Podrophenia - Show 5... Halloween Special!

Why not celebrate Halloween in style with the official Piley and Mondo Podrophenia podcast??!

For this show only we've suspended the usual features and 'ol nonsense to bring you some scary tales and creepy anecdotes from both the recent and distant past, a number of which are local tales..... like this one for example:

and just what went on at this place in the 1300's??

and what self respecting kid of the 70's could resist collecting these??!

All this plus 10 super spooky toons that'll take you to hell and back....

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UPDATE:
This podcast is now only available as an iTunes download. You can grab this and every other Podrophenia show for free here:  Podrophenia on iTunes

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Piley

If I Knew You Were Coming I'da Baked a Tape...

Some of you may remember this post back in July... My dads sister-in-law had been clearing out her loft ready to move house and unearthed two old reel-to-reel tapes marked 'Mick and Don', which had been up there for over 40 years . Mick and Don were my dads youngest brothers (twins), who in the 50's were a duo who used to perform as The Essex Brothers. Well I did a bit of research after that, and found out that due to the age of these tapes, they would need 'baking' before they could be played. The tapes deteriorate over the years because of a breakdown in the glue that holds the oxide particles on to the actual tape itself. Attempting to play the tapes without this could result in the oxide falling off as the tape is played, and your recordings will be lost forever. Baking the tape temporarily restores the tape so that it can be safely copied to another source.

I spoke to a company in East Acton called FX Rentals who specialise in this sort of work (they were recently given the task of transferring a newly discovered Beatles acetate). They told me they would bake the tapes for a day or two, and then play them to see what (if anything) was on them. Retrieval of any music would be £50 per hour (per hour of music, not per hour of work... it could take them many hours to restore an hours worth of music, but it will still only cost £50).

On Tuesday this week I finally managed to take that hike over to East Acton to deliver the tapes and chat to the guys there about the process. They said they would ring me as soon as they had prepared and played the tapes. Well, yesterday afternoon I got a call saying that everything had gone well and they had found two and a half hours of recordings across the two tapes!!! I've asked them to go ahead and retrieve it all, and they should be ready next week.

I'm dead chuffed that there were some recordings of my late uncles on these tapes after all those years, and I can't wait to hear them. My dad sounded really excited when I told him too. I'll keep you posted.

Piley

TRUEly BLOODy Brilliant!!

Over the years I've been a sucker for many of those American big budget, slick multi-part continuing series... 24, The Wire, Heroes, Dexter, The Mentalist and Prison Break are just some of the titles that have come and gone at Piley Towers over the years. However these days I'm reluctant to get drawn in, with the addition of Piley Jr, there just doesn't seem to be the time anymore, and I struggle to commit myself to 24 or 26 hour long episodes season after season. I'm still saddled with LOST which is absolute pants now. The trouble is, having invested so much time into it (to date, 103 hours that I'll not be getting back), that I've got to see it through now to the conclusion... just to find out if there really is an ending or it was just 6 series of absolute bollocks. LOST has become a real millstone, and with that in mind I kinda promised myself that I wouldn't get involved anymore. But back in the summer I picked up on all the buzz going around about the HBO vampire series True Blood, and rather reluctantly gave it a go. After a slow start (which to be fair was just some great scene setting and character building) this series exploded into without doubt the most enjoyable debut series I've ever seen.... and as an extra bonus it was only 12 episodes long!

I have to say I was a bit sceptical about the whole vampire thing at first, visions of Buffy and countless other 'camp vamps' sprang to mind. But True Blood has adopted a really cool angle... It's set in the fictional town of Bon Temps in Louisiana, where two years ago, thanks to the invention of synthetic blood (called 'Tru Blood' which is sold in all the local bars and convenience stores and comes in delicious 'A', 'B', 'AB' and 'O' flavours!), vampires 'came out of the coffin' and are now trying to integrate in the community alongside the living residents! Some locals have welcomed the vampires, whilst others are very hostile, and want to rid the town of their newly acquired neighbours.

