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Friday 25 March 2011
Thursday 24 March 2011
On your marks, get set, GO!!!!
As tickets for the 2012 Olympics go on sale, we at Treasure Hunt Towers (being keen fans of all things active and outdoorsy) thought it might be an idea to find out what the Gateway has to offer in the matter of things Olympian
First port of call is the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed via the Biography page on the Westminster Libraries Gateway) Apparently the British used to be quite good at sport once and to prove it, there’s a list of Olympic Title Holders in the ODNB (see under Themes). Among the notable gold medallists listed are Eric Liddell, Harold Abrahams and Lord Burghley of Chariots of Fire fame, John Pius Boland who won a tennis gold at the very first modern Olympics in 1896 and the splendidly named Wyndham Halswelle who won a somewhat controversial gold medal in the first London Olympics in 1908. Let the ODNB take up the tale…
“There was fine running in all four heats of the semi-finals, each of which was run in under 50 seconds. Halswelle recorded the fastest time and, having set a new Olympic record in the second round, was the favourite for the final on 23 July 1908.
The three other finalists—W. C. Robbins, T. C. Carpenter, and J. B. Taylor—were all American, and the race reflected the intense competition between the British and American track teams at the London games. The final was not run in lanes and ‘consequently something of a free-for-all developed’, with Halswelle being baulked by Robbins in the first 50 metres (Watman, 43). Coming to the 300 metres mark Robbins led from Carpenter by about a yard, with Halswelle well placed to strike off the final bend, as he had done in the earlier rounds. But as Halswelle made his move to pass Carpenter in the straight the American began to run wide, forcing him to within 18 inches of the outside of the track. Halswelle later recalled:
Carpenter's elbow undoubtedly touched my chest, for as I moved outwards to pass him he did likewise, keeping his right arm in front of me. In this manner he bored me across quite two-thirds of the track, and entirely stopped my running.
The interference appeared so obvious to the judges that they broke the tape while the race was still being run and declared the result void. That evening they disqualified Carpenter and ordered the race to be rerun in lanes (or ‘strings’ as they were then known) two days later.
It seemed to The Times that the American tactics were part of ‘a definite and carefully thought-out plan’ which in America would have been considered part and parcel of the race, but which in Britain was ‘contrary alike to the rules that govern sport and to our notions of what is fair play’ (The Times, 24 July 1908). Robbins and Taylor boycotted the final in protest at Carpenter's disqualification and Halswelle was left with a ‘walkover’ to the Olympic title. He made known his reluctance to run in such circumstances, but the AAA gave him no option. He received a warm reception from the capacity White City crowd during his 50.2 second lap.”
Also worth noting is the biography of Ran Laurie, father of actor Hugh Laurie who won a gold medal for rowing in the last London Olympics in 1948.
If this spurs you to want to look at some contemporary records of past Games, your next port of call should be the News & Magazines section of the Gateway. If you choose Picture Post and Browse by Date you can pick 1948 and the August 7th issue for some fascinating photojournalism about the London Olympics, including a fine picture of track legend Fanny Blankers-Koen who won 4 individual gold medals at the Games and another of Emil Zatopek, who won his first gold medal in London who went on to win 3 more in 1952 in Helsinki.
If you feel like going further back in history, why not try the Illustrated London News. Used the Advanced Search feature to browse by date and the 1st August 1908 has coverage of some of the first London Games (which ran all summer) including the most famous marathon race of all time, when the Italian, Dorando Petri was helped across the finishing line by race officials (one of whom was Arthur Conan Doyle) and subsequently disqualified.
Pictures are all very well – how about some film. If you go to the History section of the Gateway, you can check out the British Pathe site for some film of the 1908 Olympics, including open-air gymnastics (not very impressive by today’s standards), the tug-of-war (in which Great Britain, rather impressively came first, second and third), a rather peculiar sort of leapfrog, women’s archery (with compulsory silly hats) and the famous marathon.
