The Oldie August 2021

Madeline Smith (p26) played Miss Caruso, the Bond Girl in Live and Let Die who had her dress unzipped by Roger Moore with a magnetic watch. A Hammer horror star, she was also in Up Pompeii. John McEwen (p79) writes our Bird of the Month column, illustrated by Carry Akroyd. He was art critic of the Spectator and the Sunday Telegraph and is a regular contributor to Country Life. Elisabeth Leigh (p22), a documentary director and producer, writes for the Sunday Times. Her novels include Greed. She is now writing a collection of short stories. Mark Palmer (p25) has worked in Fleet Street for over 50 years. He is Travel & Property Editor at the Daily Mail and the author of two books – about football and Clarks shoes.…

Arthur Goddard, chief engineer of the original 1948 Land Rover, has revealed how it was originally made – from parts pilfered from Rover’s Solihull factory. In an interview with Australian magazine Engage 4x4, Goddard, now 100, says he bowdlerised bits to meet his brief – to create a vehicle that could go anywhere, driven by anyone. ‘It had to meet all the army requirements, and it had to be a useful vehicle on the farm where you could go off road, or do a bit of shopping, or you could take a bale of hay across a snowbound field, or whatever,’ Goddard says. The original Series 1 Land Rover was light green, as Goddard used surplus supplies from aircraft cockpit paint. It was also a stand-alone power unit. Early advertisements showed it attached…

Plan to turn public toilets into ‘vibrant’ café Sunderland Echo Toothless man had knife to cut up food Blackpool Gazette Bus services delayed following reports of yacht in tree Eastern Daily Press £15 for published contributions NEXT ISSUE The September issue is on sale on 25th August 2021. FREE SAMPLE COPY If you have a friend who would like a free sample of The Oldie, tell them to call 0800 8565867. GET THE OLDIE APP Go to App Store or Google Play Store. Search for Oldie Magazine and then pay for app. OLDIE BOOKS The Best of The Oldie Cartoons 1992-2018, The Oldie Annual 2020 and other Oldie books are available at: www.theoldie.co.uk/readers-corner/shop Free p&p. OLDIE NEWSLETTER Go to the Oldie website; put your email address in the red SIGN UP box.…

When I am watching TV with my wife, we’re often torn between a new episode of Location, Location, Location and a rerun of our absolute favourite, Bargain Hunt. When I am watching TV with my friend Maureen Lipman (and hidden cameras are filming us in the process for Celebrity Gogglebox), it’s a toss-up between Channel 4’s Naked Attraction and Netflix’s latest ratings winner, Sex/Life. Both are utterly appalling and completely gripping. In a nutshell, Naked Attraction is a dating show where people pick potential partners entirely on the basis of what they look like starkers. And there are a lot of close-ups – so you don’t miss a thing. For me, the star of Series 5 (Series 6 is already in the making) was Ian – at 75, the programme’s oldest contestant to…

Not for years, if not decades, has any sentient being shown a slither of faith in my ability regarding any known sphere of human endeavour. This makes sense. If the traditional male-ranking system runs from alpha to omega, for me the Greeks are gonna need a bigger alphabet. A prangless two-minute car ride elicits shocked gratitude in the unharmed passenger’s eye. The successful exchange of one light bulb for another inspires pangs of disbelief. Loved ones react to the smooth transportation of a tray from one room to another with the awe once lavished on the conquering of Everest or the first footstep on the moon. You will picture my bemusement, then, at finding myself taken for a man of staggering talent by Erasima, my parents’ septuagenarian cleaning lady. This splendid Brazilian concluded…

She remains an icon of wholesome sexiness. How extraordinary that Felicity Kendal, loved – and fancied – by millions as Barbara Good from The Good Life, turns 75 on 25th September. Still very active on stage, she’s currently starring in her first West End musical, Anything Goes. She remains as glamorous, lithe and youthful as ever. Kendal’s parents, Geoffrey and Laura, had a repertory company that toured India. Though the young Felicity was able to learn about stagecraft and occasionally appear on stage, it was a life of little security. But it gave her her first big acting role, in Shakespeare Wallah – a 1965 Merchant Ivory film about the troupe – and the resilience to return to the UK to take on the acting profession. In 1967 she made her London stage…