Tyneham... a village lost in time

Last weekend chas had a gig in Devon, so we made a holiday of it and went away for the weekend.
En-route we decided to stop off at Tyneham in Dorset, a small abandoned village nestled amongst the Purbeck Hills, only a few miles from the sea, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door.
It was rather tricky to find... our sat nav couldn't locate it, all maps are a bit vague to is precise location and it cannot be seen from the main road. The only clue to its exsitance is the sign on the road proclaimng "village open"!
Tyneham's history dates back to the Iron Age, when fishing communities once resided there. It also has connections with William the Conqueror who gave the local land to his brother, the Earl of Mortain.

However, the most memorable time in Tyneham's history began towards just before Christmas 1943, when the village and 7,500 acres of surrounding heath and downland were commandeered by the War Office to be used as firing ranges for training troops. Altogether, 252 people were displaced.

This was supposed to be a temporary arrangement during WWII, but in 1948 the army placed a compulsory purchase order on the land and it has remained in use for military training ever since. The villagers were not allowed to return to their homes, but were given new accomodation. After the war, many of the villagers launched campaigns and demonstrations, but to no avail. Since that time Tyenham has remained uninhabbited and frozen in time. Many of the buildings still stand in various states of disrepair, some have been restored like the church and school, however some, such as the 'Great House' have been lost forever.
For me the most poingnant feature in the village was the perfectly preserved K1 phone box, which was only installed a short while before the village's evacuation. Original war posters can be seen in place inside along with the original phone, complete with "A" and "B" buttons. It must have been such a thrill for this rural and removed village to finally have direct and immediate contact with the outside world, all be it briefly.

I found my visit to the village very moving, espacially when I read the note that the villagers left the Military upon evactuation...


'Please treat the church and houses with care; we have given up our homes where many of us lived for generations to help win the war to keep men free. We shall return one day and thank you for treating the village kindly.'


Upon reading this, knowing that they were never allowed to return and to see the village as it is now really hit me and I had a bit of a sob... Chas called me daft, so I ate his spare sandwich... ha!

Here are some more piccies...

Before

After

Chas inside one of the derelict homes... it was so sad, and really touching as each house had a plaque with pictures of the familes who once lived there

The church

The old post office

Bang Bang?

I have been toying with the idea of getting bangs cut into my jaw length bob, a la Louise Brooks. but really can't decide. It sounds a bit silly worrying about just doing it, but the thing is my hair takes forever to grow (I had it cropped super pixie short back in 2005... it's taken 5 years and lots of tufty hair-dos, to get to the length it is now.
Other factors are...

• The majority of my wardrobe is 30s so would the bob match? (Not that it matters, as I guess being a bit eclectic is OK, but when I had cropped hair none of my clothes looked the same anymore) 
• I've heard bangs are a pain to keep in check
• Is my face too wide?
• Is my hair to fine? (it's very fine and can look a bit limp at times)
• Does the bob need to be all the same length? I have different lengths in my hair as it's still growing out from the crop of doom.
• Am I the wrong body shape? Brooksie was so sylph like and elegant, I'm hardly that, having hips n boobs n'all, I'm also not very tall... I love Hayley Atwell's bob in Brideshead Revistited, and she's got curves (oh she is bloomin' gorgeous, and a good actress, am loving her in "Any Human Heart" on TV atm.) However, she's taller than me, and has a mass of gorgeous dark hair. (But then I guess it could be a wig, but in real life her hair looks luciously thick and glossy, as opposed to my reddish brown flyways.)

Anyway, any opinions would be greatly appreciated.the other half just said "whatever you want sweetie" ... oh he is useful!

I want her hair and dress and job

Ms. Holmes looked fab with this do

Thank you sweeties

G x

The Vintage Guide to London

I recently started to write for the Vintage Guide to London, and am most proud today as I discovered that I've been published! I did a little Q&A and it's been popped onto the site. As it tells you a little bit about bits of vintagey Londinium I like and I thought you may like have a ganders in case you'd like it too. Check out the site for the Q&A and more goodies at:

http://www.thevintageguidetolondon.com/

WHY CAN'T MY FEET BE SMALLER!!

