First day thread

[mickthemaverick]

New years Day.....thought I would turn over a new leaf





Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

This is my Dad's Charles Letts Schoolboy's Diary from 1942. Its mostly filled in, and a treasure to read from time to time. I liked the account of his camping trip, and his cycling trip from Consett to Wilmslow in Cheshire.

Tuesday 4th August 1942
"not a bad day. Spent the day just in the camp. Read Oliver Twist"

How many take Dickens for a bit of light reading on a camping trip these days

original photo 01/01/2021 NF

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Next indoor photographic opportunity could help future anthropologists answer the question I wonder what FCF members selected for a New Year's Day relaxing drink?

In other words photograph your beer bottles!

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

[mickthemaverick]

Can't have our offspring getting it wrong:

Own work

[NewcastleFalcon]

Another indoor original photo or 2.

WE have an acquired "set" of "Dickens" in the house. Sitting neatly on a bookshelf but hardly if ever opened and read.

So here is the aforementioned Oliver Twist

01/01/2021 NF own work

01/01/2021 NF own work

01/01/2021 NF own work

Now the Watford link, just for curiosity I may have a look at another time

Anyone else got a set of dickens/ a single dickens in their collection?

REgards Neil

[myglaren]

None. I always hated Dickens at school, always felt dirty and as if spiders were crawling all over me.
Perhaps I should revisit his works.

[mickthemaverick]

My father was a machine minder at Greycaines in Watford during my primary school days, he then moved on as a print foreman to Hills & Lacey, also in Watford, as was his final position as Shift Foreman at Farleigh Press in Imperial Way. If your book was produced between 1953 and 1960 it could well have been printed on offset litho by my father. Small world!!

As for Dickens on the bookshelf I have Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Christmas Carol, Old Curiosity Shop, Martin Chuzzlewit and a few of lesser known titles that I can't remember off the top of my head. I think I have 8 or 9 in total. And a jolly good read they are too!!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

First hand knowledge is the best. I only came across that because I was going to photograph the first page of Oliver Twist, thought it might come up with one of those memorable openings. 100% the opposite, boring and totally unnoteworthy! I then flicked through to the end paragraph of the book got to be better.....no....pretty much the same. Flicked to the end pages and saw that credit for the printing with Watford on it, and wondered if you might have some info! Safe to say....Bingo.....excellent Mick

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Back in those days Watford was a huge printing town with three main companies, Odhams, Sun Printers and Greycaines printing virtually all the national magazines and some newspapers between them. A few papers were still printing in their basements in Fleet Street but certainly the Mirror Group and I believe the Guardian were printed in Watford. There were many other industry linked businesses including John Dickinson paper mills and Fishburn Inks but the majority of the town earned its living from printing. Farleigh Press where my father ended his working life had a single Webb offset press and three Heidelberg litho machines which I believe I mentioned before on the FCF. The company was fortunate in gaining a number of speciality print contracts meaning that our house was one of the first to see the programs for The Royal Command Performance and The Royal Variety Show as well as most of the match programs from Wembley games. I still have a fair number of those tucked away in the loft I believe.

Dad used to commute on his bicycle from our house in Bushey Mill Crescent down to Greycaines in Bushey Mill Lane, nowadays the whole print works has been replaced with a trading estate called Greycaines Estate, and also to Hills & Lacey in Commercial Way now replaced by a housing estate and to Farleigh Press in Imperial Way which is still there but I don't know what they do now. That building was responsible for my start in both snooker and table tennis, when Dad was working evening overtime I used to cycle down there and practice on the snooker table until he was finished and then we would have a frame or two before riding home together. Good times!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Excellent Mick!

Can't find any date in the books but there are some similar sets on e-bay which are described as c 1930's. There are 14 books some with 2 books in one, plus an additional book of the Life and Characters of Dickens.

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I just popped upstairs to photograph my Dickens collection but as I got there I remembered that on our last rationalisation Dickens was demoted to the loft with Shakespeare and Alexander Kent to make way for SWMBO's Maeve Binchey and Lesley Pearse collections which are still growing. So I took a couple of Frederick Forsyth and Lee Child instead to make the journey worthwhile!

Own work

Own work

[bobins]

Next indoor photographic opportunity could help future anthropologists answer the question I wonder what FCF members selected for a New Year's Day relaxing drink?

In other words photograph your beer bottles!

Regards Neil

A relaxing evening

[NewcastleFalcon]

..and tonight's refreshment selection is

First and Last Brewery Elsdon Northumberland Mad Jack Ha' Session ale
Lovely stuff.

https://www.firstandlastbrewery.co.uk

Nf original 01/01/2021

Regards Neil

PS This is an interesting thing, walk near gorse in full flower in the summer and it has a gorgeous coconutty smell, have to give one of these a try. Like the idea...

[mickthemaverick]

I have not touched a drop of Whisky since my Dad died, he was not a big drinker at all but he did enjoy a Sunday nip of malt. However he was exceedingly fussy and only drank two brands, one of which you have there Glenlivet and the other was Glenfarclas which he discovered at the distillery on a touring holiday of Scotland after the war on his tandem with my Mum!! He used to get our local Off License in Watford to order him a bottle every couple of months and made it last until he could afford another. He hardly ever drank any other alcohol except on his annual works day trip to France on the Royal Daffodil as a treat from the bosses. I imagine that was a case of peer pressure but he usually got home very late and somewhat unsteadily!!