Spending time with my friend Lenny Baker is always a pleasure. A man who lights up a room and gives the perfect shot of joviality to a snooker gathering. He always greets you with a massive hug and is always armed with a cue and a pint. He hoovers up a pool or snooker table as fast as Alex Higgins and never breaks out in a sweat. A master of his craft, Lenny has a multitude of friends as thick as a telephone directory and warms a heart with his Cheshire cat grin. A natural in a suit, he can often be found having a cheeky cigarette outside the fire exit and what he doesn’t know about snooker is not worth knowing. A gifted snooker player who has the cue ball on a piece of string and strikes it so sweetly that the pockets surrender in submission.
The Gifted Touch
Hailing from Folkstone, the 39-year-old is no stranger to a snooker table. A presence at the English Amateur Championship qualifiers, WSF Championship and the Q Tour, Lenny made the snooker headlines in 2022 in the furious and ruthless Snooker 900 shown on Sporty Stuff TV and online. This tournament was organised by Jason Francis and provides players with the chance to gain experience in television snooker conditions and compete in a media atmosphere. It brings together gifted amateurs and players from the present and past such as Michael Holt, Emma Parker, Michael Judge, Joe Johnson, Tony Knowles, Dennis Taylor and Barry Pinches. Broadcast over 25 nights, £6,000 is on offer every week. Lenny Baker reached the television stages by defeating Tam Mustafa and went on to beat David Church, a player on the disability tour. Eight weekly winners went on to the Grand Final. Ant Parsons claimed the title with a £10,000 prize, defeating Marin O’Donnell at Jason Francis’ Crucible Club in Reading. Although Lenny didn’t win the title, he should give himself a pat on the back for his efforts, especially as he started the event as a 14/1 outsider. A tournament presented by Rachel Casey, Neal Foulds, Reanne Evans and Lee Richardson.
A regular at the Dunstable Snooker Club where players flock to practice on the excellent Star tables in the snooker room upstairs, Lenny is a familiar face front and back of house at many snooker tournaments. I am so proud of my friend and know that he always gives his all when he plays. To qualify as one of the 96 amateur players for the 900 is some achievement and to be able to adapt to a pressurised 15-minute frame and a shot clock is impressive. Lenny continues to shine and I am sure he will be raising a trophy very soon.
“We remember their love when they can no longer remember”.
Anonymous quote
The last photograph of Sean Connery.
Introduction
Dementia is a progressive condition that gradually gets worse over time. A condition that has early, middle and late stages. It affects your memory, thinking and social abilities. In England alone, it is estimated that 64.5% of people over the age of 65 have the disease but this is a condition that can strike at any time in life. Dementia costs the NHS £17 billion a year to provide care for and it predicted this will rise by another £1.7 billion by 2050. One in two have a loved one or friend have someone going through dementia. A ticking time bomb that could be affected by age, genetics and lifestyle.
Famous cases of this condition include Sean Connery, James Stewart, Robin Williams, Babara Windsor and currently Julie Goodyear and Bruce Willis. In snooker, Frank Callan and currently Terry Griffiths. People who suffer from this tend to become confused and have trouble remembering, especially names. A condition that can be very upsetting for the person and those that are impacted by it. One where the individual can often recall memories from the past but struggle to remember something that has happened recently.
Staring into Space
Dementia robs you of your freedom, uniqueness and the joys of daily life. The eyes that have lost their sparkle, the look of confusion, a person still there but their personality sucked out of them. Still a person but a different version. A partner often has to quickly adapt to the role of carer. A lonely place. a foreign world where you have to quickly learn to cope or you will drown in the pool of dementia. It is not only your loved one living with the condition, you are too. Everyone around you is affected by it. No one knows how traumatic dementia is until you have experienced it. You are losing the person you love while the world carries on at a normal pace around you.
Hope
Filling out forms and chasing care and support can be very frustrating in the early days of dementia. A condition with no known cure and one where you just have to make the best of a bad situation. An insular world where you inch further and further from the front door and the bedroom eventually becomes your prison cell. Many of those whom you counted on fly away like birds. A black-and-white picture that is devoid of colour. A rainy day with no prospect of sunshine.
Yet beyond the darkness there is light. The important thing about living with dementia is to keep talking. Pick up the phone and reach out for help from brilliant organisations like Dementia UK, your GP, the NHS and the numerous care organisations that exist. Speak to a dementia specialist who really knows what you are going through. No family should have to go through dementia alone. Admiral nurses are here to support you and bring a sprinkle of normality back to an unpredictable life experience.
