1874. Billy Meredith was a teetotaller, non-smoking, dietician, who eschewed the demon drink and tobacco and instead, chewed on toothpicks and matches. His fans used to send him boxes of toothpicks.
The Llangollen canal passes through Chirk and it and the railway, are carried over the Afon Ceiriog, by an aqueduct and a viaduct, respectively. The aqueduct was built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop and is said in some of the sources I checked, to be around seventy feet in height. The railway viaduct appears to have been built by an engineer called Henry Robertson (born c 1816), which some references claim is two hundred and eighty three yards long and around one hundred feet high.
Travelling north north west along the aqueduct, would bring us to the Chirk tunnel which seems to be around thirteen hundred and eighty feet long. The canal passes through the shorter Whitehouse tunnel (around five hundred and fifty seven feet in length) before turning west, away from the railway, which continues north, across the Cefn Mawr viaduct (also built by Henry Robertson).
Tracking the canal to the west, would bring us to the point where it turns in a more northerly direction, where it is carried across the Vale of Llangollen and the Afon Dyrfrdwy, by a world heritage site water feature, called the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which was also built by Thomas Telford and William Jessop. The lime mortar which holds the stones in the pillars, had ox-blood mixed into it and the sections of the iron trough, which carries the canal water over the aqueduct, are to this day sealed with flannel, lead and liquid sugar. The bridge is said to be one thousand feet long and around one hundred and twenty six feet high with a capacity of around three hundred and thirty thousand gallons.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Saturday, 30 May 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. Towcester
Q2. Weedon Lois
The initial clues seem to place us in the town of T[o]wcester, which looks to be in the county of Northamptonshire. Pott and Slurk are characters from Charles Dickens' 'Pickwick Papers', who were involved in a donnybrook which took place in the Saracen's Head Inn, in that burg. Poor old Mr Pickwick, appears to have been caught in the crossfire, when he stopped there for some refreshment.
The Romans called Towcester, Lactodorum and the Latin phrase in the clues 'Hora e Sempra', which means 'Now and Always', is the family motto of the Fermor-Hesketh family and it was Baron H[e]sketh, who founded the Towcester race course c 1876, after a visit from her imperial majesty, Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, who stayed with the Baron at his house, Easton Neston. Easton Neston, was designed by an architect called Nicholas Hawksm[o]or (born c 1661/1662).
A Roman road, near Towcester, is probably the A5, this used to be known as [W]atli[n]g Street and this is also the name of a Battle fought between the Iceni (commanded by Boudica), the Trinivantes, elements of the People's Front of Judea (PFJ) and the Roman army c 60 AD. The Roman's had two legions with them, the Legio XIV Gemina and the XX Valeria Victrix, around ten thousand men, under the command of Gaius Suetonious Paulinus. Paulinus was outnumbered, as Boudica had a much larger army with her but Paulinus, used the topography to his advantage, with a forest behind him and hills either side, so that Boudica's troops had to mount a frontal attack against a better armed, better trained and more disciplined enemy, who had cavalry ready to attack on each flank. The Romans killed about eighty thousand of Boudica's troops and camp followers, with the loss of around four hundred legionaires and the British leader opting to commit suicide, rather than be taken prisoner.
The actual location of the battle is a bit hazy, with some historians claiming that it was fought anywhere from the Midlands, Wroxeter, Mancetter to the Kennet Valley but the nearest alleged battlefield site, which fits with the clues, is probably Cuttle Mill, which lies beside the A5, a short way south east of Towcester.
Another sporting venue, which is south west of Towcester, is the Silverstone racetrack and it was here, c 1967, that a driver called Jim C[l]ark (born c 1936), won the British grand prix for the fifth time. The 'Palatial' and disused arm clue, seems to refer to the Buck[i]ngham arm (disused), of the Grand Union Canal, which lies south east of Silverstone and a sixteenth century building, which is situated north west of the disused canal arm, is likely to be [S]ulgrave Manor, which was at one time, split into three estates, which may be what the 'hatchet job' clue refers to.
The Eastender loves potty eccentric avant garde artists and the writer in question, one [E][d]ith Sitwell (born c 1887), according to some of her biographies, was undoubtedly of this ilk. She published a work called Facade, which was a series of poems, c 1918.
