Hi Folks, I think I saw a message on this list some time ago now saying that Generations wouldn't run under XP... can anyone tell me if that is true please? I have XP Pro. I have Generations on my old Win 95 computer and love the programme but would like to get rid of that machine if I can get all transferred to this one. Thanks Dorothy -- Dorothy Gibbs (in Hertfordshire, UK)

Hello Muriel It is remarkable how many of your memories strike a chord with mine.If my memory serves me correctly there was (and may still be) a law preventing performances on stage before achieving the age of twelve years and I think that it had to be before 10 pm or something like that. Like you I remember young Julie Andrews and saw her introduced to the audience at the Golders Green Hippodrome by her parents Ted and Barbara who for some years had toured the halls singing together, as did Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth and Janet Hamilton-Smith and John Hargreaves. I seem to remember that young Julie could sing in the first half but had to remain silent in the second. What a wonderful source of entertainment those theatres were. We saw the big bands like Ted Heath (I remember one performance with Jack Parnell in the band and Paul Carpenter as MC), the crazy bands like Dr Crock and his Crackpots, the big comedians like Arthur Askey and the up and coming Frankie Howerd. Then there were the seasons of musicals Brigadoon and the never to be forgotten John Hanson in Desert Song. If that was not enough we also saw most of the plays either prior to the West End or as they started their tours and, at Christmas, the Pantomime. And all so very much better than seeing it on film or on television. Changing subject, your grandmother's letter to your father reminded me so much of the family Christmases we enjoyed as children. I can recall the sound of my aunt's piano and the family singing even now. Particularly the year we had several Canadian soldiers in to join us, never dreaming that so many would be lost at Dieppe. I was reminded of the story related by my mother of grandfather and the Christmas turkey. I apologise if I have submitted this to the list on a previous occasion (but if I did I do not remember it ... too recent!). My grandfatherwas a milkman,known universally it appeared as ‘Doctor’, and was quite a character. Not always nice but a character certainly. Take the case of the Christmas turkey. It seems that grandfather had been celebrating Christmas with a drink here and there as he did his rounds finishing up wishing seasonal greetings to his friends at the Police Station in West Hampstead. He then collected his turkey to which he attached a string and proceeded to drag it along in the manner of walking a dog. Almost home and he was apprehended by a zealous young constable new to the beat. The policeman insisted that my inebriated grandfather accompany him to the station. Upon his arrival the station sergeant asked what he was doing back there. The PC was told off and ‘Doctor’ told to go home. Grandfather’s response was to demand transport back to where he had been apprehended. Thus grandfather and his turkey arrived at his front door in a police car causing considerable speculation by the neighbours. Regards to all Len

Hi Lister Friends, With memories so much on my mind, I suddenly remembered the "treasure trove" that I was sitting on! I have photocopies of three letters written by my paternal grandmother, to my father, who was serving in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, in India. The family were living in Coventry, although George was born in Claydon and his forebears were from the Banbury area of Oxfordshire. Grandma was from Sowe, close to the NE boundary of Coventry, but which has subsequently been engulfed by the city. I hope that I haven't sent you to sleep, but I needed to "set the scene", as it were. I will quote from one of her letters, which describes an actual event, the like of which we see no more. Its importance struck me anew, as I re-remembered it, and there will be those amongst you who may also be interested. There is an introductory sentence before we get to the "nitty gritty", but it "places" the event. So, here goes--------------------> Jan 4th 1926 My Dearest Son (Len) ---------------------------------------------etc Now I must tell you a bit of how we spent Xmas, Well Dear Len the first start off, Dad came Home at 2pm on Xmas Eve with a goose 10 pounds, which he had won so I set too (sic) and stuffed it & got all ready for the oven on Xmas Morning, & it was a treat, I can tell you, but we never had a soul in all the Holiday till Bert & Len Thomas came in & Dick Farrer but we were going out to our cousins Tom Liggins at Cross Rd, it was on the Sunday night to join his party & hear some sacred singing being Sunday we could not have any fun like we did at Uncle Harrys. For we went there on Boxing night, and if you could have seen us all, the fun we had that night, it was a scream when they cried the forfeits. I had to go round the Room & Kiss all the gentlemen, married & single & then when that was over cousin Tom & Lydia played a lovely Duet on the piano. & then we all sang together, a song called ( Down on the Bings Farm) Then me & a young lady sang together (Good King Wenceslas) And they clapped us, for another one, so after that we had Wine & ale & sandwiches handed round, because of the shortness of table room, as there was 21 folks altogether but what spoilt it a little Lydia's Uncle Mr Twycross of Handsworth Bham was taken suddenly ill and had to go to bed with a Hot Bottle to his side he was in such pain, but he got better & was able to leave for Home on the next night. All of us were as sober as judges, but one Uncle from Stourpourt (sic), gave us a Comic Song, and by Jove I never did so much laughing since you left home, as I did that night, my neck was quite sore next morning, but I felt heaps better for the fun. --------------------------etc From Your loving Mother & Dad G & E. Parritt xxx xxx xx I ended up reading the account a trifle breathlessly as in my young days we were trained to breath at a fullstop, and snatch a quick breath at commas! ( I had worse problems when reading missives which Gt-Aunt Alice used to post to me in NZ.in the 60s, as the punctuation was extremely scarce!). Despite this the account comes across graphically, doesn't it? For readers from Canada and USA, Boxing Day is on December 26th, it is a public holiday,and traditionally postmen and tradesmen received a "tip", in appreciation of their services throughout the year. I have my doubts about the "sober as judges" comment; with the excitement of the evening and ale and potent home-made wines passed around? I knew Grandma only as a rather austere, formidable figure, so these letters were an eye-opener! Dad was posted out to India in 1922, so she had evidenty missed him, ( and his brother, who was there too), a lot. For the record, my brother has the originals of her letters. I hope that you enjoyed that account of evenings of yesteryear, as they were before the advent of the wireless, gramophone and television killed such familial gatherings, where you all had a "piece" you could perform for the entertainmment of the rest. It is a glimpse into another age. Regards, Muriel.