“Wake up at the back there and pin back your lugholes”.
Jimmy Edwards
Jimmy Edwards
Introduction
Born in 1928 in Barnes, South West London, a place I know so well, having lived there for 22 years, Jimmy Edwards was an instantly recognisable British comedian. His dominant handlebar moustache across his face and a booming voice that spread laughter through radio and television sets for decades. A natural at playing the cane-wielding headmaster in Whacko! and a brilliant comedy sparring partner to Eric Sykes in the stage farce ‘Big Bad Mouse’ and six of Sykes’ dialogue-free films including The Plank in 1967.
Funny Bones
“Nice and steady or I will smash your face in”.
Jimmy Edwards
I was ten years old and in a swimming pool at the Sheraton Hotel in Abu Dhabi. I lived in the capital at the time in a flat not far from the hotel and my parents had membership to the pool area. Swimming in the pool, I felt a sudden wave of water wash past me. Looking up I saw Jimmy Edwards in a pair of trunks swimming back to Eric Sykes after divebombing the water. Eric was reclining in the shallow end with a large Havana cigar in his mouth. My only fond memory of Jimmy but a treasured moment. I later found out they were appearing in the stage play Big Bad Mouse. This fleeting glance at the comedian will stay with me for life and provides a slight insight into the private life of this Gregorian man. A cross between Henry VIII and the actor James Robertson Justice. Loud, proud and a man’s man. A hairy man who was a natural silver fox. Funny, and whacky, he could reduce an audience to tears of laughter with his trombone routine, using the instrument’s slide and the puzzled orchestra as the centre of his polished gag.
A true British eccentric who had his audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Professor Jimmy Edwards, a name adopted to distinguish himself from another actor of the same name at the time at the Windmill Theatre or Mr Glum, you always expected him to take off his bicycle clips from the depths of his dinner suit. Mr Glum is based on a cockney landlord that Jimmy came across in a pub in Barnes. A character that was constantly henpecked by the voice of his wife, Mrs Glum, a woman you never saw. He used to shout “Mother!” to which her reply would be “What do you want?”.
Eric Sykes and Jimmy Edwards.
Treading the Boards
Jimmy Edwards realised he wanted to act from early on in life. He acquired a taste for comedy during his years with the Cambridge Footlights. The son of Kenrick, a professor of mathematics at King’s College London and Phyllis from New Zealand, James Keith O’Neill Edwards was the eighth of nine children. His father’s death in 1935 left the family in dire straits and so all his children had to learn to survive for themselves from an early age. Jimmy attended St Paul’s Cathedral School where he became head boy. He then won a scholarship to King’s College School in Wimbledon and went on to become a choral scholar at St John’s College Cambridge where he studied and sang in the choir.
Serving during the Second World War in the RAF, Edwards became a flight lieutenant and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was based in Doncaster and was shot down in Arnhem, resulting in horrific facial injuries and the main reason he grew his handlebar moustache to hide his plastic surgery. As a result, he became a member of the Guinea Pig Club. He failed the audition for ENSA but performed in Ralf Reader’s gang shows.
After the end of the war, Edwards performed at the Windmill Theatre in London. A theatre where my great-uncle Tommy Scott also performed. He would then appear at the Adelphi Theatre in London Laughs with Tony Hancock and Vera Lynn from 1952 to 1954 and in the radio comedy Take It From Here written by Frank Muir and Dennis Norden. He also appeared in the radio comedies Jim the Great and My Wildest Dream. He would work again with the script pair on Whack-O on television. He was a regular on the celebrity game show Jokers Wild and as Pa Glum in The Glums.
Appearances in the films The Plank (1967) and a remake in 1979, Rhubarb (1969) and The Bed Sitting Room the same year, Jimmy went on to tour the UK, the Middle East and Australia with the farce Big Bad Mouse with Eric Sykes. Sykes would later be replaced by Roy Castle. Initially receiving bad reviews, Edwards and Sykes decided to spice it up and go off-script and ad-lib. This resulted in not only rave reviews but also a long run at the Shaftesbury Theatre. A lover of polo, playing at Ham Polo Club, Jimmy was a lifelong Conservative and stood in the 1964 election as the candidate for Paddington North without success. A supporter of fox hunting and a Rector at the University of Aberdeen in the 1950s, he was a concealed homosexual, hiding his sexuality in his marriage to Valerie Seymour for 11 years. A secret that wasn’t exposed until 1979. A revelation that annoyed him greatly. Living his later life in Fletching, East Sussex, Jimmy died from pneumonia in 1988 at the age of 68. A comedy icon and much missed.
