Nicks` Cabinet of Curios

I`ve always been fascinated by reggae label art, with a particular interest in small, independent labels. Particular favourites are the imposing eagles` head design used by Danny Ray and Sydney Crooks for releases on their Golden Age label, a lot of the labels of Trojan and its` subsidiaries, High Note and Treasure Isle and related labels. Here`s one from my own collection that I thought people might like to see. As you can see, this is for a very fine 7" single, Love Festival by Turnell McCormack and the Cordells (though the band name is mis-spelt on the label as Cordels)  on the Dottie label, produced by Joyce McEachron.  I`ve not found anything much online about either the Dottie label or Ms McEachron and I know that a number of collectors have tried to find out more about The Cordells without much luck.  I see that the same label released another single by Turnell McCormack and the Cordells, Don`t Take Your Love Away, with Joyce McEachron shown as...

A while ago self, spouse and offspring walked along Nottingham Canal from where it joins the River Trent to the junction of Great Northern Close/Station Street. Along the way I took some pictures of the underside of bridges. This is the one I`m most pleased with, the underneath of the first bridge we came to , with water reflected on to it.

Richard H Davis - In the Fog - Greenhill - 1985 In the Vintage Crime Classics series These days I mostly read short stories but I suppose In the Fog - not so much a story-within-a-story as a three-stories-within-a-story - could be seen as occupying a space half-way between a set of short stories and a full-length novel.  Just as I was about to start reading this I unfortunately read an article that gave away a key aspect of the plot of this book. I decided to carry on with it and I`m glad I did. One reason why this inadvertent spoiler didn`t really affect my pleasure in reading the book is that the aspect of the plot that was given away is pretty heavily telegraphed early on. The style of writing is quite old-fashioned, which didn`t bother me one bit as I am a fully-fledged vintage crime buff. If you can live with that, you`ll find that Davis was an adept storyteller and that the plot(s) whizz along with some pace, bringing hefty dollops of mystery and intrigue i...

Spotted these two painted signs on either side of  the doorway of a derelict building on Huntriss Row, Scarborough whilst on holiday there.