FURTHER RESEARCH INTO THE WORLD OF FILM AND THOSE STARS OF LONG AGO

 

Currently working on a feature about old cinemas in Essex.  On a recent visit to Chelmsford, I snapped the  Regent building which is no longer a cinema, but still standing, which many are not. This building will bring back memories for local cinema-goers of the past in Chelmsford.

 

Another palace of the silver screen was The Ritz Cinema at 33 Chapel Street, Billericay which  opened it's doors in spring 1938 and remained the centre of entertainment in Billericay until 1971.  Television finished off its popularity.  Bingo came next and then the building became the Radion Snooker Hall which eventually came down around 2000.  I was there on the day the bulldozers moved in and took pictures of them. Will pop on some photos when I get a moment. This is in answer to some of my regular readers from the US and Australia. I am always happy to present images from my 'nostalgia files'. See on of my earlier books BILLERICAY VOICES The History Press for more images and memories.

CATCHING UP WITH A FEW FRIENDS THIS SUMMER

FILM MAKER ALFRED HITCHCOCK'S CLIPS ON NEW BBC PROGRAMME.

Such a coincidence this morning to listen to the news that the huge cultural figure Alfred Hitchcock (born and brought up not far from us Leytonstone, Essex - now part of London) will soon be back on BBC radio 4.  Alastair McGowan's interpretation of his voice was  good and the programme was fascinating.
My link is pretty small, in that some of my earlier research and stories linked to Essex history - Folklore of Essex - have been used for a number of  films, particularly linked to witchcraft in the county.

I am writing about one of the earliest pioneering members of our SWWJ (Marie Belloc Lowndes (sister of Hilaire Belloc), whose filmscript for The Lodger was used by Alfred Hitchcock in 1927 for one of his first silent thriller films, starring Ivor Novello.  Coincidentally, another Essex resident Maudie Dunham played a vital part in this film. She was a young actress at the time of the filming who lived in Doddinghurst, near Brentwood until the 80s. 

LATEST CRIME INFORMATION FROM ESSEX POLICE

 

For Crimes and suspicious activity NOW phone	999
For other non-urgent contact and reporting a crime that has already happened	101
Alternatively you can report non-urgent incidents or suspicious activity and crimes online at https://www.essex.police.uk/  and click on the appropriate button
Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime where you should report fraud if you have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber-crime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you have been defrauded i.e. lost money phone or report online at  https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime If someone has tried to defraud you but you have not lost money, phone or report online at https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-phishing	0300 123 2040
CRIMESTOPPERS To give information anonymously phone or report it online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org	0800 555 111
The information you provide is very important to us, so please make sure that we can use it effectively, by reporting it correctly through the proper channels. Thank you.

BACK TO RESEARCHING THE HISTORY OF OUR SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS & JOURNALISTS

 We are happy to note a new interest and research into our esteemed Society which will be 130 years in 2024. This has given me a good excuse to make contact with many of our members around the world, so very pleased to use my time today making those calls.  

For more interest in the SWWJ history, do take a look at our website www.swwj.co.uk and learn more about the amazing lives of our pioneering women writers. You will find more information within one of my earlier books THE WOMAN WRITER published in 2009 by The History Press, one of my first publishers.  

   

RUSHED BACK TO LISTEN LIVE TO BBC 4'S 'GARDENERS QUESTION-TIME'

Good programme today and even better when Warley Place was visited by one of the BBC 4's Gardeners' Question-time team. Obviously, the one-time owner of the mansion was discussed - Miss Ellen Willmott of Warley. He was joined by the author of the new book about this famous lady. It was interesting to meet Sandra Lawrence last month when she was guest author at our Essex Book Festival event held at the fabulous Hylands House, Chelmsford.  

As an author ( keen on gardening), I, too, have studied the life of this great horticulturist  Ellen Willmott, having lived fairly close to Warley Place. As a member of the Brentwood Guild of Gardeners, I enjoyed having contact with the original author of Ellen's life (Audrey le Lievre) published in 1980. 

This was before the gardens came under the control of the Essex Wildlife Trust. In those days, we and our small children would make our way up to Warley Place and the kids were instructed to pick out all the encroaching sycamore plant-lets at ten pence for ten weeds (monies were then donated to the local Samaritans).

The voluntary team members looking after Warley Place have always been so interesting and welcoming when I've paid my odd little visits from time to time. I enjoyed watching Len and friends building a very neat wall at one time - very expertly! 

They were all included in my history column for the Brentwood Weekly News following my visit.  Think I'll take a trip up there again soon to see how some of my favourite trees and shrubs are getting on.  

HAPPY 101ST BIRTHDAY DEAR LARRY (LAWRENCE) MORGAN

 

I am indebted to many of my interviewees (now my friends) over the last 25 years, most of whom appeared in some of my early books. Larry and Jean Morgan were always happy for me to interview them for their fabulous memories of living and working in Brentwood.

Also, with thanks to Blesma (The Limbless Veterans), I have many more recent recollections of this lovely couple who still live in Brentwood and Larry, who is 101 today, still enjoys life with his friends and family. Here is a little about Larry, who is a lifelong West Ham fan and is probably one of Blesma’s longest standing members.

 During The Blitz in 1941, Larry and his family were bombed out of their home in Plaistow, London’s East End. He was re-homed and worked as a builder but was soon called up and trained as a signaller attached to the 8th Battalion Suffolk Regiment. Larry was involved in a jungle warfare offensive against Japanese forces that had conquered Burma. The fight was relentless. The Japanese launched a bayonet attack and each side “threw grenades like cricket balls.” 

In one of my earlier books entitled Brentwood Voices, Larry recalled: 

'People usually chose special occasions to have their photograph taken and would usually attend at the studio for a ‘sitting’, dressed in their best Sunday clothes.  Because of the long exposure time, their smiles became a little jaded and stiff, but people were usually pleased with the results and the photos were carefully placed in family albums.

'When I eventually returned home to Brentwood after my war service, I joined the established photographer Fred Hudson who had set up in the town.  “Fred had these wooden half plate cameras and I recollect how cumbersome it was to set up the camera on a wooden tripod, black cloth over my hand (to help fine focusing on a ground glass viewing plate.'

Alongside his commercial work, Larry won a contract with Warley Barracks where he had earlier trained for the infantry during the war. He regularly photographed full platoons of soldiers and the regimental silver, now in Chelmsford. In 1946 Larry became sole owner of the firm and and ran a very successful business in Kings Road for more than 40 years covering every aspect of local life.

============================================

Once again - wonderful memories and our best birthday wishes to you and the lovely Jean.  x

LOVE SOME OF THE OLD FILMS WITH FAVOURITE ACTOR VICTOR MADDERN IN THE CAST

 

Since beginning my research into old films via the supersonic Talking Pictures format (essay written for The Hertfordshire Life Magazine) a few years ago, I'm delighted to see more films in which actor Victor Maddern was in the cast. Never described as a top star, Victor appeared in hundreds of mainly British films.  He was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1949, which I visited many years ago and found to be a fascinating place.  Victor and his wife Joan lived not too far from me in Upminster, Essex.

 Victor and Joan gave fabulous parties where their friends and family entertained us and introduced us to many other British actors.