Wonderful story!! Need to listen again to understand how they did it. Powder milk biscuits! I had no idea that’s what they were! Thank you Simon, you’re the best.
Yes indeed, and still made today by Heinz apparently (though I must confess I've not tried one... to my knowledge): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmon_biscuit
They sell them everywhere in Italy, they are toddler food, though, they also make the adult version of them (I suppose with less calories or added vitamins)
🎶🎵Has your family tried 'em (Powder Milk)?🎵🎶🎵 Oh, has your family tried 'em (Powder Milk)?🎵🎶 Well, if your family's tried 'em then you know you've satisfied 'em--oh, has your family tried 'em (Powder Milk)?
My bank holiday Sunday is made. And I have the whole of Monday to recover!! Bliss!! But once again, cher Simon, I shall resist until my expectation reaches fever pitch as per... ❤
Nice username! We should start a Rat-Fancier/Simon Stanhope fan club! “Hi, I’m here for the Simon Stanhope Fan Club. What’s with all the rats?” “Oh, sorry, this is the Rat-Fancier Simon Stanhope fan club. The Regular Simon Stanhope fan club is down the hall.”
I remember hearing a story about Mr. Hazzell on this channel before. Nice to know such an eccentric character is making sure nothing goes wrong on the railway schedule. More than I can say for trains going through stations like 30th Street in Philadelphia or Penn Station in NYC, where I have run into unforeseen delays or cancellations on several occasions during travels home to my family on college/university breaks.
I find the same thing on my local trains! Seems that railways are the same the world over... Although I've not been on a train for well over a year now, so I wonder if they'll be any better when life starts to return to normal?
Don't know if anyone remembers the TV show Banacek from 1972. The episode Project Phoenix used the exact method from this story to detach a railcar from a moving train. Obviously the show writer used this story as an inspiration. Love that TV series with George Peppard.
Thank you for this, Simon. You're in my manor with this one! At the time of this story, Didcot was still in West Berkshire, not South Oxfordshire. The Newbury-Didcot branch line didn't survive Beeching - it's now one of the very pleasant walks around Didcot. The Didcot railway centre still has working steam engines (I can hear the whistles periodically from where I'm sitting listening to this 😊).
That's lovely to know, thank you Hannah! I only know Didcot from Didcot Parkway which I've passed through countless times over the years, but I've never alighted there. When trains are back running properly and life returns to some sort of normality I really must take an opportunity to get out and explore the area. Steam engines are wonderfully evocative...
@@BitesizedAudio Didcot town is meh (don't tell anyone I said that) but the railway shaped a lot of the town and surrounding landscape, and the Ridgeway runs around us.
"Can you oblige me with a couple of onions and a broomstick?" A line worthy of our mutual friend J. R. D. IMHO! (He was very influencial, as you'll agree.) But it is your velvet tones that swept me away as usual. I shall reflect in quiet ecstasy before listening again. Thank you, my hero. ❤
It's a great line, isn't it! It did make me ponder what my reaction would be if I answered a knock at the door to receive the same query... And was Whitechurch influential on Dullard, or vice versa, I wonder? Thanks as always for your kind words Bob, hugely appreciated!
Read with beautiful clarity, as always, and what an unusual and eccentric detective! You must have a fund of very wide reading to draw on, as you come up, not only with well-known and beloved writers like Chesterton and Freeman and M R James, but with many (like this gentleman) who are wholly unfamiliar to me. Thank you.
Thank you Mr. Stanhope. Another great reading. As I was once associated with the Burlington and Northern railroad, in Wyoming, I found this tale of unhook and recoupling finagle to be most interesting. I have no knowledge of valuable artwork, but I find opportunistic rogues to hold great intrigue. It makes me wonder about the art theft by the Germans in the 1940's. I think it was, anyway. If I am wrong on that date, I trust someone will not hesitate to correct my blunder. Again, splendidly read.
Indeed, in a twist on the plot of this story, one of the Vermeer artworks in Göring's massive (and largely pilfered or confiscated) art collection was revealed, at the time of his incarceration in preparation for the Nuremberg trials, to have been forged. The person who broke the news to him in his cell describes how his facial expression was that of a man who, for the first time in his life, realises that there is evil in the world!