Every sport has its voice and for darts aside from Sid Waddell, the precursor and trailblazer was Tony Green. Tony had a velvety and silky-smooth voice that was perfect for the microphone. He eased the viewer into a darts match but there was to press the nuclear button when drama hit the oche. A true professional of the highest degree, Green’s voice never lost its Hull birthplace. A man who witnessed the golden era of darts, Bob Anderson, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, Bobby George, John Lowe, Leighton Rees, Cliff Lazarenko, John Part and Jocky Wilson, powerhouses of the game. All staged in iconic venues such as the Circus Tavern, Purfleet, Lakeside, Winter Gardens, Blackpool and Jollees Cabaret Club in Stoke-on-Trent.
Whatever role Tony was tasked in the world of darts, Green played it to perfection. Always suited and booted, he was a true ambassador for the arrows. Brilliant as a scorer, commentator and a fine amateur player in his day, playing county darts for Lancashire. A key player in the revolution of darts that created the PDC away from the BDO. He was also a one-time chair of the International Darts Players’ Association (IDPA), the ‘players’ union’ for those who remained with the BDO.
Longevity
Anthony John Green was born in Hull on January 29, 1939. A working-class lad with a passion for darts. A pub game that quickly became a sport. A game that in the early days was played for love and passion and the monetary return was minimal. A world that worked hand in hand with a drinking culture and was accompanied by copious amounts of cigarettes. Tony saw it all and upskilled as he went along. A man who loved the rough and tumble of the working men’s clubs and followed so many players from their infancy to their glory days.
Tony Green’s job history in darts is second to none. The lead BBC commentator from the first British Darts Organisation World Championship in 1978, held in the Heart of the Midlands in Nottingham and won by Leighton Rees. A tournament devised by Mike Watterson, the man who brought the World Championship in snooker to The Crucible in 1977 and first thought of this darting idea in a barber’s chair in 1977. A stalwart who remained with the BBC until the very end with their last coverage of the tournament in 2016.
Bullseye
When Central Television commissioned the idea of a Sunday afternoon darts quiz show, the only sidekick to Jim Bowen, a regular on The Comedians and a former school teacher, was Tony Green. The pair worked in perfect partnership despite the Crossroads set and script that didn’t always go to plan. The show brought in the elderly by the coach load to populate the audience. With contestants, some were just as wobbly at darts as at general knowledge. The prizes improved with time, upgrading from a teas maid to a speed boat, a crystal decanter to a caravan and eventually to a car or a holiday abroad. Whether you won the tankard or Bendy Bully or both, Jim had to have his two minutes to count out a handful of old ten-pound notes in the advertising break.
Yet Bullseye grew into a cult status, attracting all the big names of darts at the time to throw for charity and attempt to win to attain the golden Bully. A show that boosted the profile of darts and left the winning contestants with a mountain of prizes that would be difficult to fit into your house, especially the cumbersome speed boat. With a catchy theme tune and the moos of Bully a must, this would be a show that ran between 1982 and 1995 and a return on Challenge TV hosted this time by Dave Spikey of Phoenix Nights fame with Tony Green again in tow. Tony would also come back as the scorer for a special edition of the show as part of a Gameshow Marathon on ITV on 19 May 2007. Green would also later appear on Meet Ricky Gervais in 2000 and co-hosted Challenge TV’s coverage of the inaugural PDC US Open tournament in 2007 and as a commentator and narrator for Let’s Play Darts For Comic Relief in 2015. Tony took a career break in 2010 while he underwent treatment for tongue cancer. Treatment was successful but sadly passed away on 4 March 2024, aged 85 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Dave Myers had two passions in life, cooking and motorcycles. A man with a gleaming smile, a twinkle in his eye, a distinctive beard and a delightful Cumbrian accent. His passion for food was relentless and with his best friend Simon King, who he first met in 1995 on the set of the TV drama entitled The Gambling Man, the cuisine duo dominated cookery programming for twenty years. A working partnership that lasted thirty years. Dave brightened up a viewer’s day, a cook who loved to sample various recipes and put his own unique stamp on so many meals, small or hearty. A national treasure whose feet were firmly placed in a kitchen.
