Back Fire!

Back Fire: A Passion For Cars And Motoring (2001) is one of my favourite motoring books.

It's a collection of the Hon Alan Clark's columns for the magazine Classic Cars and other journals along with a few extracts from his celebrated diaries.

I had a sneaking admiration for Alan Clark, despite his reputation.

He eventually became Right Honourable, as a Privy Counsellor.

His father, the Lord Clark, was the famous art historian and broadcaster.

I have the collection of Alan Clark's Diaries and Back Fire.

If Mr Toad hadn't pre-dated Alan Clark by some 21 years ~  The Wind in the Willows was published in 1908 and Clark born in 1929 ~ one could make a good case for Clark's having been the model for Kenneth Grahame's daredevil, outrageous, but loveable, rogue.

Conservative MP, historian, man about town, notorious womaniser ~ and at the same time fiercely loyal husband and father ~ he died in 1999.

He bought his first car, a six-and-a-half litre vintage Bentley, while he was still at Eton and only 17 - it was typical of the stylish flamboyance which became his trademark.

Many a Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Porsche, Buick and Chevrolet followed. So did old Citroens, a VW Beetle and latterly a beloved and "totally reliable" Discovery.

He was a collector par excellence, who was addicted to the buying and selling of cars all his adult life.

Every garage and enclosed space at Saltwood Castle, the family home in Kent, remains full of Clark's cars.

Clark's son James writes in Back Fire that "Outside the family, I truly believe, cars were my father's greatest love".

But he didn't approve of over-enthusiastic restoration.

When he drove his 1920 Silver Ghost, of which there is a photograph in Back Fire on the 1993 Rolls Royce Enthusiasts' Alpine Commemorative Run, a fellow competitor remarked, to Clark's amusement, that

if he can't afford to maintain his car properly he shouldn't be allowed on the event.

Whatever else Clark was or wasn't, he was never dull and he was certainly a writer,

What do we want a classic car for? Showing off, of course. Nothing wrong with that; they are more idiosyncratic than beach jewellery.

First published in March, 2014. 

Round the Coast of Northern Ireland

The Rev Canon Hugh Forde, sometime Rector of Tamlaghtfinlagan (Ballykelly), and a canon of St Columb's Cathedral, Derry, was author of SKETCHES OF OLDEN DAYS IN NORTHERN IRELAND and the book I am going to quote from, Round the Coast of Northern Ireland.

Canon Forde wrote the latter book in 1928, and the foreward was written by the RIGHT HON SIR JOHN ROSS, 1st Baronet, last Lord Chancellor of Ireland.


LORD ROSEBERY, speaking of the Scottish settlers in Ulster, at the Edinburgh Philosophical Institute in 1911, said of them:-

"We know that the term Ulster-Scot is generic, and simply means Scoto-Irish. 

I love the Highlanders and I love the Lowlanders, but when I come to the branch of our race that has been grated on the Ulster stem, I take off my hat with veneration and awe. 

They are, I believe, the toughest, the most dominant, the most irresistible race that exists in the universe at this moment."

The passage is quoted by Sir John Ross in his book Pilgrim Scrip.

"It is true that the people are dominant and irresistible.

On the terrible day of Thiepval, 1st July, 1916, they exhibited a gallantry and sacrifice that have never been surpassed.

In the early part of the 18th century the Anglican bishops most unwisely proceeded to enforce the Act of Uniformity, the result of which was that about 100,000 Ulstermen of the Scottish breed migrated to the country that afterwards became the United States of America.

Here they were planted on the Indian frontier, where massacres of the settlers were matters of frequent occurrence.

In spite of the tomahawk, and the scalping knife, the dour race held its ground till it had driven back the savage foes.

The dour race did not forget  how they had been treated  by England and the English Bishops.

When the War of Independence came on they formed the backbone of Washington's army.

FURTHER, there was a time when peace could easily have been effected between the mother country and the revolting States, but the Ulster men would hear of no compromise and insisted on independence.

"As separation was inevitable some time," Sir John goes on to say, "perhaps their persistence did real service to England itself. They have left their mark upon the United States to this day in the peculiar intonation of their accent and in the Puritanical character of their ideals."

First published in April, 2019.

