Hello and welcome! This is my inspiring stories blog sharing the story of The Queen of Soul, Whitney Houston, who had a voice that could sing the phonebook and it sounding incrediable. She had a powerful, gental and its hard to describe really as it would be magical and I would listen to Whitney all day sometimes playing her records, tapes and then CD’s.
I would imagine that her voice was mine and that I wrote them, as they were such great hits and when she died I was devastated as she took a break from music for a while and then came back, and she had so much more to give, that it made me question “How can life workout like that”. Her first album she did rocketed and in the music world that even now it is rare but she did it.
I have all her albums and my favourite song is still for me “The Greatest Love of all” writen by Stevie Wonder, and he released this aswell. but even Stevie couldn’t fault that Whitney’s version put it on the map to success. Stevie Wonder and Whitney did a song together on her album “I’m your baby tonight” and it was a song called “We didn’t know”.
Whitney was singing at a young age and sang with her mum in a gospal choir and was a true believer of God and her career took off with her very first song “How will I know” and is about how does she know she has found love and does she stand a chance of being in love and she is not sure of the guy wants to be with in love and is hers forever.
I remember hearing from her Second Album she did starting off with the song “I wanna dance with somebody, somebody who loves me” when in Gatwick Airport off to our yearly holiday in Menorca and when I came back bought her second album on Cassette tape and continued to buy her albums, as they were all as good as the last one.
She then changed her music for a while to R&B “That’s not right but its okay” and did as good as the last even though it was a whiles since her soul albums and had a total change of music to make it current.
Her Cousin that Whitney saw as an Aunt and were so close was, another lady of Soul and Mowtown, Dionne Warwick and she too had a phenominom career as a Music Artist and had many hits that Whitney had good teachers of music in her life, and it was the artists that she collaborated with like George Micheal, Mary J Blige, she had meet that helped cruise herr to the top and those who love her will remain, like me fans forever,
Whitney’s life as a kid wasn’t luxury and were part of a struggling community, that believed in God and music to help them through tought times, like the Partied and racism. She never entetained that and her music was all about Love of everyone including children and love that is unconditional. She like me struggled with reality and continouously battling with herself not feeling good enough.
Many people were surprised by this, but fame does not mean you no longer feel insecure and in fact many who struggle with themselves turn their life around because music, creating records take a lot of work, tells a story which other people can relate to. People who are unconfident in themselves are more passionate and have more drive.
Whitney Houston movie career began with the Hit Film The Bodyguard and was about a artist who is at the prime of her career, is targetted because of her fame and received death threats and so Kevin Costner, who plays her bodyguard tries to stop it and Whitney’s charactors isn’t at all impressed at first and is a turbelant relawtionship,
Then she went on to making further films, with music still being her number one passon and marrried another Artist Bobby Brown and they had a daughter together and for while she wasn’t doing so well.
Whitney for me is still a lady of wonderful music and that is how I would like to remember her and I will always listen to her songs as they still give me so much joy and peacefulness.
She was a lady of love and devotion, but sadly the price of fame did arrive and sad that it all ended as there was more to come from her, and did bring out further music but its sad her and her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, left the world as they did.
Thank you Whitney for the music you created with your voice and I miss you but glad your music lives on and for being such an amazing artist of soul.
Everyone has their own definition of who is a hero and who is not. For it is someone who willing to put their neck on the line to save other people and I wrote a similar post and Super Human beings and how those who save lives as a living should be honoured.
Lets look around the dictators of the world and there have been many who have been bad like Hitler and Sadam Hussain, yet there have been good ones too.
Eddie Izzard is my first one I would say. Now he is a comedian and he ran a whole lot of Marathons to raise money for charity and for me that is something that he didn’t have to do, but did it as being a famous role model as such, he is in a position where he can like many, use their fame to help those desparate need of support and its people who work in charities to generally raise money that for me are all heros.
Tony Robbins who I have spoken a lot about. He is someone who had a rough childhood and was destined to be a man in the trade like, working in Goldminds but was but no he became world famous. He has done that, helping people have a better mindset to help people through anxiety and depression and has reached over a million people and is a inspiration to us all, and raises money for his charity to “Feed America”.
