Fun With Pixie

I mentioned a few blogs back that Hannah and Ben had got a miniature pincher, and on Thursday Hannah was round and brought Pixie (the miniature pincher) with her. The two dogs get on like a house on fire! so I took the opportunity to take a few photos of them, playing with what we call Ruby’s raggy.

Please can I have my "raggy" back?

On one or two of the photos it looks as thought they are about to tear the living daylights out of each other, but it is all play! Ruby is very gentle towards Pixie, and puts up with an awful lot of tugging and pulling from Pixie, who seems completely fearless where Ruby is concerned.

Despite the fact that Ruby can almost pull me along the hall when we are playing with her raggy, she has never yet dragged Pixie along the hall attached to the end of her raggy! This game usually finishes up with Pixie making a sudden dash and grabbing the raggy and running off with it and then secreting herself in some small space where Ruby can’t get to her! After a few minutes she will emerge dragging the raggy behind her just so that Ruby can join in the tug of war again!

Early Christmas Preparations

It’s got to that time in our house when we try to remember where in the loft we put the Christmas decorations, the tree lights, and the spare Christmas Cards and wrapping paper left over from last year. Each year I promise myself that when I put all these items back in the loft, I will clearly mark the packaging they are in so that it is easy to find them the following year, and each year they just get dumped back in the loft after Twelfth Night!

About a week ago my wife suggested that we had accumulated so many decorations over the years that it was time to get rid of some of them, so that started the search! I discovered about half a dozen boxes of glass Christmas tree decorations that we have not used for years, so these were taken to the Martin House charity shop in Skipton.



Today it was the turn of “hunt the tree lights”, and once again we had accumulated a few sets of lights, two of which were boxed and unopened. There were also two or three sets that weren’t working, so after a fruitless hour of testing bulbs, fuses etc. these were finally thrown in the bin! The two unopened and working sets have gone to a shop in Harrogate called “Space” which specialises in Retro items! (I think both of the new unopened sets of lights were circa 1960!)




So now we know where the working sets of white lights are, where the Christmas tree decorations are, and where the spare Christmas cards and wrapping paper are. All that remains now is to purchase a real Christmas tree, and put the lights and decorations on it, write the Christmas cards and address the envelopes and post them, and then we can put up our feet and relax and enjoy the Christmas season!!

Oh I nearly forgot! - there's just that little job of buying the Christmas presents, the turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sausage meat, vegetables, mince pies, cheese, trifle, alcoholic beverages etc. Thank goodness for those two Christmas Saints - Marks & Spencer!

Politically Uncorrect Food for Thought

In my last blog I commented at some length on the politically correct brigade, and the lengths some people go to so as nobody is offended by anything.

My concluding remark was:-

Isn’t it time we stood up to this faceless bunch of politically correct pratts and told them just what to do with their political correctness?

Well here is what the Australian ex prime minister, John Howard had to say on the subject of bending over backwards for immigrants:-

“IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT”.

Take It or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in
patriotism by the majority of Australians.'

'This culture has been developed over two centuries of
struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom'

'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!'

'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.'

We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.'

I am sure there are those who will say that the above is racist, but to those people I would say read the last sentence again.

Isn’t it a shame that we have such a weak government, wrapped up in not offending anyone, and so hide bound in civil liberty laws that they daredn’t speak on behalf of countless thousands of the silent majority who would whole heartedly agree with John Howards words, but are frightened to admit their beliefs openly for fear of being branded racist.

Merry Winter Festival (Christmas to the Politically Uncorrect)

Let me put my cards on the table right from the word go. I would say that I am something of a traditionalist. I am proud to have been born an English man and absolutely abhor those who would dilute the culture and traditions which make up our heritage.

One of my pet hates is the so called “Politically Correct Lobby” – that faceless mass of people who would have us become so watered down that we would mean all things to all people, and in the end, nothing to anybody!

It is at this time of year that I really begin to see red when the politically correct brigade try to tell us that Christmas should be done away with in case it causes offence to those of other faiths.

Only a month or so ago I saw an illuminated sign strung across the streets of Bradford which read Happy Deepwali. If this can be accepted by Christians, why would it be frowned on by the politically correct brigade to string a similar illuminated banner across the streets which says Happy Christmas?

But the bad news is the problem is not one of local feelings. Apparently there is a move afoot at national level to eradicate the celebration of Christmas. I kid you not. Harriet Harman’s controversial Equality Bill could ultimately lead to eradicating Christmas.

Already the Roman Catholic Bishops have warned that the complex legislation will have the effect of town halls and other organisations clamping down on festivities for fear of offending other cultures.

Under existing legislation we have seen the development of a risk – averse culture, with outcomes as ridiculous as reports of a local authority instructing tenants to take down Christmas Lights in case they might offend Muslim neighbours, or of authorities removing the word Christmas out of “cultural sensitivity” to everyone except Christians. I recall last year a local authority (not too far away from here) trying to replace the word Christmas with the words Winter Festival.

As Scrooge would say “Bah Humbug!”

Isn’t it time we stood up to this faceless bunch of politically correct pratts and told them just what to do with their political correctness?

