Wembley Record and Film Fair, 1 December 2002

Sunday 1 December 2002. We had chosen this particular weekend to come to London especially for this event. We were staying in the Premier Inn at Wembley and it was a short walk to the exhibition hall where the Record and Film Fair was being held.

There were far more records than films, sad to say. But at the time I was collecting records from the 1930s up to the late 1950s on 78 rpm 10-inch shellac discs. Again, sadly, only one stall had any of those in the entire place.

I found a familiar face on one stall though - Ian MacLagan of The Small Faces! So we chatted for a while and then I moved on, aware that there were a couple of other people I wanted to catch up with. One was the actress Ingrid Pitt who was sitting quietly behind her sets of photos. I didn't know Ingrid then as well as I would in later years, but I knew she could be very witty, but had also had quite a traumatic early life. I think there were more people there for the records than there were for film-related photographs or pre-recorded film.

In the UK this still meant VHS tape as 2002 was the first year in which DVDs started to outsell VHS tapes and for a fair like this they would have to wait a bit before second-hand DVDs turned up in the UK.

Anyway I digress. Ingrid was sitting on her own and her eyebrows lifted in recognition as I went upto her stall. "You look fabulous!" I said and was rewarded with a broad smile as her face lit up. "Do I?" she asked, and we fell into a conversation.

Then I went off to meet another of my favourite actresses. I had been a keen photographer since teenage years and had always looked for photos of the then model, Caroline Munro, in the pages of Practical Photography and Amateur Photographer. Then, following a long contract as the Lambs Navy Rum Girl, she broke into films and starred in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad and a few Hammer horror films before (as far as I was concerned) totally stealing the limelight from Barbara Bach as a Bond Baddie in The Spy Who Loved Me. An absolutely lovely lady to meet and know.

She was there with the equally delightful Jayne Crimin, both of whom I have had the pleasure to know for over a quarter of a century. Neither of them look today like that could even be possible...

Star Wars Imperial Troopers. I was in no danger - I was right in front of them and their weapons don't work if pointed at people. Mind you, one of them nicked a doughnut off Miss Franny once - she was very indignant...

A few records from the 78s stall found their way into my possession. Elvis's early hit Heartbreak Hotel was in near mint condition and plays superbly. If you get a shellac record in this good a state it sounds much better than the easily-scratched vinyl of a 45 rpm record. Unfortunately it cost just a bit more than three shillings and sixpence as written on the cover. That would have been just seventeen and a half pence!

I bought Ron Goodwin's version of the Theme from "Limelight" as much for the original cover, which was a design I didn't have in my collection at the time.

Laurie London's "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands". Give me a bit of time - I still haven't worked out why I bought this yet - it's horrible...

And so we returned to the car for our journey home, passing the doomed twin towers of the old Wembley Stadium, seeing them for the first and last time.

Return to London and Wembley Record Fair Index

Memories of Ingrid Pitt

I got back last night from a works trip that had taken me to Swansea and then Telford in Shropshire to find a message from Tony, the husband of actress Ingrid Pitt who so sadly passed on last November.

Tony enclosed the above photo and as part of the message he had written on the back said "Remember Wigtown and the Kirroughtree Hotel?" Ha! As if I could ever forget! This, then, is the story of one of the most amazing, happy, frightening, funny, frustrating and altogether fabulous weekends we've ever spent.

It was Mayday Bank Holiday weekend, 2006. We had heard that there was a celebration going on in Wigtown in Scotland. It is Scotland's National Book town. Almost every second shop is a bookshop and when we arrived in the late morning of 29 April 2006 there were books everywhere you looked. On the village green was a maze made up of old obscure books that were being sold off for next to nothing.

We weren't exactly there to celebrate books however. In 1972, the area around Wigtown had been home to a film production. The film, whilst not a huge success at the time, went on to become a cult classic. The Wicker Man.

The film starred Edward Woodward as a police officer conducting investigations into a kidnapping then running into a pagan cult led by Lord Summerisle, who was played by Christopher Lee. Ingrid played a rather sexy librarian (discovered at one point playing with herself in a hip bath) and was billed 5th behind Woodward, Lee, Britt Ekland and Diane Cilento.

A drive through the town showed us this straw man - close enough if you use your imagination - by the side of the Bladnoch Distillery. They were to host a showing of the film on the Sunday night which would be attended by Ingrid and the film's director, Robin Hardy.