Sketches of Olden Days

In Coleraine, County Londonderry, there used to be a little book-shop tucked up a little side street - Society Street - close to the parish church, which sold vintage books among other items.

On one occasion, I think in 2015, I found a small hardback book written in 1927, six years after the formation of Northern Ireland.

Click To Enlarge

It was by the Rev Canon Hugh Forde, with a forward by the Rt Hon Sir James Craig Bt (later 1st Viscount Craigavon), first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Hugh Forde was born in Derry in 1847, educated at Dungannon Royal School, County Tyrone, and Trinity College, Dublin, where he achieved a master's degree and a doctorate.

The Roamer column in the Newsletter newspaper remarks that, following curacies in Macosquin and Maghera, Hugh became Rector in Kilcronaghan, Ballynascreen, and Tamlaght Finlagan (Ballykelly) successively before becoming a Canon of St Columb's Cathedral, Londonderry, from 1897 to 1922.

He had five children, including Kathleen, during his first marriage to Mary Ross from Limavady.

After Mary died he married Dorothea Millar from Buncrana, in 1884, and had three more children, one of whom, Lieutenant Kenneth Forde, was killed in action in Flanders on the 24th July, 1915, during the 1st World War.

Canon Forde retired to Portrush, County Antrim, in 1922 where he remained until his death in 1929.

He wrote and published four books: Round the Coast of Northern Ireland; Ulster at Bay; The Giant’s Causeway and Dunluce Castle; and Sketches of Olden Days in Northern Ireland.

I heartily concur with Lord Craigavon when he wrote:

In commending these brilliant sketches to the people of Ulster, and to visitors to our shores, I do so with all the more pleasure, although our native country is teeming with historical interest and is well supplied with ancient monuments, suitable books of reference are comparatively few. 

Canon Forde has done a public service in compiling so accurate a record of Olden Days, and providing an interesting glimpse of the life led by Ulstermen of bygone times.

Seek it out if you can.

First published in July, 2016.

Robin Bryans, 1928-2005

Some time ago I recommended an anecdotal travel book to readers by an author called Robin Bryans.

The book is entitled Ulster: A Journey Through The Six Counties.

Merely by chance, a regular reader has drawn my attention to the fact that Mr Bryans has a website dedicated to him.

Robin Bryans was born in 1928, just off the Newtownards Road in east Belfast, his family moving shortly afterwards to Donegall Avenue in the city.

Before becoming a professional writer, he had a variety of jobs including shipyard worker and cabin boy on a dredger.

He was later to study at Barry Religious College in Wales and went to Canada as a missionary.

Later, in Canada, he lived as a trapper.

The common realities of his childhood among the Protestant working class in the 1930s – grinding poverty, mission halls, theatres, music, the ‘Bog Meadows’ – along with the desperate accident to his father which changed the life of the small family, became the subject matter of his most powerful writing,

‘We walked as though through a forest whose trees were made of steel, harshly etched against the morning sky. Instead of leaf-laden branches stretched out to catch the sun’s rays, I saw a multitude of cranes, swinging poles and a phalanx of gantries.’

During the 1960s and early 1970s, his output was prolific.

Published by Faber and Faber and acclaimed by critics worldwide, he embarked on a series of travel books celebrating Iceland (1960), Denmark (1961), Brazil (1962), the Azores (1963), Malta (1966) and Trinidad & Tobago (1967).

His Ulster: A Journey Through the Six Counties (1962) has long been regarded as a perceptive introduction at a critical moment in the history of Northern Ireland and a classic of the genre.

In the same period came the books on which his reputation as a writer rests, the four remarkable volumes of autobiography: No Surrender (1960), Song of Erne (1960) – a vivid and moving account of childhood excursions to Fermanagh.

Up Spake the Cabin Boy (1961) and The Protégé (1963) and two volumes of short stories, Tattoo Lily (1961) and The Far World (1962), also from Faber.  

No Surrender was hailed as the first book by an Ulster Protestant writer from the working class published by an international publishing house to receive national renown.

The Times described his autobiographical writing as

‘on all planes at once; humorous, detailed and objective as a Breugel village scene; quietly indignant over injustices practised by the toffs; puzzled, exploratory, expectant as a growing boy … He writes as one with a true sense of poetry.’