Having read about all this Olympic history, don’t forget to go to the London 2012 site to order tickets for the next time the Games visit London.
About Web Treasure Hunt
The big idea is to suggest a couple of websites (usually from the Libraries Gateway to websites) which you might find interesting or helpful.
First port of call is the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed via the Biography page on the Westminster Libraries Gateway) Apparently the British used to be quite good at sport once and to prove it, there’s a list of Olympic Title Holders in the ODNB (see under Themes). Among the notable gold medallists listed are Eric Liddell, Harold Abrahams and Lord Burghley of Chariots of Fire fame, John Pius Boland who won a tennis gold at the very first modern Olympics in 1896 and the splendidly named Wyndham Halswelle who won a somewhat controversial gold medal in the first London Olympics in 1908. Let the ODNB take up the tale…
“There was fine running in all four heats of the semi-finals, each of which was run in under 50 seconds. Halswelle recorded the fastest time and, having set a new Olympic record in the second round, was the favourite for the final on 23 July 1908.
The three other finalists—W. C. Robbins, T. C. Carpenter, and J. B. Taylor—were all American, and the race reflected the intense competition between the British and American track teams at the London games. The final was not run in lanes and ‘consequently something of a free-for-all developed’, with Halswelle being baulked by Robbins in the first 50 metres (Watman, 43). Coming to the 300 metres mark Robbins led from Carpenter by about a yard, with Halswelle well placed to strike off the final bend, as he had done in the earlier rounds. But as Halswelle made his move to pass Carpenter in the straight the American began to run wide, forcing him to within 18 inches of the outside of the track. Halswelle later recalled:
Carpenter's elbow undoubtedly touched my chest, for as I moved outwards to pass him he did likewise, keeping his right arm in front of me. In this manner he bored me across quite two-thirds of the track, and entirely stopped my running.
The interference appeared so obvious to the judges that they broke the tape while the race was still being run and declared the result void. That evening they disqualified Carpenter and ordered the race to be rerun in lanes (or ‘strings’ as they were then known) two days later.
It seemed to The Times that the American tactics were part of ‘a definite and carefully thought-out plan’ which in America would have been considered part and parcel of the race, but which in Britain was ‘contrary alike to the rules that govern sport and to our notions of what is fair play’ (The Times, 24 July 1908). Robbins and Taylor boycotted the final in protest at Carpenter's disqualification and Halswelle was left with a ‘walkover’ to the Olympic title. He made known his reluctance to run in such circumstances, but the AAA gave him no option. He received a warm reception from the capacity White City crowd during his 50.2 second lap.”
Also worth noting is the biography of Ran Laurie, father of actor Hugh Laurie who won a gold medal for rowing in the last London Olympics in 1948.
If this spurs you to want to look at some contemporary records of past Games, your next port of call should be the News & Magazines section of the Gateway. If you choose Picture Post and Browse by Date you can pick 1948 and the August 7th issue for some fascinating photojournalism about the London Olympics, including a fine picture of track legend Fanny Blankers-Koen who won 4 individual gold medals at the Games and another of Emil Zatopek, who won his first gold medal in London who went on to win 3 more in 1952 in Helsinki.
If you feel like going further back in history, why not try the Illustrated London News. Used the Advanced Search feature to browse by date and the 1st August 1908 has coverage of some of the first London Games (which ran all summer) including the most famous marathon race of all time, when the Italian, Dorando Petri was helped across the finishing line by race officials (one of whom was Arthur Conan Doyle) and subsequently disqualified.
Pictures are all very well – how about some film. If you go to the History section of the Gateway, you can check out the British Pathe site for some film of the 1908 Olympics, including open-air gymnastics (not very impressive by today’s standards), the tug-of-war (in which Great Britain, rather impressively came first, second and third), a rather peculiar sort of leapfrog, women’s archery (with compulsory silly hats) and the famous marathon.
