Carres Grammar School - Class of 1952/53

If any of my old school friends recognise themselves on this photograph, please get in touch my e-mail address is garlant@btinternet.com (Click on image to enlarge).

Looking Back - Winston Churchill Dies

On this day in 1965 Winston Churchill died in his London home at Hyde Park Gate. He was 90 years of age. He suffered a stroke 15 days earlier from which he never recovered. Within an hour of the announcement of his death large crowds gathered outside his home to pay homage to Britain's greatest wartime leader. Lady Clementine Churchill and other members of his family were at his bedside. His political career began as a Conservative MP for Oldham in 1900 but he later joined the Liberals in 1906. He was Lord of the Admiralty during World War 1 and was later to hold the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. He became wartime Prime Minster in May 1940 and held that office again at the age of 77 in 1951. He stood down as Prime Minister in 1955, due to ill health, but continued as a backbencher until 1964.

Brigade In Fine Form

In Part 2 of Return to Blankney by Reginald Williams, he refers to the Second Earl of Londesborough having a passion for fire-engines. He refers to the Fire Station at the Hall and also the Earl's little red-fire engine. Below is a report taken from the Lincolnshire Echo and dated August 1913, the fire-engine mentioned in the report is the same fire-engine referred to by Reginald Williams.

Brigade in fine form

A very successful drill and inspection of the members and apparatus of the Blankney Fire Brigade took place on Saturday afternoon.
The Inspecting Officer was Mr Slater of London, Secretary of the National Fire Brigade Union. After the engine and apparatus had been inspected, the members went through several drills in first-class style. The first drill consisted of the brigade running out from the fire station with the fire escape and length of hose piping through the Hall and round to the north side, a feat which was accomplished in two minutes. The next item was the bringing out of the engine, harnessing and attaching the horses, galloping round a part of the Hall into the main road and back again to the Hall. The fire in the engine was lighted on the way and on getting back the hose and the engine was pumping in 12 minutes.
After the drill display, the annual dinner was held in the Hall, to which about 35 sat down.

Brainteaser - Friday's Solution

The answer to the Friday Brainteaser was 90

SOLUTION

Double the 4 + 1 = 9
Double the 9 + 2 = 20
Double the 20 + 3 = 43
Double the 43 + 4 = 90

Well done to those readers who came up with the right answer!

Return To Blankney - Part 2

Today, in Part 2, we continue the story of Reginald Williams, who was stationed at Blankney Hall whilst in the RAF. during the second world war. Fifteen years after being demobbed he returned to Blankney and recalls the tragic events of the evening of July 15th 1945 when the Hall caught fire never to be restored.

Return to Blankney by Reginald Williams

As I wandered round the building and gardens, some of the atmosphere of former years seemed to crowd in on me. The fire which reduced Blankney Hall to ruins started on St Swithins Day -July 15-1945. It was a sunny Sunday evening following a very hot day. We airmen were sitting in the Dining Hall having tea, when one of our corporals came in and said "There's a fire at the top of the house." We went out to the south end of the building where some of our fellows were on the roof trying to reach a tank of water with a hose which they had already laid out on the top of the building: the hose. however, was too short to reach. A fire-tender from our parent station-Digby-arrived and we tried to connect hose carts to the nearest hydrant which we found near the front of the Hall. The hydrant, however, was of an obsolete type and the modern hose unions would not fit it. Consequently we couldn't get any pressure of water to the fire and valuable time was lost. Here was the delay, which, I believe, lost the battle for the Hall.
In the meantime a bucket-chain had been started and as the fire, which was in the WAFF quarters, became fiercer, we helped all the WAFFs out with some of their belongings, as much as they could carry. Soon fire brigades from Lincoln, Sleaford, Metheringham, Woodhall Spa and Billinghay arrived and started to pump water from a large pond in the grounds. They pumped it almost dry and the smell of rotting vegetation afterwards was terrible. Eventually a hydrant was fixed in the centre of the building, but a strong breeze which was now blowing helped the flames at the north end of the hall to creep gradually towards the south.
Some of us turned our attention to salvaging as much as we could of the girls' belongings. Owing to the relaxation of regulations governing the wearing of civilian clothes, all the WAFFs had quite a bit of civilian clothing with them in camp. Our task was to race through the top floors of the Hall, emptying all drawers and cupboards we could find, throwing the items out of the windows onto the grass below and trying to keep ahead of the fire which was creeping along beneath us. Clothes, suitcases and the contents of chests of drawers were dropped to the waiting girls and airmen down below, to be sorted out later on.
By this time, the floors and roof were beginning to collapse and we were ordered out of the building as half the Hall was ablaze. In the meantime the Countess of Londesborough, who had been living in part of the hall, was being helped by her staff. Together with some American servicemen from a nearby camp they managed to get a grand piano out onto the Lawn.
Years ago a former resident, the Second Earl of Londesborough, had a passion for fire-engines. If a fire broke out within a radius of twenty or thirty miles of the Hall, he would leave his guests to their own devices and tear off on his little red fire-engine. No doubt it was he who had had the little fire-station built, from which came some of the antiquated equipment with which we tried to save his Hall.

Part 3 continues in the Journal tomorrow.

No Point In Rushing In To It I Suppose

I found this Reuters report highly amusing. A 107 years old Chinese woman is apparently looking for a fellow centenarian to become her first husband. Wang Guiying was born in southern Guizhou province watching her uncles and other men scold and beat their wives and often found her aunt crying in the woodshed. At that time Chinese women had few rights and low social standing. This left Wang too frightened to contemplate marriage. After the death of her parents and sister Wang moved to the countryside and became a farmer until the age of 74. No longer able to cope Wang went to live with her nephew in the booming city of Chongqing. Incredible though it may sound Wang now feels her nephew and other members of her family are too old to look after her. Wang said she hopes to find a husband so they will have something to talk about (well what else would they do?), adding "what will happen if I don't hurry up and find a husband". The report ended by saying that local officials have said they will help Wang to search for 100 year old groom and suggested her family contact old peoples homes to find a candidate.

Today's Smile - Wood You Believe It

Sign displayed in a cabinet makers window:

Antiques made to order

Oh well, I suppose one day they will be antiques!