20th December 2020
It's Chris Greenway's birthday today. I'm not sure if it is a happy one though because his wife has been poorly with the covid 19 virus. I hope she is starting to feel better and Chris doesn't become ill with it. I will send him a new version of his sixtieth birthday song with slightly different lyrics and call it the Sixty First birthday song. If Chris is feeling a bit miserable on his birthday then I am certain that my song will cheer him up!
Lord Zarquon has finished recording my song about Claude Grahame White's pioneering flight over Torbay. I got the idea from David Scott's book about the Upton Vale Baptist Church. It contains some very interesting information about Torquay in the 19th and 20 centuries. It was a mention of the visit of the British warships to Torbay in 1910 that gave me the idea for the song.
Mr Claude Grahame White
And his pioneering flight
See him fly over Torbay
From Torre Abbey Meadows today
In July Nineteen Ten
The fleet is here again
Two hundred warships this time
The view of them is so fine
But Mr Claude Grahame White
With his pioneering flight
Above the fleet in Torbay
A warning for the admiralty today
A south westerly gale
Forced the fleet to sail
From their gathering in Mounts Bay
To a safe anchorage in Torbay
But Mr Claude Grahame White
With his pioneering flight
Above the fleet in Torbay
A warning for the admiralty today
The combined fleet is here
With King George it brings good cheer
Above the fleet he flew
To show them what he knew
For their guns could not elevate
To threaten his fragile flying crate
Mr Claude Grahame White
And his pioneering flight
In his Farman biplane
He will surely gain great fam