Photo archive

I'm trying to put together an online archive of old photos of Plymouth, many rare and unseen. By putting them on Flickr, they will be easily viewable to everyone. I've made a start at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/derektaitoldphotos and hopefully, over the next few months (or years), the archive will grow to contain many thousands of photos. I hope to include many views and events that haven't been seen before on the net and I hope they will be of great interest to many people.

Merry Christmas!

A merry Christmas to everyone who reads my blog and buys my books (and to everyone else!).
It's been an interesting year; new book contracts, artists, chalk giants (oops) and newspaper columns. I've also been sent lots of interesting photos and stories for which I'm always very grateful.
There's lots in store next year with several books on the First World War and one all about the 1960s.
Thanks to everyone who has written to me over the year. Hope you continue to enjoy my books and blog and I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy 2014!

A Sunderland flying boat in Plymouth Sound

This latest rare photo features a Sunderland flying-boat touching down in Plymouth Sound. It comes from a scrapbook of cuttings which once belonged to the historian Marshall Ware which all seem to date from 1959 to 1960.
The accompanying text says:
'A Sunderland flying-boat touched down in Plymouth Sound today for the first time for over two years.
Belonging to the French Navy, the Sunderland brought two French officers paying an official Plymouth call after taking up NATO appointments last month. They were Capitaine de vaisseaux Kervella, Air Commander at Brest, and the chief of staff there, Capitaine de vaisseaux de Lachadenede.
First they called on the A.O.C. No.19 Group, Costal Command, R.A.F., Air Vice-Marshal G.I.L. Saye, at Mount Batten, and later on the Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth Command, Admiral Sir Richard Onslow, at Mount Wise.
The Sunderland's visit brought back nostalgic memories for officers at R.A.F. Mount Batten, who had served with these flying-boats during the war. France still uses the Sunderland for reconnaissance, although no flying-boats are at present in service by Britain.'

Artist Charles Newington and Plymouth Hoe

Here's a photo of the artist, Charles Newington, with Plymouth Hoe in the background, on 6th December 2013. But why is he in Plymouth? The clues are there and all will be revealed...eventually!
Meanwhile, here's an interesting read:
http://plymouthlocalhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/gog-and-magog.html

The Great Treasure Hunt of 1904

Paul Slade, a London journalist, contacted me in November 2013 about a nationwide treasure hunt that was held by the Weekly Dispatch back in 1904.
Medallions were buried all over the country and clues were issued in the paper daily. Anyone finding a medallion could claim a cash prize, with the most valuable being worth £50 (a fortune in 1904). Medallions worth thousands of pounds were buried in many towns and cities and the resulting treasure hunt led to chaos. In January 1904, a London barrister, Thomas Wright, came home to find a mob of treasure hunters digging up his garden. When he confronted them, he was attacked and, fearing for his safety, took refuge in a neighbour's house until the police arrived. Gardens were destroyed, public highways were torn up and general mayhem followed whenever the Weekly Dispatch announced their latest location of buried treasure. Men, women and children carrying knives, shovels and sticks dug wherever they pleased leaving a trail of havoc. Many cases ended up in court and the treasure hunt lasted for several weeks. Suddenly, on 14th February 1904, the Weekly Dispatch stopped posting clues and the treasure hunt came to an end. This followed the paper being issued with an injunction from London County Council's parks committee, which was backed by the Attorney General, which requested that the scheme be dropped immediately. Many medallions were never found and four of these were hidden in Plymouth. One of the clues to the location of the Plymouth medallions was issued in the newspaper on 31st January 1904. A reporter from the newspaper had recently travelled to Plymouth to hide the tokens and stated:
'Inky dark it was, and the rain fell in torrents as I turned sharp to my left from Mill Bay Station, under the bridge, and followed the train-line.'I was struck with the exceptional beauty, as disclosed by a street lamp, of the marble pavement along the front of a big building. But I could not thrust a medallion into marble, so I passed one.'Not far from there, but on my right, I perceived the unique sign of an enterprising tradesman – a sign that seemed to be mutely telling me that, but for the magic disc, I should have been listening to the merry frazzle at that very moment of bacon and eggs.'Soon I espied a church, also on my right, and nearby I saw a narrow and quiet street, leading to the left, from the main road.'Here, I thought, was my chance. Exploring the street, I noticed that the road was loosely laid in places. It would be easy to press the treasure under the stones there. I was just stooping to do so when a man, evidently late for work, rushed round the corner, so I pretended to be fastening my shoelace. After that, the street was never quite clear of people, so I decided to leave it for a few minutes, possibly to try again a little later.' Meanwhile I visited another street not far away. Opposite a large establishment which is doubtless deeply interested in the ‘big or little loaf’ question was a low wall. I looked over it.'

