by
Frank Hatton

I feel sure that most of us occasionally look around with affection at the things that are familiar to us. Our family, our house, our friends, maybe even the dog. Not only is it a pleasant thing to do, but, there is also a feeling of security in looking at, and thinking of the permanent parts of ones life. Just recently, I read in the newspaper that our Queen Mum celebrated her 97th birthday on August 4th this year, and it made me realise how much many of the folk in this country take this dear old soul for granted. She has always been there, and even the few people who are older than her, cannot actually remember a time when she wasn't around. She was of course not always in the limelight, in fact, until the abdication of Edward V111 in 1936, not many of us were even aware that she existed. Then it was she became the Queen of King George V1, when he took the place of his brother Edward, and she has been with us ever since. During my business career, I spent some years in the television industry, and I recall that back in 1985, for some strange reason, one of the female journalists was given the task of preparing an obituary programme for the Queen Mum. After this was done, it was put into reserve against the time when she might depart this world. Considering, she was then 85, I suppose it was not an unreasonable bit of forward planning. However, she is still marching on, and long may she continue to do so.

Now, while on the subject of the Royal Family, we are all painfully aware of the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales on Sunday 31st August. May I on behalf of the rest of the folks over here in the U.K., thank all of you in the U.S.A. who read this little newsletter, for joining with us in our grief. The message came over loud and clear, that she meant as much to you, as she meant to us. It is at times like this that we realise we have quite a special bond between our two countries, not only the sharing of the language, our legal systems, and quite a few other similarities. In addition, we have a sort of understanding that we are 'sprung from the same stock' and therefore have an affinity with each other. I must say, that in the whole of my lifetime, I have never seen such an outpouring of grief, or such a spontaneous show of affection on the death of any other person. The flowers which were lined up across the pavement (sidewalk), to a width of ten or fifteen feet, and stretched away for some two or three hundred feet along the railings, and the vast crowds of people who gathered to sign the books of condolence, were just unbelievable, and the almost eerie part about it, was the absolute quietness of everyone.

You will agree, that whenever folk are gathered together, even on such a sombre occasion as this, there is normally a buzz of conversation, or, a low murmer of voices, but the folk who were standing around Kensington Palace, and Buckingham Palace, were so silent. Sure, I expect some of them were speaking in low voices, but, you could not hear them. A lot of folk are saying that, like when JFK died, people will remember exactly where they were when they heard the news of Diana's death. With me, it was a peculiar situation. I had gone to bed on the Saturday evening, but could not get off to sleep, so, I was lying there with a radio on. Around 12.55 a.m.,( 1.55 a.m. French time) there was a news flash which said that reports were coming in of a traffic accident in Paris, involving the Princess of Wales, and that she was seriously injured. The report also said that a man and the driver of the car had been killed. The reporter stated, that, while it was unconfirmed, the man was said to be Dodi Al Fayed. While I felt concerned about the news, for some reason, I felt she would have broken ribs, legs, or arms, I never thought for a moment that it would be much more serious than that. I did go to sleep, but woke again around 5.00 a.m., and switched the radio back on. Then it was that I heard that she had died. Other than a family death, nothing has ever hit me so hard as this one. Suffice it to say, that never ever will there be anyone like her again. She was unique, and irreplaceable.

Now, here's a lovely little article in our newspaper today, which I feel sure you will enjoy. It's about this retirement home near Guildford, in the county of Surrey, and has among it's residents, a very high proportion of old campaigners who fought in some of the toughest battles of WW 11. It would seem that the Department of Health has issued advice about the possibility of salmonella being present in soft boiled eggs. Therefore, the powers that be, who run this particular retirement home, have decided that soft boiled eggs would be too dangerous for the residents to have for their breakfast, and banned them from the menu. The administrator said that it had led to a revolt. One ex major, who led the glider borne capture of Pegasus Bridge, has registered his protest by switching to banana's for breakfast. Others, who fought Germans and the Japanese have said, that having survived far greater dangers than breakfast, feel they should be able to make up their own minds as to whether eggs would finish them off !