Now collating and rearranging the letters gleaned from the clues :
1. T[O]WCESTER O
2. H[E]SKETH E
3 NICHOLAS HAWKSM[O]OR O
4. [W]ATLI[N]G STREET W N
5. JIM C[L]ARK L
6. GRAND UNION CANAL
BUCK[I]NGHAM ARM (disused) I
7. [S]ULGRAVE MANOR S
8. [ED]ITH SITWELL E D
Gives us the name of the village, which lies about two miles north east of Sulgrave Manor, where Edith Sitwell visited her brother and where they are both buried. The hamlet is called Weedon Lois.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Q1. Towcester
Q2. Weedon Lois
The initial clues seem to place us in the town of T[o]wcester, which looks to be in the county of Northamptonshire. Pott and Slurk are characters from Charles Dickens' 'Pickwick Papers', who were involved in a donnybrook which took place in the Saracen's Head Inn, in that burg. Poor old Mr Pickwick, appears to have been caught in the crossfire, when he stopped there for some refreshment.
The Romans called Towcester, Lactodorum and the Latin phrase in the clues 'Hora e Sempra', which means 'Now and Always', is the family motto of the Fermor-Hesketh family and it was Baron H[e]sketh, who founded the Towcester race course c 1876, after a visit from her imperial majesty, Elizabeth, Empress of Austria, who stayed with the Baron at his house, Easton Neston. Easton Neston, was designed by an architect called Nicholas Hawksm[o]or (born c 1661/1662).
A Roman road, near Towcester, is probably the A5, this used to be known as [W]atli[n]g Street and this is also the name of a Battle fought between the Iceni (commanded by Boudica), the Trinivantes, elements of the People's Front of Judea (PFJ) and the Roman army c 60 AD. The Roman's had two legions with them, the Legio XIV Gemina and the XX Valeria Victrix, around ten thousand men, under the command of Gaius Suetonious Paulinus. Paulinus was outnumbered, as Boudica had a much larger army with her but Paulinus, used the topography to his advantage, with a forest behind him and hills either side, so that Boudica's troops had to mount a frontal attack against a better armed, better trained and more disciplined enemy, who had cavalry ready to attack on each flank. The Romans killed about eighty thousand of Boudica's troops and camp followers, with the loss of around four hundred legionaires and the British leader opting to commit suicide, rather than be taken prisoner.
The actual location of the battle is a bit hazy, with some historians claiming that it was fought anywhere from the Midlands, Wroxeter, Mancetter to the Kennet Valley but the nearest alleged battlefield site, which fits with the clues, is probably Cuttle Mill, which lies beside the A5, a short way south east of Towcester.
Another sporting venue, which is south west of Towcester, is the Silverstone racetrack and it was here, c 1967, that a driver called Jim C[l]ark (born c 1936), won the British grand prix for the fifth time. The 'Palatial' and disused arm clue, seems to refer to the Buck[i]ngham arm (disused), of the Grand Union Canal, which lies south east of Silverstone and a sixteenth century building, which is situated north west of the disused canal arm, is likely to be [S]ulgrave Manor, which was at one time, split into three estates, which may be what the 'hatchet job' clue refers to.
The Eastender loves potty eccentric avant garde artists and the writer in question, one [E][d]ith Sitwell (born c 1887), according to some of her biographies, was undoubtedly of this ilk. She published a work called Facade, which was a series of poems, c 1918.
Now collating and rearranging the letters gleaned from the clues :
1. T[O]WCESTER O
2. H[E]SKETH E
3 NICHOLAS HAWKSM[O]OR O
4. [W]ATLI[N]G STREET W N
5. JIM C[L]ARK L
6. GRAND UNION CANAL
BUCK[I]NGHAM ARM (disused) I
7. [S]ULGRAVE MANOR S
8. [ED]ITH SITWELL E D
Gives us the name of the village, which lies about two miles north east of Sulgrave Manor, where Edith Sitwell visited her brother and where they are both buried. The hamlet is called Weedon Lois.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Sunday, 24 May 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. Whitley Bay
Q2. St Mary's Island
внимание друзья! For Question 2, St Mary's Island, is also called 'Bait Island', on some maps.