Just as a bit of light relief, I offer you the following piece of politically correct poetry based on the famous poem The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and Santa's a wreck...
How to live in a world that's politically correct?
His workers no longer would answer to "Elves".
"Vertically Challenged" they were calling themselves.
And labour conditions at the North Pole
were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.

Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,
Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.
And equal employment had made it quite clear
That Santa had better not use just reindeer.
So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid
Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!

The runners had been removed from his sleigh;
The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A.
And people had started to call for the cops
When they heard sled noises on their rooftops.
Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened.
His fur trimmed red suit was called "Unenlightened."

And to show you the strangeness of life's ebbs and flows,
Rudolf was suing over unauthorised use of his nose
And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,
Demanding millions in over-due compensation.
So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,
Who suddenly said she'd enough of this life,


Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,
Demanding from now on her title was Ms.
And as for the gifts, why, he'd never had a notion
That making a choice could cause so much commotion.
Nothing of leather, nothing of fur,
Which meant nothing for him. And nothing for her.

Nothing that might be construed to pollute.
Nothing to aim, Nothing to shoot.
Nothing that clamoured or made lots of noise.
Nothing for just girls, or just for the boys.
Nothing that claimed to be gender specific.
Nothing that's warlike or non-pacifistic.

No candy or sweets...they were bad for the tooth.
Nothing that seemed to embellish a truth.
And fairy tales, while not yet forbidden,
Were like Ken and Barbie, better off hidden.
For they raised the hackles of those psychological
Who claimed the only good gift was one ecological.

No baseball, no football...someone could get hurt;
Besides, playing sports exposed kids to dirt.
Dolls were said to be sexist, and should be passe;
And Nintendo would rot your entire brain away.
So Santa just stood there, dishevelled, perplexed;
He just could not figure out what to do next.

He tried to be merry, tried to be gay,
But you've got to be careful with that word today.
His sack was quite empty, limp to the ground;
Nothing fully acceptable was to be found.
Something special was needed, a gift that he might
Give to all without angering the left or the right.

A gift that would satisfy, with no indecision,
Each group of people, every religion;
Every ethnicity, every hue,
Everyone, everywhere...even you.
So here is that gift, it's a price beyond worth...
May you and your loved ones, enjoy peace on Earth!

Seven Minutes of Pure Hot Air and Waffle

Seven minutes to deliver the Queen’s Speech. What in Heavens name is Glorious Gordon doing? Has he developed the art of speed speaking, or is it just that he has nothing worth saying?

I suspect the latter when I learnt that there are only 13 full bills and two draft pieces of legislation (much of which is unlikely to make it into the law before polling day!)

There was NO mention of any bills to sort out the disgraceful mess within parliament over the MP’s expenses. It seems that the much heralded inquiry was just another government smoke screen.

So what were the bills alluded to in the Queen’s Speech?

BRIBERY BILL – making it an offence to bribe foreign officials, and for businesses to fail to prevent bribery.

CHILD POVERTY BILL –This will end child poverty by 2020. The government will make annual reports to parliament on progress.

If this one ever gets on the statute books I seriously doubt that it will work by 2020, and what use are annual reports to parliament? What is required is URGENT ACTION RIGHT NOW!

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES BILL. This offers parent and pupils guarantees for standards of Education. Schools will be given “report cards”, and children will receive at least one year of sex and relationship education.

Guarantees for standards in education? I’m sure this sort of thing has been bandied about from time immemorial! Sex and relationship education should be the job of any responsible parent. Sort out the irresponsible parents first! They cause more problems with their offspring!

CLUSTER MUNITIONS (PROHIBITION) BILL. This makes it an offence to use, produce, acquire, develop, stockpile, retain or transfer cluster munitions.

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM AND GOVERNMENT BILL. This gives a basis in law for parliaments to scrutinise treaties and provides for the disqualification of peers convicted of serious offences or subject to a bankruptcy order.

What good is it being able to scrutinise a treaty if the government hasn’t got the guts to throw it out if it doesn’t approve of it? I would have thought that the disqualification of peers convicted of serious offences or subject to a bankruptcy order would have been automatic. Why not widen it to cover MP’s too? Maybe we would have a lot of MP’s rapidly leaving if this were the case!!!! Just think how many of them have been caught up in the expenses scandal They would qualify under the serious offences if someone in authority had the guts to see them all charged with the crimes they have undoubtedly committed.

CRIME & SECURITY BILL. This gives the police powers to bar suspect domestic violence offenders from their homes, and makes possession of a mobile phone in a prison, without authorisation a criminal offence.

Surely it is common sense to bar a persistent domestic violence offender from their home? Why is it only now that this has been decided to be put forward as a bill? If you are imprisoned this takes away your freedoms. What right does a prisoner have to expect to have access to a mobile phone? Taking away your freedom by imprisonment should automatically bar you from having access to a mobile phone. Full Stop.

DIGITAL ECONOMY BILL. This gives OFCOM the duty to assess the UK’s communication infrastructure every two years, and makes age ratings compulsory on all video games for children aged twelve and over.

What good is it legislating for age ratings on video games when they can not be “Policed”

ENERGY BILL. This supports the construction of up to four carbon capture and storage schemes to cut pollution.

EQUALITY BILL. This bans age discrimination outside the workplace and strengthens the powers of employment tribunals.

