Land Rovers; a Yorkshire Sheepdog video star; trade secrets of TV production... and a sound-alike Knight of the Realm, along with Earth Kitt and Peter Ustinov — all illustrated talks from Graeme Aldous of Teeafit Sound & Vision. For fees and expenses, see the bottom of the page.
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One of the most endearing stories of East Cleveland and the North York Moors is about 'Paddy Waddell's Railway'... a railway that never existed, built by a man who never existed either! But on the maps you can find relics of the 'Dismantled Railway' all the way from Kilton to Glaisdale via Moorsholm... even though it was never built so it couldn't be dismantled! |
Graeme Aldous tells the story, illustrated by photos he's taken along the proposed route, where the 'infallible' Ordnance Survey got it wrong.
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Nell was a working sheepdog who also became a video star, making three films about her native North York Moors. |
Graeme Aldous looks at how a working sheepdog from a small farm on the North York Moors became a video star who brought happiness to people all around the world.
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Graeme Aldous was the first person the BBC made redundant, from BBC Radio Cleveland back in 1985. Since then he’s had a far more varied life working both in front of, and behind, TV cameras. Sometimes this was for broadcast, but mainly it was for a number of commercial clients ranging from quarry operators to the Benefits Agency… usually in English, but once in Welsh! And this has led him to be frequently mistaken for a certain Knight of the Realm, hence the title of this illustrated talk. |
Graeme shows how the camera usually lies; explains why he feels uneasy with things without handbrakes, and is envious of Baldrick's sports car.
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Following on from 'Sir Tony Robinson...', Graeme Aldous has another take at explaining what goes on behind the scenes of television. He says "Never work with chuff-chuffs!... and don’t go to Bulgaria — try Catterick instead!" He also gives a masterclass in ‘How to be a TV Director’. |
And (above all), Graeme reminds us that, with the help of a piece of green cloth, The Camera Still Lies.
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Graeme recalls the occasions when, as a royal visit commentator for BBC Radio Cleveland, he had to remember first to describe the frocks, and then the event. He also reveals how the weather can upset the schedule, and the goofs it can lead to. |
And he also spills the beans on the time he described what Princess Diana was doing, even though he couldn't see her!
[This talk is not illustrated with video inserts.]
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What’s the common link between Eartha Kitt, Bob Monkhouse, Peter Ustinov, and a man who’s driven a car on the moon? Well, they’ve all been interviewed for BBC Radio Cleveland by Graeme Aldous, who’ll be presenting clips from the interviews. |
Oh, and Terry Wogan’s in there too!
[This talk is audio extracts only, not illustrated with video inserts.]
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In 1955 six students from Oxford and Cambridge set out in two Land-Rovers to drive from London to Singapore. Apart from the English Channel and the Bosporus, they drove overland all the way — the first time it had been achieved. |
Graeme's very popular talk tells the background story to the expedition; the rediscovery of the lost film, and the making of the DVD.
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After the ‘First Overland’ cars, SNX891 (‘Oxford’) and SNX761 (‘Cambridge‘) were returned to The Rover Company, they were ‘retired’. ‘Cambridge’ was bought for another expedition to the Middle East, but unfortunately, driving in the cool of the night, the lone driver missed a bend, and crashed down a ravine. To this day no-one knows the exact location and state of the wreck — to all intents and purposes, ‘Cambridge’ is lost. ‘Oxford’ fared better, being loaned to an ornithologist’s expedition to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. When that was completed, it passed into the ownership of a helpful worker there, and when he retired, he took the car to his home island of Saint Helena. Inevitably corrosion took hold; SNX891 was cannibalised to keep another Land-Rover running, and its remains bulldozed into the hillside. Many toyed with the idea of bringing the bits back and restoring the iconic car, but it took an enthusiast from York, Adam Bennett, to achieve it. Painstakingly reassembled from the remains, ‘Oxford’ is now back on the UK roads. |
Graeme's talk tells the story of the rescue and rebirth of SNX891, and meets some of the people who came into contact with the car on its world-wide travels. It also features rarely-seen footage taken on a later expedition by Tim Slessor and cameraman Antony Barrington-Brown as they returned by Land Rover to Burma in search of a rare creature... a young white elephant.
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The Land Rover has generated a lot of folk lore since the first one appeared in 1948 — for example, the body was made of aluminium because there was a lot of aircraft scrap left over after World War 2, and it was painted green because there was surplus cockpit paint available. The trouble is, there was no-one left from the early production team to tell the truth from the fiction. Arthur died peacefully in a nursing home in Brisbane on August 11th 2022. He was 101. His passing breaks the last link with the original team who produced 'The Best 4x4xFar'. |
Graeme busts some of the myths about the birth of the Land-Rover in this 50-minute illustrated presentation.
Graeme is willing to travel to visit groups throught North East England and Yorkshire, daytime and evening. He brings all his own equipment, for groups of all sizes. Each talk lasts under an hour. Talks based on DVD titles will have an opportunity to buy the DVD.
All talks have a basic charge of £15, plus travel at £0.70 per mile, based on the Google Maps reckoning of the distance from TS12 3JE to the venue. So for an engagement at a hall 15 miles from home, the charge would be 15 x £0.70 + £15 = £25.50.
Graeme Aldous
Teeafit Sound & Vision
South Lane Farm
Moorsholm
SALTBURN
Yorkshire TS12 3JE
01287 660515
07398 883195
teeafit@teeafit.co.uk