Scroll past the pictures for the breakdown and solutions to the puzzle clues:
The Eastender's blogg has been a bit delayed this weekend, due to him being asked by the joint American-Thai contingent, to lead a Munro bagging expedition into the fierce icy and rocky wilderness east of Glen Falloch, with the aim of reaching the summit of a lofty eminence, called Beinn Chabhair. The American-Thai contingent were initially a little concerned at the conditions but after the Eastender had assured them that a temperature of 12 degrees centigrade is regarded as T-shirt weather in this part of the world and that this was the best time to go, as the bracken was only sprouting, thus no jungle, ticks or midges to negotiate, dodge and otherwise hinder our enjoyment of the trip, things soon got underway and we entered the temperate rain forest at the base of the mountain, where we encountered a giant waterfall, which is not visible from the road, before sumitting the Beinn around three hours later. We were passed on the way by a Royal Marine in shorts and T-shirt, travelling at a fair old clip, who cheerily informed us that he was 'just out for my afternoon jog'. We lunched at the summit, where it was two degrees cooler and blowing a hooley and then on the descent, nearly lost one of the team over the aforementioned giant waterfall, when fatigue and loss of concentration caused them to trip and pitch forward at an alarming rate, fortunately they were grabbed before they went over and then admonished with the phrase 'don't do that again! '.
Picture of the Giant Waterfall, which is not visible from the road.
The fierce icy and rocky wilderness:
View from the summit of Beinn Chabhair (933 metres or 3061 feet)
I digress, the initial clues seem to place us in the town of Whitley Bay, in one of the most beautiful counties on the big British island, namely Northumberland. One of the inventors of the windscreen wiper, who was born c 1880, at 4 St Ann's row, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, according to some of his biographies, was a chap called Gladstone Adams. He allegedly came up with the idea after travelling from Newcastle to London to watch a football match, in a primitive car called a Darracq and because it was raining and snowing, had to lower the windshield in order to get a clear view of the road. Adams appears to have been in the RFC and helped arrange the funeral of Baron Von Richthofen. Some of the biographical reference sources, claim that he spent the rest of his life living in Whitley Bay, running a photographic business.
A disaster which occurred c Jan 16 1862, is probably the Hartley Colliery or Hester Pit disaster, in which two hundred and four men lost their lives, when the beam of a pumping engine broke and sent parts tumbling down the only shaft into the mine, blocking it and trapping the workers.
The 'splendid home', in an estate which lies north of Hartley village, is likely to be Seaton Delaval Hall, which was designed by an architect (born c 1664), called Sir John Vandbrugh. The owners of Seaton Delaval hall seem to have been notorious pranksters and it is said that guests could awaken to the sight of a room turned upside down, with the furniture on the ceiling. The place seems to have burned down c 1822, with the fire being reported by sailors off the coast of Northumberland.
A nature reserve two and a half miles south east of the 'splendid home' and which was founded c 1992, is probably St Mary's Island Local Nature Reserve. It was originally designated St Mary's and Curry's Point Local Nature Reserve but is now usually just called St Mary's Island (L.N..R). The island does have a decommissioned lighthouse on it, was constructed c 1897/98 and has 137 steps to the top.
An aircraft which crashed in the area c 1940 was a Hadley Page Hampden bomber Mk 1, L4054, returning from a patrol with a full bomb load , which got into difficulties and circled the lighthouse for ninety minutes signalling SOS, before crashing inland and blowing up, with no survivors. St Mary's is reachable by a concrete causeway, which gets covered by the tide.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Q1. Whitley Bay
Q2. St Mary's Island
внимание друзья! For Question 2, St Mary's Island, is also called 'Bait Island', on some maps.
Scroll past the pictures for the breakdown and solutions to the puzzle clues:
The Eastender's blogg has been a bit delayed this weekend, due to him being asked by the joint American-Thai contingent, to lead a Munro bagging expedition into the fierce icy and rocky wilderness east of Glen Falloch, with the aim of reaching the summit of a lofty eminence, called Beinn Chabhair. The American-Thai contingent were initially a little concerned at the conditions but after the Eastender had assured them that a temperature of 12 degrees centigrade is regarded as T-shirt weather in this part of the world and that this was the best time to go, as the bracken was only sprouting, thus no jungle, ticks or midges to negotiate, dodge and otherwise hinder our enjoyment of the trip, things soon got underway and we entered the temperate rain forest at the base of the mountain, where we encountered a giant waterfall, which is not visible from the road, before sumitting the Beinn around three hours later. We were passed on the way by a Royal Marine in shorts and T-shirt, travelling at a fair old clip, who cheerily informed us that he was 'just out for my afternoon jog'. We lunched at the summit, where it was two degrees cooler and blowing a hooley and then on the descent, nearly lost one of the team over the aforementioned giant waterfall, when fatigue and loss of concentration caused them to trip and pitch forward at an alarming rate, fortunately they were grabbed before they went over and then admonished with the phrase 'don't do that again! '.
