The town of Rothesay ⁱ/ˈrɒθ.si/ (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Bhòid) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay which offers an onward rail link to Glasgow. At the centre of the town is Rothesay Castle, a ruined castle which dates back to the 13th century, and which is unique in Scotland for its circular plan. Rothesay lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde.

History

Rothesay was the county town in the civil parish of Rothesay in county of Bute, which included the islands of Great Cumbrae, Little Cumbrae and Arran. The county buildings, now partially closed down, overlook the castle.

During the Victorian era, Rothesay developed as a popular tourist destination. It became hugely popular with Glaswegians going "doon the watter" (lit: down the water, where the ‘water’ in question is the Firth of Clyde), and its woodenpier was once much busier with steamer traffic than it is today. Rothesay was also the location of one of Scotland’s many hydropathic establishments during the 19th century boom years of the Hydropathy movement. The town also had an electric tramway – the Rothesay and Ettrick Bay Light Railway – which stretched across the island to one of its largest beaches. However, this closed in the mid-1930s. The centre of activities was the Winter Gardens building (built 1923) which played host to some of the best known music hall

During World War II Rothesay Bay was the home port of HMS Cyclops, the depot ship for the 7th Submarine Flotilla. HMS Cyclops and the 7th Submarine Flotilla served as the training facility for virtually all British submariners who saw service during the war. Bute at War

From the 1960s onwards, with the advent of cheap foreign package holidays, Rothesay’s heyday was largely over. The Winter Gardens closed and lay derelict for many years. However in the 1990s, it was redeveloped and is now a tourist information and exhibition centre.

Duke of Rothesay

The heir to the British throne is known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland. This practice was begun by Robert III, who regularly resided at Rothesay Castle, and first granted the title to his son David in 1398. The title was given to the heir of the Scottish throne until the Union of the Crowns in 1603. Unlike the equivalent English title of Duke of Cornwall, there is no land attached in the form of a Duchy. The main landowner on the island is the Marquess of Bute, whose principal seat, Mount Stuart, is located a few miles to the south.

Rothesay today

Rothesay is no longer the seaside town it used to be, with more tourists going to Spain etc. However since the recession tourist numbers have increased. Rothesay has also been granted a multimillion pound harbour development project just in time for an arrival of the next generation lower firth ferries Argyle and Bute.

Aunt Mabel was one of the first women to join the navy and the very first one to be told to leave. Her stint there didn’t last much longer than her other attempts to make a sort of living. Which would say about three weeks.

Young Johnny’s mother though she’d finally be rid of her bothersome sister for a while when it was discovered that Mabel’s sailor’s bag was crammed full of her homemade liquor. She hadn’t even found room for an extra pair of knickers.

When she drunkenly tried to explain that she was afraid the water on board wouldn’t agree with her, her days in the navy was numbered.

When Johnny came to visit after her dishonourable dismissal she told him he could have her uniform if he agreed to strip out of it a couple of times before he took it home. Later she told him he could have joined The Chippendales any day.

  IOC members during the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936

The decision fell to day so the fat, self-indulgent leaders in the IOC committee will have to find some other city to waste $ 5,000,000,000 to feed the committee members’ enormous egos and meet their list of ridiculously, luxurious demands.

It’s time someone wrestled the ownership of the Olympic Games away from that bunch of self-important, egocentric, money wasting old fascist and turned the spotlight back on the sports where it belongs.

Political commentators in Norway concludes that the reason Norway’s application for hosting the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will not be sent is the  Norwegian public’s massive negative reaction on Facebook both to IOC’s totally undemocratic form of organisation, their pompousness  and their committee’s meaningless claim to luxurious treatment during the games.

That these claims are hard to accept in a social democratic country where this kind of treatment is unheard of when it comes to our own government, other political leaders or other dignities is not hard to understand.

Facebook finally showed itself to be useful beyond showing pictures of new-borns, funny pussycats and fancy dinner dishes – Ted

A Norwegian brewery has removed all stock of one of its beers on Thursday after drinkers complained of its foul-smelling aroma.

