The Old Morgan Sports Car in the Fens

It was a beautiful sunny day as we made our way through the countryside, following the garbage lorry through the Fens. We were approaching the little village of Newton. As we were loading the brown bins, I looked over at a group of terraced cottages and saw a man reversing a red Morgan sports car upon the drive to the side of his house.

I grabbed a quick photo shot for one does not see the old retro Morgan cars too often. It should have had spoked wheels, but for some reason it was sporting newer MG type looking wheels. The vehicle was obviously going to be the man's project.

As he reversed and parked the car, he grinned at us and shook his head. "I'm a bit too old for one of these," he said jokingly.

We laughed and wished him well with his car and continued with a bin clearing as we moved on by.

The Pre-War Riley Car Paint Stripped Down to Metal

As we were finishing our bin loading round on Wednesday 20th April 2016, we came out of the village of Wimblington into the village of Doddingtopn in the Fenland of Cambridgeshire. It was a glorious day and we had been out in the rural parts of the land. We were content and feeling happy as the last bin went in the lorries' bin lifts. 

A Car from Riley Motor Company

We decided to pull into a small lay by further up the road as one enters the village of Doddington. There on the drive of a cottage was parked a pre-war open topped Riley car. It was stripped of paint work and I suppose the owner was midway through a restoration of the beautiful looking motor.

I had a walk around it and took a few shot on the mobile phone camera. See what you think of the old Riley car?

The Bubble World we Feel Secure Within?

Meteor Crashes in Russia while travellers in a vehicle film from the motorway. It is awesome, scary and worrying, because what if a bigger one comes along and does the dinosaur number on mankind. It makes one stop and think about all the silly little human squabbles we have with one another. They all pale to triviality when one thinks of things like this. Things outside of our little bubble world that can gate crash with nothing we can do about it. 

Why Mary Rose Ship of War Sank - Henry VIII & England's Tragic Pride



The Mary Rose



England was a land of virtual irrelevance during the 15^th century and was no more than a fringe island on the edge of Europe – a small nation that had spent years fighting a civil war of the Roses between House York and House Lancaster. This finally ended with the death of Richard III in battle and the accession of Henry VII of the Tudor dynasty. During this turbulent time, England had neglected her navy and had only constructed six ships for the crown in a period of eighty-seven years. The new king, Henry VII maintained a precarious peace with the dominant powers of Europe and managed to keep the island nation free from trouble allowing England a small time to establish breathing space and rebuild. At least, begin to rebuild.

Midship Section of Mary Rose

When Henry VII died his second son – became King Henry VIII. His first son, Arthur had died before ascending to kingship. Arthur had briefly married the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon. In this day and age, Spain was the super power of the world and France challenging for dominance too. Because Henry VIII wanted to join a powerful Spanish alliance against France, he decided to marry his late brother’s wife Catherine of Aragon – he was six years her junior. By doing this, Henry the VIII had made a powerful enemy of France but had many strong allies including the Holy Roman emperor Maximillian alongside the superpower of Spain. Little England was trying to punch above her weight, but for those who dare; sometimes things work out. This did in the long run but in twisted ways that none designed or could have predicted at the time.   

Henry VIII had received the start of a navy from his father Henry VII, but early into his new alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, his small country decided to start by showing ambitions to the navy. England had two large warships to boast of and they were the Regent and the Sovereign. Henry VIII decided to add two more substantial battleships of the day. One was called the Peter while the other would be the Mary Rose. After this, more ships were started and the beginnings of a Royal Navy ensued.

Inside Part of Mary Rose

The grand warship ‘Mary Rose’ was launched in the summer of 1511. She went to London and received adulation in a grand ceremony as she was towed up the River Thames. The glorious array of flags and streamers must have been a colourful sight to behold as citizens of London flocked to see the modern battleship. For the times, this ship was a real state of the art building and engineering, lovingly crafted from fine English oak and craftsmen who were very proud of the profession and able to work for the grand king and country.

Some people believe the name ‘Mary Rose’ came from Henry VIII sister, Mary Tudor and the Rose of the Tudors. However, eminent historians say that it was the fashion throughout Europe to name ships from everyday common Christian names. England was trying to play alongside the big boys of Europe now and tried to emulate them in all ways.