The volumes of autobiography have rarely been out of print since their first publication and are currently available from Blackstaff Press.

Selected Stories was published in 1996 by Lagan Press in Belfast, which occasioned a memorable reading in the Old Museum arts centre in his native city.

In his later life, Harbinson was dramatically involved in sensational and sometimes scandalous events among the political aristocracy.

A riveting account of these and of their parallels among Ulster’s political class from the 1940s until the 1960s can be read in his last three books The Dust Has Never Settled (1992), Let the Petals Fall (1993) and Checkmate, all from Honeyford Press under his own name of Robin Bryans.

A courteous, witty and gentle man, Robin Bryans’ last years were spent in London where, in addition to writing, he was involved in a school of music set up particularly to encourage the work of young composers.

He died at his home in London on Saturday, June 11, 2005. 

First published in April, 2012.

Days That Are Gone

Days That Are Gone is a book published in 1983 about the childhood of the distinguished Ulster lawyer, businessman and writer, Sir Patrick Macrory.

Sir Patrick Arthur Macrory received a knighthood in 1972 for services to Northern Ireland.

In Days That Are Gone, he reminisces about his childhood spent at the family homestead, Ardmore, near Limavady in County Londonderry.

Ardmore is within a mile of DRENAGH estate; and, indeed the McCauslands are mentioned quite a few times in the book.

If you're seeking a nostalgic journey to rural Ulster in the early 20th century, when the railways ran to most of our towns and villages, including Limavady; where there was a halt, indeed, at Ardmore; this, then, will interest you.

Sir Patrick's grandfather was Samuel Martin Macrory JP, of Ardmore Lodge, born in 1836; and his father, Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Samuel (Frank) Macrory DSO DL, born in 1876, was married to ROSA POTTINGER.

In his book, he mentions an amateur production he staged during his youth, at the Town Hall, Limavady, by the so-called Ardmore Players, where the following roll-call of the county's landed families acted:

Pat Macrory ~ Holmes;
William Lenox-Conyngham ~ Dr Watson;
Peggy Garnett ~ Landlady;
Conolly McCausland ~ Villain;
Rosemarie Davidson ~ Housekeeper.

For those interested in the old Limavady railway and the parish of Balteagh, this book is essential reading.

The late Rt Hon Roy Bradford composed a notable obituary of Sir Patrick (1911-93).

Florence Court: My Irish Home

My dear mother gave me a wonderful hardback book when we were in County Fermanagh in 1979.

It is entitled Florence Court: My Irish Home, and written lovingly by Nancy, Countess of Enniskillen.

The book was published in 1972 by R & S Printers, The Diamond, Monaghan.

Lady Enniskillen wrote:

On the highest level of The Pleasure Grounds, there used to stand a little "summer house." Here on a warm sunny day ideally without wind and wrinkled only by the wings of birds and insects, on such a day at Florence Court, the Cole family would adjourn to drink their tea and enjoy the tonic view of the valley and the mountain.

On Thursday, the 14th August, 2014, this charming little thatched gazebo was burnt to the ground.

The National Trust has, I'm delighted to say, rebuilt it to the original specifications.

Florence Court: Parterre

THE EARLS OF ENNISKILLEN WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY FERMANAGH, WITH 29,635 ACRES 

The five largest landowners in Fermanagh were the Marquess of Ely, the Earl of Erne, the Earl of Enniskillen, the Viscount Brookeborough (Brooke Baronets), and the Archdales. They all owned circa 30,000 acres.

Nancy, Countess of Enniskillen (1917-98) wrote her chronicles of life at Florence Court, County Fermanagh, in 1972.

My mother bought me the hardback book as a gift while we were staying at Castle Archdale in 1979.

It's entitled Florence Court, My Irish Home.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was purchased in Hall's bookshop, Enniskillen, at the far end of Darling Street, not far from Castle Street.

On page forty-five, Lady Enniskillen describes how the dining-room and drawing-room looked through their western windows to a terrace planted by her husband David, the 6th Earl, with flowering cherry trees around an old parterre.

The Crescent Lawn was (and remains) about seven feet above the back drive and about the same distance below the house.