The "Roaring 20s" near Bradenton, Florida also has a rising Wurlitzer and a wonderful organ show while you eat pizza -of all things! The organ player operates many additional instruments(drums, xylophones,trumpets,etc.) in addition to a large array of pipes. Great place to stop for lunch or a lite dinner while on holiday in the area. Shows run most days, mutiple times a day. Phyllis Kent

Hi Everyone, The recently described memories of so many of you have triggered off additional ones for me. And as I ponder over these even more spill out. It is like the opening of Pandora' s Box, although I hope not with the same disastrous results! How many of you confess to be old enough to remember the theatre organ, in its heyday? The largest cinemas had splendid ones, which rose majestically from the floor, and played for us, before the film and in the interval. The organist enjoyed great prestige and the audience enjoyed his performance just as much as they did the following newsreels and films. The Gaumont and the Empire, central city cinemas in Coventry, had good examples of this. Their splendid foyers and general decor, together with the organ playing as it rose up, and finally descended, (still playing), were occasions to remember and cherish, as small Muriel usually only attended the Saturday children's sessions in the suburbs. Theatre organs were all the vogue in the 30s and 40s---maybe even lasted longer, although I can't be sure of that. Do any of you remember listening to Reginald Forte on the radio? He had a regular series which was enjoyed by a huge following. I like organs---all organs, even the little one in great Aunt Alice's front-room, which you had to pedal madly as you played! Not that I produced anything of musical note, being more likely to play "Chopsticks" and the like! My out and out favourite type of organ was the pipe one, of the type that has survived the centuries. I know that electonic pipe organs exist, there was one in Preston Baptist Church, near Paignton, Devon, but while admirable they lack the magnificent sound of the REAL thing. My own Baptist Church obtained a small (real) one and with an organist/ choirmaster who was a great exponenet of Bach, set me on my way to being in love with organ sound! However it is the enormous organs, found in cathedrals, in the Central Hall Westminster and the Albert Hall that I loved best of all. I was exposed to the latter two in my teens and it was sublime when you could feel the vibrations throughout your being, (via your toes!), as the great bass pipes produced their glorious rumbles. Sadly, the way things have panned out I rarely get to indulge my love anymore.One memory surfaces of visiting Nelson cathedral, about fifteen or sixteen years ago, when the organist was practising. The rest of my party left me to it whilst they did some shopping, and I enjoyed this oasis of calm pervaded by such lovely sound---albeit punctuated at times with a pause, and retry of a passage. Joe mentions the demise of the 78s when LPs were introduced. It couldn't have happened at a worse time for me, as the previous year I had been given a portable gramaphone as my 21st present. Unlike later models it did not have multiple choice of speeds.The long players were such a huge step forward, in the quality of their sound, though, as well as playing for so much longer. I just had the misfortune to have my pride and joy becoming outdated almost before the wrapping was off. That's the price of progress! I am old enough to remember the hisses and squeals that eminated from our wireless sets, especially in the 30s. Sunspots and weather conditions affected reception badly. Dad used to sit there delicately tuning past stations like Radio Luxembourg, Hilversum, Hamburg and Droitwich---just a few that come to mind. Brief sounds of music or speaking invaded the room as he sought his station.Then he bought a model with cat's whisker tuning and an "eye" expanded or contracted when you were getting on or off the station.It needed concentration and "lots of hush", so woe betide you if you disturbed Dad at this juncture! He was as proud of it as anyone today with the most sophisticated stereo-system. As a youngster, our noses were kept fairly well down to the grindstone, homework-wise, so I never got to sample the joys of Youth Clubs. Infact some girls aroused the ire of our headmistress by attending regularly, and scamped their set work. We were all told, in no uncertain terms, that these places were for those who had left school and had leisure time to fill---they were NOT for the likes of us! With this option out I think that I passed through my youth in a time warp, as popular music mainly passed me by. But at Training College, with scrimping and saving,and queueing for "stools" to obtain a 2/6d ticket in the galleries of West End theatres, we were able to enjoy "Annie Get Your Gun", "Oklahoma", "Brigadoon" and "Castles in the Air". The greats of the musical comedy world gave wonderful renditions of such engaging songs---and the scenery was spectacular. I discovered popular music when my children were growing up and have favourites amongst them that still give me much pleasure. Memories bring back so many happy times, but I am looking forward to more of them, too. Regards, Muriel.