Jo Biden, the new president of the USA and for me is much better president than Donald Trump because Jo will look after his country and is an ex baseball player who wanted to be involved in politics to do just that and dealing with issues other than COVID and is for me gonna be the best leader this decade.
Bob Geldolf, Midge and other artists bought music and poverty together to stop it and in 1984 created Band Aid and it spread worldwide like the US who did their own song too called “We are the world”. It was played at the same time all over the world and many versions have been created but it was the creation of Band Aid that started it.
Lenny Henry and other comedians created Comic Relief and again grew across the boarder and through selling Red Noses and creating the show have been iconic and saved so many lives across the world.
So who do you think are heros? I’d like to hear your comments below.
I would often go camping in Newbury and spend a Sunday near Chertsey. Would travel with the Pub Football Team which consisted of my Dad and his mates from Chelsea, London and go to Rye.
Now we are still living the Pandemic still travelling abroad this year is going to be tricky due to the amount of Travel Issurance you have to pay, so many will be taking a UK Holiday and when I think of this it seems so old fashioned, but the best times away have been travelling to and from different UK attractions. I hope the rain holds off so I can take my son to the coast again and I love caravans. The Caraven was always popular in the UK and it still is. I loved it as it felt like a holiday and we would buy a kite and would be with our grandparents.
The UK then got taken over by holiday makers like we did for white going abroad instead, which effected many holiday camps and seaside towns where many Britains would go before going abroad became hugley popular and in expenisve. Many seaside resorts lost a lot of money and cities in the UK example London became hugely popular with tourism which made up for the loss the seaside resorts did, yet when I worked at Butlins it was one of the popularist holiday camps in Britain and on the south coast of England.
People would come down for adult weekends, and then other privately owned camps began to make up some money by doing the same yet played second in holidays for a while.
It has got back to its feet and now this year I predict that many will holiday in the UK rather abroad due to COVID and people wanted to have a safer holiday by doing so.
So if you had good holidays in the UK then I’d love to hear your stories. You can do so by commenting below.
Football and rugby were both from the same sport and was more like handball as they could kick and handle the ball when football first started.
Now it is our leading sport and worth millions that some clubs grew and others went into Administration, example Wimbledon football club then became later on AFC Wimbledon and change split into Milton Keynes football club.
Aldershot went down and Chelsea was sold to Ken Bates in the 80’s and bought the club which was only a pound.
The leagues are now very different when it all used to be Divisions not leagues. The top division was Division one and now is the Premier League, Division two is now the Championship league, League one, League two and Three. All clubs that a top flight have changed the way in running a team, cause managers and players would sign long life contracts and once a play signed a football club contract that would be it and would work through their contract before they left to go to other clubs.
The top clubs have changed too and now we see that Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool, Man City and Man utd are all tops teams and often will go head to head in winning the Premiership, Champions League and still the FA Cup.
See above an old picture of the players under Bobby Robson, who managed English up until 1990 and was one of the longest men in charge of the England team now many from this picture have become coaching, pundits, commentators and presenters, forgetting that these guys all played professional football and created a legacy that still gets talked about today.
Who had thought Gary Lineker who had male admires ad woman too, who was always chosen without hesitation to play club and international football would be a adveriser for Walkers Crisps and now top presenter for BBC and English Soccer.
When Gazza came along then the team changed again and was a player that saw for the first time a guy in tears over a second booking so he wouldn’t have had the chance to play in the World cup final and was one of the best players under Bobby Robson and for Tottenham Hotspur to have played on the English soil.
Maradonna was a leading player for Argentina, when it came to them taking drugs it overshadowed both their capabilities and feel they needed more guidance in their play and not feel that had to do this in order to make a name for themselves.
John Barnes who originally played for Watford started to shine when he moved to Liverpool football club but struggled when playing for England as everyone doubted his performance being a non stop creater and scorer for Liverpool but got a lot of stick from England fans for not being the same.
This can happen but I watched his football and asked “Where was the problem?” I thought his performance was good as he always got involved didn’t shy away from playing international football so for me it was “Well perhaps you are expecting too much” and they was. He had flare and knew how to keep the ball along the field without it being taken back by the other team. I think supporters compare too much at was the issue, as he did put 100% into is game so where again was the problem? He created goals, he passed, he was brilliant at ball control and worked the left side with no issues at all.