A reader informs us that the Crescent Lawn

"Actually dated from Victorian times with Cherry trees later planted at the sides by David Enniskillen to replace original large Chestnut trees. These Cherry trees are also now removed. The Parterre was removed by the National Trust for maintenance reasons and the argument that it blocked the view out across the park which of course it didn't as the lawn is much lower than the windows of the Drawing and Dining rooms."

The Register Parks, Gardens, and Demesne of Special Historic Interest in Northern Ireland remarks:-

"Fraser was probably also responsible at this time for some alterations to the west side of the park and for designing a square elaborate flower parterre (now removed) for the raised Crescent Lawn at the back of the house, which was originally flanked each side by chestnut trees."

Sadly the curvilinear row of staff rooms which surrounded the Crescent Lawn were all demolished: including the Boot House, Cook's Larder, Game Larder, Bottles, Hamper House, Hens, Store, and two water closets.

Only the foundations of these outbuildings (which overlooked the Laundry Court) remain.

Each room had its own fireplace.

Nancy Enniskillen tells us in her book that the National Trust removed the rooms and rebuilt the wall without them.

The Laundry Yard was at one side of the Crescent Lawn; while the stable-yard was at the other.

First published in April, 2016.

The Years of my Pilgrimage

The Right Honourable Sir John Ross, 1st Baronet, was the last Lord Chancellor of Ireland. 

Sir John was a son of the manse: his father was the Very Rev Dr Robert Ross, a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

In 1924 he wrote random reminiscences of his pre-eminent legal career in a book called The Years of my Pilgrimage.

My copy was published in 1924 by Edward Arnold & Co, London.

I happened to be rummaging in a charity bookshop at Botanic Avenue, Belfast, in 2019 (located in a unit below the former Arts Theatre), and I came across this fascinating book.

It shall be an antique in several years' time.

Sir John is, as one would expect, an eloquent writer, recounting a number of crimes he sat in judgment upon during his notable career.

He also had the privilege of meeting many important figures, political and patrician, during his time at Westminster, and having been invited to numerous country house parties, in particular at Mount Stewart, County Down, Baronscourt, County Tyrone, Londonderry House, and Hampden House, the latter residence being the London home of the first Duke of Abercorn at the time.

The first Duke invited Sir John to Baronscourt in September, 1885.

Sir John, in his reminiscences, remarks that His Grace was

"a remarkable man and his like I have never met again. He was one of the handsomest men of his time and kingly in everything he did. He had been twice Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and was most popular, mainly, it was said, because he regarded the people much as the mud on his boots."

"His seven beautiful daughters had married the greatest nobles in the land, namely the Earl of Lichfield, the Earl of Durham, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, Marquess of Blandford (afterwards Duke of Marlborough), and the Marquess of Lansdowne."

Of Sir Winston Churchill’s father, Sir John remarked: "It was very sad to witness the rapid decline of Lord Randolph Churchill's great prowess. It is unpleasant to read accounts attributing his deterioration to abuse of stimulants and tobacco. He never appeared robust, and it seemed to me a case where the ardent mind simply burned out the frail body."

Sir John observed that Colonel Edward Saunderson was "one of the greatest humorists and hardest hitters in the House of Commons."

I've no idea how many editions of this book were printed, though it's one of my most precious autobiographical publications.

First published in October, 2020.

Patterson's Place, Belfast

Prospect of Patterson's Place from Upper Arthur Street (Timothy Ferres, 2023)

PATTERSON'S PLACE is an alley or mews that runs from 3, Donegall Square East to Upper Arthur Street in Belfast.

(Historic OS map of ca 1830)

It originally served as stables and coach-houses for the Georgian residences on Chichester Street.

Robert Patterson (Image: Ulster Museum)

In 1974 it contained the side doors to Pearl Assurance House, Boal's hardware store, Imperial Buildings, and Thompson-Reid Ltd.

Numbers 1-3 Donegall Square East, Ocean Buildings, was built between 1899-1902. Prior to this there were three terraced houses, which fronted Chichester Street and had stables and yards to the rear. 

The Prince George Hotel operated there in 1887. Imperial House, at 4-10 Donegall Square East, erected in 1935, replaced a terrace of four-storey houses with basements, two if which operated as the Linenhall Hotel. Upper Arthur Street, adjacent to Patterson's Place, was a smart residential street during the Victorian era. 