It was a car instead of artwork. I watched it on tv as a kid and was amazed to see how one would go about stealing a train car from a moving train. Now I see the plot was pilfered from this story.
@@davidberesford875 Indeed, and not a very classy pilfering (unlike the heist in the original story) It would not be possible to carry out this dodge with modern railroad wagons because ever since the invention of the Westinghouse brake, it has been necessary to convey compressed air, in an unbroken supply, from end to end of the train in order to keep the brakes from coming on automatically. Besides which, modern trains are order of magnitude heavier than in the mid 10th century.
Another fine job of pumping life into a story and characters with your excellent narration skills. Your ability style are a fine wine, where most others are a warm malt liquor in a tuft of weeds long forgotten near some long abandoned railroad tracks.
Speaking as a vegetarian autistic whose trains phase occurred when I was three or so years of age, I am diagnosing Mr. Hazell with just as much glee as I feel for the celebrated Mr. Holmes. And those villains were very clever. Freight trains really do go very slowly, so I imagine something like this could actually have happened.
Yes, it was made more confusing by numbering the wagons in reverse order (ie starting from the tail end). A brilliant procedure to my mind, which illustrates how much more confined options become, as technology progresses. There would be zero chance of cutting a wagon out of the middle of a goods (freight) train undetected even thirty years later, let alone in today's world, one and a half centuries later.
Yes indeed, this was very much Thorpe Hazell's niche... This is my second recording of one of his cases (following 'The Affair of the Corridor Express') and I'm aiming to do some more in the future. On train mysteries more generally, I assume you're referring to 'The Lost Special' by Conan Doyle, or possibly 'The Man With the Watches'? Both great stories - I read both as part of 'Round the Fire Stories' which is available on Amazon and iTunes. Of course, in a later generation Agatha Christie wrote several very memorable mysteries based around trains... Thanks for listening!
It's not so much about the ins and outs and clickety-clacks as Hazell's adventures are, but you can also find on this channel The Four-fifteen Express, another train mystery, by Amelia B. Edwards.
It’s difficult to picture ropes holding train cars to the train. I’m sure the writer must have in mind something smaller then a full car but it’s very hard to envision. Im seeing two cars being dragged by ropes. Steel cables would work Im sure, but ropes would certainly break. Thank you for sharing. Very good reading and enthusiasm. You are breathing new life into these very old stories. Thank you for that.
@@tomcurran1538 and Wade Weigle: No, it would not be practicable to handle steel cables without a team of workers. (I've crewed on large vessels which used steel cable for headsail sheets, so I am speaking from experience) And it would not be necessary: Railway wagons in the mid nineteenth century were tiny, with only four wheels each, and carried only a few tons each at most, and manila (natural fibre) rope (as used for hauling up the sails on square rigged ships) was plenty strong enough for this highly ingenious dodge to work. The tractive forces to pull railway wagons of a given weight are also lower than we would imagine, due to the use of steel wheels on steel rails, and (especially in Britain) the very shallow gradients, hardly ever as much as one degree above or below the horizontal.
Its 3.33 am and I came to bed at around 11.00 pm, I originally put these on to go to sleep , I can safely say that it did not work 😂😂😂 I just can't stop listening
Great to see another Hazell story on the channel, though I must admit the pronunciation of his surname you used threw me at first. I always assumed it was like the Hazel in witch-hazel when I read them. That's certainly what Bernedict Cumberbatch used in the BBC radio readings. Hope to hear more early mystery stories, another Dr Thorndyke (such as The Naturalist At Law) or perhaps something by Arthur Morrison (The Case of Laker Absconded) or another Futrelle (Cell 13)
Thanks REFaust. The pronunciation of his name was something I debated with myself (and others) at some length prior to recording. Something about the name Hazel, in combination with Thorpe, didn't quite sound right to me, although either way it's an unusual name. I've not heard Benedict Cumberbatch's readings, had I done that would probably have swayed me the other way. Anyway, I did a (completely unscientific) straw poll of various friends and family members and the unanimous verdict from them was with the emphasis I've used, so I went with that. From subsequent researches I think it's quite likely that Hazel could well have been the original period pronunciation, but once I'd read the first story I couldn't really change it! Funnily enough with this particular story I had the same debate about the name "Murrell".... there are famous examples of that surname using both pronunciations. I decided to compensate for my Hazel/Hazell decision and go with the emphasis at the beginning of "Murrell". Not exactly consistent I'm afraid... Anyway, regarding your other requests... I've certainly got more Thorndyke in the pipeline for the near future (although unfortunately The Naturalist at Law in particular has an uncertain US copyright status so I'm sticking to his earlier cases while I investigate further). A few people have suggested the Thinking Machine too so I'll bear it in mind. And would definitely like to cover some more Arthur Morrison. Thanks for the suggestions!