The fierce icy and rocky wilderness:
View from the summit of Beinn Chabhair (933 metres or 3061 feet)
Nice view taken on the steep ascent
Some of the other waterfalls encountered on the trip:
A disaster which occurred c Jan 16 1862, is probably the Hartley Colliery or Hester Pit disaster, in which two hundred and four men lost their lives, when the beam of a pumping engine broke and sent parts tumbling down the only shaft into the mine, blocking it and trapping the workers.
The 'splendid home', in an estate which lies north of Hartley village, is likely to be Seaton Delaval Hall, which was designed by an architect (born c 1664), called Sir John Vandbrugh. The owners of Seaton Delaval hall seem to have been notorious pranksters and it is said that guests could awaken to the sight of a room turned upside down, with the furniture on the ceiling. The place seems to have burned down c 1822, with the fire being reported by sailors off the coast of Northumberland.
A nature reserve two and a half miles south east of the 'splendid home' and which was founded c 1992, is probably St Mary's Island Local Nature Reserve. It was originally designated St Mary's and Curry's Point Local Nature Reserve but is now usually just called St Mary's Island (L.N..R). The island does have a decommissioned lighthouse on it, was constructed c 1897/98 and has 137 steps to the top.
An aircraft which crashed in the area c 1940 was a Hadley Page Hampden bomber Mk 1, L4054, returning from a patrol with a full bomb load , which got into difficulties and circled the lighthouse for ninety minutes signalling SOS, before crashing inland and blowing up, with no survivors. St Mary's is reachable by a concrete causeway, which gets covered by the tide.
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Saturday, 16 May 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. Harrow-on-the-Hill
Q2. John Lyon
The initial clues seem to place us in the London borough of Harrow, which used to be served by the Metropolitan Railway c 1863 to 1933, reaching Harrow c 1880. At one time, from the pictures I've seen of them, the door handles of the trains had 'Live in Metroland', engraved on them
Picture of Engraved Doorhandle
The poet, seems to be Mr 'Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!' himself, Sir John Betjeman, who published a book c 1954 called "A Few Late Chrysanthemums", which contains poems about some of the boroughs served by the Metropolitan Railway, and one which is titled 'Harrow-on-the-Hill', which contains the lines:
"Then Harrow-on-the-Hill’s a rocky island
And Harrow churchyard full of sailors’ graves
And the constant click and kissing of the trolley buses hissing"
The second poet appears to be George Gordon, Lord Byron, who published a work called "Lines Written Beneath an Elm in the Churchyard of Harrow", c 1807. The church is called St Mary's and Byron's daughter, Allegra, may be buried there. Lord Byron attended Harrow school and some of the references I checked, claim that this was founded by a farmer called John Lyon, c 1572. The school was originally named 'The Free Grammar School of John Lyon' and subsequently morphed into Harrow School. Harrow school moved away from the founder's original intention of educating local boys and became full of students from outwith the parish. To resolve this problem, the 'Lower School of John Lyon', was opened for business c 1876. A playwright (born c 1751), who attended Harrow school, is probably 'Richard Brinsley Sheridan'.
