No , not me, I don't go that fast !
Report in Saturday's Manchester Evening News.....
" On June 15th, a chauffeur, Mr Alfred William Ware, appeared in Kingston magistrates court accused of driving at 28 mph on Kingston Hill.
Ware proffered the defence that he knew the Queen was coming along behind him at some distance in an official car. He said that as the weather was dry and the road was dusty, he had decided to speed up and put some distance between the cars so the dust would settle and not inconvenience Her Majesty.
The court, having verified his story said it was very considerate of him and dismissed the case against him."
A very clever defence against a serious charge. Anyone like to park on the Mall and wait for Her Maj to come out of Buck House for her weekly trip to Lidl ?
It was 1911, though, and I think Queen Alexandra would have been impresse by Mr Ware's courtesy. I wonder what he was driving...probably some early GTI !
Ted
|
|
Wasn't aware that Nick "The Loophole Lawyer" Freeman was around then...:-))
|
This thread gives me the chance to share my Fascinating Kingston Hill Fact.
Among the large houses which lie down short driveways off the hill, there is one with a very large and sunny kitchen.
It was used several times as the scene for television commercials for Fairy Liquid.
Nanette Newman in your kitchen, and being paid for it.
Can't be bad.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bI-uKniXpE
|
|
Oooooo - the gorgeous Nanette - dreams were made of her!
|
|
1911 - might have been Queen Mary.
|
Says Alexandra in the report although she could well have been Queen Mother by then, not sure what date Bertie snuffed it. I think she died in 1925
Ted
|
1910 - not that it matters!
I think Queen Alexandra might have been a little more sympathetic to Mr Ware: Queen Mary was very strait-laced, and if people are like cars she would have been a stately Daimler.
|
|
Edward VII died in 1910. So Alexandra was Queen Mother until her death (mother of George V). She died in 1925.
|
Interesting that we must have had two Queen Mothers in the early '50, Mary and Elizabeth.
Until 1953 when Mary died.
Mary, Duchess of Teck, was a brood mare having been earmarked for the eldest son of Ed the 7th who died before they could be married. No doubt well tested for her ability to bear children.She and Geo5 had 6 offspring so they must have been at it like a pair of lodging house cats !
Ted
|
|
'The Queen Mother' was a title invented specifically for Elizabeth to avoid confusion with her daughter when she became Queen
|
Ah, but I have a book published in 1935 chronicling the life of Geo5.
It contains a full page photo of Alexandra and is titled ' The Queen Mother arrives at XXXX '
Ted.
|
Yes you are right. I was wrong, the title Queen Mother apparently can be traced back a long way although Queen Mary chose not to use the style. Something else I have learned.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_mother
|
Not sure how they got that accurate a reading back then. Probably a very early Gatso.
I can just imagine the prosecutor showing the court a photo of the offence and pointing out that the defendant must have been going fast because he is only a faint blur.
|
Unless Kingston Hill was still an unmade road in 1910, then it would have been dusty because of horse dung.
I read an interesting reminisce once by someone who remembered London in the Victorian/Edwardian period, recalling that there used to be an all-pervading smell of horse dung in London then. The streets were washed down every evening from water carts.
Just one of the things that changed in 1914. When it was all over, horses had all but gone, and the streets were choked with motor traffic.
|
...The streets were washed down every evening from water carts...
The City of London Corporation did the same in the city when I was living in London in the 1980s.
Very wealthy local authority - lots of juicy business rates - so they could afford it.
|
In court for doing 28 mph ! - Stuartli