For twenty-five years the ship patrolled and did her national duties taking part in actions against the national enemies of France and Scotland. She had castle style protection at the stern and bow with a lower mid-ship section. She would have looked resplendent in this day and was brought back into dock for a major rebuilding and enhancement programme in 1536. She was to be upgraded from a 500-ton vessel to 700 tonnes. After this, the Mary Rose continued in her duties against the main enemies until a fateful day in 1545 when the grand ship of war took a lead to attack a French invasion fleet.

Before this battle, the grand ship had performed admirably during the first and second French Wars – this was the third French war when Mary Rose was to meet her fate.

The Mary Rose lay on the Solent bed for many years.

As the Mary Rose went into action, a Flemish eye witness had his version of events written down. He saw the Mary Rose fire all one side of her guns as the battle began – a salvo. Then as the grand ship manoeuvred to present her opposite side of guns, she was caught by a strong breeze which caused the vessel to extravagantly heel to her starboard side, where many of the lower deck gun ports were still open. These were water tight when shut, but during the confusion of the battle they remained open and were, of course, in use. The sudden intake of water caused the ship to heel further over to her broadside as the weight of the water intake caught the mighty ship off balance. All people on board would have been flung about. Heavy guns and other bulk items would have broken from their fastenings and slide starboard too, causing more weight on this starboard side. Men would have been crushed and killed during the horrendous twist of fate. Those that escaped being crushed would have been struggling in a blind panic as their world, inside the ship, turned upside down. It was all over, very quickly, as the Mary Rose capsized and sank in the Solent off of the Isle of Weight and from a crew of four hundred and more; only thirty-five men survived the capsizing of the Mary Rose. The vice Admiral George Carew went down with his ship and crew as well.

Salvaged part of hull in Portsmouth museum

This terrible event rocked the entire nation and the great battleship lay on the seabed for hundreds of years until she was raised by scientists in 1982 after being re-discovered in 1971. Many of her artefacts and much of her hull are on display at the Portsmouth naval museum today.

Scientists working on Hull Preservation

Tour de France -stage seven win for Brits Sky Team.

Chris Froome wins 'King of the Mountains' red dotted shirt

I sat spell bound by the fitness and energy of all the participants in the Tour de France bike race in this stage seven - Tomblaine to La Planches des Belles Filles. It was up a huge mountain pass - a gruelling uphill slog all the way by super fit bike riding athletes - each individual was super fit. I felt exhausted just watching it. There is a Team Sky - a Brit professional road racing bicycle team. As this race went on I was gripped, hoping Bradley Wiggins would steal enough points to go into an over all lead in the competition.

Then in the final sprint GB rider Chris Froome stole the show with a finishing burst that earned him the red polka jersey for 'King of the Moutains' point accumulation. Bradley Wiggins came third gaining enough point to wear the yellow over leading jersey. 

Bradley Wiggins wins overall lead up to stage seven of Tour de France and wears the yellow jersey during the next stage of the race.

Italy Mugs Germany - Euro 2012

Germany shell shocked by semi-final defeat

The fabulous German steamroller machine has been stopped in its tracks by the calm and almost modest Italian team. A say 'calm and modest' because that is how they seemed to walk out onto the pitch against this colossal looking German team of Euro 2012 tournament. I should have known that the Italians never do scared against Germany. They are the one nation that has always managed to throw a spanner in the works against German sides. To be fair, Italy deserved the win because they played wonderfully. Two fabulous goals in the first half from Mario Balotelli virtually killed Germany off. They looked shell shocked throughout the rest of the game and could not get anything against the strong defence of Italy.

Mario Balotelli puts Italy up 1-0

In the second half Germany came out and tried to attack but the Italian defence held firm and almost caught the Germans for a bigger goal deficit on several occasions in the second half. Germany got a consolation penalty in the dying seconds of the second half injury time to make it 2-1. That score flattered Germany in this particular game. I do not mean this disrespectfully against Germany because they are truly a great side. It was just this one game that went terribly wrong for them. As a neutral I was spell bound by the audacious Italians and could not help but admire the skill of this team - they were dynamic against an extremely prestigious German side.

England of Euro 2012 will dust themselves down for the next tournament.

England lost to Italy in the Euro 2012 quarter finals. It was 0-0 after extra time but the penalty shoot out saw England exit the competition. I think we should take some positives from this England squad that Roy Hodgson is building because our defence is coming along and soon the midfield will develop too. I'm not criticising our midfield, especially the likes of veteran Steve Gerrard, but there are a lot of new developing players and they will grow in ability and confidence alongside players like Gerrard who might have only one more international competition left in them.

