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The Ray Alan Time-Slip Case (Chesterfield; 1969)

I searched and searched and couldn’t find who his previous agent was. Apparently Peter Pritchard was Ray’s agent for around 30 years so that would take us to around late 70s early 80s. I’ll look into those people you’ve suggested.

I’ve just rejoined Ancestry as a paid member again and started looking at some of the censuses for Corporation and neighbouring streets, I thought it I could jot down where the confectioners are one might pop up near the hotel we were unaware of before. I’ll try and do a timeline for Miss Mabel Bower too, who I found living on Corporation Street as a child and a teenager with her parents. would be interesting to see when she died as her name has been put forward as possibly being the lady from the time slip.
 
Mooka said:
I searched and searched and couldn’t find who his previous agent was. Apparently Peter Pritchard was Ray’s agent for around 30 years so that would take us to around late 70s early 80s. I’ll look into those people you’ve suggested.

I’ve just rejoined Ancestry as a paid member again and started looking at some of the censuses for Corporation and neighbouring streets, I thought it I could jot down where the confectioners are one might pop up near the hotel we were unaware of before. I’ll try and do a timeline for Miss Mabel Bower too, who I found living on Corporation Street as a child and a teenager with her parents. would be interesting to see when she died as her name has been put forward as possibly being the lady from the time slip.
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Great work, below is an interview -of sorts - with Ray Alan by the Laurel & Hardy ‘fan club’:


in it Ray states he has written up some notes in advance of his (never published) autobiography. Imagine if he wrote about this case, who would have those notes…?
 
If Ray’s wife is still alive I imagine she would have anything like that as I don’t think he had children? Loved the above interview, I’ve always been a fan of Laurel and Hardy since being a kid, their films and shorts would have me in absolute pleats. I’d be laughing my head off and my mum would be sitting there laughing at me laughing! Lovely little snippet in their about Stan, bless him.

I do believe @Floyd1 has been mentioned in an article posted on my Facebook post… In an article posted in the Psychic News in 2016, they speak of the letter sent in to the Derbyshire Times, recalling the Ray Alan interview and asking if any older readers of the Derbyshire Times can shed any light. I’m not sure about copyright and posting the screen captures here from the Psychic News which have been posted on Facebook for me, as I think that could be paid-for content? I’ve tried to find the letter and replies in the Derbyshire Times archives, apparently it appeared on 5th March 2016, but I can’t find it. Here’s the link again to my post on Facebook with this new information oldchesterfieldpics
 
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Mooka said:
I do believe @Floyd1 has been mentioned in an article posted on my Facebook post… In an article posted in the Psychic News in 2016, they speak of the letter sent in to the Derbyshire Times, recalling the Ray Alan interview and asking if any older readers of the Derbyshire Times can shed any light.
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Yes that could have been me. Sounds about the right date. I never heard anything back though.
 
Floyd1 said:
Yes that could have been me. Sounds about the right date. I never heard anything back though.
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Well it sounds like your letter was published and there was a comment from a chap who used to be a confectionary salesman. He doesn’t think the photo of the sweet shop with Miss Mabel Bower standing in front is the one which was on the left hand side walking up from the station on Corporation Street, as this one is where he used to take an order in for shop owner Mrs Kellett. He thinks there was a sweet shop on both sides of the road at different times and Mabel Bower’s shop (circa 1910) was somewhere between the Hippodrome http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/39469 and the hotel, and most likely where Ray Alan had his experience.
 
Timeline for Mabel Booker (née Bower)

791DBE6D-0C94-4ACB-A592-0D0CD8A08262.jpeg
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Great find, thank you.

We are back in the late 60's and no mention of Hal Steed or O'Hagan... Any photos of that specific area from the 60s anyone?
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Yep! So frustrating not being able to find anywhere with a direct quote from Ray about his experience, or that elusive After Nine interview!

That’s a nice selection of pics @haunted

F4E98505-73C3-43A6-BB77-48A7352E2A20.jpeg


This one is of Felkin Street, just off Corporation Street and was where the Bower family had their businesses - look carefully and you’ll see it says C. Bower taxis and Bower Hire Service on the signs. They later moved premises to Corporation Street where the hut-like shops were, with the little sweet shop/tobacconist on the end. I think that’s why we assumed the shop in the picture with 18 year old (or thereabouts) Mabel Bower in front was this shop. Wondering if the sweet shop started life on Felkin Street?
 