@@BitesizedAudio Thanks Simon, glad to hear you have some more Thorndyke in mind. I'm pretty sure all are now out of copyright as the complete novels and short stories were republished last year. I will confirm with the chap responsible as I have contact details. As for the pronunciation, I think I and others may have been influenced by the TV series Hazell from the 70s which used the version I mentioned. Either way keep up the great work.
If you do find any more information on that point, I'd be very interested, thank you. All the works of R. Austin Freeman have been public domain in the UK for several years, but he's one of several British authors who died in the 1930s and 40s (Conan Doyle, M. R. James and G. K. Chesterton are others) whose later works are still technically under copyright in the US, because they have different rules... which is annoying when it's a British author, but I generally think it's safer to follow US rules for RUclips. Funnily enough I did specifically check 'The Naturalist at Law' a year or two ago, as I do like that story, and at that time it appeared the story wasn't yet public domain in the US... The status changes annually though, so it may be different now. Anyway, do let me know if you discover any more! Best wishes
@@BitesizedAudio My husband asked me how I would pronounce this, and I am with you, Simon. As far as Dominic Cummerbund ;) is concerned, he pronounces Ngaio Marsh's detective's name, Roderick Alleyn incorrectly, so I don't consider him to be the benchmark! Excellent, as ever.
@@BitesizedAudio Hi Simon, sorry for the delay in replying but I wanted to check my info carefully. Here's a link to the list of renewals of copyright for Freeman. exhibits.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals/catalog?exhibit_id=copyrightrenewals&search_field=search_author&q=austin+freeman As you can see everything by Freeman pre-1925 is out of copyright in the US. After this date some works are renewed. But the renewal only takes copyright to a maximum of 95 years total (25 originally then an extra 70 if renewed) Therefore 'Natualist At Law' for instance is out of copyright next year. As most of his short story collections were pre 1926 most are copyright free now. I'd love to hear you do 'The Case Of Oscar Brodski' for instance - the first inverted detective story so an important milestone. Hope this helps.
If you pardon MY saying so, your voice sounds just like the man who does the voice of mr Peabody with is boy, Sherman. Its a delightful cartoon from the late 50.s/ early 60.s. Fun. Look it up, and listen 🚗 m. Illinois usa
Oh wow, he's vegetarian! I wonder if the author got criticised for making Thorpe so, or if Victor himself was. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better of a story, that was said! Thankyou for reading this.
Glad to know you enjoyed it! Yes indeed, I'm not sure how widespread vegetarianism was at the time, or if the author himself was, but he makes good use of it as a character "quirk" for the detective in these stories - I wonder how contemporary audiences reacted to him. If you haven't heard it you may also enjoy 'The Affair of the Corridor Express' ruclips.net/video/kWeOi-C_XT4/видео.html featuring the same character. Funnily enough I'm currently working on another Thorpe Hazell story for release in the next couple of weeks I hope, so stay tuned for that!
@@BitesizedAudio Oh yes, I have listened to that one, I enjoyed that one too. What's exciting news your doing another Thorpe story, I look forward to listening to it.
