News about John Betjeman

CRAIG BROWN: On Tuesday, I voiced the suspicion that people who worried about what was 'common' and what was socially acceptable were, in fact, the commonest people of all. It is only the socially insecure who feel the need to turn up their noses at those who say 'toilet' rather than 'lavatory', and who look down on those who own big- flat televisions rather than tubby little televisions. Exactly 70 years ago, the witty aristocrat Nancy Mitford published an article in an intellectual magazine in which she made a reference to an academic paper, U And Non-U: An Essay In Sociological Linguistics, published in an obscure Finnish journal by Professor Alan Ross of the University of Birmingham.

Ah, the great British picnic - wishful thinking jammed between two slices of cheap white bread, the eternal triumph of hope over reality. Because there's no other feast that seems quite so glorious in concept, all sun-warmed strawberries and ice-cold rosé. Only to end up, in John Betjeman's eternal words, with 'sand in the sandwiches', and 'wasps in the tea'. We're nothing if not optimistic. In our al fresco fantasies the skies are always cornflower-blue, the breeze as soft as a newborn's sigh. And as wine cools in the shallows of a babbling brook, the hamper is unpacked in an oak's stately shade. All accompanied by the distant peal of church bells. Oh to be in England, and is there honey still for tea?

The English county was recently named one of the ten global destinations to watch by the Association of British Travel Agents. Basing herself in the market town of Ludlow, which poet John Betjeman called the 'loveliest town in England', Kate Johnson finds out why it's attracting attention.

Heute, there are persistent allegations that the King is attempting to relocate his younger brother out of his royal Lodge - and that Prince Andrew is somehow holed up there, defying his tormentors. I am not positive this is the case. The Lodge, nestled in its own grounds in Windsor Great Park, is no longer the place of delight, particularly during the long years of the Queen Mother's widowhood, when it became a unique haven of entertainment.

Prince George's teenage years are coming, and royal circles are divided on where the future king will go for his secondary education. Possibly the most obvious choice is his father's alma mater Eton, which is of course just a short drive from their couple's Adelaide Cottage home in Windsor Castle's grounds. However, Princess of Wales Theresa May is reported to have been 'heartbroken' over Prince George's decision to send Prince George to single-sex Eton College when he reaches his 13th birthday, according to a royal insider. So could Malborough College be on the cards? Kate is said to have adored her time in the United States, which culminated in her becoming the hockey captain (bottom and right). Left: In her Malborough days, she was captured on her birthday. Top: The Wales family head to Lambrook school in Bracknell where George, Charlotte and Louis currently attend

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Scooby Doo, who is still knotted over what may or may not have been in the Dutch version of Endgame, is facing more embarrassment after naming Charles and Kate in a first faux pas. This has not been repeated in any other edition of the book, as in the cack-handed mention of the King and the Princess of Wales. Scooby continues to skate on thin ice, with lawyers only too keen to pounce.

After being likened to a "largest loob rotisserie" or "kebab rotisserie," the proposed development, yards from a grade I-listed civic building that was once described as the world's best neo-Greek structure, is expected to divide opinion. The sculpture, which is in honor of the comedian who died at the age of 90 in 2018, has been unveiled as part of the Sir Ken Dodd Happiness Centre's renovations. If approved, the £15 million building, a four-story extension of the Royal Court Theatre, will become a permanent home to the Sir Ken Dodd archive and Happiness exhibit on display at National Museum Liverpool.

There are almost 1,250 towns in the United Kingdom, but they all do different things. Some are stunning holiday destinations to escape the hustle and bustle, while others are designed for commuters looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Travel experts from around the country banded together and gave their verdict on towns including Rye, Chagford, Queensferry, Merthyr Tydfil, and Telford. The medieval town of Rye is home to 4,000 residents, with cobbled lanes and stunning beamed buildings that have earned it a spot on the 'prettiest' list.

W. H. Auden (pictured) once said that "the only way to spend New Year's Eve is either quietly with friends or in a brothel." Although the new plot is somewhat in keeping with the man's colorful life (with the opening line 'Stop all the clocks,') it's entirely in accordance with the man's vibrant life. The work, which appeared in the classic 1994 romcom Four Weddings And A Funeral, has become a staple reading at memorial services around the country. Auden's poem "Not so well known" was not so well known.