Yes Murial.. I am Old enough and still enjoy ..Organ Music be it ... *Handels Largo : or REGINAL DIXON..playing .. "Who's Taking You Home Tonight" etc., ---------------------------------- >>>Same guy who paid 1/9d for back stalls. ????. betty ----- Original Message ----- From: "pollyp" <pollyp@xtra.co.nz> To: <ENG-BANBURY-AREA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 3:37 PM Subject: [BAN] Pandora's Box---Sounds of Music! > Hi Everyone, > The recently described memories of so many of you have triggered > off additional ones for me. And as I ponder over these even more > spill out. It is like the opening of Pandora' s Box, although I hope not > with the same disastrous results! > the demise of the 78s when LPs were introduced. > of

Is there anyone with access to Brackley PRs from 1882 that can lookup the burial of a Samuel Strange buried April, May or June? I found a death entry in FreeBMD, but the age is wrong (82 when it should be 72), so am not sure it is him. Thanks, Heather

Hi Everyone: I have enjoyed the memories etc. that have appeared on my screen and also enjoyed many of the comics etc. in my far-distant youth. But Muriel's letter about organs has driven me to reply. I too enjoy organ music mainly because of my organ playing husband but do remember the rising and falling organ in the Regal in Uxbridge. We did spend time in Blackpool a few years ago on one of our trips, to see the Illuminations and visit the Tower Ballroom which has a rising and falling Wurlitzer (at least it did when we were there, they have a different one now) and several excellent organists our favourite being Phil Kelsall. Here in Canada we have an excellent Kimball pipe organ in a church in Kingston, Ont. and we belong to the Kingston Theatre Organ Club and have enjoyed many of their concerts with organists from the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. My husband was also very much involved with the rebuilding of another pipe organ in an historic cinema in Renfrew, Ont. This, we believe, is the only cinema organ actually in a cinema in Canada. The Ottawa Valley Theatre Organ Society have the ambition to open up the original organ pit so that it too can go up and down and thrill the kids! I agree that pipe organs in churches and cathedrals have a very special sound that is unreproduceable by anything else and is a very uplifting experience even if one is not very knowledgeable about classical music. More power to your memories Muriel they are a very good trigger for the rest of us. Barbara Adair. P.S. I will be in New Zealand in February 2005 and would like a phone number to be able to contact you and take you out to lunch, how about it?

Rhoda also frustrated 3 weeks trying to get the internet back after move now only aol8 but hoping to get back to normal sometime soon 122 emails to read best wishes nice to be back now at 7 falkners close Adderbury ox17 3sh

Just to lt you all know. Angela is fine in health, which is more than can be said for her computer!! She has had to send it away for repair. as all attempts to rectify the problem ended in frustration! She wanted to let you all know that as soon as she has it working again, she will let us all know, and that she's missing you all. Ian

Hi list I have decided to go back to my NICHOLLS research: My family came from Wootton near Woodstock Oxfordshire and I have traced them back to: Thomas NICHOLLS who married Anne BECK in Hook Norton Oxfordshire April 19th 1789 One of their sons James NICHOLLS married Ann JORDAN September 24th 1815 in Wootton Oxfordshire One of their sons Harry NICHOLLS married Ellen POULTON in Wootton Oxfordshire and later moved most of the family to Aynho Northamptonshire I would like to contact anyone researching this line of the NICHOLLS family and in particular am searching for Information on the NICHOLLS family from Hook Norton. Christine Hartwell Oregon U S A