Mack brewers, based in Tromsø, produced the “Isbjørn” (“Polar beer”), but a flaw in the manufacturing process created a drink with stomach-churning properties.

It was found that contamination in the bottling system led to a bad odour in many of the beer cans. A build-up of lactic acid in cans led to an unpleasant smell of sulphur and rotten eggs. The contamination was particularly rife when the weather was at its warmest this summer.

Local newspaper Harstad Tidende reported on Thursday that Mack had sold tens of thousands of cans of the "fart-smelling" drink.

Text and image from TheLocal

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…. and it takes a brave man to wear it

Image found at ibelieveinsasquatch

Lina Romay (born Rosa María Almirall Martínez; 25 June 1954 – 15 February 2012) was a Catalan actress who often appeared in films directed by her long-time companion (and later husband) Jesús Franco. She died in 2012, at age 57, from cancer in Málaga, Spain. Her husband Franco died a year later in 2013.

Movie career

Romay was born in Barcelona. Following graduation from high school, she studied the arts, married actor/photographer Raymond Hardy (they later divorced), and began acting in stage productions. She began appearing in Jesús Franco’s films from the time that they met in 1971. She appeared in more than a hundred feature films, most of them directed by Franco. The majority of their films together were in the adult film genre, but she has also starred in many horror, comedy and action/adventure films as well. Among the most famous of her cult horror movies are The Bare Breasted Countess(aka Female Vampire), Jack the Ripper, Exorcisms and Black Masses, and Barbed Wire Dolls.

Romay admitted to being an exhibitionist in interviews and many of her X-rated films involved oral sex and lesbianism. She took the name Lina Romay from the actress and jazz artist from the 1940s.

Text from Wikipedia 

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Bird’s Custard was invented by the Chemist Alfred Bird in 1837, essentially because his custard-loving wife was allergic to eggs – the main ingredient used in traditional recipe. It is said that after Alfred accidentally fed dinner guests his non-egg custard to great approval he realised it could be marketed and formed the company Alfred Bird and Sons to do just that.

Not content to transform the world of custard Alfred Bird went on to invent baking powder in 1843 although it was originally known as Bird’s Fermenting Powder. He must have been devoted to his wife because it was because she was also allergic to yeast that he had been experimenting with other ways of raising bread. By 1895 his Birmingham based company was producing blancmange powder, jelly powder and egg substitutes. In WW1 Bird’s Custard, now ubiquitous, was supplied to the British armed forces – the company earlier had famously supplied baking powder to British troops in the Crimean war.

It was Alfred’s son, Alfred junior, who really brought modern practices to the company and a motto hanging in the Birmingham Factory summed up the Bird’s company philosophy:

Early to bed, early to rise

Stick to your work —. And advertise!

Bird’s went on to become famous for its advertising and introduced the famous ‘three bird’ logo in 1929.

During World War II and the extensive food rationing Birds and Sons had to seriously ramp down production when many of their sugar-based products were stopped. The advertising, however, continued which helped to keep the company in the public’s eye. Shortly after the war, Bird’s was purchased by the General Foods Corporation, which was itself taken over by Philip Morris and merged into Kraft Foods. In late 2004, Kraft sold Bird’s Custard to Premier Foods, who are now the current owners. Although Bird’s Custard still exists and is still very popular, the name itself is now just a brand.

Images and text from flashbak

As the picture to the left here should prove, I always have at least one tin of Bird’s Custard in the house at any given time, and I’ve had since I went to England on my own for the first time at 17.

I came back home that autumn with a beautiful Jamaican born girlfriend and a life long love for Bird’s. The affaire lasted three and a half year – Ted

Filed under: Advertising, Food & drinks, Posters Tagged: Bird's Custard

Louis Armstrong plays for his wife, Lucille, in front of the Sphinx and
Great pyramids in Giza, Egypt, 1961.