SHOE SWOON! Just browsing Etsy and I saw these beauties... far too small and outta my price range anyway. But my oh my...

If they fit you and you have the funds check out kickshaw's Etsy shop.

G x

Throwback!

On Saturday I mooched along to Throwback at Bloomsbury Bowls, which was a marvellous event organised by the lovely peeps from "The Vintage Guide to London" It was a truly splendid event. I only planned on staying till ten, but didn't end up rocking out of the joint until midnight! (Fortunately I didn't turn into a pumpkin!)

I met my lovely new pal Bethan, who looked wonderful, with her flowing red locks and in a late 1930s dress that had a sweet little print of squirrels all over it...

 

We walked to the venue together down some wonderful streets in the Bloomsbury area,and saw some lovely shops. Including a privately run supermarket called "The People's Supermarket" they had a vast array of gorgeous looking home make cakes, jams and sweets. So Bethan and I bought some rather grand looking Chelsea Buns to scoff on, see below

As you can see from my pic, whilst filling my face, I was really lucky to have my hair styled for FREE! I went for a bit of a change and moved away from my usual '30s garb to a more '40s look. so popped on my Burgundy swing dress and a Hungarian 40s embroidered velvet jacket., which I think may be a tourist jacket. Because of the '40s garb, victory rolls were a must. I had tried them myself but they wouldn't go and I ended up making my scalp hurt! It was a releif to be welcomed with  my own personal hair stylist who did a grand job! I rather like the look, but think they make my face look completely different. Still reckon I'm more of a 30s girl though. What do you think?

Posing in the powder room... what a tart!

Feeling swell in Naomi's dressing up corner,

We met up with Miss Jeni from Yesterday Girl, who was as glam as everin a  fabulous 1950s turquoise dress, she always looks spot on. here are the three of us looking smiley...

YAY!

And I was introduced to Naomi of Vintage Secret,  who's an absolute sweetie. She provided reems of rails of wonderful frocks for guests try on, and was kind enough to let me lace up into a fab corset and some other Edwardian garments. After Jeni tightened me up Naomi and I pottered about looking Snooty...

Sucking in as much as I can!

We are not amused

I also met a lovely lady called Julie and a topping Chap called Rhys. Julie was selling some wonderful vintage frocks (no of course I didn't buy anything "cough cough"!) and Rhys made some amazing fudge which was very much enjoyed  on the night bus home.

 

My vintage neighbour, the lovely Claire, was there too... and looked amazing, just like Marylin Monroe. We caught the night bus home together, it was lovely to be chaperoned by such a stylish lady.

I love those lapels

Last but by no means least here's the lovely Lena, who organised the event. All 60s and sexy, and her hair was an amazing looped high bun... she told me it "only took 3 hours, a bottle of hair spray and several gin cocktails!"

Lena and me in our coats ready to go!

This event was so much fun. Next time it rolls along I would highly recommend going, with free hair styling, dressing up, shopping, fudge, cakes, live music and lovely guests... what's not to like? Sooper dooper!

Hope you all had fab weekends 

G x

Advertising for Mr. Christmas

Today it's another 6am start and I'm working for a sports radio station. This means I must sound like I know about the football... ha! How I would love to turn round and say "no I do not know what the offside rule is, and, frankly, I don't care either!" then blow a raspberry and run away back home to bed.

Am bored already so was surfing the web and found this job advert... alas I need to be a man to apply... and in the case of this particular job, a mature, jolly, bearded man...

"With Christmas "Just around the corner," we're trying to get things, "all wrapped up..." ok, enough cliches, this isn't an ad for a copywriter.

I'll keep this short and to the point because being Santa you're obviously quite busy checking your list (twice) at this time of year.

On Christmas Eve we need 'a santa' to talk to the Children of North Yorkshire on our "Santa Call." Remember, North Yorkshire is a lovely place and the children are all little darlings (except the one a couple of years ago who asked for a chainsaw for Christmas... don't worry, we've blacklisted him)

You'll be available for a live two hour show (10-midday) on Christmas Eve either in person in York or down an ISDN line from Lapland.

