The Philanderer
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Left here, no, LEFT!!!!!
Our trip through the lanes and byways of Yorkshire was punctuated by the occasional ring road. 'I wonder who invented them' asked SWMBO, talking about roundabouts. So straight home to my Shell Book of Firsts, a volume from 1974, which does just what it says on the tin, almost. Roundabouts in this sense were actually listed under carousels. Still not to be outdone, I searched further and found that the first roundabout was constructed in Paris around the Arc de Triomphe in 1901, closely followed by Columbus Circle in New York City in 1904. The first British roundabout was five years later, in Letchworth Garden City in 1909 - originally intended partly as a traffic island for pedestrians. This was interesting from a wifely point of view, as the first traffic islands had been constructed in Liverpool at the suggestion of John Hastings, a saddler who kept a shop on busy and potentially dangerous corner. In 1862 six islands were constructed across the city.
So the Book of Firsts did have a use after all.
Searching through reference books used to be a regular pastime for the members of the Richmond Monday Club, a group of like minded drinkers who met after work in the Angel and Crown public house. Dave and Jackie, the hosts, had, with our help, assembled a wide and varied collection of reference books. They were just the thing you needed to settle arguments and debates, and included amongst them were, The Book of Hit Singles, the Rothmans Football Year Book, Pears Cyclopedia, The Book of Lists and an atlas. It was 10p a dip and the money went towards the next volume of the collection, usually brought second hand from a junk shop.
I think every boozer should have a library, I wonder where ours ended up?
So the Book of Firsts did have a use after all.
Searching through reference books used to be a regular pastime for the members of the Richmond Monday Club, a group of like minded drinkers who met after work in the Angel and Crown public house. Dave and Jackie, the hosts, had, with our help, assembled a wide and varied collection of reference books. They were just the thing you needed to settle arguments and debates, and included amongst them were, The Book of Hit Singles, the Rothmans Football Year Book, Pears Cyclopedia, The Book of Lists and an atlas. It was 10p a dip and the money went towards the next volume of the collection, usually brought second hand from a junk shop.
I think every boozer should have a library, I wonder where ours ended up?
Labels: carousels, pears, Rothmans football yearbook, Roundabouts, the book of hit singles
¶ 6:54 PM 0 Comments