We hadn't told Ingrid that we would be there and met up with her on Saturday night as she arrived to be interviewed in front of an audience as a build-up event to the showing of the film. She received an enthusiastic ovation from a very decently sized crowd inside the hall, where we had found ourselves front row seats.

Writer Allan Brown as the interviewer gave Ingrid a hard time, wanting her to recount wartime memories when she was incarcerated in a Nazi concentration camp. Whilst this admittedly produced moments of great drama, it didn't endear him either to her or to the audience.

Afterwards we joined Ingrid and Tony behind the stage and were introduced to Robin Hardy (seen dancing with Ingrid above)and his wife.

We were there longer than we thought we would be. Wigtown is in the middle of a coastal and rural area. It took half an hour for a taxi to come and take them back to their hotel. Now came the frightening bit. As we went down the steps from the hall doorway Tony slipped and rolled, very elegantly I have to say, down the steps until the elegance stopped with his head banging the door sill of the taxi. He assured us all he was alright but we worried about it until we saw him the next day when, sure enough, there didn't seem to be any lingering effects at all. Phew!

We were staying in a small hotel, the Wigtown House Hotel. I'd recommend it to anyone it was wonderful. It overlooked the church and was quite close to the salt marsh that led eventually to the sea and had been the scene of a horrendous execution of two women in 1685. I've previously told the story on this blog.

We were back at the whisky distillery early enough to get fairly near the front and were looking forward to the evening.

The event was to start with Robin and Ingrid welcoming everyone and talking about the filming of The Wicker Man. Then the film would be screened and following that Ingrid was to set fire to the straw man we saw earlier.

All started according to plan and the two of them kept the audience enraptured with some hilarious tales including one about one of the film makers knocking up the owner of this very distillery early one morning, coming to an agreement to buy it for a six figure sum. This same film maker's first words the following morning were: "I did WHAT?!?"

The film was screened and we were the last out as Robin and Ingrid were in great demand for autographs and to chat to locals some of whom had been extras in the filming.

Then one of the frustrating bits. Some TV news crews, waiting for the straw man to be set ablaze had decided not to wait because it had started to rain outside. They had set the thing on fire and had gone. By the time we got out there, flames were shooting a hundred and fifty feet into the air!

"Noooooooooo!!!" cried Ingrid and dashed off through the crowd.
"Hey, where's she gone?" said Tony, "Go after her John!"

By the time I forced my way through - strange but the crowd that had just opened to let Ingrid through didn't do the same for me - she was far too close to the blazing figure and striking dramatic poses with a big grin. She had her back to it of course and could not see all the burning bits of straw flying through the air and landing near her!

The crowd were loving it and flashguns were going off on all sides. We managed to convince Ingrid to move away from the fire, but the straw burned quite quickly anyway. Either that or the rain was putting it out...


Well the jollity went on for a while until the crowds started to dwindle. It was raining and it was getting cold and Ingrid had undergone surgery not too long before all this. We knew it was likely to take at least half an hour for a taxi to arrive, so I offered to drive them back to the hotel.

"Do you know where it is?" asked Tony.
"Er... well don't you?" I said...

I got some directions from the organiser of the event. They sounded very complicated! Things went a bit surreal as Ingrid found a piper in full regalia and had to be photographed with him.
"John! Sing with him!" she said excitedly. He didn't know Johnny B Good though...

We set off down pitch dark country lanes. Then more country lanes... Then a l-o-n-g country road.
"I must say you're driving very confidently!" Tony said cheerfully, "I've no idea where the hotel is from here..."

We passed through a town and... "I don't think it's this far..." said Ingrid. I went back to talk to the smokers outside the town's pub. It was that far plus a bit...

We reached the hotel, the Kirroughtree House Hotel. It was 11:30pm and Ingrid and Tony had not eaten before going to the evening's event and so were starving. "Come in and eat with us!" they insisted. Well we all went in but, perhaps unsurprisingly the kitchen staff had long gone. The porter offered to make some sandwiches and bring them to the lounge so we went into this large and very nice lounge where another small family party were sitting.

Then followed one of the most excellent hours I've ever spent as both Ingrid and Tony regaled us with tales of TV, films and motor racing (Tony's background). We were, perhaps a little noisy for the other party but I settled them for the night when I mentioned to Ingrid that I had recently run a training event in the room that was used as the location for the nude wrestling scene between Ollie Reed and Alan Bates in the 1969 film Women in Love.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh!" Ingrid exclaimed at the top of her voice, "before they filmed that they went off to look at each other's pee-pees so they wouldn't be bothered when it came to filming!"

