Thanks Dave. A quick one. Who had a Dad who was going bald, a brother called Dave and a sister called Vera?
There I've done it again. No real desire to win, but couldn't resist that one. Anyway, will set my question tomorrow afternoon.
My wife's grandfather drove Mallard once (numbered E22 about that time) taking supporters from a (then) non League club to a first division club for an F A Cup tie in the late 1940's. He only took it as far as March (Cambridgeshire) as that was the limit of his route knowledge. What was his name ? No, that's a joke! What were the two clubs involved ? I ask the question as it can't be easily looked up on Google. however, if it turns out to be too obscure, or just plain not much fun, i'll add more clues. As you can imagine the story is famous in my wife's family, if nobody else's!
Mallard used to run on the LNE line so we can assume that the first division club was on the eastern side of the country, unless the fans changed direction somewhere. There were only four years that this could have been. It had to be the third round or later as the first division clubs only joined in then. It must be easy then.
Blackpool it was! Colchester reached the 5thround - beating 3 league clubs on the way. Hence the fuss over getting Mallard. I have no idea if Mallard went all the way to Blackpool, using drivers from LMS or LMS inspectors with LNER drivers (my wife's grandfather drove express trains from Liverpool St to Norwich, so wouldn't have had his hands on an A4 very often. He also did sugar beet duties in season - not so glamourous for a top link driver as he would have been). Anyway - well done, it turned out to be easier than I thought. Just wait until next time! Meanwhile, over to you.
Cheers, JT. I remember watching Blackpool at West Brom in the mid-50s. I'm fairly sure Stanley Matthews was still playing. So, my question...what was once shorter than the regular ones and is these days made from the aspen?
Correct in general, Cologne, but what name was given to the shorter ones and quickly branded? Made in Sweden these days.
