Hungerford Arcade is always very pleased to welcome visitors from local tourist attractions.  One such customer was the manager of the Didcot Railway Centre, Thomas Macey, who bought a poster for display at the centre.  He is an avid collector of all things connected with the Great Western Railway.

Our unit 29 in the bookshop, run by stallholder Nevill Bridger, is a magnet for railway enthusiasts with a wealth of railway memorabilia on offer.  Nevill comes in each week, constantly refreshing his stock, so there is always something new to browse.

The Didcot Railway Centre has re-opened after the lockdown and is a wonderful day out for all the family.  Entrance is by ticket only, which must be booked in advance.  They are currently restoring their first locomotive 1466 ready for their sixtieth anniversary in 2021.  For more information on the Centre and their Steam Days, please click here.

Hungerford Arcade’s own Marathon Man, Ian Spuffard, is planning to run this year’s London Marathon on a treadmill on the Town Hall steps.  Has anyone got a treadmill we can borrow?! 

The actual marathon, re-scheduled for Sunday 4th October, has been cancelled to all but elite runners.  However, if he completes the 26.2 miles, Ian will be entitled to a finisher’s medal.  He is running in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and is continuing to fund raise before the day.  He has a target of £2500.

His latest idea are these limited edition Hungerford Arcade face masks, which are available from the front desk.

We are also working on a way for the charity auction, originally scheduled for March, to go ahead and will post further details as soon as they are available.

Hungerford Arcade was very pleased to meet a wonderful young man, Lewis who is 13 years old.  Lewis purchased a model tank, a Red Cross ambulance and some military badges to add to his collection.

It is Lewis’ ambition to join the Army Medical Corps at the Wellington Academy in Tidworth, Wiltshire.  His great grandfather was a paramedic ambulance driver and Lewis would like to carry on the family tradition.

Lewis with Hungerford Arcade co-owner, Adrian Gilmour

Well done Lewis.  You are a very sensible young man who knows exactly what he would like to do with his life.  Everyone here at Hungerford Arcade wish you the very best of luck and look forward to seeing you again soon.

Hungerford Arcade is full of an amazing mix of eclectic items.  Just when you least expect it, you come upon a hidden gem like this magnificent dagger, which was presented to Sir Leonard Crossland, the former chairman of the Ford Motor Company in Great Britain.

The dagger is dated 1972 and is made from Continental 800 silver with 18ct gold decoration.  His name is inscribed on the rim of the scabbard.

Leonard Crossland was born in Yorkshire in 1914 and his first job, with Ford, was straight from grammar school.  His career started in 1937 on the shop floor of Ford’s plant in Dagenham, Essex, with take home pay of £5 a week. He worked with them until 1939 when he joined the Royal Army Service Corps.  The Second World War saw him at Dunkirk and mentioned in dispatches.  He went straight back to Ford on demobilisation and a job in the Buying Department, helping to source the hundreds of parts the company needed.

By 1954 he was in charge of all buying for Ford’s tractor making operations. progressing to cars and lorries three years later.  By 1966, he was Director of Manufacturing, Staff and Services.  Crossland was made Assistant Managing Director at Ford in 1966, Managing Director and Deputy Chairman in 1967 and then Chairman in 1968.  He was knighted in 1969.  He died in 1999, aged 85.

During Sir Leonard’s tenure, Ford knocked the British Motor Corporation (later British Leyland) off the top spot in the sales charts to take market leadership; the Ford GT40 beat Ferrari at Le Mans and they launched the Capri in 1969 – billed as ‘ the car you always promised yourself.

Hungerford Arcade is always proud to be asked to take part in the antiques TV shows.  This time it was Antiques Road Trip with Philip Serrell and Tim Medhurst.  We opened the shop an hour or so later so that the filming could take place when there were no customers around due to the coronavirus. The film crew and experts arrived at 7.30 am and everything was ready for them to proceed.

Antiques Expert & Auctioneer, Philip Serrell Enjoying Himself

Tim Medhurst, Antiques and renowned Coin Expert, on his Antiques Road Trip Bike

Click here to see more on the Antiques Road Trip and our other television/radion work on our TV Media page.  You can even take a 360 Tour inside the Arcade.

It’s been a roller coaster few weeks at Alexanders Tea Room since we opened on July 4th,  it has been marvellous to see the response to the new look and menu. 