The other party hurriedly left the room...

Ingrid, you were one of a kind! We'll always cherish those memories! Tony, thanks for the photo and memories. We think of you often!

Ingrid Pitt 1937-2010

Putting the loss of the PC totally into perspective was the death last week of a lady I've been privileged to know as a friend for some 13 years.

I met Ingrid for the first time in April 1997 at the Memorabilia show in Birmingham's NEC. We had gone down to look at comic stalls and Fran had gone off with Gill down another aisle and I stopped in my tracks at the sight of two of my favourte ladies of film. Ingrid was sitting next to Caroline Munro. I'd been a fan of Caroline's since she was a model in the photographic press in the late 1960s. I'd been a fan of Ingrid's since seeing Where Eagles Dare at the cinema and a total fan after The Vampire Lovers of 1970.

So I said hello and took this photo which despite being the first photo I took of her, is still my favourite and I think was one of hers too as she used it on the cover of her fan magazine a few years later.

After that we bumped into each other once or twice a year at the Memorabilia fairs. On our second meeting she told me off for laughing when she told me someone was making a plastic kit of her in a nude pose from Countess Dracula. On our third meeting I joined her fan club and she made me come to sit next to her behind her stall and linked my arm as we talked.

Later that year we saw her again in Scotland and she met Fran for the first time. I was well aware of her wicked sense of humour by then and was again sitting next to her behind the stall when Fran turned up after searching for beanies and craft stuff.

"Oh! Is this your wifey?" she asked with a touch of impish delight in her voice.
"Yes!" I said, "so behave!"

"I'll give her something to photograph!" she declared and lunged at me in full-on vampire mode.

This was 2003. By now her husband Tony - the most wonderfully laid-back and likeable man - used to look for me turning up and would leave me to look after Ingrid whilst he had a turn around the rest of the stalls himself.

She had a field day with this jumper, taking great delight in zipping it up and down at such a rate that the friction was causing the hairs on my chest to smoke...

I started to write articles for the fan club magazine and got the occasional email from Tony who looked in vain for support for laptop problems - I know nothing about Macs and that's what they had. I think he just needed a sympathetic ear sometimes!

One of the best memories of Ingrid - and I'll not say a lot here as I'll do another entry in detail - was going up to Scotland on the 30th anniversary of the filming of The Wicker Man to surprise her as she was giving an interview in front of an audience and then introducing a showing of the film the following night.

That weekend was just so memorable for so many incidents it needs an entry to itself. But here is Ingrid in front of a burning Wicker Man, lapping up the adoration of a large crowd through which Tony and I had just dashed. She was loving it and flashguns were popping all the time. This was Ingrid the film star.

The last time we saw her was at her birthday party in 2008. The birthday parties were always memorable. Caroline was almost always there and we'd fallen into a habit of sharing a taxi back with her to drop her off at home before carrying onto our hotel.

One year I found myself sitting next to actress Fenella Fielding whilst being opposite the beautiful photographer and ex-model, Maureen Barrymore and, had looks been able to kill, would have shrivelled up and burnt due to the jealous looks from most of the other males in the room!

Ingrid loved a good story and after one of her friends in America featured my band, Creeping Bentgrass in a rave of a review in magazine Mondo Cult (thanks Jessie!) she announced to everyone at her party that year that we had "made it in America!".

Tony came round to where we were sitting a while later when the speeches were done and bent down to my ear.
"How many albums have you sold in America then?" he asked.
"One..." I said.

Ingrid Pitt had spent part of her childhood in a German concentration camp during the war. She lived with partisans in the forests of what became the Eastern Block. Found herself on the eastern side of the Wall but escaped to the West. Started making films in Spain and Argentina. Was left alone in a vault with Eva Peron's body to experience something... "Well I don't know what she (her hostess who had led her to the vault) wanted me to experience but I didn't!". Had wonderful stories of Clint Eastwood, Richard Burton and Liz Taylor, John Wayne and Yakima Cannutt. Karate trained with Elvis(!!!) Became an icon of the sexy vampire in the 1970s. Became an accomplished writer with books and numerous magazine credits. Was a cherished friend. I'm going to miss her. A lot.

In Search of Minoans

Saturday 22 August 2009 was a day at sea, exploring the Thomson Celebration and lazing around by the pool dodging scores of orange dragonflies that for some reason were out in the middle of the sea, miles from land...

That evening was the Captain's formal reception and dinner.