In 1926 Harry Ferguson opened an automobile garage and petrol station at Donegall Square East, which extended to the western side of Upper Arthur Street. Joseph Thompson and Hugh Reid acquired the premises in 1959 as Thompson-Reid Ltd.

Linenhall Hotel (Image: Robert French/NLI)

Patterson's Place is still a thoroughfare today.

(Timothy Ferres, 2023). Click to enlarge.

Robert Patterson (1802-72), a Belfast business man and naturalist, was one of seven young men who, in 1821, gathered at the home of Dr Drummond at 5, Chichester Street, to form the Belfast Natural History Society.

The late Sir Charles Brett KBE recounted his time as a solicitor at the family firm, L'Estrange & Brett, Chichester Street, Belfast in in autobiography, Long Shadows Cast Before.

Thompson's Garage, a nightclub, has operated at 3, Patterson's Place, since 1994.

I have written about 7 Chichester Street.

Sir Charles Brett KBE (1928-2005)

I happened to be in town (viz. Belfast) several years ago and, cognisant of the sale at the Linen Hall library's charity bookshop, located in College Street at that time, I walked in for a browse.

Damian, as usual, was behind the counter, chatting to a colleague, so I bid them Good Morning and proceeded to browse.

While I was browsing I joined in their conversation now and again: about the imminent closure of their premises in College Street to another - as yet undisclosed - location in the city.

A book by the late Sir Charles Brett KBE caught my eye, an autobiography and also a chronicle of his family's adventures and fortunes over three centuries.

I perused the first page or two, and instinctively knew that I'd find it fascinating.

Sir Charles Brett KBE
(Image: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography)

Sir Charles was a solicitor, and had his office in the family's practice, L'Estrange & Brett, in a fine Georgian terrace of houses in Chichester Street.

I've written a bit about one of the houses.

Charlie Brett was quite a remarkable gentleman of many talents, including his passion for our built heritage (he was a founder member of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society), journalist, author, and solicitor.

In 1956, Lord Antrim invited him to join the Northern Ireland Committee of the National Trust. 

He was also chairman of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for five years.

(Timothy Ferres, 2023). Click to enlarge.

His Buildings of Belfast, 1700-1914, was published in 1967; followed by books about the buildings of County Antrim, County Armagh, and north County Down.

Sir Charles Brett's command of the pen and literary prowess were (to my mind) extraordinary.

Plight of the Big House

An unexpected visitor arrived on the 18th December, 2020, viz. J A K Dean, the distinguished author of several illustrated books about Ulster heritage.

I have two of his books, the Gate Lodges of Ulster, and The Plight of the Big House in Northern Ireland.

The latter of the two has only just been published by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society.

Dixie called with me this morning and, to my absolute delight and surprise, presented me with a copy of The Plight of the Big House in Northern Ireland.

I intend to write more about it when I've perused it.

I immediately recognized the mansion featured on the front cover: Norwood Tower, former residence of the Hendersons, erstwhile proprietors of the Belfast Newsletter newspaper, and directors of Ulster Television.

I am extremely grateful to Dixie and, like his indispensable Gate Lodges of Ulster, I am in no doubt that this latest book shall prove to be as authoritative a publication. 

First published in December, 2020.

The Mitred Earl

In February, 2012, I bought two used books at the Causeway Book Shop in the village of Bushmills, County Antrim.

Sadly, that former Aladdin's cave of historic reading material, glassware, pottery etc has since closed down.

One of the books was The Mitred Earl by Brian Fothergill, a fascinating history of Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry, often simply known as the "Earl Bishop."

The Earl-Bishop's main residence in Ulster was Downhill House, near Castlerock, County Londonderry.

The book is a National Trust Classic published by Faber and Faber.

It's worth every penny if you can bag it from Ebay, a charity or second-hand book shop.

Linen Hall Charity Bookshop

(Image: Timothy Ferres, 2020)

On a weekend several years ago I received a letter from my solicitor requesting a reply so, instead of doing the obvious thing and sending it by post, I decided to get some exercise on the new ebike by riding to College Street.

College Street, by the way, extends from Fountain Street to College Square East.