The central vamp is Bill Compton... about as un-vampire a name as you could get!! But I think that's the idea, as apart from the fact he's dead, Bill is a pretty regular guy! As the series goes on you get an insight into his life when he was alive. Born in the early 1800's, he was a citizen of Bon Temps, and fought in the Civil War. You also get to find out how he became a vampire. Bill seems to have an affinity with the humans, and much of the series focuses on his 'on-off' relationship with the leading lady of the show - the telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse. However there are a number of story lines all going on, the most sinister of which is a mysterious trail of murders, which one by one are getting nearer and nearer to Sookie.

There is some lovely attention to detail in the series - one that particularly impressed me was that despite hailing from the same town, vampire Bill's accent is slightly different to the Southern drawl of the humans (as is his vocabulary). Bill is more 'Gone with the Wind' Rhett Butler than anything else... it's never mentioned during the series, but it's a nice touch, and as he hails from the 1800's it's probably spot on too.

It's a really quirky show (and I've intentionally not given away any of the main plots, twists and turns), and is complimented by a great supporting cast. It's got everything to keep you hooked and can switch from dark humour to horror to kinky sex in the flash of a fang!

The oddest thing for me though is the fact that the lead character is an Essex boy! Yup, vampire Bill, or rather Stephen Moyer, hails from Brentwood in Essex, just 20 odd miles from Piley Towers! "gor blimey it's bleedin' taters in them fackin graveyards today init".... well maybe.

I intended getting this post up a couple of week back before Channel 4 started to show the series (Wednesdays at 10pm, repeated on Fridays around 11pm). But as it turned out I've been feeling rather under the weather the last couple of weeks (hence the lack of posts), and didn't quite make it. Still, if you're not already hooked and you have access to all that 'on demand' malarkey, I'm sure you can catch up if you want to!

Piley

Podrophenia - Show 4... with Special Guests!

Well, once again those good people over at Planet Mondo and I have got together to bring you a new edition of Podrophenia. Our theme for this show is 'Animals' and includes another hour of music and our usual unscripted ramblings.... But this time there is even more! Not one, but TWO special musical guests:

Martin Gordon (Sparks, Jet, Radio Stars, now solo artist); and

Chris Constantinou (Adam and the Ants, now lead singer and bass player in The Wolfmen)

who are both introducing their own animal related songs. Musicwise you'll hear tracks about cats, bunnies, horses, monkeys, birds, elephants and frogs!

Oh and did I mention TWO special guests??!

-------------------------

UPDATE:
This podcast is now only available as an iTunes download. You can grab this and every other Podrophenia show for free here:  Podrophenia on iTunes

------------------------

LINKS:

The Official Martin Gordon website

Martin Gordon on MySpace

Buy Martin Gordon CDs at Amazon!

My interview with Martin Gordon can be found here and here

Official Wolfmen Website

Wolfmen on MySpace

The Wolfmen Blog!

Buy Wolfmen CDs at Amazon!

Oh and if you've stumbled onto this podcast for the first time, it's not too late to catch up with our previous shows, all still downloadable from the archives here:

Podrophenia Show 1

Podrophenia Show 2

Podrophenia Show 3

Piley

Dracula and the Sweet Transvestite!

There's obviously something wrong with me y'know... During our 'days out' over the last two and a bit weeks, we took in a visit to Windsor. It's undoubtedly a very picturesque place, but a bit heavy on the tourist trappings for my liking (is there ANY shop in Windsor whose name doesn't start with "Ye Olde..." and end with ".. Shoppe"??!). It's a nice place to visit, but if I'm honest it left me a little uninspired. Even the castle only got a casual glance from me as we walked past (and I'm buggered if I'm paying £15.50 a head to have a look inside). But the building I WAS brimming with excitement about was a hotel in Water Oakley, Bray - a short 10 minute drive out of town. A fascinating building which became an unlikely film star back in the 50's 60's and 70's.

