The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Picture of the day
Donal says Cal Galbraith was asking about Auchenblae, in the hotel. Wondering what would happen to the contents
Happy days with the Hoopers
Patrick Murray has supplied the photograph at the foot of the column and says: “I wonder if your readers would find interest in the attached picture. It was taken in the early 1950s at number 18 Ann Street on the Hilltown, Dundee.
“Mr and Mrs Hooper had no children of their own but would host regular parties for the local kids and their parents. It’s a remarkable photograph in that it encapsulates so many people in such a confined space (the Hoopers’ one-room house) – an excellent photographer.
“Mr Hooper is on the extreme left with his wife featuring high above the rest at the back. I am at the table with a young lady’s hand on my shoulder, with my mother behind her keeping an eye on things. Next to me are my pals Pat Donoghue and Bobby Jack, while behind them are Lawrence and Monica Connor – I could go on.
“Now living in Milngavie, I give a popular talk on the Hilltown around church groups and clubs around the west of Scotland. I even had the pleasure of featuring the talk at the Hilltown Community Centre the year before last to an audience whose practical experiences matched my own.
“If any readers are interested, I also have a blog featuring the Hilltown which can be found online at patrick-murray.blogspot. com/2018/06/the-hilltown-dundee.html
Treasured letters
“The Queen and other members of the royal family receive a lot of mail on a daily basis,”
writes Thomas Brown of Bankfoot, “and it’s good to have letters from them as keepsakes, something to pass on.
“This has happened to me. I had letters sent from the Queen, Prince Charles and the
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after I sent them small books of poems I had written. Letters came from Windsor, Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace and the replies were written on behalf of the royals by the lady in waiting to the members of the family I have mentioned.
“The Queen showed particular interest in one of the books titled Home Poems of Bankfoot, as she visited Bankfoot during the 1950s and dined at the Tullybeagles Lodge, a prominent building which stood on a hillside near the village.”
A woman’s touch
“As a married man of long experience, I have learned to live in a woman’s world,” writes a Craigie reader. “As I move about the house or get dressed or perform my ablutions, I find myself comparing some feminine arrangements with a bachelor’s way of going about things.
“It was the sudden appearance of a small mat beside the bed that started me thinking. There’s a perfectly good fitted carpet in the room and the mat is superfluous, yet it remains stubbornly in place while I have to correct its natural tendency several times a day to crumple up.
“We have perfectly comfortable furniture
but our chairs and sofas are festooned with cushions and they are growing in number. The furniture now looks more comfortable but it’s not – there is hardly any room left for me!
“Bedside lamps were chosen more for attractiveness than usefulness. It was only by stubborn insistence that I managed to retain a bedside lamp on my side that actually focuses on my book.
“Oh, for the simple, unadorned, male approach. When I was much younger and a student, my room was organised for convenience and simplicity, not beauty. I managed fine with that.”
Lived in the penthouse
Ian Stewart, of Monifieth, who is currently in lockdown in Phuket, has emailed to say: “I was interested to read Catherine Deveney’s article in The Courier at the weekend regarding the late Douglas Latchford’s daughter donating her father’s collection of Cambodian artefacts to the Cambodian government.
“Douglas lived in the penthouse apartment above us when my wife and I retired to Bangkok in 2002. Although a friendly man, we never had the privilege of viewing his collection.”
The boy heads towards the cottage. “I’ll go too,” says the little girl, suddenly abandoning her dolls. “No you won’t, Grace,” says Alys firmly. “Ben’s doing his homework. And he doesn’t want you interrupting him. I’ll get you some juice in a minute.”
The child pouts but goes back to her toys obediently enough.
“My husband takes fishing parties out from the hotel,” Alys offers by way of explanation. “Malky’s the dog. I can’t keep Ben away from the sea.”
“I suppose living on an island...”
“Oh I know. But you’d never believe he was born in Edinburgh, would you? And spent the first eight years of his life there. He’s taken to island life like the proverbial duck to water.”
“But your husband’s from the island?” Alys nods, gets up and goes over to a side table where there’s a push-button coffee machine, biscuits, a selection of pretty teacups and mugs. She pours orange juice into a plastic cup and hands it to the little girl, makes two mugs of coffee and hands one to Daisy.
“I moved here to be with Donal. I was divorced. My ex is in Canada. It’s all worked out fine. Donal and Ben are thick as thieves. They have this mutual admiration society. And they both love the sea.”