We had a go at scrubbing up and this was a ship's photograph taken in front of a backdrop of the Titanic's staircase. Quite why all cruise ships seem to carry this canvas painted backdrop is a mystery to me as surely it's a reminder that even cruise liners sink... However, each one of the 4 cruise liners we've been on have carried it along so whoever came up with the idea has obviously made an ice packet...

The following day we woke up in Crete, in the port of Aghios Nikolaos. The h in Aghios seems to be undecided as to whether it's needed but the Greeks seem to use it and they should know best I suppose...

We'll see more of the port later on as, after we had had breakfast, we were out of the ship and onto an excursion coach that took us on a tour called Panoramic Crete. This would visit an ancient Minoan settlement, the most southerly town in Europe, a typical rural Cretan village and a mountain viewpoint from where you could see both the Aegean and Mediterranean seas - the panoramic bit then!

Our guide for the day looked quite a bit like a Greek version of actress Ingrid Pitt except that Ingrid still has her own hair and this guide looked like she might have borrowed hers... Anyway she was not too boring as guides go but they do seem to like their dates these people don't they? They should remember that even Indiana Jones had to be warned off the dates...

So after a little while we came to Gournia, the long-since abandoned Minoan settlement on a hillside.

It was possible to make out streets and the bases of houses and other buildings.

The town was built around a hill at the foot of the larger hillside, so we are only seeing half of it here. We didn't actually get any closer than this so I've no idea what is on the other side, but I presume it's somewhat similar. Apparently at the top of the town was the administrative council buildings and courtyard, the cop shop and social services office and then the bits we can actually see would be the housing and McDonalds franchises: "No honestly, we'll make a mint... the tourists will definitely come - I'm just not sure when exactly..."

Ah, we're being called back to the bus - next stop Ierapetra, the most southerly town in Europe.

Ingrid Pitt's Birthday Bash

Just as the very first signs of approaching flu and galloping gobrot appeared, Fran and I were in best bib and tucker at the annual birthday and fan club reunion of actress Ingrid Pitt.

Since the big birthday last year I think she's trying to play down the birthday part of the event and concentrate on enjoying herself with a large group of friends who over the years have included some very famous faces.

There's always a sprinkling of well known and "isn't that...?" faces and this year was no exception with Celia Imrie in attendance and enjoying herself on the top table. Pat Lasky was there again and, whilst some may not remember the name, she was an actress under the name of Barbara Hayden and married Jesse Lasky Jr, son of the Jesse Lasky who made Hollywood's first full length movie.

Maureen Barrymore the Vogue photographer was there again - I sat opposite this beautiful lady a couple of years ago to great jealousy from all the other male regulars! She has a history as a model and was so successful as a go-kart racing driver she was booted off the team by the jealous male drivers!!!

This year we sat opposite Edward Morley and his party so it was a jolly night. Photos of the event can be seen as a collection at my Flickr account.

The Wigtown Martyrs

A couple of years ago it was the 30th anniversary of the making of the cult hit film The Wicker Man and director Robin Hardy and actress Ingrid Pitt returned to Wigtown in Scotland where the film had been shot for a celebratory weekend.

We went along to support Ingrid and had a great weekend of which the abiding memory is of driving down pitch dark country lanes having no idea where I was heading with Ingrid saying "You're doing very well, I wouldn't be so confident about finding my way..." We stayed ourselves in a more modest little guest house on the edge of a great salt marsh which was so flat that the incoming tide covers a huge expanse of land. It had been the scene of a great tragedy of justice in the 17th Century.

Kings since Henry VIII have been Head of the Church and an oath recognising him as such was required. With the union of Scotland and England under King James I, the oath was required for the first time of Scots. Many refused, saying that Jesus was obviously the Head of the Church. Those refusing to give the oath were known as Covenanters. Two such women were gruesomely martyred here on 11 May 1685. Margaret McLachlan, an elderly woman in her 60s, and Margaret Wilson, a teenager, were sentenced to be tied to stakes on the merse at Wigtown Bay to be drowned by the incoming tide.

The old woman's stake was further out than the teenager's so that the sight of her drowning might influence her to give the oath. However she would not and was also drowned as the tide rose further. The pillar shown was set up on the site, though the tide mark has since receded from that of 1685.

Related: The weekend with Ingrid Pitt at the Wicker Man anniversary

Sorry To Miss You!

We saw them both last week at Ingrid's birthday party, but I'm still sorry not be going down to Birmingham this weekend to see Ingrid Pitt and Caroline Munro and a few other stars I've come to know.