Oakley Court is a very posh (and very nice) hotel these days, but it wasn't always the case.... This wonderful neo-Gothic mansion was built in 1859 for Sir Richard Hall Say, in the style of a French Chateau (the story goes that it was to comfort his homesick French wife). It changed hands a number of times during the late 1800's and early 1900's, until in 1919, Ernest Olivier bought it for £27,000. It remained with Olivier for almost half a century. But an interesting twist still awaited Oakley Court as it approached its 100th birthday...

In 1951 Hammer Film Productions were looking for a new location to base their organisation. They eventually purchased the derelict Down Place, in Water Oakley, Bray (next door to Oakley Court). This was a dream location for Hammer, and the exquisite architecture of the building enabled them to avoid building many costly film sets. By 1952, Hammer had started work on enlarging Down Place, and turned it into Bray Studios, which is still there today (although Hammer sold it in 1970). However, once Hammer were located in Bray, they couldn't help but notice the beauty of their next door neighbour, the Victorian Oakley Court, and Olivier even allowed them to use it for some of their films on occasions.

In 1965, Earnest Olivier died, leaving Oakley Court uninhabited. Hammer had already used just about every possible angle of Down Place in their films over the last 14 years, so from 1965 they took the opportunity to start using the now empty mansion. Incredibly, Oakley Court was the setting for over 200 films (particularly Hammers lucrative 'horror' series).... here's just a few titles that feature the building....

The Curse of Frankenstein starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (1957)
The Lady Craved Excitement starring Sid James (1959)
The Old Dark House starring Robert Morley, Joyce Grenfell and Fenella Fielding (1966)
The Reptile starring Noel Willman and John Laurie (1966)
The Plague of the Zombies starring Andre Morell (1966)
Half a Sixpence starring Tommy Steele (1967)
Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly starring Vasnessa Howard (1970)
The House In Nightmare Park starring Ray Milland and Frankie Howard (1973)
Vampyres starring Marianne Morris (1974)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show starring Tim Curry and Richard O'Brien (1975)
Murder by Death starring Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, David Niven and Peter Faulk (1976)

It was also the setting for the 9 Hammer Dracula films:

Dracula starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (1958)
The Brides of Dracula starring Christopher Lee (1960)
Dracula: Prince of Darkness starring Christopher Lee (1966)
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave starring Christopher Lee (1968)
Taste the Blood of Dracula starring Christopher Lee (1969)
Scars of Dracula starring Christopher Lee and Dennis Waterman (1970)
Dracula AD 1972 starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (1972)
The Satanic Rites of Dracula starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (1973)
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires starring Peter Cushing (1974)

(screenshot from The Brides of Dracula)

When these Dracula films were made at Oakley Court, the directors used to obtain an extra creepy effect by using only candles to light the entire building.

(screenshot from The House in Nightmare Park)

Despite being a very successful film star, nobody was looking after the upkeep of the building and by the time the time the Rocky Horror Picture Show was being filmed, Oakley Court was derelict. Cast and crew were constantly working around strategically placed buckets catching the rain that was pouring through many holes in the roof (apparently just about everyone involved in the film caught a cold whilst there!). The floors too were rotten and dangerous.

In 1979 renovation work commenced at Oakley Court, and in November 1981, it opened its doors as the hotel it is today... back to its former splendour!

I'm quite a fan of the Hammer Horror films... in the late 70's (maybe it was the early 80's) BBC2 used to show a double feature of them every Saturday night.... and it always insured I went to bed feeling very uneasy! However it's the Rocky Horror Picture Show that really does it for me on this one. I used to be crazy about that film in the mid to late 80's. No idea how many times I watched the thing, but it could well be into three figures! For a few years a local cinema used to run it every few weeks as a late night special on a Friday night, and I'd always try to make it. Then when I finally got hold of my own copy on VHS video it was never out of the machine! So discovering that Oakley Court was none other than the lair of Frank-N-Furter was something of a revelation!

