On this day in 1842, Queen Victoria became the first royal to travel by train, between Slough and Paddington. There were leaves on the line so part of the journey was undertaken by bus (horse-drawn, of course, in those days) especially after a signal failure on the Stockton-Darlington (three hundred miles away). A spokesman for Railtrack said the problem was regrettable but it should be fixed in time for the queen's Silver Jubilee in 1862 (unless, of course, Prince Albert dies, in which case she won't hold one).
In other news ...
Dear old Bazza (Basil Rathbone to you) was born today in 1892. He was actually South African (which wasn't his fault) and he was the best Sherlock Holmes ever, playing the Junkie of Baker Street no less than fourteen times (and beating him every time). He was a suave, deadly film villain too and a brilliant swordsman. Next time you watch the classic duel at the end of Errol Flynn's Robin Hood (and you will!) keep a careful eye on Bazza. He's having to slow down and compensate for Flynn, who was no slouch with a sword himself. It would have been too downbeat in 1938 for Guy of Gisborne to have killed Robin, but that's how it should have been.
