Nevil Shute Norway Foundation

WHAT'S NEW

September 2010

August 2010

  • Another extract from the Daily Express of Tuesday 22 January 1935 concerning the visit of Mr Fokker to Airspeed. This is in the PhotoTimeLine for 1931 - 1940 page 4. This is immediately followed by another article from the Daily Mirror of 6 February 1935.
  • A cutting from a newspaper about an explosion at the Airspeed factory is included in the PhotoTimeLine for 1931 - 1940 page 2. (courtesy Steve van Dulken of The British Library)
  • Another cutting from the Daily Mirror of 21st August 1936 about the occasion when two employees tried to steal an aircraft to make their fortune in the Spanish Civil War (also courtesy Steve van Dulken of The British Library)
  • Joost Meulenbroek's August Newsletter.

July 2010

  • It has been decided that, instead of a list of Shutists wishing to contact others at the end of each newsletter, the listing wil be held on the website under "Local Shutists" (see menu item on left). If anyone would like to be added to this list, country by country, please tell the webmaster, David Dawson-Taylor.
  • A new book cover for "Trustee from the Toolroom", translated into French, has been added, as has a cover for a Hebrew translation.
  • The UK library has acquired a new book (UK509) - "The Sinn Fein Rebellion" - which is a compilation of letters of Mary Louise Hamilton Norway (Nevil Shute's mother) entitled "The Sinn Fein Rebellion as I saw it" and a report by Arthur Hamilton Norway (Nevil Shute's father) entitled "Irish Experiences in War". The book is edited and introduced by Keith Jeffery.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's July Newsletter.
  • A report on the gathering of Shute enthusiasts at Shrewsbury at the end of June 2010 is available here
  • A transcript of an article written for "The Salopian" (the Shrewsbury School Magazine) about the Easter Uprising in Dublin in 1916. It is alleged that this was written by Nevil Norway as he was a boy at the school that year, and he would have visited his parents in Dublin (where his father was the head of the post office) at the time.

June 2010

May 2010

  • The addition of two more books to the UK library.
    • UK507 - "To Ride the Storm" by Sir Peter Masefield - the story of the Airship R101
    • UK508 - "The Millionth Chance" by James Leasor - another tale of the R101.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's May Newsletter.

April 2010

  • A definition of the word "Majlis" found in "Round the Bend"
  • More votes for your favourite books.
  • A report by John Anderson on the opening of the "Pioneers of Aviation" exhibition at the Yorkshire Air Museum.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's April Newsletter.

March 2010

February 2010

  • Some more votes for your favourite books have been included
  • The definition of "A Bronx"
  • The UK library has recently acquired the CD of the book by Philip R Davey entitled "When Hollywood came to Melbourne - The story of the making of Stanley Kramer's film of 'On the Beach'"- UK library Number UK506.
  • A note about the UK gathering at Shrewsbury school in June 2010 is in the February newsletter and on the "Gatherings" page
  • Some more votes for your favourite books - "Trustee from the Toolroom" is still in the lead.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's February Newsletter.

January 2010

  • An improved photograph of No 1 The Square, Petersfield, and a photo of the commemorative plaque (Thanks to John Anderson)
  • Joost Meulenbroek's January Newsletter.

December 2009

November 2009

  • After 12 years of founding, leading and master-minding the Nevil Shute Foundation, Dan Telfair has handed over the reins to John Anderson who has taken over as Vice President. We thank Dan for all the hard work he has done over such a long time in promoting Nevil Shute and the Foundation.
  • Laura Schneider has compiled the results of the feedback survey of the gathering "The Nevil Shute Legacy" in Australia in 2007
  • A photo and brief bio of Jim MacDougald has been included.
  • The 2009 Aviation scholarship award has been presented.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's November Newsletter.

October 2009

  • A photograph of most of the members of the Nevil Shute Foundation Board.
  • Some more photographs have been added to the UK2009 gathering
  • Updated photographs of No 1 The Square, Petersfield and the Flora Twort Gallery
  • Joost Meulenbroek's October Newsletter.

September 2009

  • The addition of some material to the UK library (UK 503, 504 & 505). The first of these three is a biography of Barnes Wallis by his daughter, Mary Stopes-Roe
  • An analysis of the UK2009 post Conference Survey has been included in the UK 2009 report.
  • An article written by John Anderson after his visit to Cavendish Morton.
  • The report of the 6th Biennial Conference, held in York, United Kingdom, is now included. Photographs of the event will follow later.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's September Newsletter.