(screenshots from the Rocky Horror Picture Show)

All of the exterior shots in the film (including the scene at the front door) are Oakley Court (although there is an odd mish-mash of front and back shots, all pretending to be the front!), but some of the interior ones are too... All the scenes that take place in the hallway are Oakley Court (and the exact same stairs and banister remain to this day). And the scene where they all sit down to dinner (which turns out to be the remains of Eddie!) was filmed in a room off of the hallway. Oh and it could be a coincidence (I like to think of it as a nice touch) but there is now a grandfather clock in the hallway in exactly the same position as the one in the film!

It's well worth a visit, the staff are very friendly, and don't have a problem with you taking a few photos.... so set your Sat Navs to the following if you are ever that way (£15.50 cheaper than Windsor Castle too!):

The Oakley Court
Windsor Road, Water Oakley
Windsor, SL4 5UR

Piley

The Book Lover...

I've been on 'holibobs' for the last two weeks. No going away as such, just days out, and some jobs around the house. Yesterday though I did something that made me really sad....

Some of you may know that I have eye problems... but I'm new to this game, take me back 18 months and I had some pretty good peepers all considering, and only a very light prescription for reading. I'd known I had a cataract in my left eye for a few years, it was causing me more and more frequent headaches and migraines but the vision in it was still good. But in 2007 my optician recommended (in hindsight, very poorly) I should get it done. I had a referral to the hospital, a couple of appointments, and then the op. Since then I've never really been able to see properly out of my left eye. If you don't know (and it's worth remembering in case you ever need to), when you have a cataract done, they take away your lens and replace it with a plastic one. The plastic lens is set at a 'FIXED' focus. The snazzy 'zoom' feature, that you always took for granted (and didn't know was there anyway) is no longer.... you know the one, the thing that means you can focus on that mountain way over there, the river just ahead of you, and the book in your hand, all at the same time. With a plastic lens, just ONE of those will be in focus.... well, if you're lucky. I wasn't and all 3 are now out of focus in my left eye. Long vision is the least bad, but it's still 'out'... close up and reading there is nothing there at all... hold a magazine or book up to me, and all I'll see in my left eye will be a white squarish blur (no lines, let alone words). The vision in my two eyes is now wildly different, and the two eyes do not operate as a team any more... in fact, it gives a very disorienting 'combined' picture.

I've spent pretty much the last 18 months desperately trying to improve it, I've been to countless specialists (including Moorfields Eye Hospital), but, to put it bluntly, I'm fucked. I was very badly advised. Old people have this op done every day, and are up and running again within 24 hours. But by the time you are 60+ the muscles in your eye are pretty much dead, and the replacement of the lens causes minimal discomfort, and usually an improvement in sight. My eye muscles were strong, and as such I was in excruciating pain for over a month after the op, and because the eye behind my lens was so strong and healthy (there was nothing at all wrong with my eye itself, just the lens), my sight went, in one day, from that of a 40 year old to that of an average 80 year old. It has since been explained to me like this.... If you had a million pound camera, and put a lens on it that you bought from the pound shop, your pictures will still be shit. Sure, the cataract would have got me in the end, but maybe I could have got another 5, 10, maybe 15 years out of it before it really needed doing (and my eye and eye muscles would have deteriorated accordingly too).... I'm sure I would have been able to enjoy my sons early life more too (he was 3 months old when I had it done). Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing, and none of these little pearls of wisdom and caution were given to me BEFORE the op.... just wise words after.

I now own SIX different pairs of glasses, and during a day will wear them all at some point. I also wear contacts every other day, but still have to use at least another two pairs of glasses on top of the contacts during the day. What's more annoying is that my right eye is still so good, it doesn't even NEED correction... but because of the way glasses work, and the unwanted 'magnification' they give off, I have to subject my good eye to the same prescriptions regardless to match the picture. My vision gets worse in the evenings and also in the winter, when there is no natural lighting... in fact, sometimes in the evening none of my 6 pairs of glasses even work. In short, this 15 minute operation has taken much of the fun out of life, and things you never even used to think about have become a chore, whilst other things are now so much effort, that all 'enjoyment' is gone.

