Vera and Bud Flanagan

Posted on 2007/07/14 00:01:13 (July 2007).

[Friday 13th July]
Vera came to stay this weekend, and arrived today at lunchtime. She got a coach from South Wales, which was very handy as Victoria Coach Station is just a short walk from my office. So I went to meet her there, and we then went back to my office for lunch. I've taken quite a few people for lunch at my office now, and the usual reaction is along the lines of "Oooh, this is quite nice isn't it - is it really all free?". Vera however seemed positively awe struck at the notion of all that choice, and not having to pay a penny for it. Admittedly she had chosen a particularly good day - they were celebrating Bastille day, and so all the food had a French theme to it, and they had really gone to town. I think thee food there is always done to a good standard, but today it was really excellent.

After lunch I took Vera back to the flat, and left her there to potter about for the afternoon while I went back to work. I had imagined she would just sit and read a book for the few short hours until I came back from work, but the ever itchy footed Vera was not content with such a sedentary means to pass the time. So instead she went for a bit of a wander round the square where we live, and apparently met several of the locals (more than I had met in my whole five months there). Apparently Vera had asked one lady she met if anyone famous had lived there, and the lady kindly took her to see a bench dedicated to Bud Flanagan. That's the Flanagan of Flanagan and Allen fame - I have to admit this was the first time I'd heard of them, but following a bit of research on wikipedia it turns out they were responsible for such wartime classics as "Run, Rabbit Run" and "Underneath the Arches". Anyhow, it turns out Vera had actually met Flanagan and Allen - during the war she'd been to see one of their shows in London, and by strange coincidence they ended up getting on the same train as her back to Portsmouth (or was it Haslemere?). I just loved the connectivity (if that's the right word) of this story - a famous (well famous back then) comedian who Vera had met, turned out to live in the same place where I now live.

So when I got back from work, after a quick cup of tea we decided to go and sit out in the gardens and have a couple of gin and tonics - and naturally we chose Bud Flanagan's bench. We had an utterly charming time out there, supping our gins, and watching the world go by. Vera smiled at just about everyone who passed, as though she'd been living there for years. They all probably thought she had.

John, that is a particularly splendid story/blog entry.

Posted by Kev at 2007/07/14 00:26:37.

Thanks Kev!

...oh and I didn't finish reading to the end of that wikipedia last night - it turns out Bud Flanagan also sang the Dad's Army theme tune - "Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler?"

What I like about this story is the way my Grandmother is so effortlessly superior to everyone else - without ever being arrogant or condescending. So the lady who lives here and showed the Bud Flanagan bench to Vera was clearly very proud of this historical connection that the square has - whereas (although I wasn't there at the time) I can imagine Vera casually dropping into the conversation "Oh yes, I've met him".

Posted by John at 2007/07/14 08:54:59.

Just fancy, Bud Flanagan never mentioned this Brief Encounter.

Posted by John's Mum at 2007/07/16 22:06:21.

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