tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post110520592967364994..comments2024-03-27T15:59:11.066+00:00Comments on Prometheus in Aspic: Summer Prize Competition 2015 - ResultsMSFoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-7869859686733688842015-07-23T01:20:50.629+01:002015-07-23T01:20:50.629+01:00Under the circumstances you would have been forgiv...Under the circumstances you would have been forgiven for producing something much worse, e.g. "There was an old man called Stoker, ..."Steve Curryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06440638652987274722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-7441612326837406392015-07-22T20:48:37.439+01:002015-07-22T20:48:37.439+01:00No, actually I was trying to pretend that, in othe...No, actually I was trying to pretend that, in other circumstances the poetry would have been better. <br />This is, of course, a lie, and I am now ashamed of the pretence.<br />However, on the bright side, at the moment Herself can't give me a clip round the ear for using her as an excuse.Chris Gricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11140516359480860914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-65913227963064395242015-07-22T13:48:15.842+01:002015-07-22T13:48:15.842+01:00Suspect it's purely co-incidental but I'm ...Suspect it's purely co-incidental but I'm up there at the weekend and I'll see if there are any local history types who know the origins of the chippie's name.<br /><br />Interestingly the Wiki page for Baron Grimthorpe states "It was created in 1886 for the lawyer and architect Sir Edmund Beckett, 5th Baronet, with remainder to the heirs male of his father. He was succeeded according to the special remainder by his nephew, the second Baron. He had earlier represented Grimsby in Parliament. ". but there are no Becketts in the list of MPs for GY. Maybe it was the nephew who was the MP for GY? <br /><br />Again probably purely co-incidental and a long way from Ravello but who needs the Amalfi coast when you can look out over the Humber mudflats?nundankethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12895608927860103442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-40716402215191280372015-07-22T06:36:32.740+01:002015-07-22T06:36:32.740+01:00Cheers Gary.....git!Cheers Gary.....git!Ray Rousellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07352596392520905197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-22169935137273915732015-07-22T01:42:25.048+01:002015-07-22T01:42:25.048+01:00Cook was a tempting place to start. I wasted a who...Cook was a tempting place to start. I wasted a whole day chasing him around hoping he'd made a handy landfall in Spain (I thought the photo had to be Spain). Just assuming it was Spain or Portugal (cos of Foy's interest in the Peninsula business) wasted another day. If it wasn't for the extra clue I'd never had had an inkling.Steve Curryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06440638652987274722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-53479108314267767582015-07-22T01:39:57.348+01:002015-07-22T01:39:57.348+01:00Chris, your entry needs no defence. The poem will ...Chris, your entry needs no defence. The poem will endure as a work of art in its own right long after my Google-driven smart-arsery has faded from view. If it weren't for Foy's sentimental attachment to principles such as correctness and following the rules you would have won on aesthetic grounds.<br />Hope your good lady is feeling better, but it's a God-awful injury.Steve Curryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06440638652987274722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-69438188771714736512015-07-21T22:55:02.033+01:002015-07-21T22:55:02.033+01:00Good lord - you don't think...? This is very i...Good lord - you don't think...? This is very interesting. I had a quick squint on the Internet Thingy to work out what "Grimthorpe" referred to, in the context of the Baronial title conferred upon Ernest's dad (Edmund). There was a Grimthorp Manor mentioned in Domesday Book, in the East Riding hundred of Warter, but I don't see any obvious connection. There is, of course, Grimethorpe, near Barnsley (of colliery and brass band fame, but that's not relevant either - I'm none the wiser.<br /><br />The 1st Baron appears to have been a lawyer by profession who somehow became involved in architecture, and he is noted as the man who designed the workings of Big Ben. He is also commemorated in the transitive verb, "to grimthorpe", meaning to restore or renovate an old building without appropriate care and sensitivity, and ruin it in consequence. His work on St Albans cathedral is the most famous of a number of controversial make-overs. Having seen his photo, I must add that he had a very strange hairstyle, which maybe owed something to his architectural style.