Background
Dave Myers was born in Barrow-in-Furness in 1957. His father worked as a foreman in a paper mill. Educated at the local grammar school, his art teacher, Mr Eaton inspired him to go on to study a fine-art degree at Goldsmiths and a master’s degree in art history. He went on to become a specialist makeup artist in prosthetics. A man who bought his first motorcycle when he was a student, a Cossack Ural Mark Mk III with sidecar.Yet aside from his day job, Dave had a true love, the love of cooking. A passion that came to life when he met his best friend Si King. This was a beautiful friendship that saw the two tour the country and the globe. Whether appearing on their programmes as the trademark Hairy Bikers or guest appearances on other programmes, the two worked perfectly in partnership, gourmet cooks of their time, making cooking seem easy and spreading their joy for creating old and new dishes. Whether it was in a kitchen or in a field, Dave and Si made it happen, sourcing produce and working their magic on a cooker or a camping gas burner. No task too great and smiles and laughs brought to the crew and those that they met.
Dave would go to delight us with his dancing moves on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 with dancing partner Karen Hauer. An appearance that last seven weeks and one where he danced the jive, tango and waltz. A viewers’ favourite and someone who showed that no matter your proficiency at dancing, the joy of working with the Strictly family is second to none. A family that creates lifelong friends and causes many to continue dancing afterwards.
Dave’s Battle
Dave Myers was diagnosed with cancer in May 2022 but didn’t disclose what type he had. This was the start of a very brave journey that must give solace to so many cancer sufferers. Although he was keen not to sugarcoat his illness, Dave remained defiant until the end. Despite undergoing chemotherapy, Myers remained resilient, saying that his hair looked better than it did before and getting on a motorcycle as soon as he could after treatment. So strong was the bond between himself and Si that his best friend took him to appointments and dropped off food for him. Masculinity and tenderness entwined. Not surprising for someone who Roger Moore trusted to cut his hair. Even though Roger threatened to break his scissors if he mucked it up.
This hairy biker who prided himself on using Bavarian wax on his moustache and who Si described as being “as hard as nails”. Even in his last series, The Hairy Bikers Go West, currently being shown on the BBC, Dave remained in good spirits and ready for what he ironically said would be his last journey. A private man away from the cameras, he was a devoted husband to his wife Liliana and father to her children, Izabelle and Sergiu. A journey that he said was all-encompassing. His passing at the age of 66, leaves a hole in joyous viewing but someone who will always be remembered for it bringing a ray of sunshine to your television.
“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have”.
Bob Marley
Introduction
Described as the voice of the oppressed, reggae expresses the sounds and pressures of ghetto life. A vibrant type of music that bears its soul to the listener with every word and beat of the music heartfelt, and driven by inspiration. Born out of Ska music, its roots lie deep in Jamaica. A music that was waiting for someone to be the prophet and voice of the music and take it on a global journey. Songs that encapsulated the political turmoil that Jamaica’s independence from Britain caused in 1962 and nurtured in Dodd’s Studio One.
During this period of development, reggae formed a connection with the Rastafarian movement. A movement that encourages the relocation of the African diaspora to Africa, deifies the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie and endorses the sacramental use of marijuana. Rastafarianism advocates equal rights and justice and draws on the mystical consciousness of Kumina, an earlier Jamaican tradition that ritualised communication with ancestors. A musical crusade that would fall on the shoulders of Robert Nesta Marley.
Nine Mile
Bob Marley as he came to be known came from the humblest of backgrounds. Born on February 6, 1945, to Norval and Cedella Marley, Bob was a native of Nine Mile, a village in Jamaica that had no running water or electricity. Little is known about his father, Norval, an older white man who came to the village to oversee the subdivision of its land for veterans’ housing. A seriously unstable man who rarely saw his family and died from a heart attack in 1955, at the age of seventy. A father whom Marley craved to know but ended up being the monkey on his back throughout his life.