When football changed and Sky TV became it became a lot of money to fork out to watch football and it made it very commercialised and took some of the spark of English football away. I loved it on a Sunday when we would have our roast dinner after socialising with friends in a pub in chelsea to then sit down and watch the football it set you up for the weekend and everyone tuned in.
Then you had cable and they too tried to make money from the game but Sky dominated and became the leader of the UK TV world and a massive influence that not all clubs got featured like before. Only FA Cup games would at one time show on normal TV or we’d listen to it on the radio.
When going to visit a real match it was part of the culture and I didn’t care about seats and standing I just loved the atmosphere and being part of the soccer world, and wearing the shirts and sometimes coats and jackets it made the game even more excitable and then when I bought a season ticket and would go on my own it again was brilliant and I loved being with other season ticket holders. You became a community not just a fan base and hearing fans sing it gave me goosebumps and made me fall even more in love with the game.
I will share more inspiring stories on this site and will talk about the Athletics and the Olympics.
So the saints of the world. Well there have been so many in our world that it is hard to pinpoint one that stands out, as they have all be saints of their own. That is Saint George and I thought it was in May but no just checked I missed it, it was 23rd of April and I will gonna do a whole decorating thing, but no missed it once again. I even bought fleece of the occasion, but no bother I will wear my St Georges attire tomorrow.
Then there is St Patrick, St Davids and the pop group All Saints. So who are now the Saints of this world, now we are in another century and another decade and another year?
Warriors
So, the warriors, the kids and adults who have made a different to this world, example Micheal Jackson. Now I know people may quiz this but honestly he is not a Sex Offender at all, and in fact the total opposite. He changed music and bought the music of the 80’s and 90’s to a whole different level and I trusted him with my life and this is from someone who knew of kids being abused and he was not that.
He used his fame to look after the world and kids, yet the price of fame lead him to his death as he was set upon and made into a monster which was not true. When a guy of him relm come along there are always those who want a slice of the cake and that is what happened.
Micheal, loved music and that was something that he knew could help him in his position to change the world, but often like Jesus they can put on trial for doing so. He was being used and drugged cause people around him pretended to love when they didn’t. I can identify myself with Micheal as this happened to me. I would never abuse or bully anyone, and isn’t in my vocabulary. Yet cause of people pretending to be on his side, made him into an enemie because jealousy and resentment.
He struggled with self image, and people were like, why? He is famous how can he have problems with the way he looks? Cause like many the image we see in our heads is not always what we see in he mirror, and he did have a generic skin condtion which effected his confidence.
To me though, I want to celebrate the art he created and he was a one off, as he made music into being cool when Disco, Mowtown and soul were seen old fashioned. He put music and started he 80’s and is why it is one of the most celebrated decades of music, on the map. Even now the the video Thriller is the top videos of music videos of all time.
Survivor
So that leads me to the next one. A Survivor. To me that makes me think of the people who Survived the disasters like Hillsborough, as this changed the world of football, and how matches were managed, and seeing this disaster unfold, I was in total shock afterwards, and made me feel fear like nothing before. I feel in some way an imposter for saying that because “I wasn’t there” but I knew that possibly my cousin had gone to the game, and I said to my mum to call my Aunty to check, but it was fine he wasn’t and it was one that will always be gut wrenching.
The supporters who were the saviours of that day, then were accused of killing other supporters, yet they were the heros. I am now working with the Police and on that particular day the Police failed them, as when they tried to get out of the massive surge of fan, the Police kept sending them back in. I think of the survivors, who have had to fight truth and nail, cause as the day carried on, it was obvious that there was a massive cover up. That some of the supporters (Liverpool) were drunk, that there had been fights breaking out, and that they falsed a gate open.
Being a Liverpool fan myself, which it has been one of the teams I have supported, and meeting Liverpool fans they would have never done that, it was because the Police weren’t checking tickets and as football crowds do they follow and if they aren’t to, “Go into the other Pens” they went to the first place to watch the game, not realising that there were a packed full of supporters already in there.
