Declan McManus is better known as Elvis Costello. His song with a military title is Oliver's Army. His father is Ross McManus who was a singer with the Billy Cotton Band Show and Billy Cotton's catchphrase was Wakey Wakey which was shouted very loudly at the beginning of his show. The assumption of course was that the previous show had sent people to sleep and they needed waking up.
Billy Cotton was the father of former BBC Executive Bill Cotton. The two bore a remarkable resemblance to each other.
I clearly remember the Billy Cotton Band Show. Ross McManus was one of the resident singers along with Alan Breeze who for many years owned the Buck Public House at Flixton in Suffolk which was very close to Beccles where I lived and worked for about three years. The Buck was down a side road and there was always a sign on the main road saying "Don't Pass The Buck."
I went there a few times and one day went to interview TV celebrity Cy Grant who was staying there. I think it was the worst interview I ever conducted (apart from the attempt to interview Brian Clough who simply told me to f--k off). Grant wouldn't answer any questions about his career and wanted to talk about philosophy which was all very fine but not what the local paper wanted.
I guess the name Cy Grant means very little today. He was the first black person to appear regularly on television in the UK mostly due to his appearances on the BBC current affairs show Tonight. He also wrote poetry and sang calypsos.
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We live in hope. Our village post office closed last week with the retirement of the postmaster who had been in post for 10 years. The lease on the post office building was not renewed and for a time it looked as if we would lose a post office altogether. Thankfully a lot of people have been working behind the scenes with the idea of having a temporary pop up office in place whilst a permanent venue is found. I'm optimistic after talking to various people that we will retain a post office in some form or other. This is a vital service and one we cannot afford to lose as more and more people move into the village and the population continues to balloon.
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I don't know about you but I find audio books very difficult. I have loads queued up to listen to but to date have failed to finish a single one. I find my mind wandering (product of what I refer to as a butterfly brain) and I completely lose the plot (something that has been said about me many times before).
Having read the first novel in the Norfolk Broads crime series by David Blake "Broadland" I found the follow-up as one of the audiobooks I have access to. It's entitled St Benet's which is a ruined abbey on the banks of the Broads. So I started listening to it.
The main character is a Detective Inspector who has moved to Norfolk from London following the murder of his daughter. He begins a relationship with one of his team - a young lady who was born and brought up in Broadland.
This young lady has a Norfolk accent. So what do we get from the person reading the book? Yes we get a Devon/Somerset accent that is nowhere close to a Norfolk accent. This happens time and time again on television. Anyone who doesn't live in Norfolk thinks that we roll our Rs which we most certainly do not. Actors turn us into Devonians etc. The narrator of this audiobook probably thinks that he is reproducing the Norfolk accent. He isn't and the problem is I end up listening more to his accent than what he is reading.
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Interesting article on the national news today about the village of Ditchling in East Sussex which was the home of Vera Lynn until she died at the age of 103 in 2020. Now the village museum (how many villages have a museum?) is mounting an exhibition of Vera memorabilia until Easter. As well as dresses and items from her professional career, it includes her other passions. Who knew that she was a painter (art rather than houses)? It sounds fascinating and certainly something to visit when I'm in that part of the world which is quite often.
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Incidentally I remembered the thing that I wanted to mention but then forgot about yesterday. It was just to tell you that I have now confirmed that Robert Kett (he of Kett's Rebellion of 1549) is definitely my 12 x Great Uncle. I am descended from his bother Thomas who apparently had nothing to do with the rebellion and continued to be a big landowner in Wymondham long after the rebellion. Obviously there was no retribution towards members of the Kett family who weren't revolting!
My research also uncovered a 13 or 14 x great aunt who was a titled lady (something like Lady Savage of Savage) and who was apparently a leading figure in the Civil War. This is something I have still to research. Will let you know what I find in a coming blog'
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Sometimes I just talk too quickly. This morning I filled in at the Hethersett Dementia Support Group's monthly cafe. I have three talks about people from Hethersett and each one takes about 45 minutes to an hour. That's up to three hours in total. Yesterday I ran through the three hour talk in about half an hour. You can imagine I left out more than I left in. There was some interesting discussion which I will tell you about at a later date.