a Links and Help Page constructed
with Silver Surfers in mind,
ie, people like us!
Below these are several other useful sites;
3 for the Disabled, Blind, etc; plus one for kiddies;
and links to sites as diverse as . . .
Shakespeare and Tom Jones, all three of HM Armed Services
and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission,
plus an unashamed plug for two of Britain's Loveliest Magazines,
"THIS ENGLAND" and "EVERGREEN", beloved of ex-pats everywhere.
And if you want a good belly laugh like you've not had in a long while
do visit HELL'S GERIATRICS . . . details below. Sit down first though !
There's even the phonenumbers of a couple of Advertising Standards Watchdogs.
THE EARTH NEED'S CHANGE ... an interesting and thought-provoking website by a young friend of ours, Andrew Hornby, of New Zealand, whose family were originally from Hessle Road. He's right, it certainly does need change, otherwise there may be little left to save, let alone change, in the not too distant future. As he says, we continue taking our very existence for granted at our peril. This is a site that will grow and grow, and has the potential to have some interesting natural history photos within.
WESTWELL DIECAST MODELS AND TOYS of LEWES in SUSSEX . . have a large selection of soft toys, everything from Sooty and Winnie the Pooh to Peter Rabbit and Thomas the Tank. They're even bang up to date with the Teletubbies, Banana Split bean toys and Eddie Stobart's trucks ! A well thought-out and planned web site, good graphics, and easy to find your way around . . which is more than can be said for ours ! A superb site for that unusual present you just can't get locally.
BRITS ABROAD . . . is a terrific on-line Mail-Order Service, to provide all those hard-to-find teas, jams, pickles and preserves, cosmetics and other ladies favourites and requisites, that we all miss so much when we are away from home, whether for 14 days or 40 years! If they don't stock what you're looking for, they invite you to ask them. Good old British quality and service here. The site was started by two very enterprising ladies, Liz Hardy, and her good friend, TV presenter and mathematician, Carol Vordeman. (r)
@UK . . . is a really good UK Tourism guide; use this site for more purposes than just tourism! Arranged by County, from the first page, click where you want to go. Doing genealogical research on any area, or just looking for general info? Here is a mass of information at your fingertips. Just what the Internet is for. Perhaps there is somewhere in England that was your favourite watering hole in years past, and you never got that souvenir video. @UK will stimulate the memories, then let Valerie's UK Videos supply the video! We may well have just what you're looking for . . well, we have to try.
GENEALOGY INFOSEEKER: . . a superb Australian site! by Roy Andrews, with many cross-over links to research sites and addresses in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, and Europe in general. Extremely useful for UK families looking for relatives down-under, and a good starting point for Australians and New Zealanders thinking of commencing research in the UK. Roy also runs a sister site dedicated to the heritage and history of the name DRAKE . . from the times of Sir Francis, many links in Devon, right down to modern Drakes and their variations worldwide. All in all, two superb sites here will keep you occupied for days, let alone hours! Just what the Web is for !! (r)
UK Business Directory . . . an on-line directory of thousands of UK business'; a sort of A to Z of business; manufacturing, retail, and service; registration with them is free if you give a reciprocal link. Brilliant idea!
The Arctic Corsair . . . is a very neat site which takes a nostalgic look at the deep-sea fishing industry on and from the Humber, in particular through the preserved trawler now moored in Hull as a floating museum. See the last of the 'SideWinders'. A very useful introductory link into the world of deep-sea fishing, whether for educational puroses, or as an ex-fisherman looking out of pure nostalgia. And there's plenty of that here, by the kit full! (r)
LEICESTER Auto-Valet . . . an unashamed plug for our nephew, Jeffrey Haywood, who has his own mobile Car-Valeting Service in Leicester & County. Ladies, are you too busy to clean the car as well as the dog, the kids, the house, AND the old man! Want to spend more time browsing the Internet? Then ar' Jeffrey is the man for you; e-mail him for his price list, and he'll be round with his van like a shot. He's offering to wax bodies! That sounds like ar' Jeff ! He's the original Man-with-a-Van! Does a good, honest job too - and fast! A well-valeted car puts a good £100 on it's value. He does caravans too . . ! (r)
Given Rob's bus and transport interests, here's a couple of sites for those interested . . .
ex-Leicester City Transport buses . . . A list of ex-LCT buses still in existance, both in the UK and some in the US ! Rob has driven many of them, well, the early ones before the Scanias, and probably conducted all of them barring 329, the six-wheel AEC of 1939, now in the museum at Snibston Pit. But he was intimate with many of the rest. There's a couple of nice photos as well that will stir memories. (r)
The BMMO . . aka the Midland Red . . . a very interesting history of the Midland Red, the ubiquitous red buses of the English midlands. They had an operating area that stretched from Worcester in the SW, to Grantham in the NE, and into Staffordshire and Oxfordshire at their more northerly and southern extremes. At their peak, the largest single bus company in the world, over 3,000 buses, I believe. Rob's memories are of the 669 . . and Val's are of the L8 and L10. Now, where did they go . . ?
A most excellent Fuchsias site from the Swedish Fuchsia Society . . . run by Kenneth Nillson, this site is beyond belief! Five Gold Stars! All you ever wanted to know, and more, and the most fantastic photo library of varieties you could want. Be warned, if you have a leaning to fuchsias, this site is addictive - we go back again and again. And such links . . . !