From seeing this unfold. I honour Liverpool FC and Everton on how they carried themselves and the game against Everton, I couldn’t watch and I remember turning as I was my living room, to go in my room. I have no idea of how they must have felt, yet they were the ones (the supporters) in trying to save the people who died and injured lives. THEY WERE NEVER CRIMINALS AGAINST THEIR OWN SUPPORTERS IN WAS A POLICE ERROR AND YES GROUND!
Inspirational
When I think of Inspirational I think of my friend Kelly who I knew from Peabody and people like Oprah Winfrey. She changed a chat show to a talk show. You think they are the same but no they are not. When I think of chat, i think two people having a natter but often you talking at someone, and I like it when I am talked too. She would talk through the audience to the people on her show. She never hid about problems with her weight and dieting, she was someone who didn’t have a good childhood, but it never stopped her, and became a household name, not just in America but all over the world.
I think of the Queen, especially now, as it goes to show that they are a famous family and she is a real Queen, yet like other families there are problems within it and she has to some how keep it together, and its never out of he public eye. If it were me I know I would be like I am not getting out of bed today, but she has to. That’s how people see it and its the attitude of people saying “Well she is the Queen so what does she expect”. Without seeing she is still a human being, and still bleeds like we all do, and yet has always put on a public appearance.
Anita Dobson I think of too. She put the pub landlady on the map as the pub world even when Eastenders came on our screens was seen as “A mans world” and they turned heads Anita the guy who played Dirty Den, by bringing London life into play. She was he first from the land of the soap to be on Top of the Pops, singing the theme of Eastenders.
I can not walk away without mentioning Cannon and Ball. They are to me Saints of the Double Act world. They have the best double act tune, and I loved The two ronnies and Morecambe and Wise but I was and am a massive Cannon and Ball Fan. Having been someone who hated school knowing they would be on the TV on Saturday made my school days bareable and I would feel so sad when their series would end. I, would say in terms of school Miss Conley was the Saints of Saint Pauls. who would want to walk out by 2pm some days, as yes it was that bad, and she would swear but was one of the fair few teachers who all pupils respected and could relate to, cause she felt like we did, that school was the last place you’d want to be in this world.
So who do you class as saints, going in these things I would love to hear.
So I bet you have heard the sad news about Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh who has sadly passed away.
He has been the Queens husband since over 60 years or so, and they have been a unit. So Who can A Prince of the Throne, Prince Philip, How his rein can inspire us all? Find good relationships, that are solid and you are on the same page. I have been in a unhappy relatiionship, and it was obvious as i had gone back into my shell, my life as i once knew it, had been swept beneath my feet, and was a shy unconfident girl again.
There are people who will bring the best out of you and those who don’t. It can often feel like a never ending battle ground, and constantly having to fight your case all of the time.
I am sure that the Queen and Philip had wanted a different life sometimes being in the public eye and wanting more privacy, but they never let the side down. I know there was a dispute when Lady Diana died, but we saw what happened there in the end. The tabloids can twist and turn people’s mind, and even me who loved the Royal Family and for a bit I too went against them to. This is another lesson to learn, is never listen to Gossip as often it is false news and the press being spiteful again,
This is a Sponsored post, by the Metro and please see their article about the Queen and Prince Philip:
Being a royal, it can be lonely at times, and the Queen would have never chosen any man to spend her life with, and many thought even me that he had in his younger days of being a Prince Strayed, but knowing the truth looking back on this thought, no. The Queen would not have stood by him or the other way round if that had been the case.
The other thing we can be inspired by Prince Philip is the Duke of Edinburgh Award which many kids at my Secondary school did and I look back, in that I wished I had been part of that. It was set up for young people to survive the outdoors and doing many independent skills and loads of the kids when I was at school who did this, would share their trips away and doing this award, and they would be full of adventure and funny stories.
We should be doing all we can to help young people in becoming independent warriors of the world. I write these blogs to help young people aswell as adults to build their lives up when like me being an estate kid, was destined to being a cleaner, which I have done or doing a 9 to 5 job, which again I have done, but knew I was destined for something else.
That is another thing I take from the Royal Family and someone like The Duke of Edinburgh and listen to your gut instinct and never allow haters to take away a great thing in your life and not everyone is put on this earth to work in the normal often seen,, way of living.
