Our theme this week: Home Town or City where you were born, or where lived in, or some place that you relate to.
https://jimadamsauthordotcom.wordpress.com/2020/04/18/familiar-place/#like-7203
Now this is a toughie for me, because as far as I know there are no songs about Poole, Dorset, UK!
I thought outside the box and Ring of Bright Water came to mind (pool? Poole?), but settled on this.
Mary Hopkin was discovered on Opportunity Knocks in 1968, and signed by the Beatles Apple label later that year where she recorded Those Were the Days which became an International Number One hit.
In 1970, she represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest singing Knock Knock, Who’s There written by John Carter and Geoff Stephens. It came second to Dana’s All Kinds of Everything which won for Ireland.
IMO, had Mary Hopkin sung this, she would have walked it, but this wasn’t an original song having already been recorded by the composer.
Written by Philamore Lincoln (aka Philip Kinorra , born Robert Cromwell Anson and also known by his other stage names, Julian Covey, Julien Covey), the lyrics are in the video.
Now you might want to know what this has to do with my home town.
Well, Poole boasts Europe’s largest natural harbour. Technically, it’s the largest in the world since Sydney Australia added a man-made bit.
Covering an area of approximately 14 sq miles, it is extremely shallow, with an average depth of just 19 inches. In order for the large ships and ferries to use the port, a main channel was dredged to accommodate them. (Source WIKI)
When we lived in Poole, I would walk the two miles to work along the Holes Bay road.
There are several islands in the harbour, the largest of which is Brownsea Island which is a nature reserve and home to a colony of red squirrels. It is also a haven for gnats, or was by my recollection of a visit there in 1963 with my school.
Not heard that one in so many years.
It seemed to fit for me anyway. Poole is a lovely place to visit (especially if you like Sunseeker yachts) but very expensive to live. Most people think we lived in Sandbanks or Canford Cliffs (aka Millionaire Row) but we had a modest bungalow on the other side of Poole 2 miles from the town centre where I worked for the bank.
Good one! I hadn’t thought of Mary Hopkins in years. I remember seeing her on Opportunity Knocks 🙂
I remember Lena Zavaroni too. She was terrific and died so young.
Oh yes! That’s a familiar name. I’ll have to look her up ☺️
Another Op Knocks winner.
I did this in December
https://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/2019/12/22/december-theme-22/
This is a real lovely song Di.
I don’t remember the original at all.
What a lovely song, I remember this well. Dana, Mary, the original girls from next door 💜
they were indeed.
I’ve never heard this song before. She has such a lovely voice.
She was very popular
I like the tropical feel to the song. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon.
It’s got a really nice lilt to it which was very popular at the time.
A lovely somg from a very lovely Mary Hopkin.
she was the typical girl net door, wasn’t she.