Friday 26 February 2016

To Boldly Go .............

As you are well aware by now I didn’t get where I am today by being a regular reader of the Telegraph but on the odd occasion that I do come across a copy I always go straight to the Readers Letters and the Obituaries.

Yesterday, however, I must confess to buying a copy.

The Telegraph started of its life as the Daily Telegraph and Courier and was first published on June 29th 1855.



Yesterday’s was their 50,000th edition.

The “Letters to the Editor” has always been a feature of the newspaper and to celebrate this landmark it included a four page supplement on readers' letters over the 160 years of its life.

The very first letter to appear was a short contribution signed E Harrisson.

 As a “working man”, he explained that he could only afford sixpence a week. The Daily Telegraph cost two pence a day – and it was only that cheap because the Government had just taken the last remaining penny tax off newspapers. So Mr Harrisson planned to go in with a chum and pool their sixpences to buy a copy to share, six days a week. 

In its first year the letters page was dominated by readers demanding  the cleaning up of the Thames, that pubs should stay open longer on Sundays, that street muggers who garrotted pedestrians should be dealt with severely, that sea-bathers should emulate the ancient Greeks in unashamed nudity and a regular topic “Where are the police?”

In the summer of 1858 the hot topic was The Great Stink of London.

Here’s a further selection of topics that have featured over the years:





One of the most entertaining was the 1964 debate on Bertrand Russell’s use of the split infinitive which ran for a month.

It started with this:

13 May 1964
Sir – Is it not a little ironical that “attempts on the part of Western Powers to crudely dominate or surreptitiously undermine” should lead Earl Russell – of all people – to split the infinitive?

Yours faithfully,
SPW Corbett
Woking, Surrey

Russell then hit back:

15 May 1964
Sir – The aggressive military behaviour of the British Government in Southern Arabia has not lessened my admiration, ironical as it may seem, for the uses to which the English language was put by famous writers. For instance, Milton, who, apart from his concern for individual freedom, managed to admirably split infinitives. A reading of “Lycidas” might be expected to adequately teach this to Mr SPW Corbett. Even Fowler could be of help.

Yours faithfully,
Bertrand Russell
Penrhyndeudraeth, Merioneth

The debate hotted up:

18 May 1964
Sir – I fail to understand Lord Russell’s allusion to “Lycidas” in his justification of split infinitives. I have just read the poem again, and can find no trace of anything resembling a split infinitive.

Yours faithfully,
GM Douglas
Lancaster

20 May 1964
Sir – Even Milton, Lord Russell and the excellent – but too lenient – Fowler cannot make right what is wrong. The infinitive, e.g. “to reply”, constitutes in effect one word – showing mood – and it should not be split any more than the present participle “replying”. One would not say “reply-kindly-ing,” but it is no worse than splitting the infinitive.
No one ever heard of a split infinitive in German, where the construction is the same, e.g. zu gehen, zu Machen, etc.
It is not a serious fault, but the fact remains that it is incorrect English.

Yours faithfully,
LG Crauford
London N6

22 May 1964
Sir – I regret Mr GM Douglas’s inability to discover the split infinitive in “Lycidas”. I suggest he read it again.

Yours faithfully,
Bertrand Russell
Penrhyndeudraeth, Merioneth

23 May 1964
Sir – Cannot Mr. G. M Douglas find any trace of anything resembling a split infinitive in Milton’s “Lycidas”? I have always thought that the following lines, which I take from the Oxford 1914 edition, might well rate as an example:

Alas! What boots it with uncessant care
To tend the homely slighted Shepherds trade
And strictly meditate the thankles muse…

In case of comment the spelling is Milton’s, not mine.

Yours faithfully,
Kenneth P.D. Thomas
London W2

25 May 1964
Sir – Mr Kenneth PD Thomas quotes the lines from “Lycidas”:

Alas! what boots it with uncessant care
To tend the homely slighted Shepherds trade
And strictly meditate the thankless muse…

To call this a split infinitive is absurd. There is no word between “to” and the verb it governs, which is “tend.” English usage does not require the repetition of “to”, but its presence is understood: why should it be supposed that Milton would have placed it before, not after, “strictly”?

I do not know if this is the passage to which Lord Russell refers, since he does not deign to specify. If it is, it is not too late for him to take a course in English.