Being an (almost) OAP I’m all for this one – but it won’t make me vote Labour though!

FINANCIAL SERVICE BILL. This strengthens the FSA powers and allows consumers to bring court actions against financial institutions.

What have previous governments been doing? Was it not possible for consumers to bring court actions against financial institutions before this proposed bill?

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY BILL. This provides a firm and binding statutory basis for the governments promise to halve the budget deficit within four years.

Oh Dear! Gordon got us into this mess, but I’m pretty certain that he won’t be around to have to comply with this halving of the budget deficit within four years! On the face of it this sounds like a sensible thing to legislate for but how on earth will the next government manage it?

FLOOD AND WATER MANAGEMENT BILL. This will enable sustainable systems to be considered for new building development. Water companies will be given more power to control customers usage.

Sustainable systems for all new building developments should have been in force years ago. Once again, I ask What have previous governments been doing to have to legislate for this now? I’m not very happy about giving the water companies more power to control customers usage. If I pay for my water, I should be able to use it how I wish (as long as I am not breaking any laws or flooding my neighbours property!)

PERSONAL CARE AT HOME BILL. This will guarantee personal care for 280,000 people with the highest needs.

A wonderful thought but where is the money coming from to provide this personal care?

So to sum it all up, I perceive this Queen's Speech as a load of hot air and waffle, with little or no substance, delivered by a man who knows that there is little chance of much of the content ever getting on the statute books.

I am pretty certain that Glorious Gordon will not be around in government anyway!

Nero Burning ROM

Here we are on Wednesday, and the last blog I did was dated Saturday 14th November! You may well be wondering why!

Well you see it’s just a little matter of a computer which refuses to do what it’s supposed to do! Let me explain……

I play the piano for a local Primary School, and they are commencing to work on their Nativity Play. The music for this is on a CD, and I much prefer for the children to sing to “live” music – i.e. me playing the piano.

However, one of the little Christmas ditties they had already learnt before I started playing the Nativity music for them was to the tune of See Saw Marjory Daw, but what they had learnt bore little resemblance to the tune I knew for See Saw Marjory Daw! – so I brought the CD home, to copy it, so that I could play their tune.

For some totally unknown reason my computer has decided that it doesn’t want to copy any CD’s at the moment. It goes through all the motions, even tells me that it has cached the appropriate tracks and when I insert a blank CD it tells me that it has burnt the tracks on to the CD, but it is patently obvious that it hasn’t, because

1) the CD has not revolved
2) The time taken to burn the tracks is far too short!

Believe it or not, I have spent about six hours in total trying to solve this little problem, and all to no avail.

I use the programme Nero Burning ROM, which has always behaved itself before, but not at the moment!

The Wonderful World of Books

As well as collecting 45 rpm records, LP Records, Audio Cassettes, CD’s, Talking Books and Video Tapes & DVD’s I am also a fairly avid collector of books. This is borne out by the fact that at any time there are usually between twenty and thirty books waiting to be read!

Once again all the books are catalogued on my computer, by Title, Category, Type, Author, Publisher, Cost, Date Acquired, Location and ISBN Number. I have tried and better tried to reduce the pile of books waiting to be read, but whenever I enter a bookshop, charity shop or receive material from the book companies below I invariably find a book or books I want to purchase!

So how many books do I possess at the moment? - In the order of 1,200!

As I have previously mentioned, at least once a year I go through all my Records, Audio Cassettes, CD’s, Video Tapes, DVD’s and Books, and take all my “surplus to requirements goods” to a charity shop on the Isle of Arran, so there can be a fair turnover of goods each year! For instance this year I took three large cardboard boxes full of goods to ARCAS (ARran CAncer Support) on the Isle of Arran!

For some years I have ordered books from four different book companies. Each of these companies sells books at well below the current market prices, usually up to and above 50% off! This is because they stock end of print runs, or buy in vast quantities so that they can pass the savings on to their customers. None of these companies have a minimum buy policy, so if I only want to buy only one book a year that is no problem. Each provides a mail order set up and often the books arrive by return of post!

So who are these companies I use?

Selections.com has sections on their website for Books, Garden Products, Film & TV (DVD’s) and Music (CD’s). Their web site gives you the opportunity to search in all categories or in each individual category.

Postscript Books have a search facility and you can narrow your field of search if you can supply title, author, ISBN, Code, Publisher or a keyword. An alternative way of searching is via the categories the books are divided into:

Archaeology, Art, Biography, British Isles, Craft & Hobbies, Eastern Studies, History, Literature, Mind, Body & Spirit, Miscellaneous, Music, Natural History, PPE, Reference, Religion, Science & Maths, Scottish interest, Social Studies, Transport, Travel & Places, and War & Military History.

The Book People (this firm often comes round schools and places of work too) have a quite good selection of children’s books, and the first half of the small catalogues they send out is usually listing Children’s Books, whilst the second half lists adults books. Book Points are awarded against all purchases and these can be redeemed for free books from any of their advertised books.

The selection and range of books is more limited than the previous two companies, but searches can be made on their web site, either by title or under the following categories:

What’s New, Babies and Toddlers, Bestsellers, Children’s Fiction, Children’s Film & TV, Children’s Reference, Children’s Activities, Biographies, Crafts and Hobbies, Fiction, Film & TV, Food & Drink, Sport and Wellbeing, Home & Garden, Reference, Great Gifts, Book Ends, Christmas.