I have been a book lover since I was a small child. I've always been fascinated with them, and can think of little else to top the joy of sitting with a good book and a cup of tea next to the open fire (yes, we do have one!)... but the op changed all this... I can't read for very long now, much beyond 30 minutes will have my eyes aching, and the vision starts to deteriorate further. Books with small print in I can't read at all, as even with glasses on it'll set off eyestrain and pain within minutes. Computers are copeable, as I can change the screen resolution, but regrettably you can't do the same with the printed word.

But becoming bad-sighted overnight does not immediately change how you think. I've always been a bugger in a bookshop, and can come out with 4 or 5 titles in a visit. And I'm still programmed to do it, I can't stop myself, I genuinely love books "ohh that looks interesting, I bet that's fascinating etc etc". It take a few minutes to buy 5 books, but how long to read em these days??

My book cupboards and book shelves have been overflowing with books I've bought and not read. Some were bought before the op, many more were after. I've never quite come to terms with the fact that things will never be the same (and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure that I ever will). It broke my heart to see at all those wonderful tomes that I'll now almost certainly never get round to reading... I mean how many books are left in me now anyway?? It takes me literally months to get through a decent sized paperback. Regrettably, book reading is a hobby that I have now been forced out of.

So earlier in the week I went through them all, and bagged a good 50-60% of em up, and yesterday I distributed them across just about every charity shop in the area (there was way to many to put in one shop, and everyone got at least 3 bags worth!). I've kept a few that I'm determined to get through one day, but I must now try and keep away from bookshops or else another mass of unreads will be acquired.

Hmmm, I appreciate this isn't one of my usual 'jolly' posts, but I guess I'm just not feeling quite as jolly as usual... I'll try harder to be less moany next time I promise!

Piley

Laurel and Hardy's Southend

A few weeks back I did a post on the now defunct Odeon cinema in Southend, and it generated some great comments and discussions. Y'know, it never fails to amaze me the fantastic stories people have locked away in the 'ol brain box. Even more amazing is how you can know someone for so long without some of these gems rising to the surface.... it just needs the right thing to trigger it off. Following on from the Odeon piece, good friend Andy (brother of E. F Rice) came out with a corker of a related story when we were down the pub the other evening, but more on that later....

As a lifelong fan of Laurel and Hardy, I thought it was about time I tried to find out a bit more about their visit to my home town. I've always know they came here, but no more detail than that. I've been researching and writing this for a few weeks, and much like the Odeon piece, it's grown into a bit of an animal! Apologies for the length of this post, but below is everything I have been able to find out about their time spent here, where they stayed and the places they went, all topped off with that great personalised story at the end.

The duo made their first UK theatre tour in July and August 1932, when they were at the height of their film career. Just three months earlier they had filmed and released 'The Music Box'... the one Laurel and Hardy film pretty much everyone remembers, no matter if they are a fan or not (a whole film devoted to the boys trying to deliver a piano up a ridiculously large flight of steps). By the time Stan and Ollie returned to these shores in 1947 they were in their twilight years. They were still making films... just, but they were by no means classics and the glory days were certainly way behind them. They spent pretty much the whole of 47 in the UK (Feb through to Nov), playing to packed houses up and down the country. This included a 6 week run at the London Palladium, which, incredibly was followed by another 4 weeks at the Coliseum in London!

Having made and released what was to be their final film - the unwatchable Atoll K (AKA Utopia) - the pair, now both in their sixties, returned once again in 1952. Again, the best part of a year was spent in the British Isles (Feb to Sept). Stan and Ida Laurel and Ollie and Lucille Hardy travelled by train from London to Southend Victoria Station on Sunday 3rd August, and on Monday 4th August they began a week long residency at the Odeon cinema in Southend.

Here is a picture of the duo backstage at the Odeon on the 4th August, presenting usherette Eileen Winfield with a 'Courtesy and Service' star!