Many of us are destined for a different journey. So, your Royal Highness Duke of Edinburgh, I toast you with a cup of coffee as he was very much a Tea and Bourbon Biscuit kind of a guy, of your rein. Lord Live the King and The Head Prince of the Monarchy.
Hello and welcome! so it is time to write a New Inspiring stories post and because it is National Womens Month, I am talking about Women of the Monarchy in this post because I have and still am very much a Royalist and so the Royal Family I feel should be talked about, as there have been many women now of the Monarchy that even when it was a “Mans World” they took charge of the country and commonwealth, that they changed history, because they were female ambassadors looking after countries, which meant often being ruthless and being above the male community.
Queen Victoria
The first long reining Queen of England who like Elizabeth the II had a Golden Jubilee and was Queen for over 60 years and was very much the peoples Queen, as she would look after the poor aswell as the rich and was the one to be head of the British and Commonwealth Government, and she and Williams Shakespear were family which not many knew about, yet he was the Queen’s cousin, but wanted like the Royals today, be a famous writer but live like normal folk.
However it was him who helped Queen Victoria to read and write and were like brother and sister, and he was at one time one of her foot soldiers which not many people knew about and always respected his relationship with Queen Victoria and was a character he added into one of his most famous books.
Guess which one it is? I will tell you at the end. Keep reading!
She was very young when she became head of the throne and was a little fearful like I am sure we would all feel, and it did take her a while to adjust to her leading role and was very very shy. It was Albert her love, not just her Prince who helped her build her confidence as she wanted to be the first Queen to bring positivity to the world and bring the world together, and many countries did. Her and Albert were very much in love, yet it was a long winded beginning as she like many women of the monarchy guarded herself, in case she fell in the arms of the wrong person, and so it was a year or two years later that they actually became a very in love couple and he became her Prince and very much a Royal Everlasting unit, and I think this laid out what kind of woman she was.
To be the head of the Monarchy you have to be very much the authoriative to the family and the country you become head of state of, and was always cheered and never let people of Britain and other fellow countries down, and was great asset to the Head of the Monarchy, and I think from knowing the Queen as I do, that this continued onto our Queen of today, as she too is also seen like her lovely mother, The Queen Mother, the People’s Queen aswell.
The Queen Mother
So the Queen Mother was a Queen herself but it was her husband who became Head of the Monarchy, but she was the one who stood by him to help her family and the families of Britain through the 1st and 2nd World War, and it they didn’t evacuate, because the Queen’s mum saw it that, if the families who have no palaces can stay where they are, then so should she and her children.
My nan evacuated and didn’t like it so came back to London and would use their airaid shelter where they lived to protect them, and did you know they camped out sometimes the Queen mother and Who was the Kings, her husbands name? See at the end.
The Queen Mother loved people and would during the war when people needed someone like her for support would visit the damage of it and helped give those who lost their homes, shelter and food. It was devastating and I think noone would ever know what it truly was like unless you were there too.
Lady Diana
So Who am I talking about? A Lady who was very shy but had a heart of gold and was called “The Queen of Hearts” and let me tell you YES SHE WAS! Now to address one thing. She did not have a bad relationship with the Queen, Prince Phillip, Princess Anne or even Prince Charles, you know who stirred that all up? The Tabloids, because that is what they do when there isn’t much news going around so they make stories up about the Royal Family and other famous people.
So Lady Diana, was very much a local girl of London and was when she began to attract attention of possibly being a new member of the Royal Family, in what I have done and that is, being a Nusery Nurse, because she was so natural in the way she loved children and people, that it seemed to at the time fit into place.
She turned heads because she was the first lady of fashion of that era, so the 80’s and drew a lot of attention because she was seen as the New Sweetheart of the Royal Family and she was so beautiful, because of her innocence and shyness, that you couldn’t not look at her without affection.
I remember seeing her with my Nan, walking to work and for ages I used to call her “The Pretty London Lady” as I was so taken with her, that when she became a member of the Royal Family I already thought she was, and was so mesmerised that this lady was a “Real Princess”. To me she was living a true Fairytale story and remember celebrating her wedding in mine and another housing estate having street parties, and along with Lady Diana, was featured in the Fulham Chronical, and I loved her.
