The Cloggies (A 'Private Eye' book)

Product Information

But in 1984 Robert Maxwell bought Mirror Group Newspapers, and the following year summarily axed the The Fosdyke Saga from the Daily Mirror. However Tidy refused to bring the strip to a tragic or untimely end and the last episode was non-committal about the clan’s future. Tidy, Bill. 1995. Is There Any News of the Iceberg? An illustrated Autobiography. London: Smith Gryphon. Neville Grundy said: “Bill Tidy was a neighbour in the early 1980s when our family lived in Birkdale. He used to enjoy a pint in the long-gone Berkeley on Queens Road where I occasionally saw him. He was generous with his time. At one CAMRA fund-raising event, he leapt around the room unveiling, sequence by sequence, an enormous strip illustrating the history of beer from Ancient Egypt to the present day. It must have taken him weeks to prepare and draw and all free of charge and for the cause.

In the May Blitz in 1940 we would retire to the cellar with our cousins, the Hughes family, who shared the house with us. It was there we founded the ‘Juanita Club’. Juanita was a cheap red wine which I discovered at the age of seven to have an excellent nose and delicious hints of strawberries and fish and chips. It saw us through the air raids and I was only scared once.In 1983 the strip resurfaced as a series on Radio 2, which Tidy co-wrote with John Junkin. He also adapted the strip for the stage with the playwright Alan Plater. Bill was a firm family man. Bill married his wife Rosa in 1960, and they had two children, Sylvia and Robert. Sadly, Rosa died in 2019, shortly after he had a stroke. Victor, Terry; Dalzell, Tom (2007-12-01). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Routledge. p.1979. ISBN 978-1-134-61533-9. Even the Red Baron made it, turning up fresh from enjoying his WW1 aerial duels with Josh’s son Tom. The strip served as a satire of northern English male culture and focused on a team of men who took part in what the group called Lancashire clog-dancing. This version of clog-dancing involved two teams dancing towards each other in formation, followed by each attempting to cripple their opponents with gracefully executed knee and foot moves.

The actor and singer Chaim Topol (pictured), best known for his performances in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. The Cloggies were undisputed champions of their ‘sport’, usually inflicting grave injuries before repairing to the nearest pub. Their capacity for beer was legendary; their home venue, the Clog & Bells, Blagdon, where Doris the barmaid was always in a welcoming mood. There were also unorthodox activities involving the use of ferrets. I signed up as a short term regular soldier with the Royal Engineers for three years, serving in Germany, Japan and Korea. It was mostly interesting for me but I didn’t wasn’t involved in anything hairy. It was not so for the poor people of the Land of the Morning Calm. Their suffering while someone used their country to play a war over was appalling and if you look at the area today – the problems are still continuing to the present day. Naughty, vulgar, downright rude, the rhymes in this book should appeal to children of all ages. By the author of “War Music” and “London in Verse”.Bill had a phenomenal work load at the time. “I was doing six strips and had to be careful I didn’t send the wrong one to a newspaper or magazine,” he said. The Fosdyke Saga, the Cloggies and Kegbuster all appeared in book form and Fosdyke also became a radio serial. There are too many to mention but I hope you will enjoy seeing who else you can spot in the melee." “Is there Any News of the Iceberg?” A lighthearted exploration of the world of football commentary, from that first touch onto the woodwork to getting a result and concentrating on the league. It includes a course of essential terms and phrases for the aspiring football commentator. Other local residents included Reginald ('Reg') Thrumper, the "Blagdon Amateur Rapist" and the unnamed 'Blagdon Groper and Nuisance'.