The last company I deal with is Bibliophile. Each month they produce a 40 page broadsheet size paper. Bibliophile contains by far the largest selection of books. On their website you can search by
Art & Architecture, Business, Cartoons, Computers, Children’s, Collectibles, Crime, Christmas Box, Early Learning, Entertainment, Fiction, Food & Drink, Gardening, Great Britain, Handicrafts, Health & Beauty, Historical, Biography, History, Hobbies, Home Entertainment (CD’s, DVD’s Talking Books), How To..., Humour, Last Chance, Literature, Bargain Basement, Miscellany, Modern Biography, Modern History, Music & Dance, Mythology, Nature, New Age & Occult, Pets, Psychology & Sociology, Religion & Philosophy, Science, Sci-Fi, Scottish Interest, Sport, Transport, Travel & Places, War & Militaria, War Memoirs, Words, Wordsworth Classics, Literature, Children's.

Not only does this company have the widest selection, it also has some fantastic savings on books. I recently bought a book which had a full price of £45.00 for £12.00. It also carries a large selection of real low priced bargains in both its Last Chance section and its Bargain Basement. The Last Chance section is usually where there are less than 20 copies of the book left, whilst the Bargain Basement is where the books have been further reduced (probably because of slow sales).

If you are a book lover and enjoy reading, you will certainly find lots of bargains obtainable from the above mentioned companies. If you've not already experienced their books go on line and have a look at what is on offer. Like me, I am sure you will be tempted to buy!

The Past Year - A Retrospetive

The Blog has been a little neglected this week, due to the fact that I have been busy composing my Christmas Newsletter – there are two versions of this. One goes out to former colleagues, and the other goes out to family & friends.

The newsletter usually runs to five or six A4 sheets of paper, and is a sort of look back through the year, with photos.

It is always interesting to re visit events that have happened during the year. So for this blog I aim to do a sort of edited yearly review.

As has been mentioned in a previous blog, life gets pretty hectic in our household over the Christmas period. For what seems like time immemorial there have been the following events to celebrate/participate in:

Early in December (2008) there was an Advent Carol Service to prepare for and play the organ for, and there are usually two or three soloists to run through with too. Running throughout the early part of December there were the usual rehearsals for Nativity Plays and then later the performances at a local Primary School. The Christmas Toddlers Praise Services – there were two of them to cater for the different groups of children who meet on different days. There were rehearsals for my Male Voice choir, and three Christmas concerts to take part in. Last year I was appearing as Santa on the Pennine Boat Trips in Skipton, which entailed three Saturdays and most of the week preceding Christmas. I was also Santa for a local Primary School too! In addition to all the previous I had the usual Church Services – Christingle Service, Nativity Play, Festival of Lessons & Carols, Midnight Mass and Christmas Day Eucharist to rehearse for and play for. There were a couple of weddings around Christmas time too! I also gave talks to four groups on either “Christmas Traditions & Customs” or “A Canter through a Collection of Christmas Carols” My own birthday and that of my wife also falls in December too.

We managed to escape for a three days break at the Kings Head Hotel in Masham. We visited Hawes, Aysgarth, Leyburn, Bedale and Richmond, whilst we were there.

Market Square Masham

Warm and Welcoming at night

The King's Head Hotel Masham

So what of 2009?

For something like thirty five years all the family have visited Harrogate Theatre for their traditional pantomime. On Sunday 11th January we paid our annual visit to see the final performance of the pantomime Cinderella at the theatre. It lived up to expectations, and is a much loved event by all the family.

On March 17th, we went to the opening night of West Side Story at the Leeds Grand Theatre. This was the 50th Anniversary Tour and a superb production. It brought back happy memories, as many years ago I was rehearsal pianist for the first amateur production of West Side Story performed by Keighley Amateur Operatic & Dramatic Society. We were in the centre of row B so could see all that was going on in the orchestra pit, as well as what was on stage. Unfortunately about 15 minutes before the interval an alarm went off and the theatre had to be cleared! It took 10 minutes to get the theatre cleared and then another 10 minutes to get everyone back in their places, for the remainder of the performance.

On Saturday 18th April, all the family spent the weekend in Manchester at a relatives wedding. The wedding took place in Manchester Town Hall, followed by a reception at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel. We made a long weekend of it and stayed from Friday to Sunday, whilst the rest of the family joined us on Saturday.

In June our youngest daughter and her fiancée took a holiday in Jamaica at a place called Runaway Bay. They flew out from Manchester to Sangster International Airport Jamaica, and then drove on to Runaway Bay. They had a wonderful holiday and spent time sunbathing, swimming, snorkelling, etc

An International Festival of Food takes place in Ilkley early in August, and we visited this. Among the countries represented were France, Germany, Italy, Poland, China, Japan, and Mexico. There was an interesting stall selling all kinds of exotic meat – kangaroo, crocodile, ostrich, venison, springbok wild boar. I’m afraid we chickened out (no pun intended) and didn’t try any of the meats on offer!