The house slaw has gone down a storm so we thought we would share with you our recipe, which can be easily tweaked to your own tastes where necessary.  The most important aspect of the slaw is using fresh ingredients daily.  We source our fruit & vegetables from the local market which runs in Hungerford weekly on a Wednesday.

(I know I’m biased but it’s utterly delicious and served with all sandwiches and jacket potatoes.  Ed)

Below you’ll find the ingredients & quantities required; this recipe would be suitable for a small gathering such as a BBQ and will last for 2/3 days refrigerated.

House Slaw: Ingredients

¼ White Cabbage

½ Fennel

½ Head Celery

50g Dill

1 Teaspoon Wholegrain Mustard

Pinch Salt

Pinch Pepper

3 Tablespoons Caster Sugar

5 Tablespoons Mayonnaise

125g Cream Fraiche

5ml White Wine Vinegar

You will need two bowls.

In the first bowl add your Wholegrain Mustard, Salt, Pepper, Caster Sugar, Mayonnaise, Cream Fraiche, White Wine Vinegar & your Dill (Finely Chopped)

Whisk these ingredients together and leave to one side.

Next you need to finely chop the White Cabbage, Fennel & Celery giving them a good wash before and after, add these to the second bowl.

All you have to do now is simply mix the two together and you have our house slaw.

I sometimes add carrots or shallots to the mix, it all depends on what you have available at the time.

Simply store in an airtight container and this will keep fresh for 2/3 days.

James

Hungerford Arcade were thrilled to welcome Ruth and Robert Bennie from Didcot on their Silver Wedding Anniversary.  The couple, who married on 22 July 1995, were looking for an anniversary present from Robert’s Dad, who is shielding and unfortunately could not be with them on the day.  We will give him a big welcome when he is next able to come in!

Ruth and Robert chose this wonderful silver photo frame, hallmarked Birmingham 1911, and Ruth has very kindly sent us a photo of their wedding photo in the frame.

Heartiest congratulations to you both from everyone at the Arcade.  Here’s to the next twenty-five years!

Hungerford Arcade co-owners, managers, staff and stallholders were very sorry to see Stuart Miller-Osborne and his wife Caron leave Hungerford.  Many of you will know Stuart from the many wonderful articles he has written for us over the years.

Stuart and Caron have a daughter and grandchidren in Kent and travelled regularly between  Hungerford and Kent.  Of course, during the coronavirus lockdown, they missed their family very much and when an opportunity arose for them to move nearer to their daughter, there was no contest.

                               Back L-R Stuart with beautiful wife, Caron Front Adrian and Rita

Stuart and Caron moved down to Deal on the 1st July and a new chapter has started in their life.  Don’t be dispondent as Stuart said that when they are settled, he will continue to send us articles which we will publish for your pleasure.  Also, rhey will pop into the Arcade when they travel west to visit their son.

I am sure you will join us in wishing Stuart and Caron all good wishes and happiness in their new home.

Hello Again.

Dheckler510 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

One of things that always fascinates me is how we all find things which if we had been on the opposite side of the sliding doors we would have missed totally.  This happened to me the other day when Caron and I were travelling back from Kent.

We had planned to catch a certain train from Paddington, but a tube hold up delayed us by a few minutes and we missed our connection. This meant that we would need to change at unlovely Reading to get to Hungerford, but fate struck again as for some reason, our train ran slowly and we missed our second connection of the day.

This left us with an hour to kill and as Reading Station resembled a Soviet ghost town, we were forced into the city centre (it was either that or counting bored pigeons).

Marks and Sparks were open and the long queue nearby indicated that Primark had reopened, but there was nothing to interest me.  That was until I walked passed the Harris Arcade which is on the way back to the station.  My wife suggested that we should not linger as the storm that hit Berkshire that day had already sent out its violent outriders.

We disagreed.  So whilst Caron walked to the railway station in reasonably light rain, I decided to shelter in the arcade and await the full force of the storm.

It was whilst I was there that I noted that the collectables shops were open for business.  As we are currently in the throes of moving and had promised each other that under no circumstances would we purchase non essentials, I decided that I would just look at the retro records which were outside of one of the shops.