And so, almost 110 years passed without the Plymouth medallions ever being discovered. With the Second World War and much rebuilding, it seemed unlikely that they would have survived or ever be found. However, the story takes a strange twist and Paul was recently contacted by Alvaro Casares who had found one of the tokens while using a metal detector in November 2013. It was located just four inches beneath the soil of Plymouth’s Brickfields Recreation Ground. It's amazing that it had remained hidden for all that time and three more, perhaps, are still out there, although they probably have little value nowadays. The whole fascinating story can be read at Paul's website at http://www.planetslade.com/treasure-hunt-riots1.html

Lost photo archives

It seems that many local newspapers such as the Evening Herald and the Western Morning News have limited photo archives. Many events recorded by the newspapers pre-1990 seem to be lost forever. While many photos have been contributed to and scanned by the South West Image Bank on the Barbican, there seems to be a huge hole in the archives and the only answer can be that the photos have either been destroyed or thrown away over the years. Oddly, some of the photos turn up in the US and are sold on ebay.
I've lots of old cuttings and unusual photos from Plymouth's past and wherever possible, I'll try to put them on this blog so that everyone can see them (and I'll also put them on my Flickr pages). Hopefully, even though some pictures aren't of very high quality, they will fill some of the missing gaps.
The few photos shown here come from the Western Morning News of Wednesday 25th July 1923 (please click on the images to view them larger). The caption for the photos read: 'Plymouth toll bridges at Stonehouse (left), the purchase of which is soon to be completed, and at the Embankment roads, which the Special Purposes Committee of Plymouth Town Council recommend shall be abolished at the close of the present year.'
Footnote: It seems that the negatives from photos used in the Western Morning News and Evening Herald over the years have survived after all and they're mentioned in an article from the Evening Herald of 24th December 2013:
http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/s-Hoe-lot-snow/story-20360683-detail/story.html

Plymouth in the Great War

With the centenary of the First World War coming up next year, there will be many books published as well as many events to mark the commencement of the Great War in 1914. I've been commissioned by Pen and Sword to write a series of books, one of which will be 'Plymouth in the Great War'.Rising tensions in Europe and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, led to Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia. This led to the Central Powers, which included Germany and Austria-Hungary, and the Allies, which included the British Empire, the French Republic and the Russian Empire, to declare war on each other which led to the commencement of the First World War on 28 July 1914.
On 4th August 1914, just before midnight, the offices of the Western Morning News in Plymouth posted an announcement in their window that Britain had declared war on Germany. One of the newspapers journalists recorded, 'The news caused a profound sensation, several women swooning, and a long murmur of excitement passed through the crowd.'

Many people were asleep in their beds and knew nothing of the announcement until the following day when official war notices were placed in newspaper publishers’ windows and on placards. Newspapers were soon full of the news.

Plymouth played a huge part in the First World War with thousands of troops passing through the port on their way to France.The Journal of Commerce of 18th August 1914 reported:
'The principal base of military operations is Plymouth, one of the most important of the southern shipping ports. There, the already perfected organisation of the regular infantry and artillery branches of the service has been concentrating since the morning of August 5th.
During the day and night, more than 10,000 troops of these arms were assembled. The mobilization of these soldiers moved smoothly and within twenty-four hours, they were ready with full equipment for service.
The busy English seaport was transformed into an armed camp overnight. The railways there were virtually in possession of the Government that morning. Until August 9th, when our correspondent of the World left for New York, the regular schedules of train service between London and Plymouth were suspended, the Government assuming complete control.
The movement of troops and paraphernalia of war continued day and night without interruption from the morning of the fifth. In the four days from August 5th to August 9th, 120,000 British fighting men had been assembled at Plymouth, according to officers of the service to whom had been instructed the mobilisation preliminary to the execution of plans for their transportation to Continental points.'
Regiments included Pals Battalions one of which was the Footballers' Battalion (the 17th Service Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment). Several players from Plymouth Argyle enlisted in the regiment.
The war was a long and bloody one. Plymouth played a major part in the struggle supplying ships, weapons and troops. Men from all around the world passed through the port on their way to the conflict. Once the war was over, there wasn't a family in Plymouth who hadn't lost a son, father, nephew, uncle or brother. There were tremendous celebrations in the streets as the end of the war was announced but the effects of the war lasted for years to come.

The Evening Herald of 11th November 1918 carried joyous news:
'News of the signing of the armistice reached us this morning before 9 o'clock through the courtesy of the Admiralty Headquarters at Mount Wise. A veritable pandemonium arose in the Dockyard and district: scores of sirens rent the air with their shrill blasts and big steamer horns boomed out their deep-throated message. At last the world war had come to an end. School children demonstrated to their hearts' content, marching along the principal streets, singing and cheering and exchanging greetings on all sides. One procession had as leader the ubiquitous Charlie Chaplin replete with moustache, cane and preposterous boots.'
The story of Plymouth's part in the First World War is too involved to be condensed into this short article but I hope that many people will enjoy reading the book when it's published next year.