The rain was relentless, quite heavy at times and, despite wearing "waterproof" trousers and jacket, high-visibility waistcoat, cycle helmet, the rain managed to absorb the rotten trousers and saturate my denims underneath.

I'll throw the so-called waterproof trousers out; I have another pair which I'll wear in future.

Having delivered my letter to the solicitor's premises I noticed the Linen Hall Charity Bookshop at street level.

Still drenched, I ambled in for a little rummage, though I must have been inside for twenty-five minutes.

I chatted briefly to the two members of staff and, it transpires, none other than Conor Bradford and Mark Carruthers, OBE, both well-known BBC broadcasters, are occasional patrons of this admirable little second-hand bookshop.

Somebody arrived while I was there to donate some unwanted books.

One hardback that caught my eye was Ulster: A Journey Through The Six Counties, by Robin Bryans; a bargain at a fiver.

On this occasion I left empty-handed, though it's my intention to revisit this Aladdin's Cave of old books more often.

2024 Update

The bookshop has since vacated the College Street premises and relocated to 55-59, Royal Avenue, Belfast.

First published in October, 2020.

Ernest Sandford, 1913-2006

ERNIE SANDFORD: A TRIBUTE TO A DISTINGUISHED PORTRUSH JOURNALIST,
FROM Coleraine Today

Ernie Sandford, known to many friends as Sandy, was born in Portrush, County Antrim, in 1913 where he was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution.

He proceeded to Queen’s University, Belfast, and after graduation he joined the Northern Constitution as a reporter.

The younger son of local grocer, Joseph Sandford, Ernie ‘had a distinguished career spanning from local reporter in Coleraine to Reuter’s office in Paris culminating in his appointment as head of press and publicity at the NI Tourist Board’.

During this career he wrote articles on local history, was a member of the amateur dramatic society – Portrush Players and at a stage secretary of the Portrush hockey club.

In the late 1930s Ernie left Coleraine and went on to work for the Belfast Newsletter, followed by a move to Fleet Street as sub-editor on the Daily Telegraph.

He was appointed the Press Association’s first war correspondent and after the War, returned to Fleet Street as chief reporter of the Sunday Chronicle.

Ernie, who was 'recognised as one of the most distinguished journalists Northern Ireland has produced’, resigned and moved to France in 1946 where he taught English for two years in a small college on the outskirts of Paris.

During his time there, he studied French language & civilisation at the Sorbonne and wrote his first book about a canoe trip from Mâcon to Lyons.

Following this he joined Reuters as head of their Paris office before going on to become information officer for the Marshall Plan (one such assignment meant that he was present at the historical singing of the Treaty of Rome).

In 1959, Ernie joined the Northern Ireland Government's London Office as publicity officer to the Ministry of Commerce and the Northern Ireland Development Council.

Some ten years later, he returned home for his appointment as Publicity Officer to the Tourist Board.

Although Ernie retired in 1978, he continued to write the guide book Discover Northern Ireland and had articles published in the Coleraine Old Boys’ Association and the Bann Disc (journal of the Coleraine Historical Society).

Ernie is survived by his wife Joyce [died 16th January, 2019], daughter Christine and son Patrick.

Do any readers possess a better image of Mr Sandford?

First published in April, 2020.

Discover Northern Ireland

I cannot recall how long I've had a copy of this guide-book.

For me it encapsulates the very essence of Northern Ireland and the best places to visit.

Discover Northern Ireland was first published in 1976 by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.

It was revised in 1977. A third edition was published in 1981. Has it been re-issued since then?

It most certainly ought to be.

Click Image to Enlarge

The book was written by Ernest Sandford.

The media has described it thus:

'A wonderful guidebook, an eminently readable guidebook ... it should be considered as a school textbook for local information ... in its detail and general comprehensiveness it is unique.'

This, to my mind, remains the definitive guide to Northern Ireland.

First published in March, 2010.

Ulster: A Journey

Serendipity is "the gift for finding valuable objects of art etc by chance," according to my trusty Nuttall's dictionary.

In this case, it was a modest, second-hand paperback book: Ulster: A Journey Through The Six Counties, by Robin Bryans.

We were staying at a hotel in Puerto Pollensa, Majorca, in 2004.