“So island life is OK, is it?”
“It depends what you want. What you expect, I suppose. It doesn’t suit everyone. It didn’t suit Donal’s first wife. There isn’t a lot of nightlife here. The young can get very bored. It worries me a bit. But we’re OK so far.”
She gestures to Daisy to sit down in another Lloyd Loom chair. “Make yourself comfortable. Don’t suppose I’ll have any more visitors today.”
“What about your own work. want to interrupt.”
“I don’t do that much once Ben’s home from school. The secondary school kids travel to the mainland every day. There’s a primary school on the island at Keill.
“Grace goes to nursery but she’ll be off to proper school this year, which will give us a bit more time to ourselves. I often come back through to work once Grace is asleep, though. Are you thinking of staying on the island for a while?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Everyone seems to
I don’t think I’d be mad not to sell Auchenblae, and maintaining it might be a problem if I want to keep it.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“I deal in antiques and collectables. Mostly online.” Alys raises an eyebrow. “You could do that here, couldn’t you?”
“I probably could. I’ve got so much stuff in the house, I wouldn’t need to buy anything for years.”
“Donal says Cal Galbraith was asking about Auchenblae, in the hotel. Wondering what would happen to the contents.”
“Was he?” Daisy finds herself blushing. “Actually, he’s been in touch.”
“Has he been pestering you?”
“He seems to want to be helpful. He hasn’t exactly been harassing me. What’s he like? Really?”
“I don’t know him well. My husband knew him when they were kids. Cal and his sister and his mum. He’s very friendly. His dog and Malky get on well if we meet them down on the beach.
“They say his mother adores the island, but she hardly ever comes here now. I think there’s a fair bit of money in the family and in their business.”
“There is. I’ve been in the shop in Glasgow. Met his mum. She seems very nice.”
“His father doesn’t come highly recommended round here, but I’ve never met him, so I can’t really speak ill of him. Cal? Who knows? He’s incredibly charming. Donal can’t see it, but I can. He used to bring some gorgeous blonde over here for a while, all legs and teeth and glossy locks.”
Daisy thinks this must have been Annabel, but she can’t be sure. There are plenty of leggy, glossy blondes in the world and she can imagine that they might well appeal to Cal, or he to them. He’s attractive, that’s for sure.
“But anyway, that seemed to stop quite suddenly. I used to see them driving about together and it was clear they fancied themselves no end, as well as each other. Well, I suppose she did, more than Cal. He can’t help being quite fanciable, can he?
“Then winter came and it was just him and the dog, who didn’t seem to mind the wind and the rain. But perhaps I’m being unfair. He’s the complete opposite of my husband and maybe that’s influenced the way I feel about him.”
She pauses to drink her coffee and then giggles suddenly. “Oh God, you must think my husband is a miserable sod, but he isn’t. He’s just quieter and a lot more thoughtful. Cal’s so instantly charming and full of energy that you catch yourself wondering what’s underneath. If there is anything underneath.
“But don’t let me put you off! He’s goodlooking, rich, so we’re led to believe. Although he doesn’t often go in for conspicuous consumption, I’ll say that for him. What more do you want?”
“A lot more.” Daisy laughs. wasn’t...”
“Looking for a character reference. I know. I can’t help myself. This place can be such a wee hothouse at times. It makes you absolutely fascinated about what makes people tick. Anyway, he knows his stuff where antiques are concerned. Or so I believe. I think he’d love to get his hands on Donal’s embroidered casket.”
“The one in the hotel?”
“Yes. But it’s going nowhere. We pay a fortune for insurance for it every year because the hotel shouldn’t really have to foot the bill, and we have to have a special cabinet for it with an alarm system. But Donal says it has to stay on the island. And who am I to argue with him?”
“I can understand his thinking.” The portrait of Lilias comes into her mind, vivid and potentially valuable. “Cal did a valuation of the contents of my house. For the solicitor.”
“That would be right up his street. Did he pocket something on the way round?” Alys puts her hand to her mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that, should I? I’ll be had up for libel. Or is it slander when you say it?”
“I don’t think he did, but how would I know?” She thinks about the portrait of Lilias, so carefully hidden at the bottom of the pile. But then Cal had been the one to retrieve her, to unwrap her and show her off.
“And
I