Claims To Fame

At our October Zoom Meeting we enjoyed hearing members stories and photos.

We heard lots of stories from our members . One member attended the Roadrunner launch by Leyland Trucks in 1984 and got a chance to drive it, even though she was wearing heels. Another went to see Lonnie Donegan at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, at what turned out to be his last concert. She requested the song “Goodnight Irene” and he played it at the end of the show. Sadly, he died from a heart attack 3 days later, mid-way through his tour in 2002, so her song choice was the last one he ever played in concert.

Another member shared the story of her eventful trip back from her holiday in 2010 when she was unable to fly due to the Icelandic Volcano and eventually ended up sharing the journey with Stanley Johnson and his wife on HMS Albion on their way back to the UK.

We heard about encounters with Georgie Fame, Oliver Reed, Margaret Thatcher and Prince Charles.

Our final tale was from a member who told everyone about her trip to Wicklow in Ireland in 1994. Staying in a holiday village with her family, they saw these strange men dressed up in scruffy kilts and with long hair emerge from a holiday cottage every morning. One day they got chatting and found out that they were actors filming Braveheart nearby at Glendalough and they were invited to come along. They only saw behind the film set but managed to see Mel Gibson coming out of his caravan surrounded by screaming girls. It was the height of his popularity at that point and they were filming the Scottish story in Ireland because of the tax breaks and using the army as extras. They couldn’t wait to see the film the following year when it won many awards even though it famously made lots of historical mistakes including the fact that kilts and blue face paint weren’t in use at the time of Wallis!