Just had to stop a librivox recording at the 4th minute. The reader mispronounced 3 English words in that short time. Whereas, this story is very well read. 🥳
@@tomcurran1538 and Judi Kingsman: Even the best readers occasionally screw up. I recently heard an otherwise impeccable audiobook rendition in which the first two syllables of "impious" were pronounced "impy" (and the other syllable as "ess"). Many bookish people have better command of written English than spoken English, for vocabulary items rarely used in the latter context, or for words where context is a weak guide. (As a kid I thought, for instance, that "misled" was pronounced "myzeld", and that "lowering" (as in a sky) rhymed with glowering...)
you are very good actor. that does not come easily, although you do need talent, which you have. hope you don’t take this like, well, of course i am. :) my parents were in the theatre here in New York, etc., so that’s where i’m coming from. there are talented personalities and then there are actors. you are d-n good! :) 🎭🥂🎥
Thanks Bob, kind of you to say so. I'll bear the phone directory in mind in case I run out of stories, but fortunately I've still got quite a long list still to work though! Appreciate your support as always
Exercises aimed at improving core strength and flexibility, especially the more energetic and rhythmical ones, have done a lot for my digestion. (Yoga forward bends, crunches, situps, and suchlike)
That was delightful! But one thought kept nagging at me.... What if the art experts were wrong, and the forgery was actually the original, all along? That would have been even more amusing.
Excellent heist caper, with a exceedingly brilliant plot. But though these tales of Hazell are crafted and adroit---any video rendition would not play-out to 20th/21st Century viewers. Yes, there was an American series called ''Monk", but that was a quirk with an audience of people whom ascribe to such a 'flight-of-fancy' depiction of any given modern American Police Dept. employing someone with extreme OCD and certainly, neither would Scotland Yard. lol...
This author does write very clever plots; however, I can see why Hazell with his windmill exercises and milk and biscuit vegetarian diet (while being a smoker, lol) did not grab the public with the gusto of Sherlock Holmes. He just doesn't sound like the kind of guy you'd be interested in meeting, I guess. Even the old man in the corner by Orczy had more wit:}. But very good plotting on the author's behalf. He obviously had intelligence and imagination; maybe, he never knew any interesting people on which to base a character.
It does seem that the authors of detective stories in the years after the introduction of Sherlock Holmes tried very hard to think of character quirks to make their own detective stand out from the crowd.... But, as you say, some ingenious stories and plotting
I Must admit that this waste of time story is the biggest boring narrative that I have ever endeavored to listen to in my history of these many narratives. Absolutely a horrific waste of time. Please do not bore us with this long winded, dry so called author of what? Ghost story? Right.
Well, this isn't a ghost story and it's not labelled as one. I'm sorry that you felt it was a horrific waste of time, but this is actually the second story I've done featuring this detective and I had several requests for more of his cases, so some listeners have enjoyed it. In future you may wish to check the video description before listening: I always write an introduction to the narrative there with some background information, which should make it clear what type of story it is. About half the stories I've read for the channel to date are ghost stories, and the other half are vintage detective stories or mysteries. Some listeners obviously prefer one type or the other, but many I think enjoy both (there's quite an overlap between the two genres in both audience and authorship, many writers wrote both types of story). If you only like ghost stories I do have a couple of playlists which are specifically for that genre: Victorian Ghost Stories: ruclips.net/p/PLi95qAoufCZISCGdeBUtYxynNFtZCeRrv Early 20th Century Ghost Stories: ruclips.net/p/PLi95qAoufCZI0zeT0uMxvy9TkkoUvtOAZ
A Gentleman’s morality- the privilege to allow another’s discretion on their part & an affront to yourself, with the luxury of choosing not to allow oneself to be affronted. Ah, the relief of decency by allowing grace to another. Would that their was more, or less, of this in the world. 🧐🤔🕊⛲️🎢🗽🎟🎨🎭🎪🎬🎊
The problem with listening to Simon act out these narrations is im almost unable to find any other audiobooks bearable. Truly.
I can sympathise with you. I feel exactly the same.
Have you tried listening to Greg Wagland's channel - Sherlock Holmes Stories Magpie Audio? I switch off between Simon and Greg. No ads in either.
@tottiemae2258 thank you 😊
@@tottiemae2258 Ah. So I'm not the only one.
Wonderful story!! Need to listen again to understand how they did it. Powder milk biscuits! I had no idea that’s what they were! Thank you Simon, you’re the best.
Fun fact: Plasmon biscuits were a proprietary product made with dried milk. They were a popular health food at the time.