She was the first to help and meet people with Aids and it shook the medical world when that became the new Pandemic of the 80’s and she didn’t hesitate in wanting to be a Patroen of the Aids Charity.
Her rein did come with turbelents, and took a break when her and Prince Charles separated and the got divorced from public duty, as she did have Demons, like all of us, but she never stopped caring for others, and I think she would like many women, put her own issues on hold to help others, but I felt she needed that break, because being a member for the Royal Family often and no not because of the Queen or other members, but could be a lonely world at times.
Yet her work didn’t stop and went onto get rid of Landmines that were stemed from the wars and certain countries didn’t get rid of them and so tried to have them safetly removed as kids would play on these places innocently without knowing and were getting killed.
I am not going to talk about her death as I don’t feel comfortable about sharing this, but I was very sad and she created a legacy of love and empowerment that has carried on in her two boys, who got back the respect of the Royal Family and it is important we keep it going, for the next generations to love them too.
Princess Margarette
So she is the Queen’s younger sister and was very much the Fashion Princess like Diana, as the Queen had her own style but as she was the sister she was seen as the beauty Princess of her generation, and the Queen loved her, and I see Zara in Lady Margarette which her friends would call her, as she loved socialising and loved a tipple and yes was a smoker, but what I mean is never allowed her Royal status to being a True Londoner and would eat a cooked breakfast without hesitation, and would say the London quote “What good in nature is good in the gander”.
Many frowned on this, as it was see as “Not what a Royal would do” but she loved to be normal and never used her Royality as a barrier to be a people’s person and a socialiser. My Nan would often speak with her, when my family lived in Bolton Gardens, and she was very glamourous, and there is a video and photo of her where she has her lovely hair in like a twisted bun with an off the shoulder dress and was like “The Royal Elizabeth Taylor”.
Now again I am not going to talk about her death to be respectful to her older sister the Queen, but they idolised one another and when the Queen made with Margarette via radio, a speech to families during the second world war, it was a team effort and the Queen did get bothered by the fact that, people thought it was just her, because as she said “It was a team effort” so her sister aswell, but often they would sound a like, but Margerette and the Queen did it together, because they wanted to reach out to mainly other children, which they were, and to let them know they were thinking of them and to help the nation, Britain stay strong.
She loved the Theatre and would open many shows in the West end and see many shows debut like Les Miserable, the Phantom of the Opera and loved the Royal Variety and sometimes attended these aswell.
In my view she along with Prince Phillips became the Queens support along with their mum and made the family, with all its hurdles that arose, to be where it is today, Well respected and a new Royal Community.
So thank you so much in reading my blog and yes i will do more about the Monarchy including the Majesty the Queen, but for now thank you to mam and thank you to him who is my Uncle Bark who at the end of his shows would selute and say God Save the Queen
Hello and welcome! So this is a blog post I do each week and share many inspiring stories and the one thing I loved was going to a holiday camp as a kid, and what it had to offer. It was a holiday I looked forward to each year and became like my summer holiday home.
Yes it meant having to go to the stone cubicles to have a wee because there was no toilet in the caravan we stayed in, but it didn’t matter to me and was a super holiday. The Holiday camps came around the 50’s after the war, and Butlins was one of the first to be created, along with Pontins and Haven Holiday homes.
I suppose if you’ve seen Dirty Dancing that is kind of based on a Holiday Camp, where there’d be swimming pools, fancy dress competitions, evening discos and entertainment, you would have food mainly in the caravan and the one in Clacton we went to, had a Pie ‘n’ mash stall and it was full of fun and days to remember.
This is the one in Oldham, where the famous Double Act Cannon and Ball first performed and became a regular venue for up coming double acts and comedians, it was there main stage during the summer and would entertain everyone each night of the summer season, when they were first open. Now there is a massive variety and even the old bands like Buck Fizz who were my favourite band since a kid, perform at many holiday camps each summer season still.
I even did stand up in the one I worked on at Bognor Regis and would dance the night away and then work in the restaurants during the day. It was a place you could enjoy the beach but still didn’t have to go far to go to your Shelley or Caravan and dress up for the evening.