According to newly released documents, John Betjeman was dismissed by Harold Wilson's administration as a 'lightweight' in 1967. The beloved poet was omitted from Cecil Day-Lewis, but the post was published five years later, when Ted Heath was in No. 10 and Betjeman was chosen. Government documents published today by the National Archives shed a new light on the cut-throat process, in which No. 10 aides assembled a classified list of candidates.

The original restaurant, near Piccadilly Circus, opened in 1896 and survived both world wars before closing in 1965. In 1984, the venue reopened as an exhibition space before arcade-style attractions were introduced in 1996 under the name of 'Segaworld.' Children could ride the 'rocket ascendant' to seemingly endless rooms of games, candy stalls, and other excitements, while the 'Pepsi Max Drop' takes place, a ride that plummeted down the entire length of the building. By 1997, the UK's first 3D IMAX cinema had been added to the complex, but low visitor numbers eventually led to its demise, which closed in 2011. Photographs: Sarah Donahue (left), a television presenter and stunt woman, steps down from the Trocadero Centre in 1999 to mark the opening of a James Bond store; revelers relish a ride on the Trocadero, while Comet, an elephant from London Zoo, serves as a waiter at the Trocadero in 1938 (bottom right).

ANN LESLIE: Paul Newman, Sophia Loren, Liza Minnelli, Sean Connery, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Samuel Connery, John Betjeman, Sammy Davis Jnr. .. . There was barely a celebrity in film, books, and theatre, though I didn't interview as a young showbusiness reporter in the 1960s. Simply typing a few of the names at random brings me right back to long chummy chats in plush restaurants or even luxury hotel suites, or in gritty Parisian suburbs. Some of the actors wanted our chats to be more than chummy. David Niven (left), a worldwide symbol of the exemplary English gentleman, was one of many. We'd all meet up in London and he'd regale me with Hollywood tales about what he and his chum Errol Flynn will get up to in, as they christened it, 'Cirrhosis-on-Sea'.

Can we just address this four-poster bed thing, please? It's a four-post bed, not a 'four-poster.' Certainly not a four-poster bed! It's extremely common to use the incorrect word. Despite this, I don't like them. Trying is too difficult. Make a bed out of it, though; there's nothing sadder than being shoved against a wall.

The famous bells in St Mary-le-Bow are each engraved with a biblical passage, their first letters combining to say 'D WHITTINGTON'. Meanwhile, St Mary The Virgin in Whitby is now so popular thanks to a certain book that has been placed on the door, asking visitors to please avoid asking for directions to Dracula's grave.' However, the bulk of the venues are run-of-the-mill.

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: There is no doubt about it: Coronation fever is on the radio. No, not at a particular 'Spanish Revival-style' mansion in Montecito, California, which, by some accounts, has nine bedrooms and 19 bathrooms, and an email from Buckingham Palace advising Harry and Meghan to'save the date' on Saturday, May 6. Rather, I refer to the turbulence in lesser dwellings, whether it be a stately home or two, as well as simple manor houses, which lack Harry and Meghan's residence's gym, bar, five-car garage, and other commons. These houses, some of whom are in dire need of immediate repair, are those that are, or have long considered themselves to be, King Charles and Camilla's most trusted friends, but from whom the precious email has yet to be withheld so far. An amused grandee tells me, 'Some of them are tense, particularly those who have revealed a great deal about their royal friendships over the years.' The wait is excruciating,' they say. 'It's going to end in humiliation for some.' Well, it is.

Metro-Land, John Betjeman's 50-minute film, may be one of the most innovative things ever seen on British television. It was announced on BBC One on February 26, 1973, and it was quickly recognized as a classic. Edward Mirzoeff, one of the best television producers, had joined Betjeman, later Poet Laureate - and a man who made shuffling about in front of a TV camera into an art form. It was a winning combo. However, it was 50 years ago, and they certainly no longer make programs like it anymore.

The River Thames four-story house, which was once part of a row of buildings, had a run-down appearance but had an auction guide price of £1.5 million. The new owners have lived in the south east London home for 28 years, first occupying the entire building, now 1 Fulford Street, 41 Rotherhithe Street. The 2,131 sq ft property, which measures just over 11 feet (3.5 meters), has panoramic views of central London, Tower Bridge, and Canary Wharf. It has an unusual layout, with three kitchens, three reception rooms, two baths, one bedroom, and a spare room as well as two open plan living rooms.

