PL Travers

By shendyNo Comments
Completely coincidentally with the release of the new Mary Poppins film, I was sorting through some of my dad's photos over Christmas when I noticed that one the black & white films from October 1955 mentioned PL Travers, author of the Mary Poppins books. And there, towards the end was this one frame... PL Travers, bottom right My aunt confirmed that it is her - the photo was taken at the Symons' house in Gloucester Gate near Regent's Park. The Symons were friends of the family, and I have a vague memory of visiting them there in the 1970s - something to do with being allowed to play underneath a grand piano, or something like that. My cousin apparently met her when he was 6 months old. One thing that occurred to me is that PL Travers probably reduces my Bacon Number quite significantly (see Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon) - me to my dad, to PL Travers, to Walt Disney, to anyone...
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Commemoration Day, 1955

By shendyNo Comments
My father on graduation day (known as Commemoration Day), October 1955 at the Royal Albert Hall.EDIT: Just found this in felixonline.co.uk (the IC student newspaper):In 1945, King George VI and the Queen Mother visited Imperial College to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Royal College of Chemistry, the oldest of the institutions that were amalgamated into Imperial College in 1907. It was decided that this royal visit would be commemorated annually, and it is this ceremony, held in the Royal Albert Hall, at which Imperial undergraduate students celebrate graduation....
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Petrolhead

By shendyNo Comments
Peter Collins in a Formula 1 Maserati 250F. Crystal Palace 30/05/1955 Colin Chapman in a Lotus XI. Goodwood 24/09/1955 A couple of shots from the 1955 motorsport summer. The amount of detail my dad recorded on some of these shots is great - written on the back of the prints of these two photos is the following: 1) Formula 1 Maserati 250F (2.5 litre), disc brakes, alloy wheels. Owen Racing Organisation car, driven by Peter Collins 2) Lotus Mk IX Climax, 1097cc. Six Mile Stable, driven by Colin Chapman. Almost certainly XPE8, the works car at Le Mans 1955. Cleaned up on the races that day....
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ICDS – Maidstone 1955

By shendyNo Comments
Similarly to the production that the Imperial College Drama Society put on in Cheltenham in 1954, they did the same in Maidstone in 1955.Mr & Mrs FletcherLes and Ursula on stageI think that the first shot is of the landlord & landlady in the pub that they adopted during their stay - there are several photos that appear to be in the pub.I suspect that my father wasn't acting in this particular play, as this was taken from above the stage. I don't know what play they were doing - surprisingly enough his records don't say.I suspect the reason I never really became interested in the theatre (drawing a discrete veil over my appearance as a Munchkin) is that I was subjected to too much Shakespeare as a small child. My parents were (and my mother still is) long-standing active members of the Masque Theatre amateur group in Northampton, and they were always involved in the annual open-air productions. Being...
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Rowing, 1955

By shendyNo Comments
Head of the River Race, 4th VIII throwing the boat.Imperial College 3rd VIII at Walton Regatta, my father 2nd from right in the front rowAlong with the Drama Society, my father also rowed for Imperial College, competing in the Head of the River race two or three times. I'm not quite sure how he managed to combine both of these activities along with studying for his degree, but he seemed to manage it!Interestingly enough, three of his interests were photography, cycling and rowing - I do the first two and have done the third. Something went wrong though, as I've never been interested in the theatre....
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