One of the songs sung at Harrow school, which is titled 'Forty Years On', contains the lines:
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Q1. Harrow-on-the-Hill
Q2. John Lyon
The initial clues seem to place us in the London borough of Harrow, which used to be served by the Metropolitan Railway c 1863 to 1933, reaching Harrow c 1880. At one time, from the pictures I've seen of them, the door handles of the trains had 'Live in Metroland', engraved on them
Picture of Engraved Doorhandle
The poet, seems to be Mr 'Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!' himself, Sir John Betjeman, who published a book c 1954 called "A Few Late Chrysanthemums", which contains poems about some of the boroughs served by the Metropolitan Railway, and one which is titled 'Harrow-on-the-Hill', which contains the lines:
"Then Harrow-on-the-Hill’s a rocky island
And Harrow churchyard full of sailors’ graves
And the constant click and kissing of the trolley buses hissing"
The second poet appears to be George Gordon, Lord Byron, who published a work called "Lines Written Beneath an Elm in the Churchyard of Harrow", c 1807. The church is called St Mary's and Byron's daughter, Allegra, may be buried there. Lord Byron attended Harrow school and some of the references I checked, claim that this was founded by a farmer called John Lyon, c 1572. The school was originally named 'The Free Grammar School of John Lyon' and subsequently morphed into Harrow School. Harrow school moved away from the founder's original intention of educating local boys and became full of students from outwith the parish. To resolve this problem, the 'Lower School of John Lyon', was opened for business c 1876. A playwright (born c 1751), who attended Harrow school, is probably 'Richard Brinsley Sheridan'.
One of the songs sung at Harrow school, which is titled 'Forty Years On', contains the lines:
"Forty years on, when afar and asunder
Parted are those who are singing today,
When you look back, and forgetfully wonder
What you were like in your work and your play,
Then, it may be, there will often come o’er you,
Glimpses of notes like the catch of a song –
Visions of boyhood shall float them before you,
Echoes of dreamland shall bear them along,"
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Saturday, 9 May 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. Perranporth
Q2. In the Roar of the Sea
The initial clues seem to place us in the village of Perranporth, in a beautiful area known as Cornwall.From looking at the OS map, there seems to be a large beach and an expanse of dunes called the 'Penhale Sands', which lie to the north of the settlement. A motor designer who was born there, at Woodbine cottage c 1898, was Donald Mitchell Healey. He seems to have been a total petrol head and not only did he design cars, he also raced them and became the technical director at Triumph, designing all of their cars, until c 1945 when the factory went bust. At that point, Healey founded the Donald Healey Motor Company Ltd, where his first model, the Healey Elliot went on to win some alpine rally events c 1947/48.
Penhale sands, from some of the sources I checked, seems to have been the site of St Piran's church and St Piran's Oratory. The Eastender had to look up what an oratory was but it appears to have been a smaller chapel intended for an individual's private worship. Building a church on sand dunes, as we shall later see, is not usually a good idea. St Piran is thought by some to have been Irish and born c 6th century ad. He is also the patron saint of tin miners and his colours, white cross on a black background, are said to represent tin being smelted from a stone, which he allegedly floated across the sea from Eire on, after being escorted from the club by angry heathens. His first disciples upon coming ashore are said to have been a fox, a badger and a bear, though how this enabled him to recruit more followers, remains somewhat unclear.
Fourteen miles north north east of Perranporth, would likely bring us to the Trevose Head lighthouse which some of the references I looked at claim is twenty seven metres high or eighty eight point five eight feet in old money. Appears to have been constructed c 1847. Taking the circuitous route to find the church mentioned in the clues, would take us past the village of Trevone and it was here that an author called Dorothy Richardson lived for a time. Richardson pioneered the stream of consciousness style of writing in her series of thirteen novels known as 'Pilgrimage'.
Driving past Trevone, brings us to the town of Padstow and this is where a great old British actor called Edward Woodward (born c 1930) lived, at Mariner's Friend, Hawker's Cove. Woodward according to some of his bios, made his first debut at the Castle Theatre, Farnham c 1946, in a play called 'A kiss for Cinderella', though subsequently came to a bad end, after upsetting some local pagans on a Scottish island.
A much loved poet, called John Betjeman (and who did not like his line 'Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough? ) lies in the graveyard of St Enodoc's church, which is situated about five miles as the drone flies, east of Trevose Head lighthouse. This church is also built on sand dunes, allegedly over the cave where St Enodoc lived as a hermit, on the east bank of the river Camel and for much of its history was almost engulfed by sand. It is said that at times, the parishioners had to climb through a hole in the roof to gain entry and that this had to be done once a year, in order for the rector to be able to collect tithes from the locals. No church service, no taxes, hence the reluctance to dig the edifice out.