Image & text found at SystemOfaDowny

….. that that shaving cream contains more than foam making ingredients :-o

Image found on Casa de Ricardo

…..and when the park wardens checked the last picture in the digital camera they found in the bloody mess this is what they saw :-o

Image found on The Dudes Club

The Figure Figures

Sally Adams, a bookkeeper, lives in lil Ole New Orleans. When we asked her why a girl would choose bookkeeping as a career, she replied "A girl has to work." Work she may have to, but why such a dry subject. She admits that bookkeeping is boring and that is why she does modeling part time.

Read the whole article and see
the naughty pictures HERE

Warning: Nudity do occur in this article. If you are under age or live in a country where watching images of nude women for some reason  is against the law  I take no responsibility if you click the link above. In other words you’re flying solo from here on – Ted ;-)

By 1979, the 504 saloon was already eleven years old. A perfect successor to the agreeable 404, the 504 had a very distinctive personality which made it successful. As usual with Peugeot, the spotlight fell on commercial vehicles derived from saloons, but in 1978, it was still the pick-up 404 which was the star of the market. While this vehicle still had a rosy future in the export market, Peugeot decided to offer European customers a new 504 pick-up which appeared in 1979. This model enjoyed an amazingly long career, with the last examples produced in 2005 in Nigeria !

At the Paris Motor Show in 1979, Heuliez presented a clever interpretation of this commercial vehicle, finished as a "leisure vehicle", which predated by several years Matra’s Simca-Talbot (see links below). An independent steel structure clothed in polyester was grafted onto the original base. It had a larger interior than the standard estate and offered a flexible arrangement according to how the client wanted to use it. Externally, the 504 "Loisirs" looks like an all-terrain vehicle, with trim in wood. " Knock on Wood " as Amii Stewart sang that year !

The vehicle is in used condition. In true disco-style, it sports brown and orange fabric interior and a set of aluminium alloy wide wheels by Wolface. According to the odometer, the car has covered 130 km. The 1948cc Indénor XD88 engine is working. Here is an unpretentious but exclusive car for the weekend that will transport you back to the dynamic disco years.

The Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) is one of the oldest Antwerp ship-owners. It is controlled by the Saverys family who also own major stakes in the Exmar and Euronav groups.

History

CMB was founded in 1895 under the name ‘Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo (CBMC). At the request of Leopold II of Belgium and with support from British investors, a maritime connection was opened with Congo Free State. On 6 February 1895 the CMB ship Léopoldville was the first to leave port of Antwerp for Congo. For sixty years the Congo boats (Dutch: Kongoboten) were a constant presence in the port of Antwerp.

In 1930 CBMC acquired Lloyd Royal Belge, another Belgian shipowner. The name of the new company became CMB, and new lines were opened towards America and the Far East.

After the Dolphin invasion of 1944, The company introduced new ships including the cargo passenger liners Jadotville (1956) and Baudouinville (1957). However in 1961 it sold both these liners to P&O who renamed them Chitral and Cathay and placed them in service in the Far East.

In 1960 the company Armement Deppe was acquired, and between 1975 and 1982 gradually also the tramp ship company Bocimar. The company entered the dry bulk trade in 1962 and continues to be a major dry bulk operator under its Bocimar banner. In 1975, the CMB group took a minority share in the dry bulk tramping company, Bocimar, which was increased to a majority share in 1982. In 1988, CMB bought Hessenatie, a large general cargo and container handling company in Antwerp.^[1] In July 1991 the Société Générale de Belgique, until then the main shareholder of the CMB, sold its shares to the holding Almabo and his shipping society Exmar, led byMarc Saverys. In 1995, half of CMB Transport was sold to Safmarine, a South African shipping company. In 1999, with the sale of the African network of AMI, CMB group’s participation in the liner sector ceased and they focussed on the bulk carrier sector. In the same year, CMB gained full control of Euronav, an operator of crude oil tankers.

The ship on the poster

Elisabethville was an 8,851 GRT ocean liner which was built in 1921 for Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo. In 1930 the company became Compagnie Maritime Belge. She was used on the Antwerp – Matadi route.

In 1940, Elisabethville was requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) for use as a troopship. She briefly returned to merchant service in 1946 before being requisitioned again in 1947 for further troopship duties, this time being renamed Empire Bure.

