Leicester "Walk of Fame"

Leicester City council has invited citizens to nominate ten notable people who have contributed to the city. Their names will be recorded on plaques posted on Halford Street, presumably the stretch on the approach to the Curve. Like many commentators, I find the idea a little cliched, but since the project is going to happen whatever I think, I'll wish it well.

No doubt the Attenborough family will be acknowledged but their generosity to the city is widely (and justifiably) recorded already. The project will serve more good if it highlights some of the less famous.

I'm backing suffragette Alice Hawkins for a second plaque (she has one at the Equity Shoes factory on Western Road where she worked; I am assuming that the building still stands). Her significance is summarised in the publisher's blurb for Alice Hawkins and the Suffragette Movement in Edwardian Leicester:

"The campaign for the suffrage is perhaps the best-known aspect of women's political fight in the early part of the 20th century, yet little is known of the local women who engaged in this struggle. Indeed, the assumption that only wealthy women were involved in the militant campaign has led not only to the distortion of the WSPU membership, but it also neglects the significant contribution made by working-class women within it. "

Recently Departed (1)

Until reading this report of his death, I was unaware of Horace "Jim" Greasley. Horace waited 60 years before telling his WWII prisoner of war story in a ghost-written book Do the Birds Still Sing in Hell? Nik Morton wrote a good review a couple of months ago and ghost-writer Ken Scott tells us more about Horace on the site where you can buy the book. Sample chapters and photos can be found on Horace's own site.

Ian Carmichael who played Lucky Jim in the 1957 film of the book died last week. The film is nowhere near as funny as the book, but it is still worth a view. Wikipedia on Ian Carmichael.

I've only recently caught up with the January edition of Motor Sport magazine which carries a tribute to Tom Wheatcroft. Alas, the article by respected motor sport historian Doug Nye is not available on the web. Tom was best known for his collection of historic racing cars and for his restoration of the Donington Park racing circuit. However, he had a rich life as a WWII soldier and property developer, described in fruity detail in his autobiography Thunder in the Park. The book appears to be back in print after a hiatus.

The Outsider

When I added Colin Wilson to my list of Leicestershire authors, I feared that I might have to read some of his work. That requirement has been postponed thanks to a conveniently timed photo story about The Outsider at Another Nickel in the Machine.

However, I am tempted to purchase an original copy of The Outsider. The publisher was Victor Gollancz, so the book has aesthetic merit and the hard back editions have unusual jackets.

Alas for me, I may have to spend some time with his work Manhunters: Criminal Profilers and their Search for the World's Most Wanted Serial Killers given that there is another Leicestershire connection.

The Fat Clergyman

Sometimes it seems that Leicestershire has provided more than its fair share of source material for fictional characters.

Edwin "Teddy" Boston was the Rector of Cadeby, where he rescued bits of a light railway and reconstructed it in the grounds of his home. As one does. Teddy was also a model railway enthusiast and featured in this British Pathe clip.

Teddy shared his passion for steam with a fellow minister, Rev W. Audrey, and they attended many events together. When Wilbert Audrey wrote up the railway stories that he originally composed for his son, Christopher, his friend became "the Fat Clergyman" and Rev W. was the thin one.

Wilbert (Rev W. sounds too distant in the context) wrote the foreword to Teddy's posthumously published autobiography, Font to Footplate. Wilbert: "In thinking of our Teddy it is important to realise that despite the impression that this book may seem to give, he was a Parish Priest first and a steam enthusiast second". Perhaps those of us who find the number of hours too few to achieve everything that we desire should move to Cadeby where the hours are longer. Or maybe the steam makes things timeless.

Links: Pictures of Teddy; Wikipedia on Teddy; Origins of Thomas the Tank Engine (material taken from a broken link); Cadeby Light Railway (Wikipedia).

Ale: Inventiveness and the best of good intentions

Like many fine ideas, this blog was conceived over a few pints of Everards. With the help of other ale samplers, I quickly drew up a list of interesting authors and characters, but did nothing with it.

Better late than never, I've taken the list out of retirement and added a few more names. I'll work through the names and try to add a few words about why I (possibly only, I) reckon that the person or organisation deserves a mention.

I've got about thirty humdingers to talk about already, so I am not yet looking for suggestions.