Now they are open all year round and have theme weekends during the Autumn and Winter period but back when they first opened it was from May to September and be closed for the rest of the year.
They still made so a lot of money like they do now, because everything was on your doorstep and the one thing I love is Amusements and a camp with an Ice Cream shop, and who did not like a stick of rock? That was the delicacey of the seaside and holiday camps and I would often not eat my sticks of rock and would keep it for memory sake.
I even met my love there. No not the first marriage I had, but the second man I am going to marry soon and I was four years old and he was 14. He then went onto have a career in Comedy and TV and we kept meeting when I worked in London and when I was working at Butlins.
Who remembers Hi-de-hi? I loved it, absolutely one of my favourite shows on TV and yes inspired me to work on a Holiday camp, it was a place where I knew I was destined to go and I loved it. Yes you had those who would wind you up and want to avoid, but there were still some great people there I loved. It was a great place to have experienced and I would work at another. Hopefully I will be returning to the one in Clacton but lets see how things go.
So the first Butlins was created by a guy named Billy and he wanted to create a place where people could stay in the summer and have light entertainment, comedy wrestling, Bingo and day time events too.
My Dad actually took part in a diving competition once if I remember and me and my brother were always in the fancy dress contests and we won first and second price in one and that is where my love first saw me and we met, as I was asked by the host, why I was dressed as a Belly Dancer and I said “Because I loved The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and my Grandad liked Turkish Delight”.
I remember feeling cheated in that competition because my brother decided to be in the contest the night before so my mum had some Green and Yellow tissue paper and made him a Robin Hood Costume and won first prize.
Pontins though were the first and the one in Clacton was and still is the most popular holiday camp and I am dying to return there and I hope that the stall which you could hire a funny bike from, is there, as I loved going on these during my holidays, plus I once did have family who lived there and visited them regularly.
They were all situated near the beaches and the UK Coast lines, and I loved it when I would walk out of Butlins in Bognor Regis to walk along the Seaside and Clacton and have deck chairs available. You didn’t have to pay for them back then, and you would have some put in your caravan to use too.
My dream is to have a Caravan at the one in Claction, because the love of it has not gone away. I just love it, and will be always a place to have good memories and a bloody good holiday at. They are in a nutshell special places with a handful of good fun and memories, that last a lifetime.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie L.M X
P.S: All my blog posts like these will be uploaded to my Pinterest site and my blog network:
Hello and welcome! This is my Weekly Inspiring stories post and this week it is the Little Fella with the glasses and who I like to call, Uncle Corby – who was known to those who saw him on the Tele and that is Ronnie Corbett. He and Uncle Bark were not just a double act they were in fact like some peope who knew them both well “The comical brothers with the same glasses”, and they met when they were both at college and University and in fact they did go to the same school but back then never spoke a word to each other.
Uncle Bark’s other bestfriend was the Little Fella named Granville to many who loved Open all hours and who David used to call “The Governor” and they both Ronnie Corbett and David Jason thought the same, but Ronnie Corbett was destined to also have shows of his own too, like Uncle Bark and David Jason, and have his own Status in the acting and comedy world.
Uncle Corby loved his Comedy and never really liked serious roles, and was always going to be a comedian and do stand up and sketch shows.
Ronnie Corbett did also write and created the sitcom Sorry where he would have a controlling mother, that sounds like home for me. She would not allow him out of her site and would control his life even when it came to love, and was a great success.
Here he is with his Grandchildren and was very much a family man and a traditionalist in the respect of not working Christmas day and always loved celebrating such holidays with his children and Grandchildren and had three boys in fact.
You’d think that due to his rein in show business that they too would have followed in Uncle Corby’s footsteps but they never did and wanted life out of the limelight and often Ronnie would take a break each year to do the same sometimes.
Here he is with his OBE, and was very much a Royalist and an Ambassdor of the Variety club performing and entertaining us on many Royal Variety Performances.
The Royal Variety show if you ever get a chance to be in one, is the top of the bill show, you want to be part of, one day. Especially if you are an Actor, singer, comedian or others arts.
Ronnie Corbett, loved flying and did do flying lessons and is a qualified Pilot which again not a lot of people know and like Jonathon Ross, is a collector of the famous comets. He had every comic ever created and you may have seen my stories in them too. I know you may not believe that, but true honest.