Yes indeed, and still made today by Heinz apparently (though I must confess I've not tried one... to my knowledge): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmon_biscuit
They sell them everywhere in Italy, they are toddler food, though, they also make the adult version of them (I suppose with less calories or added vitamins)
@@BitesizedAudio You really go above and beyond Thanks for the additional titbit RNK
🎶🎵Has your family tried 'em (Powder Milk)?🎵🎶🎵
Oh, has your family tried 'em (Powder Milk)?🎵🎶
Well, if your family's tried 'em then you know you've satisfied 'em--oh, has your family tried 'em (Powder Milk)?
@@earthcat, Heavens they're tasty and expeditious!
I listen to a lot of audio books, but you are constantly my top narrator, I look forward to each new story.
Thank you Tracey, appreciated! More stories coming soon I hope...
Beautiful performance as usual, Simon! Good story - another new one for me. I’m discovering so many good stories through your channel.
Wonderful, glad you enjoyed it!
My Sunday treat and chill🙂💐Appreciate your channel and your time too💐
You're welcome, thanks Stella
My bank holiday Sunday is made. And I have the whole of Monday to recover!! Bliss!! But once again, cher Simon, I shall resist until my expectation reaches fever pitch as per... ❤
What a clever and entertaining story, Simon. Full of surprises - at least for me! So good to hear your excellent ( and friendly) voice! Thanks! 🐭
And lovely to hear from you too Rachel, thank you! I hope you're keeping well
Nice username! We should start a Rat-Fancier/Simon Stanhope fan club!
“Hi, I’m here for the Simon Stanhope Fan Club. What’s with all the rats?”
“Oh, sorry, this is the Rat-Fancier Simon Stanhope fan club. The Regular Simon Stanhope fan club is down the hall.”
Vyshka 😂
24:00 "But there, he's mad on pictures." That's for sure, had to listen to this one x2. Ty, Simon always appreciate these readings 🗺️
Thoroughly enjoyed the story and your wonderful reading of it Simon, many thanks :-)
Excellent, thanks Andy!
I remember hearing a story about Mr. Hazzell on this channel before. Nice to know such an eccentric character is making sure nothing goes wrong on the railway schedule. More than I can say for trains going through stations like 30th Street in Philadelphia or Penn Station in NYC, where I have run into unforeseen delays or cancellations on several occasions during travels home to my family on college/university breaks.
I find the same thing on my local trains! Seems that railways are the same the world over... Although I've not been on a train for well over a year now, so I wonder if they'll be any better when life starts to return to normal?
@@BitesizedAudio A legitimate concern for the railways.
Don't know if anyone remembers the TV show Banacek from 1972. The episode Project Phoenix used the exact method from this story to detach a railcar from a moving train. Obviously the show writer used this story as an inspiration. Love that TV series with George Peppard.
Thank you for this, Simon. You're in my manor with this one!
At the time of this story, Didcot was still in West Berkshire, not South Oxfordshire. The Newbury-Didcot branch line didn't survive Beeching - it's now one of the very pleasant walks around Didcot. The Didcot railway centre still has working steam engines (I can hear the whistles periodically from where I'm sitting listening to this 😊).
That's lovely to know, thank you Hannah! I only know Didcot from Didcot Parkway which I've passed through countless times over the years, but I've never alighted there. When trains are back running properly and life returns to some sort of normality I really must take an opportunity to get out and explore the area. Steam engines are wonderfully evocative...
@@BitesizedAudio Didcot town is meh (don't tell anyone I said that) but the railway shaped a lot of the town and surrounding landscape, and the Ridgeway runs around us.
I love steam engine stories. Bravo.
Awesome story. I live in Didcot and was amused to hear it mentioned so many times. Lol.🙂🚂 Upton is not far away and Compton just a bit further too.
"Can you oblige me with a couple of onions and a broomstick?" A line worthy of our mutual friend J. R. D. IMHO! (He was very influencial, as you'll agree.) But it is your velvet tones that swept me away as usual. I shall reflect in quiet ecstasy before listening again. Thank you, my hero. ❤
It's a great line, isn't it! It did make me ponder what my reaction would be if I answered a knock at the door to receive the same query... And was Whitechurch influential on Dullard, or vice versa, I wonder? Thanks as always for your kind words Bob, hugely appreciated!
Translation: "I'll be in my bunk." XD
How sweet! 🐭
You have a velvet voice indeed, so perfect. Thank you. ❤️
I shall start calling you Silvertongue.
