Who remembers Eddie Calvert? Well back in the day (what a strange phrase that is encompassing anything old or from living history), Eddie Calvert was a famous trumpeter.
Well he appeared in my dream. He turned up at our village Remembrance Day service with his trumpet and we asked him to play The Last Post.
"I can't play the Last Post Before Christmas," he said.
"No" we replied. We want you to play the Last Post in memory of the war dead.
"I'm very sorry. I'm a bit mixed up. I don't know that one. Thought you were talking about the advert about posting early for Christmas," he replied.
Then as usual I woke up before the plot could develop. Just why Eddie Calvert should appear in my dream, I haven't got the faintest idea. His name hasn't come up in anything - must be a subconscious thought of some kind. Last night I did listen to the updated Red and Blue album re-releases by the Beatles but certainly nothing from Eddie Calvert. I know very little about Eddie Calvert so off I went to Wikipedia as usual and now I know a fair amount about him.
Actually he sounds like a good egg. He had two number one singles - "Oh Mein Papa" and "Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White)" both of which I can instantly hum and the former was a favourite of my grandfather who used to sing it. Eddie Calvert never sang it but somebody must have put words to it.
Eddie Calvert's first name was actually Albert. He was born in Preston (I know a joke about Preston but it's too rude to publish here. It's a play on words on country and western).
After all his success, Eddie got disillusioned with the UK and emigrated to South Africa where he fought against racial discrimination. He died of a heart attack when only 56.
But enough about weird dreams. Let's talk about something else. And now for something completely different. Over Remembrance weekend there was free access to vintage newspapers through the Find My Past site. I put in the word "Hethersett" and came up with a very interesting report of a wedding which nicely dovetailed in with a photo of a wedding at our parish church that appeared on another Norfolk site. The wedding was 90 years ago and was of the then Rector's sister. I have done quite a bit of research on this Rector and featured his writings which are on my website
www.hethersettatwar.weebly.com.
When I was at journalism college in the early 1970s we were taught how to deal with massive stories about plague and pestilence, only to start work by re-writing WI reports and putting together reports on weddings.
Couples getting married who wanted their weddings featured in the local press would fill in a form and send it in with a photo. Us young reporters would then turn it into a story of their day along the lines of
"A well known Lowestoft Railway worker was married at the beginning of the month to a girl he met on an exotic holiday."
That kind of thing. It was tedious and laborious but of course was very valued by the people getting married who would cut out the piece and put it in a scrapbook for later generations to muse over.
When myself and the other threequarters got married we were featured in the Beccles and Bungay Journal where I worked. We also sent a report in ahead of the day to the Pontefract Gazette. They got their dates wrong and the report appeared in the paper the day before we actually got married. It's a good job neither of us got cold feet and pulled out.
Ninety years ago wedding reports were almost exhaustive, giving every details of who wore what and who sang what and who did what. The marriage of Betty McAnally, sister of the then Rector of Hethersett the Rev James McAnally was a big deal. It was such a big deal that trains form Norwich to Ely and Ely to Norwich made unscheduled stops at Hethersett to take guests to the wedding (imagine that happening today).
But the great details gives us a lovely piece of social history and below I include a transcript of the cutting. Whilst researching and reading it I was transported back to the 1930s in Hethersett when the village was a very different place to the Hethersett of today. For a start the population has expanded to a level that those of the 1930s could have never have imagined. The village was between the two world wars, men who would die in the Second World War were mere boys at school. So much was going to happen to so many. I will be doing a bit more research to find out what happened to the happy couple. Here is that report.
“Miss Betty La Fontaine McAnally and Mr Joseph Dring of Little Massingham were married at Hethersett parish church on Wednesday. Mr Dring is the second son of Mr and Mrs R Dring of Hill House, Little Massingham, and Miss McAnally is the youngest daughter of Canon C. M. McAnally and the late Mrs McAnally, formerly of Great Massingham Rectory.
The bridegroom’s family are well known as landowners and farmers. The bride was given away by her brother the Rev J. M McAnally (rector of Hethersett) and Mr Richard Dring (brother of the bridegroom) was Best Man.
When she lived at Great Massingham, Miss McAnally, took an interest in many of the religious and recreational movements of the district, including the Girl Guides and many of her friends attended the wedding. The Hethersett choir was augmented by thirty choristers from Massingham.
The bride wore a gown of white satin with a train of the same material and a vale of net with a wreath of orange blossom given by her aunt. She carried a bouquet of Madonna lillies and white heather. There were two baby train bearers, Master Richard Fairfax Harwood, aged two years, and Miss Diana Elizabeth Hawkins, aged two and a half.
The page, whose present from the bridegroom was a model speedboat, was dressed in a blue satin buster suit. Little Miss Hawkins wore a blue net dress with frills over blue satin and a wreath of blue and pink forget-me-nots. Her present from the bridegroom was a bracelet.
The bridesmaids were Miss Rachel Mary McAnally, Miss Elizabeth Porter (nieces of the bride) and Miss Merill Morton. They wore gold net dresses over silk, with blue velvet sashes, blue caps and shoes to match. They carried bouquets of yellow and bronze chrysanthemums and wore bracelets, the gift of the bridegroom.
Mr Richard Lowne at the organ, played “Nocturne in E flat “ (Chopin), “Serenade” (Schubert), “My Heart Ever Faithful” (Bach) “Benedictus” (Mozart), and as the bridal party left the church “Wedding March” (Mendelssohn). The choir sang the hymn “Love divine all loves excelling” as the procession walked to the chancel steps. The service was conducted by the Rev J. W Corbould-Warren (uncle of the bride), Canon A. R. H. Grant of Norwich Cathedral and the Rev F. L. Brereton (rector of Little Massingham.
Psalm 67 “God be Merciful unto us” was chanted. Canon Grant delivered a short address and two more hymns were sung “O Perfect Love” and “May the grace of Christ our Saviour.”
As Mr and Mrs Dring left the church the eight bells of St Remigius rang forth a joyous greeting. The guests were received at the Rectory, refreshments being provided in a marquee on the lawn.
The toast of the bride and bridegroom was proposed by Sir Henry McAnally, cousin of the bride, and that of the bridesmaids by Mr John Stevenson. The choir were entertained in the Church Room.
The bride and bridegroom left for London and later went onto Paris by air. The bride’s going away dress was a two piece of an oatmeal shade of wool crepe de Chine with a scarlet collar and a belt, and a hat to match the coat.
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An interesting aside to this was a small cutting that appeared in the newspaper a day earlier under the heading “Miss McAnally’s Wedding.
“For the convenience of guests attending the wedding tomorrow (Wednesday) at Hethersett parish church between Mr John Dring and Miss Elizabeth La Fontaine McAnally, the L & N E Railway have kindly consented to stop the following trains at Hethersett: the 12.40 pm ex Ely (connecting with the 10.5 am from London) arriving Hethersett about 2 pm; and the 5.7 pm ex Norwich arriving Hethersett 5.30 pm. The ceremony will be performed by the Rev John Corbould-Warren of Caister (formerly vicar of Dersingham, assisted by Canon Arthur Grant C.V.O, D.D.
There will be more about this wedding in the December edition of Hethersett Herald along with the photo and the cuttings.