Bob was a shy child who sheltered in the warmth of his mother’s embrace. A child with brimming talent but who constantly doubted his purpose in life. A resourceful and clever being who was constantly teased for his mixed blood, being called “the little yellow boy” or “the German boy”. In 1957, Bob moved with his mother to the ramshackle neighbourhood of Trench Town in Kingston. Unknown to Marley at the time, this would be the place that put him on the music path. He fell in with a crowd of boys who dreamed of making music. This musical possy consisted of Neville (Bunny Wailer) Livingston, Peter Tosh, Beverley Kelso, and Junior Braithwaite. A group that would become known as the Wailers. A period when he would also fall in love with his soulmate Rita, a Cuban-born beauty. A woman whom he would marry and go on to have five children with.
Discovery
Like any brilliant musician, there is always a time to find yourself. Bob formed the Wailers and initially based their brand of music on fused American-style soul harmonies with the island’s jumpy ska rhythms. Catching the eye of Joe Higgs, a local singer and producer, the band recorded several tracks in his studio and became a local sensation by the mid-sixties. Yet the financial reward was minimal. Bob decided to go with his mother to live in Wilmington, Delaware for a brief period.
The Renaissance
Returning to Jamaica in 1969, Marley couldn’t have timed a better moment. Ska music was being cast into the shadows by a new revolution in music, the new craze of Reggae. With the assistance of an eccentric producer, Lee (Scratch) Perry, the group would go on to record two brilliant albums, “Soul Rebels” (1970) and “Soul Revolution” (1971). Yet this distinctive brand of music still didn’t have a far-reaching voice. This was a period of soul-searching. Bob invited the drummer Bernard (Pretty) Purdie to join the group. A man who had already performed on tracks with Aretha Franklin.
Working with the producer Johnny Nash, a man who had experimented with pop reggae in the late sixties and early seventies on songs like Hold Me Tight” and “I Can See Now.” Under his wing, the band began an English tour in late 1970 but left them stranded there. Penniless and picked on by the police, the group decided to seek out another manager. They found it in Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. A man who was raised in Jamaica and who had formed his record label as a means of exporting the music he had grown up with. He gave them money to return to Jamaica to record a new album. This would be “Catch A Fire” (1973). A turning point in the group’s music with an aim to appeal to rock fans fans by adding guitar solos and synthesizer to the album’s final mix.
Tragedy
In 1976 whilst at home, several armed men stormed into Bob’s house at 56 Hope Road. Firstly shooting his wife Rita outside in a car before shooting Bob in the chest and arm, his manager, Don Taylor in the legs and torso and band employee Louis Griffiths in the torso. An incident that although there were no fatalities, physically shook Marley. This all happened two days before the Smile Peace Concert, a concert aimed at quelling recent violence and easing political tension. Bob fled Jamaica and sought solace in London. This was not before he played for 90 minutes, despite only initially promising one song. The crowd at National Heroes Park, Kingston exploded with applause.
London
London was a place where Bob could live and breathe. He played football in the park and spent hours in his flat trying to find a new direction. It was here that he poured his worth into the album Exodus in 1977. An album that received critical acclaim, incorporating blues, soul and British rock into its mix and selling millions of albums with its simplistic record sleeve. An album that would lead to a tour of Europe and one with the promise of a tour of the USA and Africa. Yet a fall whilst playing football would lead to a problematic toe that wouldn’t stop bleeding and heal.
After much persuasion, Bob saw a London doctor who diagnosed him with skin cancer. Melanoma that could only slowed down by cutting off his infected toe. Marley refused and said this was his fate, choosing only to have his toenail removed and a skin graft taken from his thigh to cover the area. Despite this diagnosis, Bob vowed to play on and toured Europe and America with his new album Uprising in 1980. His last performance was at the Benedum Centre For The Performing Arts in Pittsburgh on 23 September 1980.
Seeing the Light
Whilst jogging in Central Park, Bob Marley collapsed. Taken to the hospital, where it was found that the cancer had spread to his brain, lungs and liver. It was a diagnosis that he never recovered from. This was despite seeking Issels treatment in Bavaria, Germany. An alternative form of treatment that cuts out certain forms of food and drink from your diet. A programme that lasted eight months but ended with no resolution. Bob decided to return to Jamaica to end his days but in the end, only got as far as Miami when his condition worsened. He died in the University of Miami Hospital on 11 May 1981. His last words to his son Ziggy were “On your way up, take me up. On your way down, don’t let me down” and to his son Stephen “Money can’t buy life”. His body was returned to Jamaica where he was given a state funeral, and buried in a chapel in Nine Mile. His casket contains his red Gibson Les Paul guitar, a Bible opened at Psalm 23 and a stalk of ganja placed there by his wife Rita. A music icon that never left a will, dying at the tender age of thirty-six.