There were two performances a day at the Odeon (6.30pm and 8.40pm), with an extra matinee (2.30pm) thrown in on the opening day and also on Saturday 9th. Tickets were 5', 3'6 and 2' (25p, 17½p and 10p!). It was very much a variety show, with 7 acts going on before the main event. They were, in order:

The Lonsdale Sisters ('modern' rhythmic dancers)
Lorraine (the singling cartoonist!!)
The Aerial Kenways (highwire\trapeze act)
Archie Elray & Co (ventriloquist act)
The Great Cingalee (silent man of mystery in wonders of the East!)
Jimmy Elliot (animal mimic)
MacKenzie Reid & Dorothy (Scottish accordionists)

So judging by that lot I'd imagine it was a blessed relief when the stars of the show finally appeared on stage!! For their slot, Laurel and Hardy performed a newly written sketch entitled 'A Spot of Trouble'. In the sketch, Stan and Ollie meet at a railway station. They have missed their train, so decide to 'bed down' for the night on a bench (under a sign stating 'no loitering'). A policeman arrives, and threatens to arrest them, unless they are prepared to carry out a staged robbery at the police chiefs house, to enable the policeman to get in his good books.... a predictably chaotic routine ensues!

Here's their entry in the programme:

Not taken in Southend (as far as I know), but here are some photos of Stan and Ollie performing 'A Spot of Trouble' in the UK in 1952:


As with every town they visited, the boys were mobbed everywhere they went, but they were more than happy to spend time with their fans. One girl wrote to Stan whilst they were in Southend to tell him that her surname was the same as his (Jefferson). She got a reply, and an invite to meet the duo! During their week in Southend, a rival theatre (The Regal in Tyler’s Avenue) were running a show featuring 'Burton Lester’s Midgets', and the stars of both theatres met up for a photograph:
Whilst performing in Southend, Laurel and Hardy stayed at the Palace Hotel, the most prestigious hotel in the area - in fact it was the only 5 star hotel on the South East coast at that time. It was a grand Edwardian building directly overlooking the Thames Estuary and Southend Pier, and inside the foyer was a very striking sweeping staircase leading to the upper rooms.

Here are Stan and Ollie standing on the balcony at the Palace Hotel (with what looks to be Southend pier directly behind them):

These two pictures were taken inside the Palace Hotel on Friday 8th August 1952, when a luncheon was laid on in their honour by the Essex Odeon cinema managers:

During the luncheon, Stan and Ollie were asked to present lapel badges to each of the managers:

Whilst staying at The Palace Hotel, Laurel and Hardy visited fortune teller Madame Renee in her booth just below the hotel on Pier Hill. Soon after a signed picture appeared on the wall of her booth which read "To Madame Renee, Many thanks for the excellent reading. Next time we will wash our hands". Stan also managed to meet up with a very old friend whilst stationed on Southend seafront. Stan had worked with Ted Desmond in the theatres before he went to America. It turned out that Ted was now running one of the amusement arcades!

Here's a little background on the place that Stan and Ollie called 'home' for that week in 1953.

The Palace opened in 1904 on the site of the Pier Hill fun-fair, and was originally called the Metropole Hotel. Here it is shortly after opening in 1905 (photo taken from the pier):

Here's a couple of postcards featuring the hotel taken in the early 1900's:

During World War I the hotel temporarily became the Queen Mary Royal Naval Hospital. Here's a couple of pictures taken during that period (1914 - 1918):

The Palace was 'the' hotel during the 20's, 30, 40's and 50's, and was always the favourite choice for any visiting celebrities performing in the town. It still continued to be one of the most popular hotels in the area in the 60's and 70's, although it would appear that the quality of the place was in steady decline by this point. By the mid to late 80's it was being used as a Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) hostel.

Here it is in the late 1980's:
For most of the '2000s' its been empty, but around 2006/07 scaffolding went up (and has been up ever since!) and restoration work started. Here is the last picture I have of the Palace before the scaffolding took over (taken in 2006):

And here it is in 2007:

2008, and still no visible sign of any progress!!:

Despite working a 10 minute walk from it, I don't go down to the seafront that often. However I did wander down last week (for the purposes of this post) only to discover that much of scaffolding is now finally off! I took the photos below, and have to say it's looking very nice indeed... although I was disappointed to see that the words 'The Palace' have now been removed from the frontage.