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-84351395603070026072015-07-21T22:32:58.771+01:002015-07-21T22:32:58.771+01:00Very smart chap - too smart, maybe - my people are...Very smart chap - too smart, maybe - my people are onto it.MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-83887659958005421092015-07-21T22:31:58.669+01:002015-07-21T22:31:58.669+01:00Gary - it sounds as though you had the complete th...Gary - it sounds as though you had the complete thing - well done. I have thought of doing these photo quizzes periodically without offering a prize, but I'm not sure anyone would go for it, and anyway there is a noble blog tradition of giving stuff away. Maybe I can sell the idea of a loftier kind of comp, without the tacky materialism etc. It would need work...<br />MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-74975258285812227322015-07-21T22:24:41.686+01:002015-07-21T22:24:41.686+01:00Not from any other viewpoint, sadly. However, the ...Not from any other viewpoint, sadly. However, the poem really was much appreciated - I enjoyed that very much. I know in my heart that your comment here is not a belated attempt to score extra sympathy points, so please do give your poor wife my very best wishes. My own Contesse has recently been convalescing from a fractured bone in her shoulder, and it is a tricky area to ignore - I hope Mrs G recovers quickly and comfortably.<br /><br />And thanks again for the great entry :o)MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-59591725817888920372015-07-21T22:14:48.342+01:002015-07-21T22:14:48.342+01:00If you'd said the link involved a bloke called...If you'd said the link involved a bloke called Ernest Beckett who was the 2nd Baron Grimthorpe, I'd have jumped to the wrong conclusion that the east coast town was not Whitby but Cleethorpes. Ernie Becketts is famed as a purveyor of fine fish and chips in the towns of Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Grimthorpe?).<br />nundankethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12895608927860103442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-64586733308799944072015-07-21T20:51:41.540+01:002015-07-21T20:51:41.540+01:00In my defence, I should point out that my entry wa...In my defence, I should point out that my entry was formulated in the waiting room of the casualty department of Rotherham Hospital. From the viewpoint of those surroundings, I think I was surprisingly close.<br />(She's torn a tendon in her shoulder, by the way.)Chris Gricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11140516359480860914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-23950855780823860522015-07-21T18:08:16.896+01:002015-07-21T18:08:16.896+01:00Steve Curry is a smart chap to be sure. Sorry I m...Steve Curry is a smart chap to be sure. Sorry I mussed this contest but there's no way I would have known the answer. <br />Fortunately, no live goats were harmed in the typing of this answer.Mad Padrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00410143683610813671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-4495718419053654162015-07-21T15:36:17.881+01:002015-07-21T15:36:17.881+01:00Well, speaking as an honest man (?) I was nearly t...Well, speaking as an honest man (?) I was nearly there, having forged a strong Whitby link via Captain Cook and the RN. I was only a few hundred miles out, but the Allied invasion fleet did sail fairly close to where I thought it was - certainly closer than, say, New York. Anyway, congratulations to Steve and commiserations to Ray who undoubtedly made it all up after he'd read the correct answer. <br /><br />A generally cracking post which cheered me up no end. You must do another comp Tony, but not until my headache's gone . . . .<br />GaryAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06963552380378929829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-80868803339853769082015-07-21T09:35:09.856+01:002015-07-21T09:35:09.856+01:00It's easy when you know how, however there is ...It's easy when you know how, however there is the expense involved in securing the live goat and each time one loses ten years of life, but it was so worth it.Steve Curryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06440638652987274722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-65519120474477883622015-07-21T08:44:15.163+01:002015-07-21T08:44:15.163+01:00Top answer indeed - and he achieved this from Aust...Top answer indeed - and he achieved this from Australia, no less. This is more than just awesome, it's frightening. [Mind you, there are those who say that he has contacts on - you know - the Dark Side.... I don't want to say any more, I am looking nervously over my shoulder, which is why the typing is a bit jkhsjgdcbciqh]MSFoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14470241067504971068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7111053985478999734.post-60848420776934068632015-07-21T06:37:30.311+01:002015-07-21T06:37:30.311+01:00Bloody hell, that was a top answer! I knew it was ...Bloody hell, that was a top answer! I knew it was the Amalfi coast, but as for naming the actual house the photo was taken?!?!?! Ray Rousellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07352596392520905197noreply@blogger.com