Saturday 10 January 2009

True Brit 19

From early childhood family OTW would escape Liverpool in summer to spend time with relatives in Totnes Devon, sometimes living and working on farms. The love of the English countryside was thus instilled in me and is something that I carry with me to this day. As a young teenager I loved to watch on Television a man called Jack Hargreaves or 'mumbling Jack' as we knew him. He seemed to be an ancient character from a far off age but I suppose he only seemed that way to a very young me. His reminisces of a disappearing England and his intriguing quizzes as to the usage of obscure agricultural ephemera held a strange fascination for me and many others. He single handedly for many years held back the tide of urban monoculture from Britain's airwaves as he championed the users of regional accents that even then were dying out at an alarming rate. He has passed on now but for many his legacy...the love for our much derided island culture lives on.

9 comments:

James Higham said...

These are the sorts of people a society can ill afford to lose.

Brian said...

Agreed. And the equally brilliant Fred J Taylor went fishing on the best water in May last year. Let's hope Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Ray Mears continue to improve and pass real knowledge on through books and tv.

Vinogirl said...

I even liked him on How! Even though that show grated on my nerves a bit as a child!

No Good Boyo said...

He was made of bags of green string and old leaves, and smelled of tobacco and tea. Another 30 years and I hope to step into his shoes, which were made of bark. As long as he's not wearing them still.

Julian Meteor said...

I WISH they would invent one of those things to cath owls.
I F***ing hate owls.

monkey said...

Makes you want to go and sit in the shed with a parafin heater and make stuff.
I use to like Fred Dibnah on the TV although he too is no longer with us and a great lose i look forward to his re runs. Who else would put a mine shaft in his back garden, great stuff.

Putz said...

when i first read monkey's comment, i thought he said "go shit in the shed with a parafin heater and make stuff

Thud said...

putz...he is a bit strange but he does like a spot of indoor plumbing.

North Northwester said...

Ah, a beautiful memory of bygone days, and it cheered me the hell up on a rainy workday in 't North.

And despite its rustic charm, the thing, the really great thing about this, is the that effect watching it would have on our neighbours on the Port side...

Lark Liberation Front, anyone?