The whole time the restoration has been going on, it has been unclear what the future holds for the building once complete. One story was that the University of Essex (the ones for whom the Odeon was finally knocked down) want it for halls of residence and a conference centre. another said the developer was 'going it alone' and will reopen it as a high class hotel. The new banner draped over the front of the building last week would seem to confirm the latter, with the news that the opening of the Park Inn Hotel, Restaurant and Conference Centre will be announced soon. A real shame to change the name though after almost 100 years.

Anyway, back to Andy's story (you thought I'd forgotten didn't you??!)... Andy and E.F Rice's grandfather, William Barton (aka Sam), was a professional musician and played double bass in a number of bands from the 40's right through to the 70's. He worked in the music halls, in orchestra's and in cabaret bands, as well as touring with the comedian Arthur Lucan's "Old Mother Reilly" show. In the early 1950's William Barton settled in Southend, as that was where a number of his wife's family had relocated to from London. He carried on as a part time musician, mainly in pubs and clubs around the seafront and at some time in the early fifties began working with keyboard player Sid Uren and drummer Harry Day. For the next twenty odd years they played together as the Sid Uren Trio. They stopped performing as a band in the seventies, but remained the best of friends until William Barton passed away in 1979. Harry remained in contact with the family, and even attended Mrs Barton's funeral in 2005. And it was at this funeral where Andy came to hear Harry's brilliant tale....

Harry Day and William Barton were regular musicians at the Palace Hotel in Southend, and were playing there whilst Laurel and Hardy were performing at the Odeon. After the performance one night, Stan Laurel was relaxing in the Palace Hotel bar listening to the band. Inevitably they got chatting, and during the course of the conversation, Harry Day happens to mention that he and his wife have just had a baby. Stan is genuinely thrilled, and incredibly says that he'd like to meet Harry's wife Rose to congratulate her, and toast the baby's health! Harry says OK, but wonders when they could possibly do it? "how about now" says the enthusiastic Mr Laurel! So without further ado the pair set off for Harry's home in Fairfax Drive, Wescliff. It's getting late by this time, and the sound of the key in the door followed by voices initially brings a luke-warm response from Rose.... "Harry, you brought someone home with you?" she warns.... "erm, yes" comes the rather sheepish reply... "it's Stan Laurel". Rose changed her tune pretty sharpish after that and offered them both a cup of tea, to which Harry replied "we're not here to drink tea". A full bottle of whisky was found and the three of them sat up until the early hours of the morning chatting and drinking! Around 4 or 5 in the morning, Stan said that he should be going and Harry drove Stan back to the Palace hotel (I don't suppose drink driving had been invented back then!!).

This story does odd things to my brain! In my mind there are Laurel and Hardy... and there is also the dowdy back streets of my home town - two completely separate things, and it shouldn't be possible to relate them! I drive to work every single day down Fairfax Drive, where one of my greatest heroes once drove too! Amazing! I must say that since learning of this story, I now think of Stan every morning as I drive to work!

Harry Day died in September 2006, and right up to the end he was still living in the same house in Fairfax Drive than Stan Laurel visited more that 50 years previously.

Piley

LINKS

Laurel and Hardy are kept alive and well in the area thanks to the Southend branch of the official fan club - The Sons of the Desert. The Southend branch is called Saps at Sea. Amongst other things they hold regular meetings (showing films, memorabilia etc) on the 2nd Sunday of every month at the Naval & Military Club, Royal Terrace, between 5.30pm-8.30pm. I'm sure they will be delighted to see you, and will no doubt offer you a 'hardy' welcome... (sorry!). Also check out their website to find out how to become a member, and fine out even more about that legendary visit of the boys to Southend - Saps at Sea.