“There was me, wet behind the ears, trying not to let my jaw go slack. And of course I’d sit in Eric Morecambe’s dressing room listening to his stories too, because we recorded on the same night. This doesn’t happen to 22-year-old actors very often. If necessary, I would have paid them to be allowed to do the job”.
Ian Lavender
Introduction
Ian Lavender was a very intelligent man, a genial and generous actor who never got tired of his part as Private Pike in the hit Croft/Perry comedy Dad’s Army. A comedy that he continually promoted years after the episodes aired on BBC television. Ian’s own home was not that far removed from a location in the series itself. A timber-framed house in a leafy Suffolk village, complete with tea rooms and a 12-century church. A location that was only a stone’s throw away from where the German airmen scene was filmed. A scene where their plane had crashed into a reservoir and the hilarious memory of Corporal Jones hanging from a windmill.
So imagine what it was like for a 22-year-old budding actor to be offered the opportunity of a lifetime to star alongside so many great actors. Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn, Bill Pertwee, Frank Williams, James Beck and John Laurie whose filmography included working with Will Hay. Yet this hit comedy that ran for 80 episodes from 1968 to 1977 and had a viewing high of 18.6 million viewers wasn’t a hit from the start. In fact, the BBC were dubious about commissioning it. After watching the first black-and-white episode in 1968, Lavender, then living in London, took a walk down the North End Road the next morning, expecting to be mobbed by adoring fans. Yet there was no one, a rude awakening to the fact that success isn’t instant. The reviews were not that good either. It was only the Radio Times who praised the show saying “The fun itself is timeless” and within eight months the viewing figures had doubled.
A Dream Come True
For many of the actors involved, Dad’s Army was a last-swan song, now in their twilight years, the writers gave them an opportunity to shine. Arthur Lowe wanted to shed his persona of Arnold Swindley in Coronation Street and Clive Dunn was given the space to portray a First World War veteran who was double his age. Ian Lavender was the innocence of the cast, a bank clerk whose origins were constantly questioned in the programme. His father was obviously Sergeant Wilson but Croft and Perry continued to run the joke, leaving the audience in the dark, preferring to label him as Uncle Arthur.
Pike was a lanky, cheeky and slightly daft man who provided many of the belly laughs. He often got things wrong and looked like he had always gotten dressed in his uniform in a rush. Yet behind the scenes, Ian cherished the chance to work with a stellar cast and while they sat sipping tea from a metal tea urn, eating Family Circle biscuits and playing cards, Lavender was soaking up their experience. Like the Carry On team, this was a family affair where friends gathered for a few months of the year to do something that was a pleasure to do. A harking back to a time when an aged force was called upon to protect the Germans from invading the UK shores. A cumbersome bunch who defended themselves with a primitive arsenal.
Although John Le Mesurier should have played the Captain part and Arthur Lowe the Sergeant, their parts were flipped, producing hilarious consequences. A henpecked Lowe whose wife was only ever heard on the end of a telephone. A bank manager of the Warmington On Sea branch whose only chance to have some authority was through his made-up title of Captain. Bumbling, pompous and short-tempered, Mainwaring loved his troop but was too proud to say so. His annoyance often vented on Lavender’s character who created the catchphrase “Stupid boy”.
In an era where there were so many comedies that today are not politically correct, Dad’s Army has stood the test of time, timeless and still fresh. A comedy that was perfected and described by Ian.
“It’s TV pantomime really, where there’s something for every gender and every age group to enjoy. And for the kids who keep joining the repeat audiences, there’s a lot of silly old men making fools of themselves.”
Ian Lavender
The Innocence of Youth
Despite being 50 years their junior, Ian Lavender did have some knowledge of the war. His father was a station sergeant with the police liaising with both the Home Guard and Army bomb disposal unit. An actor who had appeared in school dramas and his first his first TV role was an ITV play called Flowers at My Feet in 1968. Lavender auditioned with David Croft three times before he got the part of Private Pike. Reading a script with his lines that were condensed on three sheets of foolscap paper. A part that was only supposed to last for one series. Ian got the audition because his agent was Ann Callender, the wife of David Croft, although he didn’t know it at the time. A break that he fondly remembered.