The story of the battle to keep St Enodoc's church sand free, is described in a novel called 'In the Roar of the Sea' (published c 1892), by a writer and erudite polymath called Sabine Baring Gould. Baring Gould seems to have been some sort of literary dynamo, writing over forty novels, twenty four travel guide books, general interest books and a collection of folk songs, reputedly a total of twelve hundred and forty publications and all while holding down his day job as a clergyman. From the excerpts of the novel I read in the various archives I trawled through, one of the main protagonists in the novel, is called the Reverend Peter Trevisa,who was for twenty five years, rector of St Enodoc's and it was the problem of the church being swallowed by the sand, which finished him off, as he worked in vain to dig it out, without help from the tithe avoiding locals....
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
Q1. Perranporth
Q2. In the Roar of the Sea
The initial clues seem to place us in the village of Perranporth, in a beautiful area known as Cornwall.From looking at the OS map, there seems to be a large beach and an expanse of dunes called the 'Penhale Sands', which lie to the north of the settlement. A motor designer who was born there, at Woodbine cottage c 1898, was Donald Mitchell Healey. He seems to have been a total petrol head and not only did he design cars, he also raced them and became the technical director at Triumph, designing all of their cars, until c 1945 when the factory went bust. At that point, Healey founded the Donald Healey Motor Company Ltd, where his first model, the Healey Elliot went on to win some alpine rally events c 1947/48.
Penhale sands, from some of the sources I checked, seems to have been the site of St Piran's church and St Piran's Oratory. The Eastender had to look up what an oratory was but it appears to have been a smaller chapel intended for an individual's private worship. Building a church on sand dunes, as we shall later see, is not usually a good idea. St Piran is thought by some to have been Irish and born c 6th century ad. He is also the patron saint of tin miners and his colours, white cross on a black background, are said to represent tin being smelted from a stone, which he allegedly floated across the sea from Eire on, after being escorted from the club by angry heathens. His first disciples upon coming ashore are said to have been a fox, a badger and a bear, though how this enabled him to recruit more followers, remains somewhat unclear.
Fourteen miles north north east of Perranporth, would likely bring us to the Trevose Head lighthouse which some of the references I looked at claim is twenty seven metres high or eighty eight point five eight feet in old money. Appears to have been constructed c 1847. Taking the circuitous route to find the church mentioned in the clues, would take us past the village of Trevone and it was here that an author called Dorothy Richardson lived for a time. Richardson pioneered the stream of consciousness style of writing in her series of thirteen novels known as 'Pilgrimage'.
Driving past Trevone, brings us to the town of Padstow and this is where a great old British actor called Edward Woodward (born c 1930) lived, at Mariner's Friend, Hawker's Cove. Woodward according to some of his bios, made his first debut at the Castle Theatre, Farnham c 1946, in a play called 'A kiss for Cinderella', though subsequently came to a bad end, after upsetting some local pagans on a Scottish island.
A much loved poet, called John Betjeman (and who did not like his line 'Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough? ) lies in the graveyard of St Enodoc's church, which is situated about five miles as the drone flies, east of Trevose Head lighthouse. This church is also built on sand dunes, allegedly over the cave where St Enodoc lived as a hermit, on the east bank of the river Camel and for much of its history was almost engulfed by sand. It is said that at times, the parishioners had to climb through a hole in the roof to gain entry and that this had to be done once a year, in order for the rector to be able to collect tithes from the locals. No church service, no taxes, hence the reluctance to dig the edifice out.
The story of the battle to keep St Enodoc's church sand free, is described in a novel called 'In the Roar of the Sea' (published c 1892), by a writer and erudite polymath called Sabine Baring Gould. Baring Gould seems to have been some sort of literary dynamo, writing over forty novels, twenty four travel guide books, general interest books and a collection of folk songs, reputedly a total of twelve hundred and forty publications and all while holding down his day job as a clergyman. From the excerpts of the novel I read in the various archives I trawled through, one of the main protagonists in the novel, is called the Reverend Peter Trevisa,who was for twenty five years, rector of St Enodoc's and it was the problem of the church being swallowed by the sand, which finished him off, as he worked in vain to dig it out, without help from the tithe avoiding locals....
N.B. The Eastender has moved to moderated comments due to the number of people who normally write letters in green ink, posting on his page. Rest assured though, if you have a non abusive comment relating to solving the puzzle and possible solutions, he will publish it.
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