I hope England fans will also look at the positive things in this new emerging England squad. I think they went as far as they could, in Euro 2012, but in the future we could go that little further with Roy Hogson's careful construction. England will dust themselves down for the next tournament.

Spain Book Place in 2012 Euro Semi-Finals

Xabi Alonso marked his 100th international appearance for Spain by scoring the two goals in his nation's victory over France in the Euro 2012 quarter finals. It was a fair result, but neutral observers and, perhaps, France might have expected better opposition. 

During the first half, France looked out of sorts, with the exception of Frank Ribery who I thought played with passion. Spain got a goal and took a comfortable lead. France were lucky to go off at half time only 1-0 down.

The Spanish were passing the ball about and looked good, though they were not put to the test. In the second half France looked a little better and started to put some moves together. Again Frank Ribery of France looked good, but the rest of the team still seemed lacking as though there was no belief. Spain got a spot kick in injury time and Xabi Alonso converted the penalty to make it 2-0.

I think France has played much better on other occasions and we are yet to see a team put the Spanish defence to the test. They face Portugal next and I think this will be a dynamic encounter.

Retro British Motor Car - Austin 7 Built 1929

Austin 7 built 1929

As Carole and I was walking back to Leigh-on-Sea from Chalkwell in Essex, UK; this little gem of a car pulled up beside us and out jumped the driver who had been giving the car plenty of TLC for a number of years. He said it was his Austin 7 and it was made in 1929. He was taking it to a car show. Obviously, it is a good old retro Brit car so why not have it here on the Retro Brit blog. You don't see such splendid machines every day unless you are the gentleman that owns such a grand little car. 

Britain During the Time of Ancient Druids

Ancient Britons tended to build round dwellings with mud rendering around wicker frames in the south. Further north, Britons would use stone instead, though still in round wall design. The thatched coned roof was also common. They did not use chimneys and would have a fire burning in the middle of the dwelling. The smoke would rise up inside the thatched and cone shaped roof to slowly seep through the straw and out into the open. This stopped birds and insects nesting in the thatch. Sometimes these dwellings were clustered within great hill fort Palisades and had done so for many hundreds, if not thousands of years. The Great Hill Forts were like market towns where people would come to trade farm produce and other manufactured items, like tools. The people were illiterate before the time of the Romans and would have spoken Celtic dialects like that of the Welsh, Cornish or even Bretons of North West France. They had a religious culture based on Druidism, which today is thought of in romantic and mystical ways, though it is possible they did practise human sacrifice on occasions. This adds a more sinister aspect to the druid priests.

In Gaul, today's France, young apprentices were sent to Britain to be schooled in the ways of druids. It must have been done through word of mouth and been a very hands on method of tuition if they were illiterate and they may have had some form of rune carving that meant certain things. This religion was all but vanquished after the first couple of hundred years of Roman rule, and when Christianity came it would have diminished further.

Many of the communities throughout Britain lived in such abodes seen above until the Romans began to build villas and great cities. 

Coming Home to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

I came home from my sister's farm in Lincolnshire and walked straight into my street's Diamond Jubilee Street Party to commemorate our Queen's reign of sixty years. If Queen Elizabeth II reigns for three more years, and I'm sure she will, her reign will exceed that of Queen Victoria. Queen Elizabeth II will be the longest ruling monarch of the UK.

In the above picture, I am at the back on the crowd's right, in front of the black car, in a white cardigan. Carole is in front of me and slightly to my left with copper coloured hair. Further to my left and at the back, by the side of the car is Lloyd, my first son, holding up a beer. And just down to Lloyd's left, in front of the dark haired boy waving, is my third son, Robbie. He is waving to the camera and has ginger hair with a dark top.

Germany Euro 2012 Team Look Awesome

I sat down and watched the Germans play last night, and for a long period, in the first half ,the Greeks seemed to be holding them off in a haphazard sort of way. Plus; when the Germans did get opportunities; they were squandered. I dared to think, 'perhaps Germany might drop the ball,' and Greece would pull off another one of its team's remarkable abilities to frustrate sides that are superior to them. I don't mean this disrespectfully to the Greeks, but they are a good side that can often achieve results like this. It has enabled them to punch above their weight and in 2004, they won the competition doing this - total respect and it has worked for them in the past. It could have meant a big gun dropping out cheaply and any other nation fancying their chances for such a prestigious trophy. 