During the summer holidays, we regularly take the grandchildren up to a stream in Austwick. Ruby (and the grandchildren) delighted in playing in the stream. We usually either stop off at the Naked Man Café in Settle, or have a picnic before we arrive, and finish off with a meal at the Gamecock Inn in Austwick.

Heading for the Naked Man Cafe in Settle

The stream and clapper bridge



The last week in September and the first week in October we took our usual break The first week we stayed at Lamlash on Arran, and the second week at Waren Mill, 2 miles north of Bamburgh in Northumberland. We stayed at the same self catering Cottages we used last year, and were fortunate enough to have twelve and a half days of crisp bright sunshine out of the fourteen days we were away!

Whilst on Arran we visited all the coastal villages (Brodick, Corrie, Sannox, Lochranze, Pirnmill, Machrie, Blackwaterfoot, Kildonan, Whiting Bay and Lamlash) as well as some of the attractions – Brodick Castle and Gardens, Lochranza Castle, Duchess Court Shopping Centre, where we saw Arran cheese being made, and purchased cheese from the factory and perfumes etc from Arran Aromatics, as well as Arran Beer from the Arran Brewery.

The view from our Studio flat of Holy Isle in Lamlash Bay

Duchess Court Shopping Centre




We then moved on to Waren Mill, two miles north of Bamburgh, and from here we visited many of the coastal villages – Seahouses, Embleton, Beadnell, Low Newton by the Sea, Craster, and Warkworth, as well as Holy Island and Berwick upon Tweed. We also met up with a fellow blogger (Judith O’Reilly – Wife in the North, who was the inspiration for me starting this blog) and had a lovely afternoon with her, meeting her family, husband and mother, as well as visiting the Maltings Theatre in Berwick to see a performance of “A Winter’s Tale”, and meeting up with Ferdinand Kingsley (son of Ben Kingsley the film actor) and spending some time chatting with him in the theatre bar after the performance. We also managed a trip to Kelso and Melrose (in the Scottish Borders)

The Ship Inn at Low Newton by the Sea



Judith's book "Wife in the North"










Ferdinand Kingsley in A Winters Tale

Talking Books

Yet another category of recorded sound items I have collected over recent years is that which is termed “Speaking Books.” (Strange, I’ve never yet come across a book that can speak!), but I’m sure you know what it means – stories recorded on to Cassette or CD so that you don’t have to read them. My collection grew rapidly when I purchased (at different times) 3 different vastly reduced collections of talking books on CD. These were a 44 CD collection of Classics, a 26 CD collection of Ronald Dahl children’s stories, and a 35 CD set of James Bond Thrillers.

The vast bulk of my talking books are fiction, with the exception of around twelve recordings which are autobiographies, which is somewhat unusual, as I tend to read lots more none fiction books than fiction!

Looking down the categories listed under talking books you will find:

Mystery, Horror, Crime, Suspense, Classics, Children’s Stories, Autobiography, Ghost Stories, Nature, Poetry.

Among the list of titles I see that quite a number of them have been made into films.

Talking Books which fall into this category include:

The Invisible Man [H G Wells], Dracula [Bram Stoker], The Lost World [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle] , The Silence of the Lambs [Thomas Harris], Psycho [Robert Bloch] , The Thirty Nine Steps [John Buchanan], David Copperfield [Charles Dickens], A Christmas Carol [Charles Dickens] , The Hound of the Baskervilles [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle], Rebecca [Daphne Du Maurier] , The Birds [Daphne Du Maurier] , The Day of the Jackal [Frederick Forsyth] , The Third Man [Graham Greene] , The Hunchback of Notre Dame [Victor Hugo], Ring of Bright Water [Gavin Maxwell], Dr Zhivago [Boris Pasternak], The Phantom of the Opera [Gaston Leroux] On the Beach [ Nevil Shute], Frankenstein [Mary Shelley] , Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson] , Billy Liar [Keith Waterhouse] , The Day of the Triffids [John Wyndham] , A Study in Scarlet [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle] , Porterhouse Blue [Tom Sharpe] , Tarka the Otter [Henry Williamson], Oliver Twist [Charles Dickens], Tom Jones [Henry Fielding], War of the Worlds [H G Wells], The Maltese Falcon [Dashiell Hammett, Rob Roy [Sir Walter Scott], Treasure Island [Robert Louis Stevenson], Great Expectations [Charles Dickens], The Big Friendly Giant [Roald Dahl], All the James Bond Stories [Ian Fleming].


Plots of some of my favourite Talking Books:


The Shepherd by Frederick Forsyth

This is a short story which tells of a wartime pilot who becomes disorientated due to fog, but is guided in by another plane to land safely on a runway of what turns out to be an abandoned aerodrome. The guiding pilot had flown from here previously and had been killed…..




The Monkey’s Paw by W W Jacobs


The story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their grown-up son, Herbert. Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend of the Whites who has been part of the British Armed Forces in India, leaves them with the monkey's paw, telling of its mysterious powers to grant three wishes, and of its journey from an old fakir to his comrade, who uses his third and final wish to wish for death.
Mr. White wishes for 200 pounds. Their son is killed by machinery at his company, and they get compensation of 200 pounds.
Ten days after they bury Herbert, Mrs. White, almost mad with grief, asks her husband to wish Herbert back to life with the paw. He is very reluctant, but does so. After a delay there are knocking sounds on their door. Mrs. White fumbles at the locks in an attempt to open the door. Mr. White knows however, that he cannot allow their son in; as he was mutilated by the accident (Mr. White had been required to witness and identify the body), and had been dead and buried for more than a week. He wishes his third wish; that Herbert be "...dead again, and at peace". The knocking stops. Mrs. White opens the door to find no one there.