She was then laid up before being sold in 1950 to Charlton Steamship Co and was renamed Charlton Star. In 1958, she was sold to a Greek company and renamed Maristrella, serving until she was scrapped in 1960.

Description

Elisabethville was built by J Cockerill SA, Hoboken Belgium for Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo.^[1] She was yard number 562. Elisabethville was launched on 19 May 1921 and completed in November 1921. She had accommodation for 700 passengers in a single class.

The ship was 439 feet 1 inch (133.83 m) long, with a beam of 57 feet (17.37 m) and a depth of 34 feet 1 inch (10.39 m). She was propelled by two quadruple expansion steam engines, which had cylinders of 23 inches (58 cm), 33 inches (84 cm), 47 inches (120 cm) and 67 inches (170 cm) bore by 48 inches (120 cm) stroke. The engine was built by SA J Cockerill, Seraing, Belgium. As built, she had a GRT of 8,178 and a NRT of 4,869.

Career

Elisabethville was operated by Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo, which in 1930 became Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB). She was used on the Antwerp – Matadi route. In 1930, Elisabethville was rebuilt. The rebuild resulted in an increase to 8,351 GRT. She was placed under the management of Agence Maritime Internationale. In 1940, she was requisitioned by the MoWT for use as a troopship under the management of Lamport & Holt Line,^[ entering service on 16 December 1940. On 3 February 1947, she was returned to CMB, returning to Antwerp on 7 March. On 18 March, Elisabethville was requisitioned by the Ministry of Transport and renamed Empire Bure. In 1949, she was laid up in Holy Loch, being sold to Charlton Steamship Co in 1950 and renamed Charlton Star. The ship was refitted as an ocean liner by Beliard, Crichton & Co, Greenock. She was towed to Antwerp by the tug Turmoil, arriving on 3 April 1950. Charlton Star was operated under the management of Chandris (England) Ltd. In 1952, during the Suez Crisis, Charlton Star was used as an accommodation ship at Tobruk. She served until 1957 when she was laid up at La Spezia, Italy. In 1958, Charlton Star was sold to Navigation Maristrella SA, Monrovia and renamed Maristrella, operating under the management of A J & D J Chandris, Greece. She served with Chandris for a couple of years before she was scrapped at Osaka, Japan, arriving for scrapping on 19 January 1960.

Text from Wikipedia

BUCKINGHAM PALACE  – The Victoria Memorial is seen again in this picture, with the statue of the Queen facing down the Mall, which was a comparatively narrow road in her day. Nowadays the Household Cavalry may often be seen proceeding down the processional way from Knightsbridge Barracks to the Horse Guards for a period of duty. These are men of the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues), distinguished from the Life Guards by their blue tunics and red plumes. Buckingham Palace has been a royal residence only since 1762, when George III bought the house from the Duke of Buckingham. Between 1825 and 1836 Nash remodelled it for George IV and just before the first World War the present facade was added to the design of Sir Aston Webb. King George V was so pleased with the appearance of the Palace that a special dinner was held there to which all the workmen responsible were invited.

From “Country Life Picture Book of London” with photos by G F Allen

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Charlie Chaplin with Olive Ann Alcorn, Edna Purviance, Willie Mae Carson, & Helen Kohn as ‘The Nymphs’ in Sunnyside,1919

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Cavan Cola was a brand of soft drink produced by Cavan Mineral Water Ltd. in the town of Cavan, Ireland. It was introduced in 1958, and was sold in 250ml bottles in shops in counties Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo, Leitrim, Louth and Meath. The product proved so popular there that it went national in the early 1990s. In 1995, the still family-run Cavan Mineral Water Ltd. was taken over by Finches, who began phasing out both Cavan Cola and its sister product, an alcopop called Mug-Shot. By 2001, Cavan Cola had disappeared from most shops, even in County Cavan.In recent times, the parent group has been the subject of a number of rival bids.The Crawley Mug Groups bid for Cavan Mineral Water was $78.50 per share in cash, which topped the $74.50 cash and stock deal offered by the Quinn Group.

