EVERY LINK OPENS IN A NEW BROWSER WINDOW FOR YOU . . Sadly, we have to report that the creator of the LEICESTER & LEICESTERSHIRE WEBSITE, Tim Airey, has died. He was a native of Glen Hills in Leicester, and emigrated to Canada many years ago. He passed away last year, and we still haven't been able to find out the cause or circumstances of his death, though we understand it was some sort of illness. It is still possible to access many of Tim's pages, through what is known as the WAY BACK MACHINE, or officially, the Internet Archive. Without any shadow of doubt, it's safe to say that this is a brilliant and largely unknown resource. The best link I can find for Tim's pages, specifically to get back into some of those LEICESTERSHIRE OVERSEAS pages, is here ... take it as it is, for many graphics and pictures don't load, but just as amazingly, quite a lot do. This link takes you to : The main Leicestershire Overseas Archive and this page, for Aug 03 is the best link I can see that loads most of it. Try it for yourself ... and remember Tim, the man whose genius created it, as for any determined Leicester-expat or amateur historian as Tim himself was, it's a veritable gold mine. Our belated condolences to his family, and friends, worldwide. I'm sure all Tim's fans and correspondants around the world, some of whom will recall Tim as a founder member of the 1960's Leicester pop group, "The Foursights", will be as saddened as we are at this news. Rest in Peace, Tim. WESTWELL DIECAST MODELS AND TOYS of LEWES in SUSSEX . . have a large selection of Corgis, soft toys, everything from Sooty and Winnie the Pooh to James Bond's cars and vintage trucks and buses. They're even bang up to date with the Teletubbies, Banana Split bean toys and Eddie Stobart's trucks ! A well thought-out and planned web site, good graphics, and easy to find your way around . . which is more than can be said for ours ! A superb site for that unusual present you just can't get locally. BRITS ABROAD . . . is a terrific on-line Mail-Order Service, to provide all those hard-to-find teas, jams, pickles and preserves, cosmetics and other ladies favourites and requisites, that we all miss so much when we are away from home, whether for 14 days or 40 years! If they don't stock what you're looking for, they invite you to ask them. Good old British quality and service here. The site was started by two very enterprising ladies, Liz Hardy, and her good friend, TV presenter and mathematician, Carol Vordeman. (r) @UK . . . is a really good UK Tourism guide; use this site for more purposes than just tourism! Arranged by County, from the first page, click where you want to go. Doing genealogical research on any area, or just looking for general info? Here is a mass of information at your fingertips. Just what the Internet is for. Perhaps there is somewhere in England that was your favourite watering hole in years past, and you never got that souvenir video. @UK will stimulate the memories, then let Valerie's UK Videos supply the video! We may well have just what you're looking for . . well, we have to try. GENEALOGY INFOSEEKER: . . a superb Australian site! by Roy Andrews, with many cross-over links to research sites and addresses in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, and Europe in general. Extremely useful for UK families looking for relatives down-under, and a good starting point for Australians and New Zealanders thinking of commencing research in the UK. Roy also runs a sister site dedicated to the heritage and history of the name DRAKE . . from the times of Sir Francis, many links in Devon, right down to modern Drakes and their variations worldwide. All in all, two superb sites here will keep you occupied for days, let alone hours! Just what the Web is for !! (r) UK Business Directory . . . an on-line directory of thousands of UK business'; a sort of A to Z of business; manufacturing, retail, and service; registration with them is free if you give a reciprocal link. Brilliant idea! LEICESTER Auto-Valet . . . an unashamed plug for our nephew, Jeffrey Haywood, who has his own mobile Car-Valeting Service in Leicester & County. Ladies, are you too busy to clean the car as well as the dog, the kids, the house, AND the old man! Want to spend more time browsing the Internet? Then ar' Jeffrey is the man for you; e-mail him for his price list, and he'll be round with his van like a shot. He's offering to wax bodies! That sounds like ar' Jeff ! He's the original Man-with-a-Van! Does a good, honest job too - and fast! A well-valeted car puts a good £100 on it's value. He does caravans too . . ! (r) EVERY LINK OPENS IN A NEW BROWSER WINDOW FOR YOU . . Given Rob's bus and transport interests, here's a couple of sites for those interested . . . ex-Leicester City Transport buses . . . A list of ex-LCT buses still in existance, both in the UK and some in the US ! Rob has driven many of them, well, the early ones before the Scanias, and probably conducted all of them barring 329, the six-wheel AEC of 1939, now in the museum at Snibston Pit. But he was intimate with many of the rest. There's a couple of nice photos as well that will stir memories. (r) The BMMO . . aka the Midland Red . . . a very interesting history of the Midland Red, the ubiquitous red buses of the English midlands. They had an operating area that