Having read about all this Olympic history, don’t forget to go to the London 2012 site to order tickets for the next time the Games visit London.
About Web Treasure Hunt
The big idea is to suggest a couple of websites (usually from the Libraries Gateway to websites) which you might find interesting or helpful.
Tuesday 1 February 2011
The Year of the Rabbit
As you all know, the 3rd February is the start of the 2011 Chinese New Year (the Year of the Rabbit will apparently be peaceful, very welcome after the Year of the Tiger) so let’s see what there is on the Westminster Council website to help us celebrate!
First up is the Chinese New Year celebration in, well, Chinatown. If you go the Westminster Council homepage just search for ‘Chinese New Year’. The first result takes you to the What’s On page which reveals that the new year celebrations will be on Sunday 6th February. There’s a link to the London Chinatown homepage which has plenty of information about what’s going on in the area and the traditions surrounding the event.
Incidentally, if you redo your search for Chinese New Year in the council webpage’s search engine, the fourth result is a handy calendar of religious festivals from the Westminster Faith Exchange.
Not everyone will be able to go to Chinatown so why not have a little Chinese New Year celebration of your own with some appropriate food? No, not a take-away but some proper Chinese home-cooking. Here the Westminster Libraries Gateway comes into its own. Go to the section on Home and Garden and scroll down to Food and Drink. First port of call is the BBC Food page. If you click on the Recipes link you can search by Occasion (there are 16 special recipes for Chinese New year), Cuisine (148 Chinese recipes) or by chef - and for those of us of a certain age, Chinese chef means Ken Hom who has 33 recipes listed ranging garlic chicken with cucumber to steamed ginger fish with egg-fried rice. Or you could do an Advanced Search to check out individual ingredients – pak choi or tofu or duck perhaps.
While you’re doing all this cooking, why not listen to some Chinese music to get you in the mood? Choose the Music link on the Gateway and go to the Naxos music library (you may be asked to type in your library card number). Use the drop-down link to Genres and there is a selection of Chinese music – orchestral as well as folk and traditional. Just create your own playlist and enjoy.
And last, but certainly not least, don’t forget that we have a Chinese library on Charing Cross Road which has knowledgeable staff and a collection famous throughout London.
Happy New Year!
First up is the Chinese New Year celebration in, well, Chinatown. If you go the Westminster Council homepage just search for ‘Chinese New Year’. The first result takes you to the What’s On page which reveals that the new year celebrations will be on Sunday 6th February. There’s a link to the London Chinatown homepage which has plenty of information about what’s going on in the area and the traditions surrounding the event.
Incidentally, if you redo your search for Chinese New Year in the council webpage’s search engine, the fourth result is a handy calendar of religious festivals from the Westminster Faith Exchange.
Not everyone will be able to go to Chinatown so why not have a little Chinese New Year celebration of your own with some appropriate food? No, not a take-away but some proper Chinese home-cooking. Here the Westminster Libraries Gateway comes into its own. Go to the section on Home and Garden and scroll down to Food and Drink. First port of call is the BBC Food page. If you click on the Recipes link you can search by Occasion (there are 16 special recipes for Chinese New year), Cuisine (148 Chinese recipes) or by chef - and for those of us of a certain age, Chinese chef means Ken Hom who has 33 recipes listed ranging garlic chicken with cucumber to steamed ginger fish with egg-fried rice. Or you could do an Advanced Search to check out individual ingredients – pak choi or tofu or duck perhaps.
While you’re doing all this cooking, why not listen to some Chinese music to get you in the mood? Choose the Music link on the Gateway and go to the Naxos music library (you may be asked to type in your library card number). Use the drop-down link to Genres and there is a selection of Chinese music – orchestral as well as folk and traditional. Just create your own playlist and enjoy.
And last, but certainly not least, don’t forget that we have a Chinese library on Charing Cross Road which has knowledgeable staff and a collection famous throughout London.
Happy New Year!
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