Iiii
M B c
Marvelous, Simon!! Thanks For The Great Reading Of These Wonderful Stories 😊
I really thank you so much! You made me happy :)
I'm glad!
What a quaint little mystery. As an artist I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks Simon.😊
Read with beautiful clarity, as always, and what an unusual and eccentric detective! You must have a fund of very wide reading to draw on, as you come up, not only with well-known and beloved writers like Chesterton and Freeman and M R James, but with many (like this gentleman) who are wholly unfamiliar to me. Thank you.
Thanks Katy, appreciated
Your second Whitechurch story Simon I think and another great one. Shame he wasn't more prolific as he is so engaging a read Thanks
You're most welcome. Yes indeed, there are a few more Thorpe Hazell stories so I'm sure I'll get around to them before too long!
Enjoyed the narrative, certainly a story I've not heard before
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks Irena
Woo-Hoo, another reading from Simon; always a great listen!
Just subbed. What a joy to be read to. Beautifully narrated and wonderful stories. Can’t thank you enough. ☺️
Welcome to the channel, thanks for subscribing!
Really enjoyed this, great narration and interesting story 👍🙂
I enjoyed this one very much 😁
I'm glad! Thanks Barbara
Thank you Mr. Stanhope. Another great reading. As I was once associated with the Burlington and Northern railroad, in Wyoming, I found this tale of unhook and recoupling finagle to be most interesting. I have no knowledge of valuable artwork, but I find opportunistic rogues to hold great intrigue. It makes me wonder about the art theft by the Germans in the 1940's. I think it was, anyway. If I am wrong on that date, I trust someone will not hesitate to correct my blunder. Again, splendidly read.
Indeed, in a twist on the plot of this story, one of the Vermeer artworks in Göring's massive (and largely pilfered or confiscated) art collection was revealed, at the time of his incarceration in preparation for the Nuremberg trials, to have been forged. The person who broke the news to him in his cell describes how his facial expression was that of a man who, for the first time in his life, realises that there is evil in the world!
This plot line was made into an episode of an American tv show staring George Peppard. It was called “Banacek” project phoenix 1972. It was a car
It was a car instead of artwork. I watched it on tv as a kid and was amazed to see how one would go about stealing a train car from a moving train. Now I see the plot was pilfered from this story.
@@davidberesford875 Indeed, and not a very classy pilfering (unlike the heist in the original story)
It would not be possible to carry out this dodge with modern railroad wagons because ever since the invention of the Westinghouse brake, it has been necessary to convey compressed air, in an unbroken supply, from end to end of the train in order to keep the brakes from coming on automatically. Besides which, modern trains are order of magnitude heavier than in the mid 10th century.
a new story by the Mr Stanhope - fantastic. thanks much 🙃🌷🌼
You’re the best Simon
Beautiful narration! Listening to it, my imagination is brought back to the time and place of the story.
Always an enjoyable experience. Thank you.
Excellent story and narration.
Another wonderful story must purchase a collected edition of these. Thank you as always.
Thank you very much, dear Simon.
Enjoyed your amazing voice.
Enjoyed this wonderful story.
Thanks Natalya. Nice to hear from you, it's been a little while. I hope you're well
@@BitesizedAudio Oh, yeah.Everything is ok.Thanks, dear Simon.
Another fine job of pumping life into a story and characters with your excellent narration skills.
Your ability style are a fine wine, where most others are a warm malt liquor in a tuft of weeds long forgotten near some long abandoned railroad tracks.
You're one of the best narrators on youtube sir. I'm glad I stumbled on your channel.
Thank you! I'm glad you stumbled your way here too
Speaking as a vegetarian autistic whose trains phase occurred when I was three or so years of age, I am diagnosing Mr. Hazell with just as much glee as I feel for the celebrated Mr. Holmes. And those villains were very clever. Freight trains really do go very slowly, so I imagine something like this could actually have happened.
Very ingenious, great narration as usual, many thanks 🙏
Thank you...a delightful, thoughtful story with a devious twist.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks M H
Great narration , as usual .
Many thanks !
Thank you and well done.
Love... Thank you!
Really enjoyable, save for the how they did it, which cuppling and what not was just beyond me. !!
