The Saturday briefing
IS THERE anything you are desperately yearning to know? Are there any pressing factual disputes you would like us to help resolve? This is the page where we shall do our best to answer any questions you throw at us, whatever the subject.
CAN you tell me if the singers Bonnie Tyler and Mary Hopkins are related? I know that Bonnie Tyler’s real name is Gaynor Hopkins and they are both from Wales.
C Pope, Isle of Wight AS you say, Bonnie Tyler was born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, Neath, West Glamorgan and I think the other singer you mention was born in Pontardawe, Wales but her surname is Hopkin, without a final “s”. A Mary Rice Hopkins is a children’s singer but she is American, not Welsh.
WHILE in my car, stuck in a roadworks traffic queue and waiting for the stop/go board men to change the boards over, I recalled a film featuring Norman Wisdom operating a similar sign.
But instead of allowing the stopped traffic to move on, he kept the board on “stop” then sat down and ate his lunch, to the fury of the motorists. Why did he do this and what was the title of the film?
Peter Crawford, Nantwich, Cheshire THE film was The Square Peg in which Norman Wisdom played the part of council road mender Norman Pitkin working for the borough engineer Mr Grimsdale (Edward Chapman) outside an Army camp. After setting the sign to stop he starts making a cup of tea, much to the infuriation of an Army officer in a vehicle by the sign.
The officer gets out of the car, angrily asks Norman what he thinks he is doing and Norman politely says he’s making a cup of tea and offers the officer one.
A dispute follows which ends with Norman and Mr Grimsdale called up and parachuted into Germany.
AS a child I remember seeing Heligoland on the radio dial. What is the history of Heligoland, how long was it British, why did the UK leave and what happened to any British people who were born there?
Gerald Austin, Bournemouth, Dorset HELIGOLAND consists of two islands in the North Sea about 30 miles from the German coast. The islands changed hands between Denmark and the Duchy of Schleswig several times around 1700, finally being captured by Denmark in 1714 and remaining theirs until 1807 when it was captured by the British during the Napoleonic Wars.
Heligoland became a popular upper-class holiday resort but the UK gave the islands to Germany in a treaty of 1890 when it became a major centre for ornithology.
When the Second World War began, Britain held several bombing raids on German ships in the region and laid mines in the sea. In April 1945 the British massively bombed the islands and after the war used the region as a bombing range.
This included the detonation of 6,700 tons of explosives in one of the biggest non-nuclear detonations in history in 1947.
Heligoland was returned to German control in 1952 and has become a holiday resort again, part of the EU but with a tax-exempt status, excluding it from EU VAT and customs union.
Perhaps that is another possibility for Prime Minister Theresa May to consider. MY husband and I used to go to an exercise class and at the end of the session in order to relax we swayed to a piece of guitar music called Carillon played by John Williams. I would love this to be played at my funeral but my record store cannot find it. Can you help?
Mollie Emmett, Yeadon, Leeds by CARILLON was recorded by the classical guitarist John Williams after he crossed into more popular music territory and formed a group called Sky. Carillon (sometimes spelt Carillion) was written by Herbie Flowers and Ian Gomm of Sky.
It was issued both as a single and as the second track on the album Sky in 1979 but has later been covered by several artists.
I hope that this is enough for your record shop to track down a copy and that it is not played at your funeral for many years to come. A SAYING in our neck of the woods goes, “Ne’er cast a clout till May is out”. My friends and I are agreed that “cast a clout” refers to DESTRUCTION: Houses on Heligoland after British bombing raids in 1945 taking off warm winter clothing but we disagree on whether “May” refers to the month or blossom of the mayflower. Can you resolve this? “B.A.S” (full name not given),
West Yorkshire THIS argument has never been properly resolved although the “ne’er cast a clout” proverb has been with us since the early 18th century at least.
“May” as the mayflower or hawthorn seems to make more sense with regards the climate but there was an older and very similar proverb in Spain which referred to the month of May. In the 18th century the evidence suggests the hawthorn only rarely flowered in April but its first flowering in Britain was in May in 90 per cent of years, so it didn’t really matter whether the “May” in the proverb referred to the month or the plant.
But in recent years, flowering has more frequently taken place in April. As Byron wrote: “The English winter – ending in July to recommence in August”, so it may be wise not to cast your clout too far from the door.
A QUESTION came to mind last week while doing the Make You Very Crossword in Saturday’s Daily Express. The clue was “car instrument panel”, the answer being “dashboard”. I asked myself why is it so called, which has never occurred to me. Could you please answer this for me?
Nigel Partridge, Bristol THE word “dashboard” reached our cars through a strange process. Originally, in the middle of the 19th century, a dashboard was an apron made of wood or leather on the front of a carriage to prevent mud thrown or “dashed” up by the heels of the horses from splattering the wheels.
When the first horseless carriages were invented and developed into modern cars, the dashboard function changed.
First, it was a panel to protect driver and passengers from debris thrown up by the wheels, then a panel to protect passengers from the heat of the engine and the oil.
As the insides of a car became safer and more comfortable, the need for protective dashboards disappeared but a different panel evolved to house gauges.
The old dashboard was a word that no longer had a function but the new instrument panel served a function that had no word. Both problems were solved by giving dashboard its modern meaning. Is there anything you can’t answer? Try us! You can ask a question:
By email: put “questions” in the subject line and send your question to william.hartston@express.co.uk
to Any Questions, c/o William Hartston, Daily Express, Number 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN
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