She said, ‘David Croft is my husband. You got the interview because of me; you got the part because David wants you. But remember one thing: he can always write you out!’ So, I have been able to say all along that my agent was sleeping with the director. Quite successfully – they had seven children!”
lan Lavender
When filming began, Lavender used to sit cross-legged on the floor between filming. Around him sat a circle of 30 to 40 people whose stories and experiences he listened to for hours. He described John Laurie as “dour” on their first meeting but warmed to him. He became his closest friend in the cast. A man who told him to bin his Telegraph crossword, saying it was “crap” and made him buy The Times. He then taught him how to do the crossword in the café. It was like a father teaching you how to ride a bike. An absolutely glorious experience that led to Lavender later asking John to be the godfather to Ian’s sons.
Learning from the Best
Ian also had a very close friendship with Arthur Lowe. He encouraged his junior to dress in funny costumes and stand by him so he got the laugh. Lavender took Arthur’s advice and searched for a costume item that would make him stand out from the crowd. He picked an Aston Villa scarf that reminded him of his childhood allegiance to the football team. A scarf that every time it was produced, got a round of applause then and for years after. Lowe and Lavender created the joke of the wonky glasses and the skewed cap on Mainwaring. A gag that changed Pike from an eager guy to a fool guy. Pike wasn’t stupid, he was naive but more often than not he was right in what he said in his outbursts. David Croft would often add layers to his character. Suddenly making him suck his thumb because it was funny and created a laugh. I was a set where he would meet his future wife Michele (Miki) Hardy, whom he later married in 1993. . She was choreographing as Sheila O’Neill’s assistant and she said, ‘Why have we got all these old men?’ She’d never seen it!”.
A Family Affair
Ian Lavender always rebuked any suggestions there were any feuds in the cast. He paints a lovely picture of John Laurie and Arnold Ridley in the hotel, sitting at a table reminiscing about their terrible experiences in the First World War. Both were involved in the carnage of the Battle of the Somme telling Ian stories that they hadn’t even said to their wives and children. A camaraderie that lasted to the end but after the loss of James Beck and Edward “Teddy” Sinclair who played the Verger, dying a month after the filming of the last episode, Never Too Old in 1977, the cast, writers and crew knew it was time to call it a day.
Life after Dad’s Army
Ian would go on to appear in musicals such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Mikado. He also worked with Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice and appeared in Rising Damp, Yes Minister and Casualty. He also got to work in Eastenders, playing alongside his Dad’s Army pal, Wendy Richards as Derek Harkinson, a gay friend of Pauline Fowler. Undoubtedly Lavender was typecast after the end of Dad’s Army but how could you ever show this liquid gold comedy any malice? The last thing Ian did before leaving the set was to ask David Croft if Uncle Arthur was his father. His response was simple. “Of course he is!”.
Fond Memories
Ian Lavender had very fond memories of his time in Dad’s Army. Arthur Lowe ordering crispy bacon every morning at the hotel for breakfast, John acting like a naughty boy, David Croft having to persuade Arthur Lowe to take his script home at night and David’s loud and colourful wardrobe. The creaky effects and fluffed lines were part of the programme’s charm. A charm that Lavender got angry about when they digitised the programme and cut parts out. It was a hit because the cast got on and that made the magic and the priceless comedy.
Breaking news – All the latest empowering events from STORM. A Battersea charity that puts domestic violence at the centre of their ethos.
Last year’s Peace Concert at the Clapham Grand.
Give Peace a Chance
What better a way to promote the causes of the STORM charity than through music. Following on from the amazing success of the Peace concert at the Clapham Grand last October, the charity has set the planning wheels in motion for its 17th year of the event. This concert break new barriers every year and showcases the sheer talent of youth culture. fresh, diverse and imaginative. An event that was born out of a horrific knife attack on the son of the founder. This year’s concert will be held on 21 October at the Wandsworth Civic Centre with a guest list that will include Chris Preddie OBE, Risky, Jah Digga and an undisclosed headline act.
Royal and Regal
Queen Camilla and Marie Hanson.
