More giants!

By now everyone will have seen the news about Gog and Magog in the local papers. I'm pleased that the Herald picked up on the story from my blog and then 'exclusively' released the details on Wednesday. It's a very exciting project and let's hope it all goes ahead as I'm sure it will bring tourists flocking to the area, from worldwide, which will hopefully also increase trade in the many shops, cafes and pubs and other businesses in the city. Duttons Cafe will have the perfect vantage point and the Gog and Magog Inn will no longer have customers coming in asking what their strange name means! I think it's a very impressive proposal and seems to have the support of the people of Plymouth. Some people are already talking about the cost but I personally think that many people would happily volunteer to help out on such an iconic project and it probably wouldn't cost as much as perhaps imagined.

By Thursday, the Herald had featured people's reactions to the project, which on the whole, seemed favourable. I took the photo of Charles, which featured in the paper, on Mount Batten Pier when he attended the council meeting at the beginning of December. It will be interesting to see how it all develops and I know that Charles has had a lot of support already. Incidentally, he was interviewed on Radio Plymouth about the project and clips from the interview can be heard this Sunday (12th January) between 8am and 11am, either online at ww.radioplymouth.com or on 106.7fm (on one of those old-fashioned radio things).
I'll try to keep you up to date with any progress on this blog, so please check back.

Gog and Magog to return to Plymouth Hoe!

The huge chalk giants that last stood on Plymouth Hoe in the 1600s are about to make a comeback and should be in place by September this year.
Back in July 2013, the artist Charles Newington contacted me after reading my blog post about Gog and Magog. Charles was behind the Folkestone White Horse which stands above the entrance to the Channel Tunnel in Kent. Charles told me of his idea to put the huge chalk drawings back on the Hoe and asked if I could help.  After taking photos and measurements (the land in front of the Citadel is 67 feet!), Charles prepared some preliminary drawings, which can be seen here. I suggested that Charles contacted Chris Robinson and that set the ball rolling. The idea was approved at a meeting of Plymouth Waterfront Partnership in September 2013 and then Chris arranged a meeting with the council on 6th December which was attended by Tudor Evans, David Draffan, Charles Newington, Malcolm Beskin (Charles' associate) and Chris Robinson. The whole idea was welcomed and agreed to and is going ahead and should be in place, if all goes well, by September 2014.
I'm confused by the council's secrecy about what is a fantastic project which should become famous worldwide. The press, or other media, haven't been told and it's all been kept hush-hush. However, I think that the people of Plymouth will want to get behind the idea so I'm publishing it here for the first time. Now all I've got to rely on is that people actually read my blog...

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