7th April: THE BOAT RACE. THE COLOUR IS DARK BLUE!

As far as the editor is concerned there is only one event in the international sporting calendar this month. This is of course the world famous Oxford / Cambridge boat race that will be taking place in Putney, London on 7th April. So why does this race take place in London? It might have something to with the sludge in the Cherwell or the slime in the Cam (for our international readers the Cherwell is a bit of a river in Oxford, near the Dragon school, which actually ties in nicely with the story on the previous page about Saint George, and the Cam is a small brook somewhere near the East of England ) It will be televised on various international TV channels which include Eurosport, but as some of the Bugle team might be going walkabout that weekend, we might not be able to watch it. So if any of our friends feel like texting us with the progress, we’d love to hear from you. Of course, you will be supporting Oxford, especially because at least a couple of the members of the team graduated from Oxford Brookes before they went down the road (which is where Kate did her psychology PhD.) If you are supporting Cambridge, we kindly assume you come from Massachusetts and you might just be forgiven. Row, row, that boat, merrily…..

April 14th / 15th 1912 - Titanic: A Night to Remember, with George Rose!

And while we are on the subject of ships and Georges….

In April a few of us will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage from Southampton UK to New York US after colliding with an iceberg. The disastrous sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of over 1,514 people, partly due to the fact that there were not enough life boats on the ship. However, as a legacy, several shipping regulations were changed, and ferry travel became safer.

Several films have been made about the Titanic. But while we do not want to go out and knock the more recent version that might involve Leonardo thing and Kate wossname, the film that has a really special place in our hearts has to be

“A Night to Remember” starring Kenneth More, which was made in 1958.

There are several reasons why this film is important, but not just because of Kenneth More. It’s mainly to do with George Rose and the eyebrows.

Brief Biography of Our Distant Cousin George Rose from Bicester

This is another one of ‘You couldn’t make it up if you tried stories about your relatives’. Here goes. Who was cousin George? (Oh, before I continue, any Swans out there reading this, please don’t worry, he was from a different branch of the family). George Rose was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire in 1920 and murdered in Sousa, Dominican Republic in 1988. He was a famed stage and screen actor and was known for being openly gay, at a time when this was an extremely difficult and brave statement to make. Let us not forget that for many decades in the 20th century in the UK, it was illegal to come out and express the love that speaks no name. A very brave man. Nevertheless, as an actor, he often had to play romantic Lotharios wooing the lasses. A fine example can be seen in the film ‘A Night to Remember’, where he portrays the character of an Irish heartthrob dancing, and courting the ladies downstairs in third class at the same time as the posh people upstairs were downing the caviar. A moral tale. After George was murdered it transpired that Kate’s beloved ‘Whisky granny’ was one of his closest relatives. Being generous of spirit, she helped us out We salute her, and we salute him.

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