Its people like Uncle Corby that inspired other comedians, actors and writers, and didn’t know that Uncle Bark was always writing sketches for him, as Uncle Bark would use a different name and Uncle Corby was the noise of the Phantom Raspberry Blower, and was written by Ronnie Corbett, and put The Two Ronnies along with Uncle Bark’s writing, on the map and was one of the most successful Double acts and Sketch shows ever made on British TV and all over the world.
Two “Posh boys” which was a sketch for the Two Ronnies but was scrapped but was a nickname, and they did have similar backgrounds.
Uncle Corby grew up in London and worked as a Barrow Boy on the local market in Petticoat lane whilst he grew into perfoming in the evenings as a kid, a teenager and then a man, and loved Golf and Horses.
He even had his own Racehorses later in life and would go to Ascot and Newbury. He even became a Stable Boy for a while out in the country and then still trying to make it into the ShowBiz world.
Ronnie would work endlessly and never had a time where he was out of work as it kept coming and then when he met Uncle Bark, they formed into writing together and Uncle Corby was going to be in Porridge but he also was starring in the West End so couldn’t, and loved doing theatre more back then when he started to have more work in Comedy and Acting, and performed pubs and clubs doing stand up too.
His love of horses grew that at some point he did want to be a Racehorse trainer but it would have been tricky to do that and be a comedian and actor. His Golf was his relaxing activity he loved to do, and would play along with Bruch Forsyth, Jimmy Tarbuck, Des O’Connor, Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball. He found it to be his time and always made time for it.
The other thing he loved was books. He loved when he later became the comedian and actor he dreamed of wanted a Study with loads of books, and love Encloypedias. He did love writing childrens books, but none were ever published, but still was a dream.
I am chuffed in that he loved the Secret Seven and Famous Five because he did and I hope they kept it in, did the voice of one of the characters from those books and has the full collection of the original publications.
The funny thing was, he did say “I’d love to meet Enid Blyton as I see her as a mother” until he was told who actually Enid Blyton was.
Ronnie was the Little Fella with Glasses and was loved by all he worked with and accompanied. Uncle Corby I adored you and the memories I have for you will always be there and no longer forgotten. Thank you along with Uncle Bark and Sir David Jason for making us all laugh and making long lasting TV that everyone will always remember.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie L.M X
P:S: If you would like to catch up on my other Inspiring stories I have written then here they are below:
Kenneth Williams was famous for plays and TV sitcoms when they first came out in the 1940s as young boy and worked with many actors who were from a working class back ground and became a household favourite and you only had to look at his expressions to find him comical. He was born for acting and even did voices of many children’s TV characters too.
I wrote my last inspiring stories about Joan Simms and they adored each other. They were like brother and sister and protected each other from the public eye and he would often like another actor would, who knew Cilla Black, would often have Sunday lunch with her and her family.
He was loved by the Queen and should have been knighted as he was one of the funniest actors on the TV and was charmin, but he loved like Joan Simms the Quiet life at times and a very Private life. He never talked about his sexuality and never allowed the press to either, but wanted to be known for his art he did on camera and was loved by so many, and his comedy was timeless.
Not alot of people know this, but he would often get involved in behind the scenes of the plays and Carry on films and was a writer himself.
He like me would keep notebooks filled with jokes and kept a diary which they did do a documentary on which I felt was inpersonal as a diary is a secret and he never consented to it. Diaries are private journals of someones thoughts and fears and he was private, not because he felt he had anything to hide but because it was his way of emptying out his mind, and helped him through some dark days like we all can have, and happy days too.
He loved the theatre and when they had a VIP membership for the Strand he couldn’t resist but he acted there himself too and was his favourite theatre along with the London Palladium.
His last performance was in 1988 and as at the Old Ivy and a Royal Performance which was his dream come true and was a memeroable performance and had the who theatre in tears of laughter. He did do Radio too and did do tapes aswell, but would be known as the “Funniest Man ever known because he was naturally funny gifted comedian and actor and told jokes that were his and will never be forgotten”.
Kenneth, we love you and thank you for the laughs and stories and is what made you who you were.
