Peter Arne knitting pattern

According to my husband this is British actor Peter Arne a bit part actor who starred in over 50 films including Pink Panther, The Moonraker, Ice Cold In Alex, Conspiracy of hearts, Straw Dogs and TV series such as Danger Man, The Saint, Softly Softly, The Avengers, Triangle, Hart to Hart and many more.

He was born in Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya in  1920 to a Swiss/French mother and an American father.

The actor met a sad end, his body was discovered inside his Knightbridge flat in 1983, he had been bludgeoned to death. 

Ripon Cathedral Church Kneeler Designs

Greeves Motorcycles

Bert Greeves MBE set up the Invacar Company in 1952. While  mowing his lawn he came up with the idea of fitting a lawnmower engine to his disabled cousin's wheelchair  and the invacar was invented.
Greeves won a major contract to supply 3 wheeled, invalid, motorised vehicles to the UK Govenment of Pensions and National Insurance.

Greeves then started to produce motorcycles,  production began in late 1953. When the Japanese entered the market place in the early 1970's production started slowing down and the company finally went into receivership in 1976.

The company  reformed in 1999, http://www.greevesmotorcyclesltd.com/

R. V. Marriner Ltd Keighley West Yorkshire

R V Marriner Ltd was established by Watson, Blacky, Smith & Greenwood Cotton Spinners in 1784.
The Company subsequently became William Marriner 1784 - 1808, then B & W Marriner 1808 - 1888, Marriner, Son & Naylor 1888 - 1908 and finally R. V Marriner in 1908.
R V. Marriner Ltd, Spinners. Greengate Mills, Keighley, West Yorkshire

1940's British Actress Susan Shaw

Susan shaw was born in 1929 in London England she married twice first to German Actor Albert Lieven then to American actor Bonar Colleano. She starred in the film Pool of London with Colleano who tragically died in a car collision in 1958. Shaw began to drink heavily after his death and she gave their young son to her grandmother to raise. Susan shaw died in 1978 from cirrhosis of the liver.

Susan's film career included to name but a few -  Holiday camp (1947) Here come the Huggetts (1948), Vote for Huggett (1949), The Huggetts abroad (1949), The intruder (1953)  and Carry on Nurse (1959).

Silverdale Hoard at the Lancaster Museum

The Silverdale Hoard is on loan from the London Museum until the 7th December 2014. The hoard was found in a field by a metal detectorist in 2011 and consists of over 200 pieces of silver jewellery, coins and hack silver.

The find dates to about AD 900 which was a time of intense conflict between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danish settlers of Northern England.

Other hoards found in the area include the Cuerdale Hoard found by workmen in 1840 (which is the largest ever found in the U.K)., The Huxley Hoard found in Cheshire in 2004 and the Furness Hoard found in 2011 and now in the Dock museum, Barrow-in-Furness.

Detector finds at ebid

Bellville Sassoon

Bellville Sassoon was found by Belinda Bellville and David Sassoon in the 1950's, Belinda retired in 1981. The Company is currently run by Locan Mullany.

Belinda's inspiration probably came from her  Grandmother Cuckoo Leith who ran a dress shop in the 1920's.

Bellville designed dresses for Princess Diana (Gonzaga Dress), Princess Margaret, Princess Michael of Kent, the Duchess of York, Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Jerry Hall, Melanie Griffith, Helen Mirren, Ivana Trump and Madonna. Her designs have also appeared on the covers of Vogue and Harpers magazine.

The Girls Friendly Society

The Girls' Friendly Society was founded in England in 1875 by Mary Elizabeth Townsend an Irish Clergyman's daughter.

The girls could join the society aged  12 but in 1882 the age was lowered to 8.  the Society was  originally set up to protect young working girls, and run almost entirely by women. 

By 1880 the society had nearly 40,000 and over 13,500 Associates. Queen Victoria also became the Society's Patron in the same year.

Members benefits included cheap, good quality accommodation for women working in domestic Service, mills and Factory's.

By 1900 the GFS had over 150,00 members and nearly 33,000 Associates in 1,361 branches . 

Most members were domestic Service workers but teachers, nurses, clerks, students, and workers in refreshment bars, mills, factories and warehouses were also members.

The society magazine in 1875 was called The Girls' Friendly Society Reporter and by 1883 it had been renamed to Friendly Leaves. the latter had a monthly circulation of 46,000.

Popular books and pamphlets were also produced such as Every Day Thoughts and, GFS Rules of life which was first published in 1895. 

The outbreak of the First World War and its aftermath resulted in a decline in Members' employment and membership numbers. In the decade following the War the Society expanded its activities in many other directions.

In 1921, the Society acquired Argyll House, a hostel originally established by the Deptford Council for Youth. It took in homeless girls and women and those escaping domestic violence.

The Society's Golden Jubilee in 1925 was celebrated, amongst other activities, with a pageant, The Quest, performed in the Albert Hall by six hundred Members and attended by Queen Mary and Princess Mary.

By 1925, the Society had 66 Homes and Hostels in England and Wales.

Further innovations followed in 1926 with the first GFS continental holiday party, which visited Brussels, and the Society's first promotional film, In Friendship's Name, which was shown around the country.

From 1939 the Society threw itself wholeheartedly into the War effort. A War Emergency Committee again raised money for clubs and hostels for women working on the Home Front, while the Branches undertook various tasks from helping with evacuees to 'adopting' a mine sweeper!

In 1942, GFS launched its War Training Scheme for girls aged 14-18 which was taken up by Youth Committees and Education Authorities. The training covered a variety of subjects from ARP Techniques to Poultry Keeping. The League of Skilled Housecraft, in conjunction with the Board of Education and London County Council, also introduced a Youth Wartime Section to provide housecraft training for 16-18 year old girls.

GFS also increased its missionary work overseas with, in 1951, 25 missionaries in Africa, Japan, India, Pakistan and Iran.

World Council was formed in 1955 to promote fellowship between the members of the Society throughout the world by the exchange of information and ideas and in 1959 the first World Project was launched, helping to support a GFS worker in Mombasa. The World Council agreed to meet every 3 years and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was asked to become the Society's World Patron.

In 1964 the Society launched a Development Scheme to extend its work at home and abroad. There was an ever increasing need for residential hostels for girls in the large cities and new facilities were opened in Birmingham, Swindon and Bristol, with an emphasis on self-catering accommodation. In 1967 the Society opened another hostel in Kensington accommodating about 40 girls, many from the Royal Ballet School.

GFS made an emphatic return to its original focus on young working women, but with a modern edge. It launched 'Girls at Work' courses and opened lunch clubs for young working women. The 'Girls at Work' syllabus included fashion, make-up and etiquette, budgeting and interview techniques and the courses, sponsored by employers such as Marks & Spencer and Metal Box Company, were attended by factory and office workers, shop assistants and laboratory technicians.

TIn 1989 a community project was established in Great Yarmouth, offering ante and post-natal advice, education, childcare and supported housing to young mothers, to reduce isolation, build self-esteem and increase employability. It also trained the young women to talk to local school pupils about the reality of young parenthood, relationships and contraception. Success led to similar projects in Skegness, the Isle of Wight and south London, all areas of social deprivation.

The Society today is very different from that of its heyday. It no longer offers accommodation except a supported-shared house for young mothers in Great Yarmouth and there are currently 33 Branches running across the country.

And yet, there is continuity. The Branches still encourage friendship and understanding between females of different generations and cultural ethnicities. The importance of Christian values has been maintained and through the community projects GFS continues to support the most vulnerable young women.