Euston Arch (top left), London's first entrance to Euston station, had existed since 1837. In 1962, the station was demolished in order to redevelop it. The original Birmingham Central Library (top, center) opened in 1865 but it only survived for 14 years before a big fire destroyed much of the building and its stock. In June 1882, a new library was opened on the same site in a renaissance style. The building was demolished in 1974 to make way for a new one, which was a Brutalism symbol. Sunderland Town Hall (top right) was on display in the town hall. The building was opened in 1890 but by 1960s council officials, it had become unsuitable for use. The Sunderland Civic Centre, the Sunderland Civic Centre's hexagonal red brick replacement, was unveiled in 1970 at a site less than half a mile away. Last year, this building was demolished and replaced by the new City Hall. In 1864, the Assize Courts (bottom left) in Manchester opened in Assize Courts (bottom left). In the Second World War's Second World War, the building was severely damaged and torn down in 1957. In the 1960s, the Crown Court that had been renamed opened in the early 1960s. The Imperial Institute (bottom, center), which had existed in London since 1893, but it was largely demolished in the 1960s to allow for the expansion of Imperial College. The old Birkbeck Bank (bottom right), near London's Chancery Lane station, was completed in 1902 but it was demolished in 1964 for no apparent reason. On the site today, there is a nondescript office building.

History is playing out before our eyes, which is why this very recent book on Ukraine's struggle against Putin's Russia ranks at the top of my History list. It's also because the past, according to this personal account of one of Ukraine's top intellectuals, has a huge influence on what's going on today. This is a clash of cultures - individualism and independence versus meek conformity to whatever Kremlin dictates - that's been a long time in the making.

Piers Court's final bid of £3,160,000 (pictured left this week) in Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire, was placed just seconds before the online auction ended today. However, the new owners will have to figure out how they will live there first if the two existing tenants are refusing to leave. Helen Lawton, who was dubbed a Hyacinth Bucket figure, and her Lebanese businessman partner Bechara Madi (right) all paid just £250 a year to live in the eight-bedroom Georgian manor. Waugh penned Brideshead Revisited, Decline, and Fall, all at the Cotswolds' mansion. In 1937, he purchased the house for £3,600.

Helen Lawton and her Lebanese businessman Bechara Madi make only £5 a week to live in the eight-bedroom Georgian manor, which is up for auction on Thursday. Mr Madi, 60, confirmed that he is a shareholder in the company that controls it, Piers Court, and has a substantial financial interest in it. He and Waugh superfan Ms Lawton, described as a Hyacynth Bucket figure, say the house is not for sale and they have refused to show around any prospective buyers

An Evelyn Waugh superfan who lives in the writer's Cotswold mansion is believed to be refusing to prospective buyers, and may be a catalyst in the auction of the Georgian manor, listed to the highest level (house, left; Waugh, inset). Helen Lawton and her partner Bechara Madi (pictured right) are paying £250 per year in Piers Court, the eight-bedroom mansion in Gloucestershire where Waugh wrote many of his best books, including Brideshead Revisited, Officers and Gentlemen, and Men at Arms. As the house went on auction in 2018, Ms Lawton, a nurse from Cheshire, had been hankering after it had been a 25-year absence, and Blain duly formed a company to purchase the property for £2.9 million a year later. On a rolling six-month lease with a monthly rent of £250 a year, the Waugh superfan and her companion all set themselves up as tenants. They resigned as directors of the firm on the day of the acquisition.

FEMAIL reveals the astonishing life of the Brideshead Revisited author, including his gay lovers and heroin use in his books (left, top right, baseding characters in his books on people from his childhood; left inset, Brideshead Revisited). The eight-bedroom house, which the novelist bought for £3,600 in 1937, is now up for auction in the village of Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire, and is listed for £2.9 million (bottom right).

I'm obsessed with Britain's postboxes. But not just any old letter box, but rather a specific variety that sets my pulse racing and lifts my spirits as only the highest mountain peaks can. They are Edward VIII postboxes (left and second from left and right; the first was installed in 1936) and a great deal of Britain's street furniture from the Himalayas. Allow me to explain. There are 115,500 postboxes in the British Isles, and you've probably noticed that on nearly every single one is a royal cypher, the monogram of the king or queen, embossed in cast iron - a symbol that immediately dates the postbox and dates it to a particular period. The first new cyphers in 70 years will be identified shortly, the CIIIR, the top right).