In the residents' lounge there was a shelf containing magazines and books which other residents weren't taking home with them, and I discovered this wonderful little paperback.

Its origin was the Norfolk County Library, of all places!

It was dated the 10th January, 1992, and stamped "Withdrawn For Sale, 30p."

This isn't  really a guidebook: it's an anecdotal travel book, the author's personal and intimate journey through some exceptionally interesting parts of the Province.

Bryans had a wonderful way with words, to the extent that much of his prose sounds poetic in its composition, if that's not a contradiction in itself.

It was first published in 1964, though this edition was dated 1989.

First published in March, 2010.

Wodehouse Knighthood

A fellow National Trust volunteer of mine contacted me in 2020, cognizant of my esteem for Jeeves, Bertie Wooster, and their creator, Sir P G Wodehouse, KBE.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Robin sent me a cutting from The Times newspaper concerning the death of the Lord Armstrong of Ilminster, GCB, CVO, a very distinguished civil servant who served as Principal Private Secretary (PPS) to two Prime Ministers, viz. Harold Wilson and Edward Heath.

Lord Armstrong was also the Cabinet Secretary, from 1979 until 1987, during which period Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister.

While Wodehouse was in hospital in 1974, Armstrong, PPS to Harold Wilson at the time, persuaded the Prime Minister to 'fast-track' a knighthood for him.

Insignia: Knight Commander of the
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

In this case the honour was Knight Commander of the British Empire ~ KBE.

So in the New Year Honours List of 1975, P G Wodehouse was appointed KBE, a mere six weeks before his death.

First published in April, 2020.

Alan Clark: Diaries

I have been re-reading the immensely enjoyable Diaries Into Politics, by the late Alan Clark.

The Hon Alan Clark, elder son of the Lord Clark, was MP for Plymouth (Sutton), 1974-92, Kensington and Chelsea, 1997-99.

He was appointed a Privy Counsellor when he became Defence Minister.

If you haven’t already dipped into his Diaries, or indeed his other publications (including the splendid Back Fire: A Passion For Motoring, I urge you so to do.

Alan was an insufferable snob.

He once said that Michael Heseltine - “odious Heseltine” - had to buy his own furniture.

In July, 1981, the Clarks gave a grand dinner party for Aspinall’s Ball at Port Lympne: Edward and Fiona Montagu, Jonathan Aitken, Jonathan Guinness and his wife, and two of his sons.

The food “was delicious and the table almost overloaded with Meissen, solid silver, Venetian glass etc.” 

Boy Scouts lined the driveway holding torches of pitch, girl guides doing the same thing from the car park.

As Simon Heffer has said, Diaries show all sides of a man who was, within his complex personality, arrogant, sensitive, loyal, unfaithful, patriotic, selfish, selfless, and - at all times - completely technicolour.

7th Earl's Havoc

Patrick Marnham wrote a book entitled Trail Of Havoc.

This is a favourite of mine, telling the tale of the 7th Earl of Lucan, missing since 1974.

"Missing" is a misnomer, since many believe him to be long dead, his remains attached to a rope and stone, many fathoms under the English Channel.

The 7th Earl was officially declared dead by a court of law in 1999 and, though no proof exists of his decease, a death certificate was issued in 2016.

His son George has now succeeded to the earldom as 8th Earl and has an heir, styled Lord Bingham, born in 2020.

7th  Earl of Lucan

Despite it being a true story, Trail of Havoc reads like a terrific "whodunit".

Lucan Arms courtesy of European Heritage.  First published in December, 2011.

Dumfries House Book

I was at home one day in March, 2014, when, somewhat unexpectedly, a postman arrived with a large parcel.

He handed me the package and I almost immediately recognized the hand-writing of an old school pal who works at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS).

He knows how keen I am about heritage and country houses.

To my delight, the parcel contained a hard-back copy of Dumfries House.

In this landmark book, the author, Simon Green, draws on previously unpublished documents from the extensive archives of the Bute family, who lived in the house from the early 19th century until the death of Lady Bute in 1993.

There is a wealth of photographs, plans and drawings from the National Trust for Scotland and the RCAHMS.

Exploring the people and the ideas behind a unique building, 'Dumfries House' is the story of the survival of a treasured eighteenth century family residence.

First published in March, 2014.