1.The Leonard Cheshire International Foundation . . . is one of the most worthwhile organisations ever set up, and also one of the most widely known. The story of Group Captain Cheshire VC, and how his experiences in WWII influenced his ideas for the foundation that bears his name is also one of the best books I and Rob have ever read. They badly need donated computers . . . . .
2.AbilityNet . . . is an all-embracing site giving masses of advice on all disabilities, including the British Deaf Association; AbilityNet is a good starting place for information especially to do with computers and disabled access to the Internet, etc, whatever the individual disability.
3.The Royal National Institute for the Blind . . . deals as you would expect, with advice for and help with coping with sight difficulties. A terrific site, well worth a visit if you have a sight impaired relative or friend.
And, LEST WE FORGET . . . these sites are to do with our Armed Forces:
So, here is a potentially very useful link straight to the
Valerie's late father was a Royal Marine, Rob's late father was in the RAF. Over the years, they both knew many servicemen and women who gave of their best years to serve in the forces, whether as volunteers or by conscription. Some of their friends lost their lives in so doing. We young'uns who came along in the 1950's have probably enjoyed the very best that Britain has ever been able to offer, thanks to the peace and security that those hundreds of thousands of men and women gave us.
This is the only way we can help, to say thanks to those who came home, and Give Thanks for those who couldn't. Remembrance isn't just about November 11th . . . .
FIRST, A SITE FOR WRINKLY WEBBERS . . Like us !!
UK SILVER SURFERS !
Empowering Oldies Online - if you're looking for a practical links page, no gimmicks, easy text, with the world at your feet, look no further. It's here ! Who says the WWW is full of rubbish . . !
If you don't find something to interest you here, then you must be hibernating !
The Citizens Advice Bureau now have an excellent Website and should be consulted on all manner of legal questions in the first instance. Before you lay out expensive charges for a solicitor, check this site out. You may well get your questions answered here . . . or at least pointed in the right direction.
William Shakespeare . . . has his own website! Though what he would have made of it is anyone's guess. Composed a sonnet, perhaps. This site is provided straight from Stratford upon Avon by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and gives a stunning amount of information on our most celebrated playright.
Tom Jones All mature ladies must surely want to know the site address of that great Welsh voice, Tom Jones. Yes? Valerie's First Choice any day! So all you ever dreamed of is here on this great site, with Concert Tour Dates, fan club details, and much more. Keep it swinging, Tom. And don't take your hat off . . . .
The Gerald Finzi Trust . . is a link to the website dedicated to Rob's current favourite composer, Gerald Finzi, a much under-rated Englishman, who sadly died in 1956. If you like Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, etc, you'll like this man's music. Try his "Cello Concerto" for 40 minutes of sheer delight . . . or his "Dies Natalis" (Day of Birth), a baby's-eye view of the new world he's born into, with settings of poems by Thomas Traherne. Unbelievably lovely! English to the core! He was taken from us far too early
Sergei Rachmaninov . . It is really a terrific site, and if you are - or ever have been - a Rachmaninoff devotee, this is well worth a look. There's a complete list of ALL his works for a start, as well as a discography of Rachmaninoff's own recordings as a pianist.
Morris Dancing is enjoying something of a renaissance in England right now, and rightly so. These are the real roots of our folk and dance culture. See this site for information on how to learn - or simply where to watch. Rob likes to go for the beer . . . don't tell him, but he is after tracing the website of Shepherds Neame in Kent in the vain hope he can get "Spitfire" on a drip feed . . . I'll give him dancing!
http://www.192.com Need to find an elusive Phone Number in the UK or abroad? A lost friend or relative. Need to get in touch. Here's the answer to a prayer, a free search service, no less; just click the link to this site.
Ordnance Survey Maps . . on-line!
We love maps, and especially maps that are easy to come by. Your very own reference atlas of the UK is available on this site, for free. Highly detailed maps of Britain, you can access them by typing in a place-name, or a post-code. With the latter, up pops your map, with the area of the post-code arrowed. These maps are scaleable on-screen, and are so are easy on your eyes. Zoom in for a detailed street map, with street names. Amazing! Whatever will they think of next . . .
well, try this. OLD Ordnance Survey maps . . of every village in Britain! . . should bring up a Counties Gazetteer . . choose your county, then your village. Maps are generally 1846-1899. Be warned, these maps are huge, often two or three times the size of the screen. They recommend a screen size of 1024x768 to view them, but I manage with 800x600. Fascinating!
For lovers of chocolate, here's a couple to die for . . .
Thorntons is so well known here it needs no introduction in the UK, but those abroad who feel deprived of English chocolate will be able to smell it on this site!
And what advertising there is, is classy, informative and good to read. Makes a change!
EVERGREEN, the little sister mag, is small enough to get in your pocket! But packed with delight.
For All Who Love Our Green And Pleasant Land . . . Once you start taking either of these quality magazines, you'll never be able to stop.
As they say themselves, "Britain's Loveliest Magazine."
Addictive isn't the half of it . . . . . . . And that's No Bull !!
You can see our former "Valerie's Videos" adverts in This England if you still have these copies; Summer 95; Autumn in 96 and 97.
The Advertising Standards Authority is to be found at: 2 Dorrington Place, London, WC1E 7HW ; telephone direct on: 0171 - 580 - 5555
The Press Complaints Commission is at 1 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 3AE ; telephone 0171 - 353 - 3732
This information, and a host of other addresses and telephone numbers to do with specific advertising and publishing regulators with regard to
Television and Radio in the UK, can be found on Page 67 of the Summer 1998 edition of THIS ENGLAND MAGAZINE, as detailed above.