As you'd expect we pay in mince pies and carrots. "

How fun would this be? "HO HO HO!" Do I get the part.... Whattaya mean no?!

G x

My day at the RNID

You've probably already picked up that I have rubbish ears... deafness runs in my family so I've always lived with others who have suffered, and when I partially lost my hearing I found the experience terribly alienating and and a big knock to my confidence. However, the RNID really helped me out, so now I'm a lot more used to it. I do still struggle at times, mainly in social situations where there's a lot of noise as sometimes people think I'm being aloof or rude, when in reality I'm struggling to hear well and am concentrating like the clappers! Alternatively folk wonder why I'm staring at them... if you meet me and I look like I'm transfixed by your face it's not just 'cause you're utterly gorgeous, it's because I'm lip reading. I'm really not rude or aloof, I'm just a nice girl with knackered ears!

Anyway... as they've helped me out so much I volunteer for the RNID quite a bit and on Tuesday I was asked to go in and give a talk about my job so trainee interpreters could carry out live BSL interpretations for examinations.

It was such an interesting day! I find signing fascinating, and would really love to learn. People are so expressive with thier faces and it's great to watch and try and work out what's being said. I can lip read which makes it a bit easier, but some things are not so obvious... for instance, did you know if you want to sign Bill Clinton's name you should mime pulling down your fly zipper!

On Tuesday I worked with a lady called Linda who is completely deaf and heavily relies on signing and lip speaking. I was worried that she'd get tired of my talk after I repeated 7 times but she told me she didn't get bored as each interpreter has to edit what they hear down to be able to speedily interpret, therefore they pick out different things to include in thier sign session.

Here's the BSL alphabet, which I learnt the other day...

I Dali'd with with the Devil... so there

On Saturday night I went to "Don't Dali with the Devil" at the Fox in Shoreditch. And it was a marvellous night. I've never been to one of these vintage events before and didn't really know anyone, so nervously went along. But I needn't have worried as I got to meet some splendid Ladies and Gents, some of whom I've "virtually met" via this blog, so it was great to actually meet them for real... and they're all simply lovely.

I met the gorgeous Jenny of Yesterday Girl , looking sophisticated and stunning in a simple 1930s black dress (frock envy) It was great to meet her after chatting via blog posts.

I also met Bethan who was wearing a wonderful green '40s frock with sequin detailing at the collar. Both her, Jeni, and many of the other vintage ladies that night were wearing Revlon Emerald City nail varnish. I have to get some, it looks so lovely on and is really art deco looking...

Bethan and Jeni

I had a good old natter with Claire, a lovely lady decked up to the nines in super figure hugging PVC frock... and my word she looked fabulous! (I didn't manage to get a snap, so head over to YesterdayGirl's page to see!) I also discovered she lives round the corner, so I now have a vintage neighbour... Huzzah!

Both Hostesses both looked utterly fabulous. I saw my first Burlesque performance (yes I've lived a sheltered life). This was tantalisingly performed by Emerald Fontaine. And Fleur of DiaryofaVintageGirl looked utterly fabulous as Frida Kahlo, even with a monobrow she oozed glamour...

Music was supplied by Albert Balls Flying Aces, a band that's really up my street. They play very early jazz, and make such a great sound for a small band. The singer looked like a truly gorgeous flapper girl with a Louise Brook's bob.. I discovered it was a wig, but my it looked realistic! Here are a few piccies...

Oh yeah, almost forgot top tell you about my costume. I decided to take my 1930s red dress for a spin and become "Miss Scarlet" from Cluedo for the evening. I made a mock up Cluedo Card by sticking my head onto it (well it made me giggle... little things please little minds!) I also wore little earrings with daggers on them. So the murderer was...

"Miss Scarlet in the fox, with the dagger(s)!"

That being said, I must have murdered a very ickle person, going by the size of the murder weapon!

Hope you all had a marvellous Halloween :)

G x