Monday June 27th 2022

June 27th - the day my late father was born in 1914 - he'd have turned 108 today if by some miracle of science he had lived. He sadly had to move into a care home in 1997 where he lived on for another 2 and a half years or so., These are the last pictures we have of him before he moved into a home.

how we remember my father best, and most fondly - in his favourite chair, 

doing the Daily Telegraph crossword with all his dictionaries etc within

reach over his left shoulder, together with his cut-price box of kleenex,

a cup of tea and the remote control on his adjustable table.

Happy days !!!!

flashback to Christmas 1996 - my father's last Christmas

before moving into a care home in 1997. (clockwise round the table left to right) 

my mother, my father, our daughters Sarah (19) and Alison (21), 

my brother Steve (not shown) and Lois (40)

Yes, in 1997 my father went into a care home, which goes to show that you never know what's just around the corner, do you. 

And so what's round the corner for Lois and me, I wonder? YIKES!!!!! Let's not go there right now!!!!!

10:00 At the moment Lois and I are planning to complete a house move to Malvern in the next couple of months, and all the paperwork is already beginning to weigh us down, to put it mildly. Yesterday we engaged a building surveyor to inspect the house in Malvern that we're planning to buy, and so I have to wade through their contract form today.

The surveyor firm has said I can sign the document digitally using Docusign or some such nonsense. I hate signing documents digitally - it always looks as if a child, a moron or a chimpanzee has signed them - my god!!!!

11:45 Lois and I go for a walk round the local football field, as usual, stopping for a hot chocolate and a cake at the Whiskers Coffee Stand.

we stop for a hot chocolate and a cake at the Whiskers Coffee Stand

On the way out of the field we stop to cheer the local Old Codgers who have their weekly soccer practice this morning, as usual, in the netball court.

As Lois gets our drinks and eats at the Coffee Stand (left),

some of the Old Codgers can be seen foregathering to the right,

indulging in their usual pre-match banter

as we leave the field, the Old Codgers can be seen in the background, 

in the netball court, having their weekly Monday work-out

We're not worried about the players now, not since I downloaded that special "app" that tells me that the County Air Ambulance are on standby and are ready to come to the Old Codgers' aid in the event of a health emergency, which is reassuring.

Isn't modern technology wonderful !!!!!

14:00 After lunch I look at my smartphone again - Steve, our American brother-in-law, has sent us another of the amusing Venn diagrams that he monitors every week on the web.

We have a good laugh over this one, and at the same time, as often, we learn about a bit of popular culture that's somehow passed us by. Neither of us knew about "moon cups", but what a good idea, invented about 20 years ago by two women in Brighton with the aim of saving menstruating women from spending ££££'s on tampons and the like. Each washable "moon cup" lasts for about 10 years, it seems - I bet the "feminine hygiene" industry must hate those two women from Brighton, no doubt about that - my god!!!!

16:00 Lois is on the patio harvesting some of our blackcurrants from branches cut from our bushes in the back garden - if all goes to plan, we won't be here next year to harvest them, so we've got to get as much benefit out of these this year as we can, that's for sure!

I persuade to take a break with a cup of tea and a snack.

Lois briefly pauses her harvesting of our back garden blackcurrants

to have a cup of tea and a snack on the patio

19:00 Our elder daughter, Alison, who lives in Headley, Hampshire with husband Ed and their 3 children Josie (15), Rosalind (14) and Isaac (11), has been playing her first croquet match ever tonight in a local tournament, with Ed as partner, playing against another local couple. 

Later she puts some charming photos up on social media.

Incredibly Alison and Ed managed to win this, their first ever, croquet match. Alison says that the match took 3 hours, and that the rules are much more complicated than you might imagine. 

My god! And unfortunately, for the next round, they've been drawn against the favourites.

Poor Ali and Ed !!!!

20:00 We wind down with the first of a two-part series on the PBS America channel showing some surviving early films of the British colony of Singapore from about 1900 and on till the 1930's.

Some fascinating footage here, all of which come from the archives of the British Film Institute (BFI) in London - nobody's quite sure why a lot of these films, including home movies by Europeans, ended up being stored here, but it was very fortunate that they did. The BFI has the right facilities for preserving these old reels of film, whatever the extraordinary range of chemicals that were used to make the films in those far-off times.

It's fascinating to see the films, and fascinating also to see the reaction to the films from some present- day Singaporeans, talking in the perfect English that they speak - better than you and me! I guess that after 200 years or so, that's our biggest legacy to them: our language.

Singapore was founded as a British port city and colony by Sir Thomas Raffles in 1819, but its importance was increased enormously by the opening of the Suez Canal towards the end of the century.

Another legacy the British have left Singapore is its street plan and its grand, European-style public buildings, which are still there today, needless to say.

In a lot of the street scenes you see Sikh policemen directing the traffic. Apparently Sikhs moved freely throughout the British Empire as recruits for the police service. The reason harks back to the Indian Mutiny of 1858, when the Sikhs stayed loyal to the British, and for that reason the British identified them as a loyal but martial race that were trustworthy and whom they could rely on.

We also see Sikh policemen on duty at the Cavenagh Bridge, the only suspension bridge built in the city. It's one of the city's oldest bridges, opened in 1869. The bridge was first built in Glasgow, and then dismantled and shipped out to Singapore.

What a crazy world they lived in, in those far-off days!

We see also some of the British films reflecting the imperialist mood of the time, designed to show the native populations the strength of the Royal Navy and to "point out to them" all that the Empire was doing for them, such as this film, "Britain's Birthright", filmed in the 1920's.

The title of the film says it all - "Britain's Birthright": that confident sense of entitlement and ownership that the British felt at that time. The film tells the story of the development of Singapore from a fishing village into this thriving world port. 

One present-day Singaporean comments that many empires, starting with the Romans, have claimed that they came to civilise the natives and to bring peace and prosperity, while, of course, at the same time squeezing the natives dry. My god!

The film contrasts the "malodorous" native quarters of the city with the grand modern buildings that the British have brought to the Civic District. 

However the British have little to boast about when it comes to the introduction of opium from early on in the 19th century. 

we see early 20th century film of opium-users in the city

Opium was the basis of the East India Company's trade across Asia. It represented about one seventh of the total revenue of British India. And Britain invaded China in order to force the Chinese market to accept the trade in opium. The company, in effect, became the world's biggest drug cartel, and with the world's biggest navy to protect it - my god (again) !!!!

We also see fascinating home movies from the 1930's, shot by the city's wealthy Europeans, including the Frankel family, Lithuanian Jews. The family had emigrated to Singapore in the late 19th century, and built themselves a fortune based on their textile and furniture business. 

The family also owned a vast coconut plantation by the sea, where they spent the weekends, including one at which Albert Einstein made an appearance.

home movies of the Frankel family taken in the 1930's

here entertaining Albert Einstein on their cocoa plantation by the sea

Well, as we know now, back in the 1930's the Second World War was "just around the corner", and it's a bit ironic seeing these happy 1930's home movies, to think about what was shortly to come, all of which we'll presumably see in Part 2 of this series.

Now - the Japanese Empire: did they ever claim to bring civilisation and progress to their colonial subjects? I think not!

But we'll see next time.

Fascinating stuff!!!!

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzzzz!!!!!