I expected to find the usual rubbish and was not disappointed, that was until I found a signed Arnold Loxam record which dated from 1974.  This was an exciting find as it was a blast from the past and brought back memories of seeing Arnold playing a Wurlitzer Organ when I was very young.  I cannot remember exactly where I saw him as the Boer War had just finished, but I think it may have been Clacton.

As punishment for being good and not playing with the gong at the guest house, my parents who liked listening to Arnold’s music, decided to drag me along to a concert even though I protested that I would rather go to a gulag in Siberia.

My brother and sister were looked after by Mrs. Savage’s rottweiler and off we went on a particularly cool June evening to the Winter Gardens or wherever else it was held.

I can remember that the auditorium was rather too warm and the chap in front of me was shortening his life by chain smoking menthol cigarettes.  And it was here aged seven, that my life changed, as I really liked Arnold’s Wurltizer music and was humming some of the tunes all the way back to Stalag Nine and Three Quarters.

Unlike today, recordings were not at our fingertips although, I can remember my parents purchasing a couple of Arnold’s records which I proudly kept next to my Sex Pistols collection.

However like everything else, things changed.  Mafeking was relieved and I sadly grew up and in a way, forgot about this long lost treat.

Arnold had replaced Stalin in my affections, but that was because I was now a grown up brat and not a child anymore. But what of Arnold, who in my view is almost totally forgotten, although he only died in March 2010.

He was born in Wibsey on the outskirts of Bradford in 1916, the youngest of the three children of a textile overlooker.  When he was three, his father and his brother Percy, taught him to play the tunes of hymns on the piano using one finger and by the age of nine, he regularly took part in Chapel Concerts.  He made his first appearance at the keyboard of a Wurlitzer theatre organ in September 1930.

I am told that Wurlitzer organs reflect the style of the organist and Arnold was known for his bounce, style and his frequent glances over his shoulder whilst playing.

In a way, this has all disappeared just like the Will Hay films and is now considered very old hat.

By 1948 Arnold was working for BBC Radio and this brought his considerable talents to a much wider audience.  He also travelled overseas and when in the USA, always wore his Union Jack socks during concerts.

He also worked with Granada during the early days of commercial television.  But he never forgot his roots and could often be found performing at the Beck Hill Working Men’s Club in Bradford.

My record has a 1968 photograph of Arnold and his Wurlitzer organ at the Odeon Theatre in Headrow, Leeds on its cover.

This is where this recording took place with favorites such as Jeepers Creepers and Over the Rainbow featured.  Sadly, like many other venues, the Odeon Theatre no longer exists and has been replaced by a dreadful Primark store. But happily, the organ was saved which is fantastic and I am reliably informed that in many cases when these much loved buildings were bulldozed the Wurlitzers were saved and still exist today.

I have just played my record and it took me back many years to when as a young child there seemed to be no ills in the world and the slow summers lasted six months.  Unlike much of the rubbish you hear today there seemed to be an organic feel to Arnold’s music.

It was a double slice of luck really as on that stormy June day, I not only found this lovely record by chance (if the trains had run on time then I would have missed it as I tend to avoid Reading like the plague) but it was also autographed.

Arnold would have not thought his autograph that special as he was a modest down to earth man.

But to a grown up seven year old it was very special.

Happy Hunting

Stuart Miller-Osborne

Eric Koch / Anefo / CC BY-SA 3.0 NL (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en)

Everyone here at Hungerford Arcade, across the generations, mourn the loss of this wonderful lady, Dame Vera Lynn.  At 103 years old, Dame Vera has dedicated her life to helping others and has touched the hearts of millions of people.  Risking her life during WWII, Dame Vera visited our service men and women wherever they were serving.  She even went out to Burma where another brutal part of the war was taking place.  Everyone adored her and christened her the “The Forces Sweetheart” which she will always be.  With songs like We’ll Meet Again, The White Cliffs of Dover and It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow (my favourite and I wasn’t even born then) will live forever.  

Whenever there was a war time commemoration, such as D Day and VJ Day to name but two, Dame Vera would be there greeting all the veteran service men and women from the war.

In the years since WWII, Dame Vera Lynn has dedicated her life to Children and set up the Dame Vera Lynn Children’s Charity which helps children with cerebral palsy and other motor learning difficulties.  From today, it will be run by Dame Vera’s daughter and her husband.  

Nicki (Growl Roar) from United Kingdom / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

RIP

Dame Vera Lynn

20th March 1917 – 18th June 2020