The NEC Memorabila events are great fun and a chance to meet and natter to stars of film and television, comic writers and artists and lots of other interesting people.

We've been going for what seems like ages - we first met Caroline and Ingrid over ten years ago.

So I hope you have a great weekend down there girls, whilst the band are busy playing in Freckleton!

Ingrid Pitt's Birthday Bash

Have just got back from London (second time in a week!) where we went to Ingrid Pitt's annual Birthday Party and Fan Club Bash and a very good 'do' it was too!

For some reason Fran and I were elevated to the top table this year - very nice to be there too, I sat next to writer James Herbert's wife, Eileen and she was very friendly and was really interesting to talk to. Ingrid was next to her with James on her other side.

Kate O'Mara and Veronica Carlson came but had to leave early due to some busy schedules, but the ever-lovely Caroline Munro was there and looking radiant as she chatted with guests and posed for photos.

Ingrid herself looked well after all her health setbacks and I gather there's still some surgery to come so we wish her well with that.

"I was looking on my desk for something and all I could find were photos of me with you!" she said. It didn't even sound like a complaint...! In fact she didn't tell me off once - very strange...

The night flew by all too quickly and we left her happily chatting away and as usual went off to find a taxi cab with Caroline who lives on our route back to our usual hotel.

Once back at the hotel we had a nightcap with David and Jeannie who spent the weekend in London with us - a surprise pressy for David's birthday. They had been to see Les Miserables whilst we were at Ingrid's party. It was a superb weekend - more when I can keep my eyes open!

The Tell-Tale Heart

I was talking to the two ladies featured on the previous post when a familiar figure thrust a hand out to shake mine and said "Is it John?"

It was the American actor and director Mark Redfield, one of whose latest and current projects is a film called "The Tell-Tale Heart" which I have mentioned before as it stars Ingrid Pitt, pairing this great horror film actress with none other than Count Yorga himself, Robert Quarry.

Whilst we had only ever met online before, we were soon happily engrossed in a conversation about the new movie which is set in the dark times just after America's Civil War. Ingrid is set to head off to America for filming in October, then she has a very important birthday coming up. It sounds like there will be lots of famous people at that party! Then it's back to the USA for a bit more work on the film and with fingers crossed we should be able to watch it some time next year!

More as I get to hear it!

Get Well Soon!

That's the message going to my lovely friend Ingrid Pitt, star of numerous films including Where Eagles Dare, The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula, The Whicker Man etc.

Ingrid has endured yet more surgery and is trying her best to get up and about whether the doctors want her to or not ...

Be a patient patient, Flower and we'll come down and see you soon!

Playing Catch-Up...

Agh! - I dreamed I was falling asleep whilst reading my required pre-course manual for a week long course with a [gulp!] three-hour exam at the end! At my time of life (8:05am on a Saturday morning) I thought I'd done with all that!

Have just taken wifey and daughter to the airport - they are having a weekend in London to celebrate Gill's forthcoming nuptuals (she's getting married too). I'm following them tomorrow as I'm there for the week on this course. We figured the cats might like some food over the weekend though.

A few follow-ups from previous entries.

After the entry about Ingrid's new film, I had a friend request from film director Mark Redfield at my MySpace Account which was very nice of him! Look after Ingrid for me Mark and don't believe everything she says about me!

I was contacted by someone who had attended the Change Management session at Gregynog in Wales, looking for more of the same in-house for their college.

I was contacted by my old mucka, Jackie, after the gig at Witton Park, Blackburn. She claimed I'd sent her to Croxteth Park, Liverpool - and had the cheek to send me a copy of my email proving it... oh... er... sorry about that Jackie... good job it wasn't raining then! Oh... it was in Liverpool...? well... ah... and what? You'd brought along lots of things for me to look at...? I gave myself 99 lashes with a rusty chain - she very kindly agreed that 100 was too much... "forgiven not forgotten" is what she said... The Croxteth Park gig is on Sunday 15 July - come and see a man berated... if she's dried out enough to come...

Ok - I'm off - the local garage have booked me in to have my broken wing mirror fixed, the postman tried to deliver a parcel the other day but we weren't in so that needs picking up (no idea what it may be either?!?) and must whiz my mother around the market and Tesco before getting back to the rivetting manual for this course!

New Film for Ingrid Pitt?