August 2009

  • A definition of the word "drummer" found in "So Disdained".
  • Gerald Pawle's Book "The Secret War" has been republished by Seaforth Publishing as "The Wheezers and Dodgers". It's a paperback priced at £9.99. ( ISBN 978-184832-026-0.)
  • A photograph of a letter by Nevil Shute's father to the Master of Balliol College Oxford
  • A more detailed listing of items held in the OZ library
  • A photograph of a small portion of one of the main spars of the R100.
  • A copy of a copy of an photo (and therefore regretably rather blurred) from the "West Yorkshire Passenger Executive" showing an Airspeed "Ferry" being moved out of the factory (the bus garage) at night.
  • An interesting article written by Gary Swinson about his visit to the Welsh border, where he discovered the house where Sir Thomas merton collaborated with Barnes Wallace in the development of, among other devices, the famous "bouncing bomb"
  • Three useful links to short film clips of R100 and R101 (courtesy John Anderson and Dick McIntyre):-
    1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k60YoKKiayE
    2. http://www.moviemice.com/
    3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEdp4Kq7Fo8&feature=related
  • And more votes for your favourite books.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's August Newsletter.
  • At the UK 2009 conference in York, Joost Meulenbroek, Newsletter Editor, was elected to join the Foundation Board.
  • A photograph of our president, Heather Mayfield, elder daughter of Nevil Shute, taken at the UK 2009 conference in York, England.
  • Definitions of "have a caulk" and "CW Branch," both from"Most Secret"

July 2009

  • House of Stratus no longer publish any of Nevil Shute's books. Instead they will be published by Random House, www.randomhouse.co.uk. The first four (A Town Like Alice, On the Beach, Pied Piper and Requiem for a Wren) will be available at the beginning of September, with the remainder by "Publish on Demand" later.
  • Discovery of a French translation of "Most Secret"
  • News from a former Commodore of the Blackwater Sailing Club about the burgee shown on the PhotoTimeLine
  • Joost Meulenbroek's July Newsletter.

June 2009

May 2009

  • The definition of the word "scunner", found in "Requiem for a Wren"
  • Some new and updated photographs (courtesy Michael Hannan) of South Hill, the house in Dublin where Nevil Shute's father lived when he was Secretary to the Post Office in Ireland, including a letter written by Nevil Shute after his visit there in 1946.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's May Newsletter.

April 2009

March 2009

  • The definition of "heads" derived from the fact that in olden times, they were situated at the front of the ship. (See glossary for more detail).
  • The definition of "Froth-blower cuff links", worn by Stenning in Chapter 8 of "So Disdained", has been added, thanks to Chris Phillips. Interestingly, in John Betjeman's poem "The Varsity Students Rag" the first line of the second verse starts "I started a rag in Putney, at our Frothblowers Branch down there"
  • Further audio books on CD have been acquired for the UK library. These are "A Town Like Alice", "Trustee from the Toolroom" and "Breaking Wave/Requiem for a Wren"
  • Some more votes for your favourite books
  • At long last, the photographs of the OZ2007 gathering - "The Nevil Shute Legacy" - are now on the website. Go to Gatherings/oz2007.php to see them.
  • "House of Stratus" have been added to the list of resources for the purchase of Nevil Shute's novels
  • The narrative of the OZ 2007 Conference - "The Nevil Shute Legacy" -, written by the Conference Manager, Laura Schneider, is now available on the website.
  • The UK library has recently acquired four audio books on compact disc. They are "What Happened to the Corbetts/Ordeal", " Beyond the Black Stump", "Pastoral" and " On the Beach". They can be found in the UK library listing at stock numbers UK073 to UK076.
  • Two more book covers - "On the Beach " and "Pastoral", courtesy Charles D., of Dalton, Minnesota, USA
  • Joost Meulenbroek's March Newsletter

February 2009

  • Barry Stobart Hook believes that the picture of "the very pretty woman" sitting on the right in the interior of the AS6 Envoy on page 3 of the 1931 - 1940 chapter of the PhotoTimeLine is his mother. A publicity shot of the same lady taken for Airspeed at the time can be seen linked to that page.
  • A very sharp-eyed correspondent, John Cooper, has pointed out that the picture on page 5 of the 1931-1940 chapter of the PhotoTimeLine was not HMS HOOD at all, but HMS NELSON. I've now changed the photo to the correct battleship, HMS HOOD.
  • A definition of "pitot" as found in "Stephen Morris"
  • More votes for your favourite books
  • Joost Meulenbroek's February Newsletter

January 2009

  • Additional voting for your favourite books has put " Trustee from the Toolroom" in first place again.
  • An article by our chief researcher, John Anderson, on "Nevil Shute, Sailing and 'RUNAGATE'"
  • More books covers for "Stephen Morris", "Landfall", "No Highway", "Pastoral", "Pied Piper", "Requiem for a Wren" and "Round the Bend", all courtesy of Andy Burgess.
  • Another book cover for "An Old Captivity" has been found. (Bottom right of page)
  • More votes for your favourite books are coming in. "A Town Like Alice" has just pipped the post from "Trustee from the Toolroom"
  • One of our eagle-eyed readers (Martin Heyes) has pointed out two errors in the newsletter of March 2004, namely that Eric Hiscock was born in 1900 (not 1908), and that he was born in Oxford not Southampton.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's January Newsletter