The last page of the classic horror story "The Monkey's Paw"

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

A shy ladies' companion, staying in Monte Carlo with her stuffy employer, meets the wealthy Maxim de Winter. She and Max fall in love, marry and return to Manderlay, his large country estate in Cornwall. Max is still troubled by the death of his first wife, Rebecca, in a boating accident the year before. The second Mrs. de Winter clashes with the housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, and discovers that Rebecca still has a strange hold on everyone at Manderlay.

Early Edition of "The Hound of the Baskervilles"

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

When Sir Charles Baskerville dies unexpectedly, his nephew and heir Sir Henry returns from South Africa. Dr. Mortimer. the local doctor, is concerned about Sir Henry's safety as he is convinced that Sir Charles was literally frightened to death. He consults Sherlock Holmes and recounts the tale of one Sir Hugo Baskerville who, several generations previously, had been killed by a huge hound and which now is believed by some to be a curse on the family. Holmes agrees to take on the case and it almost immediately becomes apparent that Sir Henry's life is in danger. Holmes doesn't believe in the legend of the Baskervilles or the supposed curse place upon them and sets out to find a more practical solution.

Some Unusual (but much liked) CD's

OK! Let’s move on to CD’s. I possess one thousand and twenty seven music CD’s in my collection at the moment, and these are catalogued on my computer in the same way as my audio cassettes.

One of the reasons I have so many CD’s is that I subscribe to Classic FM Magazine, and each month you are sent a “Free CD” with the magazine. These soon build up into a very good classical music CD library. The CD’s are usually tracks from current releases, and often you find that a particular track is very much to your liking, so you are tempted to purchase the full CD! A very cunning way of exploiting the CD buying public and persuading them to part with their hard earned cash.

Another reason I have so many Classical CD’s is I subscribed to a 48 set CD collection called “In Classical Mood”, which provided a CD in a slip case which was in the form of a small book, which gave lots of information about the pieces on the CD, the composers, and current events at the time the music was written. The music on these CD’s was themed, so for example, titles included “Tranquillity”, “The Magic of Italy”, “Piano Favourites” etc.

I also subscribed to a series of 62 CD’s called “Classic Composers” which took you through the various periods of music - Baroque, Classical, Early Romantic, Late Romantic, and Modern. These CD’s also came in the form of a small book, which gave lots of information about the pieces on the CD, the composers, and current events at the time the music was written. They also gave a good selection of classical music through the ages!

The vast bulk of the CD’s are of classical music, but there are other categories too. For example, you will find:

Barbershop, Ballet, Classical Baroque, Christmas Carols, Christmas Songs, Christmas Music, Organ, Piano Music, Choral – Religious, Vocal, Light Vocal, Male Voice Choir, Scottish, Light Classical (Orchestral & Piano), Classics with a Beat, Synthesisers, Comedy, Country, Folk, Male Vocal, Female Vocal, Groups, Traditional Jazz, Popular Instrumental/Vocal, Film Music, Soundtracks, and Brass Bands.

I have always delighted in tracking down musical curiosities and oddities, so for example you will find a selection of CD’s with the music of Leroy Anderson on them. I’m sure you will have heard of his piece “The Typewriter”, which uses a typewriter as a percussion instrument.

The Jacques Loussier trio became well known for their interpretations of the music of J S Bach, (Remember the Hamlet Cigar Advert music?) whilst the Swingle Singers performed scat versions of music by Bach, Mozart and many other classical composers.

Mannheim Steamroller (yes they really are called that!) is a synthesiser group who originally specialised in arrangements of Christmas songs and carols before branching out into the wider fields of classical music. Mannheim Steamroller actually began as an alias for record producer/composer Chip Davis. Before the fame of Steamroller, Davis had been best known for creating the country music character “C.W. McCall” (of “Convoy” fame) for his friend Bill Fries. And even before Davis “made” McCall a star, he produced an unusual album of classical music performed entirely by Davis and musical collaborator Jackson Berkey, using electric bass and synthesizers. Since no major label would handle its distribution, Davis founded his own music label, American Gramaphone (a play on the classical record label Deutsche Grammophon), to release the album. The result, Fresh Aire, was released in 1975 under the pseudonym Mannheim Steamroller, in the hopes of the album being a best seller. Fresh Aire II was subsequently released in 1977 and Fresh Aire III was released in 1979.Mannheim Steamroller quickly grew into a full band, with Davis on drums, Berkey on keyboards, and Eric Hansen on bass and lute. Berkey’s wife Almeda joined them onstage as another keyboardist. The London Symphony Orchestra appears on Fresh Aire V, Fresh Aire VI, and Fresh Aire 8.Later, Davis collaborated with guitarist/composer Mason Williams for a remake of the 1968 instrumental “Classical Gas”, which used the original arrangement.