stretched from Worcester in the SW, to Grantham in the NE, and into Staffordshire and Oxfordshire at their more northerly and southern extremes. At their peak, the largest single bus company in the world, over 3,000 buses, I believe. Rob's memories are of the 669 . . and Val's are of the L8 and L10. Now, where did they go . . ? A most excellent Fuchsias site from the Swedish Fuchsia Society . . . run by Kenneth Nillson, this site is beyond belief! Five Gold Stars! All you ever wanted to know, and more, and the most fantastic photo library of varieties you could want. Be warned, if you have a leaning to fuchsias, this site is addictive - we go back again and again. And such links . . . ! Back to our Home Page || Introductory Page OTHER USEFUL NON-RETAIL WEBSITES Most of you would find these sites for yourselves eventually, but we had lots of help when we started, so we like to pass it on. If you know of any that you think we should add, please forward them on to: Val & Rob . . . at Valerie's UK Videos First of all, here are three first-rate websites for the Disabled 1.The Leonard Cheshire International Foundation . . . is one of the most worthwhile organisations ever set up, and also one of the most widely known. The story of Group Captain Cheshire VC, and how his experiences in WWII influenced his ideas for the foundation that bears his name is also one of the best books I and Rob have ever read. They badly need donated computers . . . . . 2.AbilityNet . . . is an all-embracing site giving masses of advice on all disabilities, including the British Deaf Association; AbilityNet is a good starting place for information especially to do with computers and disabled access to the Internet, etc, whatever the individual disability. 3.The Royal National Institute for the Blind . . . deals as you would expect, with advice for and help with coping with sight difficulties. A terrific site, well worth a visit if you have a sight impaired relative or friend. And, LEST WE FORGET . . . these sites are to do with our Armed Forces: Valerie's late father was a Royal Marine, Rob's late father was in the RAF. Over the years, they both knew many servicemen and women who gave of their best years to serve in the forces, whether as volunteers or by conscription. Some of their friends lost their lives in so doing. We young'uns who came along in the 1950's have probably enjoyed the very best that Britain has ever been able to offer, thanks to the peace and security that those hundreds of thousands of men and women gave us. This is the only way we can help, to say thanks to those who came home, and Give Thanks for those who couldn't. Remembrance isn't just about November 11th . . . . So, here is a potentially very useful link straight to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. They have records on graves and memorials for all our Armed Forces . . including Royal Navy and Merchant Service personnel, and RAF aircrew, who have no grave but the sea. I found my Uncle Jack on there . . We hope it helps you too . . . and here's three links for those who would like to see what goes on in HM Armed Forces today: The Royal Navy & Royal Marines : The British Army : The Royal Air Force and a superb link to a huge Army Regimental Site . There must be hundreds of links on there, from info on the modern British Army, to histories of various regiments, uniforms, campaigns in every theatre of war since the Jacobite Rebellion, and a full listing of all the holders of the Victoria Cross. Stunning! And now for the Best of the Rest EVERY LINK OPENS IN A NEW BROWSER WINDOW FOR YOU . . FIRST, A SITE FOR WRINKLY WEBBERS . . Like us !! UK SILVER SURFERS ! Empowering Oldies Online - if you're looking for a practical links page, no gimmicks, easy text, with the world at your feet, look no further. It's here ! Who says the WWW is full of rubbish . . ! If you don't find something to interest you here, then you must be hibernating ! And if you are asleep, this will soon wake you up !! . . . Visit "Besom & Curmudgeon" and . . "Grow Old Disgracefully at HELL'S GERIATRICS . . a site for Seniors with Attitide." It's the only thing on these pages that may possibly shock you . . When you've stopped laughing, come back to us to calm down. The Oldie Magazine is a terrific magazine for the Over 50's. And a lovely Website here, with a distribution list for the UK to tell you exactly where to get your copies. And you'll be made to feel really wanted, important, and most welcome. As us Old Codgers should be! There's competitions to enter, a Penfriend section, and articles of importance and interest that's just too good to miss! For the Over 50's ? At last! A paper that understands us . . . The Citizens Advice Bureau now have an excellent Website and should be consulted on all manner of legal questions in the first instance. Before you lay out expensive charges for a solicitor, check this site out. You may well get your questions answered here . . . or at least pointed in the right direction. The Parents Information Network: . . . is just what all worried Mums and Dads have been looking for when checking out the suitability of software for their children. It covers games as well as educational stuff, and from toddlers to GCSE standard software. Free guides can be requested if you e-mail them giving your address details. William