The American horror magazine Fangoria has announced a new film planned for Ingrid Pitt which would team her with Count Yorga's Robert Quarry. Count Yorga and our own Countess Dracula - now that's a horror team-up!

The film is a new version of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart and is due to film in Baltimore and Los Angeles in July under the direction of Mark Redfield who will also star in the film.

The Fangoria article is available online in full.

Ingrid Pitt's Newsletter

Ingrid's Spring Newsletter has just dropped through the letterbox today.

It has some news of a few events coming up - seems some Americans are coming over for a tour of our haunted mansions and manors sometime in September and want to fete our heroine! Hopefully not a fete worse than death... indeed not as they are dedicating their final night party to Ingrid! Ingrid's managed to get the ok for fan club members to attend! You'll need to ask her about it though, not me.

November's Fright Night event in Sheffield looks like being a two day night this year with a fancy dress parade, a dinner and a dealers' room.

Ingrid gives the horror story about her recent change of computer and there's an article about Memorabilia written by moi. She also mentions introducing me to Hazel O'Connor so we could "natter about music". She says "I think John enjoyed it." Yes he did actually!

Article Writing for Ingrid Pitt

The past couple of nights have been a bit frantic - I got my daily email from actress Ingrid Pitt's Yahoo Group to find she was expecting 500 words from me for her fanclub newsletter about her appearance at the Spring Memorabilia Show at the NEC over the weekend of 31 Mar/1 Apr. (See previous entry)

"Did you not get my email?" she asked. Er... no... but anyway 500 words isn't a lot so I started jotting a few bits down. Quite a few bits down actually... 500 words isn't a lot at all - I had to cut some of my best jokes out!

Anyway the article got sent off last night and I breathed a sigh of relief until this morning when at breakfast another email came in:

"Sorry John, can't open your attachment. Can you send it in the email. Thanks Ingrid"

Well that was easy enough - open Word file and copy and paste into a fresh email. Then noticed a further email. This was the one asking for the article. Tone (Ingrid's husband) had sent it on the 2nd but it had arrived on the 10th... Well that'll teach them to buy Apple Mac heh heh!

It went on: "The connection between Ingrid and Hazel is lost in the mists of time. Ingrid was at her wedding. Can't remember the religion but fruit, particularly bananas, played a significant part." Huh??? "Funniest memory of Hazel was going to a posh premiere in the West End. Went to get some drinks and when I came back Ingrid and Hazel were sitting on the stairs eating sandwiches from a lunch box Hazel had brought while all around people were quaffing champagne and nibbling nibbles..." Yep, that sounds like Ingrid!

Tonight was an email from Ingrid asking for photos of me with Hazel and Toyah - sent off in record time as I'm currently waiting for the other two members of the band to turn up for a rehearsal - blimey, when did we start having those? Oh sorry, it's half a rehearsal and half another recording session for the album!

Oh... and no, I can't let you see the article here as the fan club members have first priority!

Links to all three ladies so I don't get accused of favouritism! Names are in order of how long I've known you!

Ingrid Pitt's Pitt of Horror
Toyah Willcox's Web Site
Hazel O'Connor's Web Site

April Memorabilia Show, 2007

Hazel O'Connor and Ingrid Pitt

Actress and singer, Hazel O'Connor (the film "Breaking Glass" gave her punk rock status and hits such as "Eighth Day" and "Will You") catches up with actress and writer Ingrid Pitt. Ingrid is best known for Hammer Horror roles in "The Vampire Lovers" and "Countess Dracula" but has an impressive string of movies including a debut in mainstream movies as the lovely Heidi in "Where Eagles Dare" starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood.

I met up with them at the Memorabilia Show, held this weekend at the NEC in Birmingham. I've been friends with Ingrid for ten years but it was the first time I've met Hazel, whose first Memorabilia appearance this was. I've always said I don't have favourite artistes, as every song has to stand on its own merits, but Hazel's "Will You" would be in my top ten of best ever musical recordings!

I also caught up again with Toyah Willcox and owe her a debt of thanks. Fran took a photo as we were talking and she said "Take it again - I probably look all gobby!" Anyway Toyah, you looked fine but I look like a complete prat in it... The second one has been added to the Celebrities set at my Flickr site (no longer available) along with others of Dr Who, Colin Baker, helper Deborah Watling, and me with Hazel and Ingrid. The first one will never see the light of day!

Ah, and thanks to Ingrid who enthusiastically told all these successful singing artistes that I was a "fabulous singer"... Yep - 35 years on now so it can't be long before I become an overnight success...