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Wilfred Pickles
Wilfred Pickles, OBE (13 October 1904 – 27 March 1978) was an English actor and radio presenter. Early life and personal life Pickles was born in Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He moved to Southport, Lancashire, with his family in 1929, and worked with his father as a builder. He joined an amateur dramatic society, and in a local production there met Mabel Cecilia Myerscough (1906–1989), all of whose family had been connected with the stage. He remained a proud Yorkshireman, and having been selected by the BBC as an announcer for its North Regional radio service, he went on to be an occasional newsreader on the BBC Home Service during the Second World War. He was the first newsreader to speak in an accent other than Received Pronunciation, "a deliberate attempt to make it more difficult for Nazis to impersonate BBC broadcasters", and caused some comment by wishing his fellow northerners "Good neet". Early career His first professional appearance was as an extr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woollen manufacture. Halifax is the largest town in the wider Calderdale borough. Halifax was a thriving mill town during the industrial revolution. Toponymy The town's name was recorded in about 1091 as ''Halyfax'', from the Old English ''halh-gefeaxe'', meaning "area of coarse grass in the nook of land". This explanation is preferred to derivations from the Old English ''halig'' (holy), in ''hālig feax'' or "holy hair", proposed by 16th-century antiquarians. The incorrect interpretation gave rise to two legends. One concerned a maiden killed by a lustful priest whose advances she spurned. Another held that the head of John the Baptist was buried he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willis Hall
Willis Edward Hall (6 April 1929 – 7 March 2005) was an English playwright and radio, television and film writer who drew on his working-class roots in Leeds for much of his writing. Willis formed an extremely prolific partnership with his life-long friend Keith Waterhouse producing over 250 works. He wrote plays such as ''Billy Liar'', The Long and the Short and the Tall (play), ''The Long and the Short and the Tall'', and ''Celebration''; the screenplays for Whistle Down the Wind (film), ''Whistle Down the Wind'', A Kind of Loving (film), ''A Kind of Loving'' and Alfred Hitchcock's ''Torn Curtain''; and television programmes including Budgie (TV series), ''Budgie'', Worzel Gummidge (TV series), ''Worzel Gummidge'' and Minder (TV series), ''Minder''. His passion for musical theatre led to a string of hits, including ''Wind in the Willows'', The Card (musical), ''The Card'', and George Stiles (composer), George Stiles' and Anthony Drewe's ''Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keith Waterhouse
Keith Spencer Waterhouse (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist and the writer of many television series. Biography Keith Waterhouse was born in Hunslet, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He performed two years of national service in the Royal Air Force. His credits, many with lifelong friend and collaborator Willis Hall, include satires such as ''That Was The Week That Was'', '' BBC-3'' and ''The Frost Report'' during the 1960s; the book for the 1975 musical ''The Card''; '' Budgie''; ''Worzel Gummidge''; and ''Andy Capp'' (an adaptation of the comic strip). His 1959 book '' Billy Liar'' was subsequently filmed by John Schlesinger with Tom Courtenay as Billy. It was nominated in six categories of the 1964 BAFTA awards, including Best Screenplay, and was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1963; in the early 1970s the sitcom '' Billy Liar'' based on the character was quite popular and ran to 25 ep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irene Handl
Irene Handl (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Austria-born father -- who came to England via Switzerland and started as a bank clerk working his way up into the stock exchange as a stockbroker, then became a private banker -- Friedrich (later Frederick) Handl (1874–1961), who became a naturalised British subject. Her German mother, Marie ( Schiepp or Schuepp; 1875–before 1924), was also a naturalised British subject. Theirs was a comfortable middle-class life, with a German cook and housekeeper living in the family home. From 1907 to 1915, Irene attended the Paddington and Maida Vale High School. In the 1920s, Handl travelled several times to New York with her father, with the ship's log listing her on each occasion as having no occupation and residing in the family home. Handl studied at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
For The Love Of Ada
''For the Love of Ada'' is an ITV sitcom that ran between 1970 and 1971. Although not seen on British TV for over 30 years, the complete series began airing again in late 2018 on Talking Pictures TV, albeit edited with certain offensive words muted out. One of the notable points about this series was there were no opening titles or closing credits in the real sense of the word. Instead both were superimposed on the screen as the 'live' action and script played out on the screen. Outline The sitcom stars Irene Handl as Ada Cresswell, a Cockney widow, a pensioner who is prone to malapropisms. She lives with her daughter Ruth Pollitt ( Barbara Mitchell) and son-in-law Leslie (Jack Smethurst). Ada starts a relationship with Walter Bingley (Wilfred Pickles), the gravedigger who buried her husband, after meeting him at the cemetery while laying flowers on her husband's grave. Walter is a Yorkshireman; his relationship with Ada slowly changes from one of companionship to one of rom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Quiller-Couch