Germany did get a goal in the first half and to be fair, they deserved it. Then in the second half the Greeks needed to chase the game and for a short time they did. They scored and made it one - one. I could barely contain my excitement for I thought Greece was going to do it again and perhaps the Germans would become unsettled. No way!

Germany's response was devastating and awesome. The great German team machine clicked into gear and responded. Credit to Greece, they tried and made a game of it too, but Germany was far too strong and they won by four goals to two - five of the match's goals were scored in the second half. Greece were eventually four - one down but got a consolation goal at the end from the penalty spot to go out of the Euro 2012 competition 4-2. 

Germany's goals were excellent as her players really began to show what they are made of. Any team watching this side will be awe struck by what the Germans can do. However, there are so many good sides in this competition.

One Sunday 24th of June, England and Italy must compete to play the awesome Germany side in the semi-finals. I obviously would like to see England overcome Italy, but the Italians are a great side too. Of the sides left Germany, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and England. I think England might be the least favourite of these great teams at the moment, but on a given day; they could have the capability.

If I had to lay odds or gamble; I would go for a Spain v Germany final.

Ronnie Barker - Mispronunciation Comedy

Mispronunciation is always a cause for a giggle, but if you can do it and keep a straight face it becomes so much more laughable. I think British retro comedians explored these things and exploited them wonderfully. We still have fine comedians today, but much is based on cheap and vulgar hits on people, or so it seems. I'm not saying they were not vulgar in the past; but they often used more clever innuendo to soften the blow.

The Two Ronnies - Four Candles - Accent Confusion

This particular sketch from a British comedy show called 'The Two Ronnies' is one of the many retro classics that people always talk about. There are so many different types of accent across Britain and you only need travel 70 miles along a motor way to hear the difference in local dialect. Sometimes it is easy to misunderstand someone. In this sketch the point is really stretched and causes much laughter, because you can see the shopkeeper's point of view, yet understand the ignorant cockney who can't be too bothered by the store man's dilemma. 

Goldilocks Double Dutch by Stanley Unwin - Goldiloppers And The Three Bearloders

Another retro comedy star was Stanley Unwin. He always mixed his words up and spoke double Dutch or pigeon English. The strange thing was; everyone listened intently to try and decipher what he was saying. He would have small walk-on parts in movies and confuse everyone with his speech - yet somehow you grasped the gist of what he was trying to say. Once they had him talking about a government budget and he was a scream to listen to. The presenter remained serious and asked her political budget questions while Stanley Unwin spoke of the hardships the budget would cause to the average working Brit. He, of course, spoke in his usual confused mushy worded English. The funny thing was; you could grasp what he was saying. He made a living out of speaking like this because people wanted to try and decipher what he was saying. In the above clip, he tells the story of Goldilocks and the three Bears. Because you know the story you can grasp what he is saying - terrific fun to listen too...

The Beatles - Singing Paperback Writer

One of my favourite Beatles songs was Paperback Writer. I can remember when I was a kid and this song first came on the radio. I asked my mum who sung it. She was in the kitchen pottering about. When she said it was the Beatles, I felt a little dumb. For of course it was and I knew of them from news clippings and 'She Loves You - Yeah Yeah.' and 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' and many, many, more.

One Lonely Night - REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon are an American band and this was one of my favourites from this very good group. It is a song that brings back memories of my youth - a little way of touching back.

Steeleye Span - Mooncoin Jig

I've always liked this folk jig done by Steelye Span - though I'm sure the jig is much older then this and has been done by many folk musicians prior. It a very jolly rum ditty tune.

Thomas The Rhymer song by Steeleye Span

Thomas the Rhymer is also a favourite from Steelye Span in the 1970s. I like some of the old Brit folk songs jazzed up on modern day instruments and blended with old authentic as well. Steelye Span were very good at doing this.

Sandie Shaw - Always Something There To Remind Me

Sandie Shaw was another favourite from the 1960s and I can remember my mother often tried to sing her songs. She also had both these featured numbers on 45s as well. These bring back all sorts of kind memories from my own Peter Pan world that was always the 1960s decade set in my kiddie view of Retro Britain. I would love to be between 25 and 30 and travel back to the year I was born in 1961. I would be able to live in that decade and see it from another adult perspective. Of course I'd be loaded with lots of pounds in money too.