The film was called 'Blackboard Jungle', and concerned an American school in which all the pupils seemed to be adults. There was a wide area between the front row of seats and the screen where previously the theatre organ had popped up and down, The soundtrack music was recorded by a gentleman named Bill Haley. Bill was certainly no youngster, but the music had an infectious rhythm, and several couples rose from their seats to dance in the aisle. On came the theatre lights and the film was stopped. The local newspaper later reported 'Teenage gang riot in City Centre'. Clearly, civilisation was under threat. The teenage culture had arrived. Society expressed displeasure, and proceeded to satisfy the material demands of this new market. Teenagers demanded recognition as individuals, and the right to conform rigidly with the fashions and mores of their chosen grouping. Our wild set attended a youth club on Friday evenings, where we played records lasting three minutes each, at 78 rpm. These came in plain brown paper jackets and did not survive if sat upon. Boys stood in groups, watching the girls dance together, and estimated who was wearing the most petticoats. In the back room we could indulge in table tennis or darts. What rebels we were. An early battleground was a parting in the hair. The desired style was a Crewe cut, which had little to do with a railway company but a badge of membership. Pupils were inspected on arrival at school and sent home unless a parting could be discerned in the hair. Sales of gel soared. Our musical knowledge was updated at weekends by listening to the Top Twenty records on Radio Luxembourg (That is spelled K, E, Y, N ...), assuming we could get reception. It seems strange now, but position in the pop chart was decided by sales of sheet music to pianists. The names of groups were innocent and quite wistful; Star Gazers, Dream Weavers. Elvis was approaching... We didn't realise it, but society had changed forever. Smokey Checked by Norton 2004 before transmission with Mozilla Thunderbird

I find a young girl born in Banbury about 1870 by the name of Ann Elizabeth MARLOW listed in the 1881 census in Warwick with her grandparents, William and Ann (WARD) PINFOLD. I'm wondering if anybody recognizes this girl or her grandparents. I know Ann was from Bradden, Northampton and William was born in Middleton Cheney, Northampton in about 1827 and about 1823 respectively. Ann's parents were Thomas and Elizabeth (WOODS) WARD whom I've been doing quite a little research on. TIA, Nancy ------------------------------- Nancy Ward NWard2@twcny.rr.com Syracuse, New York

I had an unexpected message from Rosemary about a week ago, a good welcome, saying that she looked forward to being back in circulation but was completely engaged at present with looking after her husband, a position well understood and empathised with here. Angela - sorry, don't know, but I'm a comparative newgirl anyway. Hope all's well. Jill ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joe Connell" <jfc.public@virgin.net> To: <ENG-BANBURY-AREA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 8:00 AM Subject: [BAN] Re: Concern > Can we have an update on Angela and Rosemary? > > Smokey > > Checked by Norton 2004 before transmission > with Mozilla Thunderbird > > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >

Can we have an update on Angela and Rosemary? Smokey Checked by Norton 2004 before transmission with Mozilla Thunderbird

IRHUCKIN@aol.com wrote: > but cannot find a r with a 'v' accent >on anywhere (as in Dvorák). If anyone knows of a font that has it, I would be >very grateful. > > Hi, you should find it in charmap, but it doesn't have an alt-keystroke to produce it. When I look at charmap using Arial, the ř is the last one on the 14th row. Hope this helps, Brenda NZ -- Brenda Anderson curiouskiwi@orcon.net.nz ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ www.curiouskiwi.com

Using the same logic in Wordperfect I found it. Thanks, Ian

Hi Ian I think I have what you are looking for in my Microsoft Word ( and Publisher). Click 'Insert', click 'Symbols', Times New Roman, subset 'Latin Extended-A', character code 0159 from Unicode (hex). Len

u with Umlaut - ü - is alt 0252. Character map is supplied with windows under Accessories I think (I keep it on the worktop). Possibly under Applications if it isn't. I use it an awful lot for accents etc, but cannot find a r with a 'v' accent on anywhere (as in Dvorák). If anyone knows of a font that has it, I would be very grateful. Thanks, Ian Up to his eyes in card and paper.

Not exactly PC you know Betty! I am far to young to remember then of course. Andy Capp was more the mark. Dad was a firm Labourite!! No-one has mentioned Roy Race! Anyway, I am tired so orf to bed!!! Ian Researching lots!!