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a British writer who published using the pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication '' The Oxford Book of English Verse 1250–1900'' (later extended to 1918) and for his literary criticism. He influenced many who never met him, including American writer Helene Hanff, author of ''84, Charing Cross Road'' and its sequel, ''Q's Legacy''. His ''Oxford Book of English Verse'' was a favourite of John Mortimer fictional character Horace Rumpole. Life Arthur Quiller-Couch was born in the town of Bodmin, Cornwall. He was the son of DrThomas Quiller Couch (d.1884), who was a noted physician, folklorist and historian who married Mary Ford and lived at 63, Fore Street, Bodmin, until his death in 1884. Thomas was the product of the union of two ancient local families, the Quiller family and the Couch family. Arthur was the third in a line of intellectuals from the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Oxford Book Of English Verse
''The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900'' is an anthology of English poetry, edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch, that had a very substantial influence on popular taste and perception of poetry for at least a generation. It was published by Oxford University Press in 1900; in its india-paper form it was carried widely around the British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ... and in war as a 'knapsack book'. It sold close to 500,000 copies in its first edition. In 1939, the editor revised it, deleting several poems (especially from the late 19th century) that he regretted including and adding instead many poems published before 1901 as well as poems published up to 1918.Of the original edition nearly half a million copies were issued, according to the introdu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usually, but not always, music), a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island, whilst discussing their life and the reasons for their choices. It was devised and originally presented by Roy Plomley. Since 2018 the programme has been presented by Lauren Laverne. More than 3,000 episodes have been recorded, with some guests having appeared more than once and some episodes featuring more than one guest. An example of a guest who falls into both categories is Bob Monkhouse, who appeared with his co-writer Denis Goodwin on 12 December 1955 and in his own right on 20 December 1998. When ''Desert Island Discs'' marked its 75th year in 2017, ''The Guardian'' called the show a radio classic. In Februar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tower Press
Tower Press was a British jigsaw puzzle and games manufacturer, most active from the 1930s until 1969 when they were bought by Waddingtons. By the early 1960s, they were the largest jigsaw puzzle maker in the world. History The company had its origins in the Isle of Man. They began making cardboard wearings in the 1930s but were best known for their jigsaw puzzles and later children's games. They made a jigsaw puzzle range named "Riders of the Range", and also made games such as '' Ask Pickles'' (1948), '' Inspector Brown'', and many others. By the early 1960s they were the world's largest maker of jigsaw puzzles. They purchased Budgie Toys, which was said to also be a serious competitor to the Dinky and Corgi lines in the 1960s. In 1969, shortly before the acquisition by Waddingtons, Tower Press were cited as "the most impressive example of the QE2's selling power" when they sold over 150,000 jigsaw puzzles of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jigsaw Puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture. In the 18th century, jigsaw puzzles were created by painting a picture on a flat, rectangular piece of wood, then cutting it into small pieces. Despite the name, a jigsaw was never used. John Spilsbury, a London cartographer and engraver, is credited with commercialising jigsaw puzzles around 1760. His design took world maps, and cut out the individual nations in order for them to be reassembled by students as a geographical teaching aid. They have since come to be made primarily of interlocking cardboard pieces, incorporating a variety of images & designs. Typical images on jigsaw puzzles include scenes from nature, buildings, and repetitive designs—castles and mountains are common, as well as other traditional subjects. However, any pictu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Board Game
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a competition between two or more players. To show a few examples: in checkers (British English name 'draughts'), a player wins by capturing all opposing pieces, while Eurogames often end with a calculation of final scores. '' Pandemic'' is a cooperative game where players all win or lose as a team, and peg solitaire is a puzzle for one person. There are many varieties of board games. Their representation of real-life situations can range from having no inherent theme, such as checkers, to having a specific theme and narrative, such as ''Cluedo''. Rules can range from the very simple, such as in snakes and ladders; to deeply complex, as in ''Advanced Squad Leader''. Play components now often include custom figures or shaped counters, and distin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