To my simple mind, these old gentlemen, are the British at their very best!

Some years back, when your's truly was engaged in the business world, I was involved in quite a bit of travelling, and part of my responsibilities was the whole of the U.K., and this of course included Scotland. Now, when it came time to visit Glasgow, because of the number of folk I had to see, it usually entailed around three day's work, which in turn meant I had to stay over for that period. Although Glasgow is a very fair city, the fact that I had some close friends who lived in the seaside town of Ayr, usually persuaded me to make the journey of some thirty miles, through Kilmarnock to spend the evening and night with my buddies. The interesting feature about this part of the west coast of Scotland, is the proximity of the gulf stream, which although expending the last of it's warmth, manages to ensure that this specific stretch of coastline, is higher than average with it's ration of sunshine, and as a point of interest, the international airport at Prestwick nearby, has the best weather record for non-closure in the country I'm told. Several times, when I left Glasgow in a torrential downpour of rain, I found that as I came out of Kilmarnock to do the last fifteen miles, the sun was out and shone beautifully for the rest of the evening.

Point of writing this particular piece, is on the assumption that there are some Scottish folk, living overseas, who may know the area, and may also know of an old dance hall, (long since demolished) called the 'Bobby Jones' where I spent many a happy evening steering some lovely ladies around the dance floor.

T'other nice feature of Ayr, were the miles of marvellous sandy beaches, without the usual 'razzle-dazzle' of bingo halls, amusement arcades, funfairs, and all of the other noisy appendages so common to the normal seaside resort. In fact, there were even stretches of beach, where one could drive the car right on to the beach itself, and picnic beside the water.

Then there are the delights of Culzean Castle and country park, with the tropical plants growing out in the open gardens, (courtesy of the Gulf stream), and the many, many lovely little villages all along the coast. In fact, I had a funny experience in a tiny little place called Dunure, on that coast. I was having a beer in a small pub there with a friend, and while we were chatting together, a bloke came in, whom I recognised as one of the Scottish actors who starred in a T.V. series called 'Dr. Finlays casebook'. His name was Bill Simpson. What he was doing in such a small place, I do not know, but, he ordered a beer, and sat there drinking at the bar.

There were not many folk in the pub, but a woman who had been sitting at a table came over to the bar for a fresh drink, and she stood beside the actor at the bar. Suddenly she said to him, "Are ye no working today?" He seemed a little taken aback, but he replied, "Er, no, I'm not". The woman then went on to say that the next time he came round, would he call at her house, because she was almost out of coal. --- To cut the story short, she had mistaken him for her local coalman. Needless to say, much embarrassment when she found her mistake.

Many moons since I was last in that area, but it was truly a slice of paradise.

Perhaps I should now explain, that this little section is by way of an experiment. As I said earlier, I feel that we have a number of Scottish folk, who now live overseas, but who still have fond memories of the land of their birth. Also, it could be that they might like to pen a few lines about that part of Scotland they knew well, so that the rest of us may share in their recollections. You can e mail me at Frank Hatton on Compuserve 100647, 556, and we can put your letter in the next 'Over the Pond' issue.

Just recently, I've been boasting to a friend about the beautiful town in which I live. It's right on the southern coastline of England, and I was saying how we normally enjoy a lovely summer, with lots and lots of sunshine. Suffice it to say that it rained twice this week, the first time for three days, and the second time for four days ! We try to kid the tourist's that it is really liquid sunshine. In a way, our community is a little like Florida, with lots of older folk coming down here to live out their retirement years. This tends to create it's own problems, in that if you want to buy a birthday card, you find they range from 75 years old up to around a 103, but, they are easy to select,...... all the shop windows are fitted with bi- focal glass.

Also, you have to be very careful not to fall over,.... there are very few folk young enough to help you up again. I feel sure you will agree, that I have burbled on for quite long enough, so, until the next time,..... take care of yourselves.

I would love to hear from you so email me at Frank Hatton

You can find more articles in the archive under From Over the Pond