Chip Davis - of Mannheim Steamroller

Isao Tomita is a Japanese musician and another synthesiser performer who plays classical music.

Claude Bolling is a Jazz musician who often plays with well known classical musicians. He has written music for (and performed with) Yo Yo Ma [cello], Jean-Pierre Rampal [flute], and Maurice Andre [trumpet].

One of my favourite folk singers is the Scottish born, Australian based Eric Bogle (Yes it really is his real surname!). I first discovered his music via a song of his on an LP of Mike Harding’s (the Lancashire Comedian and Folk Singer), and then some years later whilst we were on holiday on the Isle of Arran I purchased a cassette of his songs. Even much later when we were touring the West Coast of Scotland I came across a shop in Ullapool, where the proprietor was an Eric Bogle fan and stocked all his English releases. Needless to say I made quite a few purchases at the shop!!!!

Eric Bogle

If you like your music to be entertaining and tuneful, you can do no better than purchase a CD of Leroy Anderson's music. His music is light, bright and tuneful.

Should you feel that the original classical music is a bit heavy for your taste , try the likes of Jacques Loussier, Mannheim Stemaroller or Isao Tomita.

For tuneful Jazz, cleverly composed and performed you can do no better than the Claude Bolling Trio.

Folk songs which are full of meaning are the trademark of Eric Bogle. He doesn't shy away from some of the more "Difficult" subjects. He does have an excellent sense of melody, and some very poignant lyrics.

Do try to hear some of his songs - I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

Happy Listening!

Some Favourite Cassettes

Having had a very brief look through a few of the LP’s I have, I now turn my attention to the audio cassettes. It’s amazing, over the years just how many I have collected.

To date there are 891 cassettes listed on my catalogue. Over the years I know that I have disposed of over 200 cassettes that I have got tired of, so at some point in time I had over 1,000 cassettes. To be able to track down a particular cassette, or even a particular song or piece of music, I have these catalogued on my computer.

The cassettes are catalogued under Title, Category, Location, Featured Artist, Playing Time, Composer, Label, and individual track titles. Usually well within a minute I can track down any particular song or piece of music and exactly where the cassette is located.

I remember when I first got a computer, the man who built it for me asked me what I would be using it for, and one of the things I said was to catalogue all my LP’s, Cassettes, CD’s DVD’s, and Video Tapes. He offered me a piece of advice, which was, the more detail you log on to your catalogue, the easier it for you to find what you are looking for.

Initially I found logging all these details something of a bind, but his advice has paid off a thousand times over! Just imagine if I was trying to locate a certain song, and had 891 individual cassettes to search through manually…………

I have applied the same detailed technique when logging on a video film or DVD film. These are listed under Title, Category, Sub Category, Year Released, Rating, Halliwell Star Rating, DVD Number, Programme Length, Comments, Star 1, Star 2, Star 3, Star 4, Producer, Director, Screenplay by, and Music by. Once again, in less than a minute I can find a DVD or Video Tape, and at present I have 1,079 films on either VHS Tape or DVD!

But back to the Audio Cassettes-

Looking down the categories I see that I have Film Soundtrack, Musical, Rock Classics, Traditional Jazz, Light Instrumental Solo Instruments, Light Instrumental Orchestral, Barbershop, Male Voice Choir, Kings Singers, Moog Synthesiser, Classics with a Beat, Country, Folk, Female Vocal, Male Vocal, Group, Scottish, Religious – Sacred, Classical Choral, Christmas Carols, Classical (Individual Artists), Classical, Baroque, Brass Band, Northumberland, Comedy, Organ, Opera, and Ballet.

You’ll see from the above categories that I have quite a wide taste in music, so let’s take a more detailed look at just a few of my favourites:

Under Traditional Jazz my favourites are:

Kenny Ball, (Midnight in Moscow, Hello Dolly, When the Saints go Marching In, So Do I, Acapulco 1922, Sukiyaki and Rondo),

Chris Barber (Petite Fleur, Bill Bailey Won’t you Please come Home)

Acker Bilk (South Rampart Street Parade, What a Wonderful World

Light Instrumental: James Last (American Patrol, Tico Tico, La Paloma, Delicado, Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom, La Bamba, Mexican at Dance)

Bert Kaempfert (Red Roses for a Blue Lady, Three o’Clock in the Morning, A Swingin’ Safari, Danke Schoen)

Bert Kaempfert




Religious – Scared
John Rutter (Gloria, A Gaelic Blessing, The Lord Bless You and Keep You)

John Rutter

'Tis the Season to be Jolly........

Being a musician, and involved with choral singing at church, with a male voice choir, and in a Junior school, is a little bit like being a shopkeeper or window dresser. One has to be at least a season ahead of the present time!

So it should come as no surprise to readers of this blog, that I have already started rehearsing the Christmas Carols and Christmas Music.
From a church point of view, I have an Advent Carol Service, two Christmas Toddlers Praise Services, a Christingle Service, a Nativity Play, Carol Singing (at the local hotel), a Festival of Lessons and Carols, a Midnight Mass, and a Christmas Day Eucharist Service to play for.

In addition I usually find myself rehearsing the Christmas music/songs/ Carols at the Primary School I play the piano for.