Yours faithfully,
GM Douglas
Lancaster

On 30th May even T. S. Elliot joined in the debate which was eventually put to bed by this wonderful contribution:

13 June 1964
Sir – I quote below a legal opinion on the subject of split infinitives.

Mary, having shot in dozens
Sisters, Aunts and Second Cousins,
Told the judge with eager zest,
“I hope to soon bump off the rest.”
Reaching for his black cap, he
Cried, “Ye Gods, what infamy!
The liquidations I’d forgive
But not that split infinitive.”

Yours faithfully,
A Hazelwood Atkins
Hildenborough, Kent

Yesterday’s letters page was much less entertaining, being dominated, predictably, by Europe and Junior Doctors with a centre piece letter headed “Why TV producers are immune to mumbling” following viewers complaints about the sound quality in BBC’s “Happy Valley” – heaven forbid! 

Far more interesting was the obituary of the Trinidadian batsmen Andy Ganteaume who died aged 95.  In his debut test for the West Indies against England in 1947 he made 112 then was promptly dropped from the team and never played another test match, giving him a test average of 112, the highest in Test history beating Donald Bradman’s 99.94.


I’ll leave you with another Dire Straits contribution:


Hey Ho!

Monday 15 February 2016

Once upon a time in the West

Over the last year and a half, when I have had any spare time, I have been researching the history of my local pubs, The Fox and The Prince of Wales, the surrounding areas and more lately Farnborough in general.

I have discovered many interesting facts about the area and some of the more notable residents that I previously had no knowledge.

I have recently also picked up where I left off from researching “Family Baltzer” and starting to document a family tree.

Several people have asked me how and where I find the information so this blog entry is for them and anyone else who might want to do some research of their own.

In time I will include more articles on www.thefoxfarnborough.co.uk but I will also publish them as blog entries.

The maps, local history books and directories at Farnborough public library have been invaluable but it is the Encyclopaedia Internetica that has provided the vast majority of information and photographs.

Yes there is a lot of rubbish on the internet but also such an immense range of data, information and photographs which are constantly being added to and updated.

In case any of you are intending doing any historical research the obvious places to start are google, googleimages and wikipedia.

Facebook history groups also provided an invaluable source of information and interest:




These are sites that I have used to help trace my family history (free for limited information then subscription for detail):









Useful free sites for historical maps are:




Free historical directory sites:




Free local history sites:






Free general history sites:





If any of you do embark on any kind of research I’ll warn you now – there’s a lot of history out there - it will become an obsession and consume all your spare time, so good luck and if you come across any useful source of information that I haven't listed I would be grateful if you would let me know.


Hey Ho!

Friday 12 February 2016

Street Life

Earlier this week we had a most enjoyable day in Puerto de la Cruz.

Puerto de la Cruz is Tenerife’s main tourist resort in the north of the island which, although it welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, remains very much Canarian in character.

It receives more sunshine and less rain than the rest of the north of the island but enough to sustain lush vegetation that provides the town with its abundance of gardens and its sub-tropical appearance particularly the Botanical Gardens with over 5,000 exotic tree and plant specimens from all over the world and its stylish garden beach.


It was developed originally as a port for the wealthy town of La Orotava, exporting sugar and wine to the New World and was known as Puerto de La Orotava.

Today, the Old Town and harbour remains a centre of activity with brightly painted fishing boats, food stalls serving traditional Canarian food and its narrow cobbled streets lined with traditional colonial-style cafés and bars.


It is in this area, known as the Ranilla district, that street artists from mainland Spain, Tenerife and other Canary Islands left their multi-coloured marks on the walls of buildings for the Puerto Street Art 2014 festival.

Puerto Street Art, comprising of 13 murals incorporating different styles, techniques and themes, is considered one of the most important in the world.

It is confined to a small area and the tour can be done in around an hour or if you stop for sustenance after viewing each mural in one of the many small bars and cafes, about a day!

I didn't get where I am today by being easily impressed with art but I was indeed very impressed!

Here are a few of the murals:



You can take the tour here in 7 minutes:



And here is how they did it:



I'll take my leave with a bit of Randy Crawford and the Crusaders:


Hey Ho!