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Mooka said:
Regards the Chesterfield time slip case (also much enjoyed reading the Rougham one mentioned in this thread btw), super interested to hear about it since I’m Chesterfield born and bred, and I’ve never come across it before! I’ve been looking through old photos of the area around the Chesterfield Hotel (formally known as the Station Hotel and incidentally sadly closed in 2015 and was recently demolished) and railway station. I know there was a sweet shop/tobacconist near the hotel at one time (see arrows), this was on the left side of Corporation Street coming up from the station. As per the description of the shop being “hut like” it very much sounds like this one and is in the right position for Ray Alan’s description. The whole block of buildings was demolished late 70s or early 80s, I’m not sure when the sweet shop closed but can see if I can find out.
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@Mooka

Could you tell me where you found the aerial view image. was it from britainfromabove website?
if so could you point me to the actual image as I cannot find it.
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk...ew=map#0,262466.52493474324,609599.6708161779

Thanks
 
I've been assuming that the 'hut-like' tobacconists was the one owned by J Birkin in this photo.
index.php

Because it was slightly uphill from the Station Hotel, it is possible that Ray Alan couldn't find it again the next day (assuming he went downhill towards the station).
 
haunted said:
@Mooka

Could you tell me where you found the aerial view image. was it from britainfromabove website?
if so could you point me to the actual image as I cannot find it.
https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk...ew=map#0,262466.52493474324,609599.6708161779

Thanks
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I think it was from Old Chesterfield Pics group on Facebook. It‘s a cropped version of this:

37115905-29A4-4264-B79D-D3A95C659906.jpeg

eburacum said:
I've been assuming that the 'hut-like' tobacconists was the one owned by J Birkin in this photo.
index.php

Because it was slightly uphill from the Station Hotel, it is possible that Ray Alan couldn't find it again the next day (assuming he went downhill towards the station).
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That was my initial thought as it fits the description and position perfectly. The snag came when we found out this shop was still trading in the late 70s/possibly very early 80s. It could’ve been a case of Ray just not being able to find it again the next day but for the part of the story where he was told there had been a sweet shop in the location he described at one time, but it had been demolished.
catseye said:
Great pictures! Wonderful to look back in time this way (our own sort of time slip experience).

The elephants were a bit of a surprise, mind.
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I love seeing old photos especially of places I know. Yes I gather the elephants were an annual sight when the circus came to town - in the photo above they’d just arrived on a railway wagon and were being lead to the site of the big top!
 
My heart's not really in anything at the moment, but I have been mulling over a thought for a week or so; are we taking the word 'hut' too literally I wonder? This part of Chesterfield may have been pretty grim in the late 60s - it wasn't that pleasant in the 1980s- and maybe Ray just used that word a bit like we'll say 'shed' to mean a dilapidated, run-down, rough building? Just a thought.
 
Well it has been a fascinating journey into the pot=war history of Chesterfield and Ray Alan's career but sadly I feel we are at dead end unless we can find a recording or transcript of his actual interview. This is primarily because of the confusion over who was was or wasn't travelling with and the death of Hal Steed in the late 1950s - a decade before the commonly stated date of Ray's experience. Or am I throwing the towel in prematurely...?
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Well it has been a fascinating journey into the pot=war history of Chesterfield and Ray Alan's career but sadly I feel we are at dead end unless we can find a recording or transcript of his actual interview. This is primarily because of the confusion over who was was or wasn't travelling with and the death of Hal Steed in the late 1950s - a decade before the commonly stated date of Ray's experience. Or am I throwing the towel in prematurely...?
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Sometimes it can take years to track down the answers, but when you do it's all the more satisfying!
 
Paul_Exeter said:
Well it has been a fascinating journey into the pot=war history of Chesterfield and Ray Alan's career but sadly I feel we are at dead end unless we can find a recording or transcript of his actual interview. This is primarily because of the confusion over who was was or wasn't travelling with and the death of Hal Steed in the late 1950s - a decade before the commonly stated date of Ray's experience. Or am I throwing the towel in prematurely...?
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Unfortunately I think you are right, what with the discrepancies in the stories and not being able to find the information directly from Ray.
Carl Grove said:
Sometimes it can take years to track down the answers, but when you do it's all the more satisfying!
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Oh absolutely! Fingers crossed some more information comes to light with regards this case
 
Mooka said:
Very happy to post that I have finally found more details! I discovered the University of Manitoba has an extensive digital collection which includes the Psychic News https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm:2939726
It mentions Ray being interviewed on After Nine, a programme which featured on the morning show TV-am (I've looked for the interview but can't find it). Note the report does not mention money and says there was another witness, Hal Stead (not sure who this was maybe an assistant?), which we didn't know before and adds strength to the story.


View attachment 61950

@Carl Grove, I'm not sure whether you've seen these https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/search/rougham?type=edismax&cp=uofm:2939726 concerning Rougham from the Psychic News?
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Mooka said:
Very happy to post that I have finally found more details! I discovered the University of Manitoba has an extensive digital collection which includes the Psychic News https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm:2939726
It mentions Ray being interviewed on After Nine, a programme which featured on the morning show TV-am (I've looked for the interview but can't find it). Note the report does not mention money and says there was another witness, Hal Stead (not sure who this was maybe an assistant?), which we didn't know before and adds strength to the story.


View attachment 61950

@Carl Grove, I'm not sure whether you've seen these https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/search/rougham?type=edismax&cp=uofm:2939726 concerning Rougham from the Psychic News?
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From 1976-1979 there was a tv series on ITV called 'Tell Me Another' where famous faces from the day were interviewed. Ray was on five times (1977) and one of those was called 'Interesting Stories'. I wonder if he mentioned it on there?
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5058348/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm
 
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