If I don’t get my act together I would find that by the beginning of the third week in December life would be chaotic, carols would have not been rehearsed, and time would be rapidly running out.

I have a broad and varied selection of carols and Christmas songs to rehearse. There are the usual traditional Christmas Carols one expects to find at a Festival of Lessons and Carols – Once in Royal David’s City, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, While Shepherds Watched, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Come all ye Faithful etc, My Male Voice Choir are working on Love Came Down at Christmas, Christmas Bells [a three part round], Let There be Peace on Earth, Mary Had a Baby, De Virgin Mary, The Star Carol, Son of the Virgin, Still, Still, Still, Little Drummer Boy and Joy to the World [a fantastic arrangement by Alan Simmons incorporating music from about eight different classical pieces, including Handel’s Halleujah Chorus, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Strauss’ Radetsky March and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony!] whilst for the school children there is a completely different mix of Christmas music and songs,


I also give talks in a series I call “My Kind of Music” and have two Christmas programmes, one on the traditional carols but performed in a different style or manner – it might be handbells playing a carol, or a brass band, or a swing group like The Swingle Singers. My other talk takes in music tied in with the Christmas Customs and Traditions – so there is music about Holly, Ivy, Mistletoe, Christmas Trees, Santa Claus, snow etc.

Usually before the end of the Christmas Holidays I am heartily sick of the sound of Carols, but it never fails to surprise me how fresh and new they sound when I start rehearsing them.

A Nostaligic Look at an LP, and My Claim to Fame

Yesterday I was taking a look through the LP Collection I have, and to my great delight, I discovered that I still possess the very first classical LP I bought. (In a previous blog I mentioned this LP and thought that I no longer had it!)

So what does it contain, you may well ask.

It is a recording of the Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture on one side and Smetana’s Vltava - from Ma Vlast on the other side. It is recorded on a 10” Fontana Label LP. The Orchestra playing are the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the conductor is Karel Ancerl.

Karel Ancerl

The 1812 Overture was recorded at Musikverein Grosser Saal, Vienna, in Dec 1958, and Vltava was recorded at the same location between 08 – 10 February 1958. Just to add to the nostalgia, the recording is glorious single dimension Monophonic!

Most of my classical music collection has now moved over, firstly on to audio cassette, and finally on to CD, but I still have a few treasured recordings on LP.

Wrose Junior School Choir Conducted by Denise Warren, Accompanist Malcolm Bentley

On a more personal note, I made a recording with the choir of Wrose Junior School on the occasion before the school became a First School under the (then) new three tier system of Education in Bradford. The Deputy Head of the School at the time (who was the lady who conducted the Baildon Ladies Choir at the joint concert my Male Voice choir performed with) conducted on the recording, and I was the accompanist.

I recall that I recorded all the items we performed on my own professional Phillips N4408 Open Reel Recorder (which now lies forlorn and neglected in the loft) and a company called X-L Sound Recordings produced the LP’s, which were sold to the parents and friends of the children who had taken part.

Some years ago I was browsing through a second hand record stall in Shipley Market and I came across one of the LP’s. As I hadn’t purchased an LP when they were first produced (because I had the original master recordings on open reel tape) I bought the LP!

Some of the tracks on the LP are: Steal Away, Eriskay Love Lilt, Non Nobis Domine, Brahm’s Lullaby, Goin’ Home [Slow Movement theme from the Dvorak New World Symphony] and With Catlike Tread [from the Pirates of Penzance].

I wonder how many 10 year olds would be capable of singing these today.

The record label for Stainer's Crucifixion performed by the choir of Christ Church Windhill Organist Mr G E S Bentley, Conductor Mr M S Bentley

I also made a recording with the Choir of Christ Church Windhill, Shipley, when I used to be the organist and choirmaster there in the late 1960’s. This was of Sir John Stainer’s oratorio The Crucifixion. The soloists were from within the choir, and my late father played the organ.

Nostalgia from the 45's!

About three blogs back I started discussing my collection of 45’s and LP’s under the title 45’s, LP’s and Record Players. I mentioned the development of records from breakable shellac material to the new 7” 45’s and commented on one of my teenage “heroes” – Lonnie Donegan.

So I thought I’d continue and take a nostalgic trip through some of the 45’s and LP’s.

I wonder how many of you can recall the Tornadoes (their hit was Telstar – I think it got this title because somewhere around this time the Americans had launched a satellite into orbit, and named it Telstar.)






How about Dawn [featuring Tony Orlando] (their hit – Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree),

or the Australian group The Seekers (Morningtown Ride, A World of our own, I Know I’ll Never Find Another You etc)

More recently, do you remember Bonnie Tyler – the Welsh Lassie with a gravel voice and her hit Total Eclipse of the Heart.

What about Joe Brown & the Bruvvers (That’s What Love will Do)

or Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas (Little Children),

Wink Martindale (Deck of Cards),

Ricky Nelson (Hello Marylou, Goodbye Heart),

Cliff Richard (Bachelor Boy – from the film Summer Holiday),

Rod Stewart (Sailing),

Ralph McTell (Streets of London)

or B Bumble & the Stingers (Nut Rocker – very loosely based on the Overture from the Nutcracker Suite!)

I could go on, but that’s more than enough nostalgia for one day!!!