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British Heritage: December/January 1996/1997 Letters

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British Heritage
British Heritage

MAID OF KENT
I was very interested in Robert Flower of Washington, whose letter on Dunkirk (February/March 1996, page 6) bought backmany memories. I am a 'maid of Kent,' born in Broadstairs in 1920. Robert, I'm sure, is a 'man of Kent.'

My brother was picked up from the beaches and brought back on the Royal Daffodil and landed at Margate. I'm sure he willremember these paddle steamers, which before the war travelled between London and France with holiday-makers. Mybrother had been on this boat many times in peacetime.

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Mr. Flower may be interested to know that on the 50th anniversary of the evacuation, I sailed from Ramsgate on theWaverley to meet the little fleet of ships and small boats that took part in the anniversary events. We all landed back onRamsgate to tremendous celebrations. Thousands of people lined the harbour, with flags waving and guns firing. It wascertainly a day to remember. I wish he could have been there.

Kathleen J. Abbey
Bristol, England

GOOD EVENING, ENGLAND
In the 1940s when I was in England, a gentleman named Gillie Potter had a weekly spot on the BBC where he would give hisviews on some timely subject. He spoke with an exaggerated Oxford accent and opened with the words 'Good evening,England, this is Gillie Potter speaking to you in English.' He would then expound on the topic of the day for 10 to 15 minutesusing only words of 4 to 6 syllables.

Do any of your readers recall this gentleman? I wonder if these lectures were ever published in book form?

John T. Butler
Fort Myers, Florida

WHERE, OH WHERE, HAS SEZINCOTE GONE?
Ever since reading the June/July issue, I have impatiently awaited the arrival of the August/September edition.

It came today, but the promised story of the Moghul-style building 'inspired by the architecture of the Royal Pavilion inBrighton' was not there. I had been hoping it would be the building that we found in the Cotswolds last August, obviously aclone of the Royal Pavilion, now–so we were told–owned by non-resident Arabs. We saw it across a field, as we stood by achurchyard wall.

Ever since, I have been wanting to know more about this house–and I thought you were going to tell me. If I had looked morecarefully at the picture on page 72 of the previous issue, I should have realized that the building depicted therein is eitherSezincote or an exact copy thereof. (We went there last year, too, as participants in the 1995 Oxford Study Tour under thedirection of Rosemary Flanders and Dr. Gerard Vaughan. Mrs. David Peake, the owner, came from London to show us theinterior. Actually, Sezincote was the inspiration for the Royal Pavilion, the Prince Regent having visited there in 1806.)

Was it Sezincote which was to have been featured in the current issue of British Heritage or could it possibly have beenToddington Manor? If not Toddington Manor, could you possibly arrange to have a story on it at some time in the future?

Mrs. Harold L. Timmerman
North Augusta, South Carolina

Editor's note: Sezincote it was. We shelved plans to publish the article after the owners of the house informed us thatthey did not want it to be publicized, as they did not feel they were prepared to handle large numbers of visitors. Weregretted not being able to deliver on our promise to tell readers the story behind this interesting house, but felt thatwe should honour the wishes of the people who live there. We are sorry for any disappointment our decision may haveled to, but we have no shortage of similar articles about Britain's historic homes already in the works. See page 52 ofthis issue for the story behind one of the most extravagant of all, Penrhyn Castle.

We have no immediate plans to feature Toddington Manor, but will surely consider it for the future.

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