We've been looking after Moonbase Grandson today. We visited Lister Park in Bradford. In the big house, Cartwright Hall, there are homages to David Hockney, local art legend and the glove puppet Sooty.
Bradford was the birthplace of Harry Corbett. He went on to invent Sooty, perhaps the most famous glove puppet ever.
Sooty was one of those brill kids TV shows I enjoyed as a nipper in the sixties. Harry had already been doing it for years. I think my fave gloved character was Sweep, the cheeky squeaky dog and Sooty's pal.
I hope to introduce Moonbase Junior to Sooty and Sweep at some point.
Harry's son Matthew took over the famous gloves. He also starred in Dr. Who's The Daemons, a series which Scoop blogged about a few years back.
I often wonder if it was Matthew who bought a Sooty off me on Ebay. The buyer was called I am The Real Sooty! It didn't go for much!
Do you like Sooty readers?
As a complete aside, in Cartwright Hall in Lister Park they also have this huge statue of Humanity Overcoming War.
War had a familiar look I thought ....
.... like an Engineer from Prometheus!
All I can think of now is sleeping now we're back home.
Childminding is so tiring!
Have a great evening readers.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Sooty is a legend, and I have various items of Sooty merchandise. Incidentally, Matthew's real name isn't Matthew, it's Peter. I understand that he's reverted to it nowadays. Remember him from Rainbow?
ReplyDeleteI don't Kid. I only remember Geoffrey from Rainbow. There used to be entire Sooty Museum in Bradford but don't know what's happened to that. There was a boxed Sooty Xylophone in Cartwright Hall, together with stills from the show.
DeleteYou don't mean 'Have a great evening readers.' Woodsy.
ReplyDeleteSurely you mean 'Bye bye everybody, bye bye !'
Mish.
I should have thought of that Mish! ha ha. I wuz too tired to think straight!
DeleteWe're Sooty Super fan's here at Southcoast Base!
ReplyDeleteSuper fans MJ! Wow! What stuff have you guys got? I've an annual and an LP somewhere I think.
DeleteMostly stuff from the 90's that my daughter plays with, the TV show is always on at some point in the day in our house, the newest presenter Richard Cadell is making a series currently or just finished to be shown later in the year on itvbe - Mark J Southcoast Base
DeleteWow, you really are super fans! I read that Harry Corbett bought the original Sooty puppet on the pier in Blackpool. I wounder what that original toy was called and were there more of them?
DeleteAlso a sooty fan, but for me, it is also Harry Corbett's voice, which was so friendly, The only other comparable unique voice was Oliver Postgate's.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean Andy, although oddly many of the voices on TV when I was a kid seem memorable. I remember many of them! Johnny Morris, John Noaks, the old guy in How, the narrator of Tales from the Riverbank, Shari Lewis [Lamb Chop] and of course Herman Munster! So many, recorded like tapes in my brain. I wonder who narrated Noggin the Nog? That was a good voice too!
DeleteI thought that was Oliver Postgate too?
DeleteThe old guy in 'How' was Jack Hargreaves, I think.
ReplyDeleteHe went on to present a show about countryside activities called 'Out of Town'.
Mish.
Of course Mish, Jack Hargreaves. He was a guru!
DeleteIt was Johnny Morris who narrated Tales of the Riverbank in the UK. The series was originally voiced by Paul Sutherland, a Canadian, but the BBC wanted an English voice when they decided to broadcast the show.
ReplyDeleteOliver Postgate did Noggin the Nog, Bagpuss, Clangers, Pogles Wood, Ivor the Engine.. fabulous stuff. Loved Johnny Morris in Animal Magic. My guinea pig wasnt impressed after being loaded into an airplane like Tales from the Riverbank though!
ReplyDelete