December 2008

  • More votes are being recorded for "Favourite Books"
  • An article by John Anderson about Exercise "Trousers" showing the reason for Nevil Shute being in the Exbury area at the time of the Junkers crash.
  • Joost Meulenbroek's December Newsletter

November 2008

  • A link to the UK 2009 Conference webpage
  • A Probable Model for Dwight Schafter". An explanation by Paul Wankowicz, of Winchester, Massachusetts, USA
  • Joost Meulenbroek's November Newsletter

October 2008

  • Joost Meulenbroek's October Newsletter

September 2008

  • Another book cover for "Beyond the Black Stump", courtesy Steve Smith
  • Joost Meulenbroek's September Newsletter

August 2008

  • Some new book covers for "On the Beach", "Trustee from the Toolroom" and "Ruined City", all supplied by Matthew Sproston.
  • Oren Wolfe, the previous webmaster, has told me that the 1958 version of "A Town Like Alice" will be broadcast in the United States on Turner Classic Movies at 6pm Eastern Time, 18 September 2008.
  • Some photographs of a model of the Tern glider
  • Joost Meulenbroek's August Newsletter

July 2008

  • A link to John Anderson's introductory page about the UK 2009 conference has been added.
  • A definition of the word "hoosier" (I expect this is well known to Americans, but I include it for others ! - Webmaster)
  • Re-inclusion of a reference to the National Library of Australia in Canberra where a number of Nevil Shute's manuscripts are held.
  • Two more books covers for "The Far Country"
  • The DVD of the Centennial Celebrations in Albuquerque in 1999 is now included in the UK library.
  • Further votes for "Trustee from the Toolroom", "In the Wet" and "On the Beach" on the Favourite Books page
  • Another indifferent photograph (of a framed photograph) of the nose cone of R100 being dismantled
  • A definition of "Oropesa float" and "WAAC"
  • Another vote for "A Town Like Alice" on the Favourite Books page
  • Joost Meulenbroek's July Newsletter

June 2008

  • A recent photograph of the two airship sheds at Cardington, as well as a (not very good quality) photo of both airships in the sheds (in my own defence, the latter was taken in a pub - the Bell - near to the sheds and I had a brief moment to take the photo of the photo in its glass frame - Webmaster !)
  • A definition of "monkey's island" has been added
  • A resumé of a talk given by Andy Burgess at the Dartmouth gathering in April 2008, on the coincidences between "Marazan" and " The Thirty Nine Steps" by John Buchan
  • A report by Tommy and Polly Thomas on their visit to Langwarrin is included.
  • The addition of a photograph in the Virtual Museum of a font in Langwarrin Church donated in 1962 by Nevil's wife Frances.
  • Two definitions of the word "priest" in the Glossary, as well as "bogey", "RNC" and "sidcot suit"
  • A copy of "Most Secret" is now available in the UK library
  • Dan Telfair's June Newsletter
  • Another three book covers, Legacy, On the Beach and Stephen Morris, courtesy of James E. Tobler of USA.

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

  • Yet more book covers ("Rainbow and the Rose", "Trustee from the Toolroom", "Slide Rule" & "Chequer Board") have been added, this time courtesy of Richard Kidd
  • Another copy of a book cover for "The Far Country" and for "What happened to the Corbetts"
  • Richard Michalak's March newsletter
  • Two links at the bottom of the "Book Reviews" page, under the heading "Various Reviews" attributed to Richard La Ven and Eric Erisman, have been corrected.
  • In addition, links to reviews of related books have also been added
  • An interesting comment from Arno Martens about the origin of LBSC's real name.
  • A recently found photograph of R100 flying over Toronto as been added to the PhotoTimeLine

February 2008

  • Sixteen additional book covers have been added, courtesy of Dirk Lukasse of Holland
  • Gary Bartell has temporarily taken over the US library whilst Susan Batross is away.
  • Richard Michalak's February newsletter.
  • Recent (2007) photos taken of the first Airspeed factory in York have been added to the PhotoTimeLine
  • An item about Annabelle Coppin's scholarship has been included under "2007 Recipients"
  • The "Glossary" has been updated.
  • Copies of two cuttings from "The Times" of 1930 have been added to the PhotoTimeLine for 1921-1930

January 2008

  • An appreciation of "The Rainbow and the Rose" by Penny Morton, who lives in Tasmania, has been added to the Miscellaneous page
  • The new book "Billy Vincent - Bush Pilot", by Guy Nicholson, is now in the UK library. Nevil Shute modelled Billy Monkhouse (the ground engineer in "Rainbow and the Rose") on Billy Vincent
  • Most of the pages on the entire website have been updated to the same style (as this one). If I've missed any out please let me (Webmaster) know by clicking here.
  • All the known book covers are now shown together here
  • You can view the scores to date and vote for your favourite books by going here
  • Access to archived newsletters can be found here
  • Richard Michalak's January newsletter