Shakespeare . . . has his own website! Though what he would have made of it is anyone's guess. Composed a sonnet, perhaps. This site is provided straight from Stratford upon Avon by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and gives a stunning amount of information on our most celebrated playright. Tom Jones All mature ladies must surely want to know the site address of that great Welsh voice, Tom Jones. Yes? Valerie's First Choice any day! So all you ever dreamed of is here on this great site, with Concert Tour Dates, fan club details, and much more. Keep it swinging, Tom. And don't take your hat off . . . . and another site for Tom fans is a fun site with a snatch of a few bars of one of Tom's greatest hits . . It's Not Unusual. . . but you need a sound card and all the gizmos to benefit. The Gerald Finzi Trust . . is a link to the website dedicated to Rob's current favourite composer, Gerald Finzi, a much under-rated Englishman, who sadly died in 1956. If you like Vaughan Williams, Butterworth, etc, you'll like this man's music. Try his "Cello Concerto" for 40 minutes of sheer delight . . . or his "Dies Natalis" (Day of Birth), a baby's-eye view of the new world he's born into, with settings of poems by Thomas Traherne. Unbelievably lovely! English to the core! He was taken from us far too early Sergei Rachmaninov . . It is really a terrific site, and if you are - or ever have been - a Rachmaninoff devotee, this is well worth a look. There's are onward links to others of his works for a start, as well as a discography of Rachmaninoff's own recordings as a pianist. Mainly Morris Dancing is enjoying something of a renaissance in England right now, and rightly so. These are the real roots of our folk and dance culture. See this site for International information on how to learn - or simply where to watch. Rob likes to go for the beer . . . don't tell him, but he is after tracing the website of Shepherds Neame in Kent in the vain hope he can get "Spitfire" on a drip feed . . . I'll give him dancing! http://www.192.com Need to find an elusive Phone Number in the UK or abroad? A lost friend or relative. Need to get in touch. Here's the answer to a prayer, a free search service, no less; just click the link to this site. Ordnance Survey Maps . . on-line! We love maps, and especially maps that are easy to come by. Your very own reference atlas of the UK is available on this site, for free. Highly detailed maps of Britain, you can access them by typing in a place-name, or a post-code. With the latter, up pops your map, with the area of the post-code arrowed. These maps are scaleable on-screen, and are so are easy on your eyes. Zoom in for a detailed street map, with street names. Amazing! Whatever will they think of next . . . well, try this. OLD Ordnance Survey maps . . of every village in Britain! . . should bring up a Counties Gazetteer . . choose your county, then your village. Maps are generally 1846-1899. Be warned, these maps are huge, often two or three times the size of the screen. They recommend a screen size of 1024x768 to view them, but I manage with 800x600. Fascinating! For lovers of chocolate, here's a couple to die for . . . Thorntons is so well known here it needs no introduction in the UK, but those abroad who feel deprived of English chocolate will be able to smell it on this site! And finally, an unashamed plug for the super, joint-website of two truly worthwhile sister publications; THIS ENGLAND and EVERGREEN . . . our favourite magazines, on sale quarterly all over the world wherever English is spoken, read by well over two million patriots and anglophiles ! They can also be easily contacted; by phone on 01242 - 577775 .... by fax on 01242 - 222034 (for callers from outside the UK, prefix with 044, then drop the 0 of the area code, ie 1242, then 577775). For informative articles on history and heritage, nostalgia galore, lovely photos, real poetry and verse, and minimal advertising! And what advertising there is, is classy, informative and good to read. Makes a change! EVERGREEN, the little sister mag, is small enough to get in your pocket! But packed with delight. For All Who Love Our Green And Pleasant Land . . . Once you start taking either of these quality magazines, you'll never be able to stop. As they say themselves, "Britain's Loveliest Magazine." Addictive isn't the half of it . . . . . . . And that's No Bull !! AND REALLY FINALLY . . . . two useful addresses if you have comments or complaints about any advertisements - and that includes ours on this Website - or anything you see that may be blatantly untrue, misleading or offensive in the British press; The Advertising Standards Authority is to be found at: 2 Dorrington Place, London, WC1E 7HW ; telephone direct on: 0171 - 580 - 5555 The Press Complaints Commission is at 1 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 3AE ; telephone 0171 - 353 - 3732 This information, and a host of other addresses and telephone numbers to do with specific advertising and publishing regulators with regard to Television and Radio in the UK, can be found on Page 67 of the Summer 1998 edition of THIS ENGLAND MAGAZINE, as detailed above. Return to the : Home Page Many thanks for viewing, we hope this page has been of some use. Our Best Regards and Good Health to you all, and God Bless. END OF LINKS PAGE