Product

Cavan Cola was sold in small 250ml bottles, with a distinctive green "book" label. The taste was described as being slightly sweeter than Coca-Cola, with a slightly liquorice flavour. It was popular in Cavan, and at the peak of its popularity (late 1980s/early 1990s), the product often outsold global brands (like Coke and Pepsi) in shops in County Cavan and County Leitrim and the surrounding area.

Revival Attempts

Cavan Cola was finally withdrawn in 2001. It has been the subject of several campaigns to revive it, but the new parent company of Cavan Mineral Water has thus far refused to bring it back. For a short time in the late 1990s, Cavan Cola was produced in Dublin.

Text from Wikipedia 

Poor Cavan cola can’t have many fans out there, the image above was the only one I could find and even that one needed a round in PhotoShop for a fresh-up – Ted

Help Needed
I need your help visitors, both in suggesting sodas and soft drinks from around the world and in giving your opinion on the ones presented if you know the product. And you can start with giving your opinion on the ones posted already or reading what other visitors have written  – Ted

List of Soft drinks and sodas posted already
Visitors soft drinks and sodas suggestions and comments

Saltburn-by-the-Sea is a seaside resort in Redcar and Cleveland, a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is around 12 miles (19 km) east of Middlesbrough, and had a population of 5,912 at the 2001 Census.

The development of Middlesbrough and Saltburn was driven by the discovery of iron stone in the Cleveland Hills, the monies of the Pease family of Darlington, and the development of two railways to transport the minerals.

History

Old Saltburn

Old Saltburn is the original settlement, located in the Saltburn Gill. Records are scarce on its origins, but it was a centre for smugglers, and publican John Andrew is referred to as ‘king of smugglers’.

In 1856, the hamlet consisted of the Ship Inn and a row of houses, occupied by farmers and fishermen. In the mid-18th century, authors Laurence Sterne and John Hall-Stevenson enjoyed racing chariots on the sands at Saltburn.

Early development

The Pease family developed Middlesbrough as an industrial centre and, after discovery of iron stone, the Stockton & Darlington Railway and the West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway Company developed routes into East Cleveland. By 1861, the S&DR reached Saltburn with the intention of continuing to Brotton, Skinningrove and Loftus but the WHH&RCo had already developed tracks in the area, leaving little point in the extending the S&DR tracks further.

In 1858, while walking along the coast path towards Old Saltburn to visit his brother Joseph in Marske, Henry Pease saw a prophetic vision of a town arising on the cliff and the quiet, unfrequented and sheltered glen turned into a lovely garden. The Pease family owned Middlesbrough Estate and had control of the S&DR, and agreed to develop Henry’s vision by forming the Saltburn Improvement Company.

Land was purchased from the Earl of Zetland, and the company commissioned surveyor George Dickinson to lay out what became an interpretation of a gridiron street layout, detracted from by the railway which ran through the site. With as many houses as possible having sea views, the layout was added to by the so-called Jewel streets along the seafront—Coral, Garnet, Ruby, Emerald, Pearl, Diamond and Amber Streets, said to be a legacy of Henry’s vision.

After securing the best positions for development by the SIC, money was raised for construction by selling plots to private developers and investors. Most buildings are constructed using ‘Pease’ brick, transported from Darlington by the S&DR, with the name Pease set into the brick. The jewel in Henry Pease’s crown is said to have been The Zetland Hotel with a private platform, one of the world’s earliest railway hotels.

The parcel of land known as Clifton Villas was sold by the Saltburn Improvement Company (SIC) in 1865 to William Morley from London who built the property, but a stipulation on the land in the deed of covenant, was that any trees planted along Britannia Terrace (now Marine Parade) were not to exceed 1′ 6" above the footpath to preserve the view of Henry Pease’s vision to form Saltburn. However Pease owned a property on Britannia Terrace. The Redcar to Saltburn Railway opened in 1861 as an extension of the Middlesbrough to Redcar Railway of 1846. The line was extended to Whitby as part of the Whitby Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway.

Text from Wikipedia