STORM were honoured to mark their 19th anniversary with a visit to the centre on 9 February 2023 by Camilla, the Queen Consort. A lady who strongly believes that charity work is crucial in reaching out to those who may be reticent about making this bold step towards a bright future. The Queen Consort was fascinated to learn about what STORM stands for and keen to engage in its various classes such as art and computer courses. This inspiring afternoon was not only heartfelt but showed this key royal figure the amazing work that is being produced in this Battersea charity hub that believes in an open door policy, always wide open to those that need it and wrapping its caring arms around the source of the problem, finding solutions to combat the eye of the STORM.
Royal visit to STORM.
Listen Up
National Listening Day campaign.
Held on the 18 November every year, National Listening Day is a significant day in the calendar. Created as a means to get young voices heard, it’s other purpose is to raise awareness of mental health in young people. This is a day of empowerment and giving young people the chance to speak out about their well-being and personal struggles in life. Nearly one-third of 16-24 year olds (33%) are reported to suffer from anxiety or depression and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) can be extremely worrying for young people to have to experience. Launched in 2021, this day’s slogan is Say it Your Way’. Also see about ‘Listening Day’ at www.listeningday.co.uk – you can also contact us specifically for Listening Day at sayityourway2022@gmail.com
Windrush Tea Party
STORM in partnership with Enable recently held a tea party in July in Battersea Park to celebrate the lives and work of the Windrush generation. The afternoon was a huge success and despite the teeming rain, the sun popped its head out at the right time, providing a beautiful backdrop to this lovely afternoon of celebration. You can read more about it in Elliott West’s piece that can be found on his website at this link :
STORM took a number of families for a day trip to Bournemouth in August. A seaside town that is both picturesque and is a great place to visit for both adults and children during these warm summer months. With so many families not being able to afford the luxury of a holiday, these days allow them to escape the stresses and strains of life and to paddle in the sea, build sand castles and have fish and chips in an idyllic setting. A day that is so reasonably priced at £5 per person.
Sexual abuse is a taboo subject, especially among children. Poppy has waived her right to anonymity and made the brave decision to speak out about the sexual abuse inflicted on her by her paternal grandfather. Acts that occurred since she was a toddler. This form of abuse is usually hidden with many victims continuing to live in silence. In the year up to March, there were 105,542 sexual offences recorded against children with a 57% increase in recorded offences over six years. Child sexual abuse within a family environment accounts for nearly half of these cases. Victims of child abuse are often groomed and the abuse is committed behind closed doors. The victim begins to believe that this behaviour is normal, imprisoned in the chains of fear and living in a daily hell with emotional scars that can last a lifetime.
The Emotional Journey
“I was so desperate to fight my own corner. In some ways, there was a good amount of anger behind me, so telling my side of the story was incredibly important.”
Poppy
We join Poppy on a hot Summer’s day at a busy airfield in Kent. She is here to do a sponsored skydive in aid of a charity that helped her in the aftermath of her sexual abuse. A jump that occurred four days after finishing her A-levels and a week before her 18th birthday. Poppy is carrying out the leap not just to raise money for the charity but to also show that the leap compares to the scary decision to tell someone about the abuse. In her case, she confided in her parents, Miranda and David. A decision that was made even more difficult because the abuser was David’s father John, Poppy’s grandfather.
Poppy was groomed by her grandfather and such was her shame that she even felt the need to protect him. Despite trying to have a nervous conversation about the acts inflicted on her when she was with her parents on a trip to Lego Land, aged five, it only emerged then that her grandfather was having a shower and she may have seen him naked. When David approached his father about the incident, he said that Poppy must have seen him changing and promised that it wouldn’t happen again. The abuse stopped after that but as Poppy grew up so her anxiety increased. When the full extent of the abuse was eventually fully revealed by the 11-year-old Poppy, David reported his father to the police.
John raped his granddaughter on multiple occasions but despite being interviewed by the police, never admitted what he had done. A man who abused Poppy and then pretended nothing had happened by having a cosy chat and cup of tea with her parents. It took 18 months for the case to go to trial and during it, Poppy’s recorded statement was played in the courtroom. A courageous act for a 13-year-old girl. A statement that the judge describes as “ heart-rendering” and “utterly compelling”. Even to the end, John said Poppy had been making it up and described it as “quite absurd”.
In 2018 John was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in prison but died in prison in 2022. A hidden crime that he never really was fully punished for, especially as he never admitted that he was guilty. Despite this horrific ordeal, Poppy has managed to rebuild her life and has raised a staggering £70,000 to date for a helpline that supports abuse survivors.