Well that was one I had to listen to a few times carefully to understand what they did. So much now-antiquated but fascinating railway terminology.
Yes, it was made more confusing by numbering the wagons in reverse order (ie starting from the tail end). A brilliant procedure to my mind, which illustrates how much more confined options become, as technology progresses. There would be zero chance of cutting a wagon out of the middle of a goods (freight) train undetected even thirty years later, let alone in today's world, one and a half centuries later.
An optimum depiction of events, and wonderfully framed. Thank you!! : - ) >
Amazing voice, it would've fit right in with the "Suspense" series. Thank you for your time in making those vids!
I didn't know there was a mystery solver that specialised in trains - the only train based mystery i knew was the one by Conan Doyle.
Yes indeed, this was very much Thorpe Hazell's niche... This is my second recording of one of his cases (following 'The Affair of the Corridor Express') and I'm aiming to do some more in the future. On train mysteries more generally, I assume you're referring to 'The Lost Special' by Conan Doyle, or possibly 'The Man With the Watches'? Both great stories - I read both as part of 'Round the Fire Stories' which is available on Amazon and iTunes. Of course, in a later generation Agatha Christie wrote several very memorable mysteries based around trains... Thanks for listening!
@@BitesizedAudio Yes - The Lost Special - that's it.
Yes, Hazell specializes in trains and peculiar exercises. In _The Affair of the Corridor Express_ I believe he was experimenting with eye gymnastics.
It's not so much about the ins and outs and clickety-clacks as Hazell's adventures are, but you can also find on this channel The Four-fifteen Express, another train mystery, by Amelia B. Edwards.
@@suitov I know The Four-fifteen Express too and love that story! Amelia B. Edwards is legend imo.
Thanks for this
Thank you.
It’s difficult to picture ropes holding train cars to the train. I’m sure the writer must have in mind something smaller then a full car but it’s very hard to envision. Im seeing two cars being dragged by ropes. Steel cables would work Im sure, but ropes would certainly break.
Thank you for sharing. Very good reading and enthusiasm. You are breathing new life into these very old stories. Thank you for that.
I think they are wire ropes/twisted steel cables, not fiber ropes.
@@tomcurran1538 and Wade Weigle: No, it would not be practicable to handle steel cables without a team of workers. (I've crewed on large vessels which used steel cable for headsail sheets, so I am speaking from experience) And it would not be necessary: Railway wagons in the mid nineteenth century were tiny, with only four wheels each, and carried only a few tons each at most, and manila (natural fibre) rope (as used for hauling up the sails on square rigged ships) was plenty strong enough for this highly ingenious dodge to work.
The tractive forces to pull railway wagons of a given weight are also lower than we would imagine, due to the use of steel wheels on steel rails, and (especially in Britain) the very shallow gradients, hardly ever as much as one degree above or below the horizontal.
Its 3.33 am and I came to bed at around 11.00 pm, I originally put these on to go to sleep , I can safely say that it did not work 😂😂😂 I just can't stop listening
Great to see another Hazell story on the channel, though I must admit the pronunciation of his surname you used threw me at first. I always assumed it was like the Hazel in witch-hazel when I read them. That's certainly what Bernedict Cumberbatch used in the BBC radio readings.
Hope to hear more early mystery stories, another Dr Thorndyke (such as The Naturalist At Law) or perhaps something by Arthur Morrison (The Case of Laker Absconded) or another Futrelle (Cell 13)
Thanks REFaust. The pronunciation of his name was something I debated with myself (and others) at some length prior to recording. Something about the name Hazel, in combination with Thorpe, didn't quite sound right to me, although either way it's an unusual name. I've not heard Benedict Cumberbatch's readings, had I done that would probably have swayed me the other way. Anyway, I did a (completely unscientific) straw poll of various friends and family members and the unanimous verdict from them was with the emphasis I've used, so I went with that. From subsequent researches I think it's quite likely that Hazel could well have been the original period pronunciation, but once I'd read the first story I couldn't really change it! Funnily enough with this particular story I had the same debate about the name "Murrell".... there are famous examples of that surname using both pronunciations. I decided to compensate for my Hazel/Hazell decision and go with the emphasis at the beginning of "Murrell". Not exactly consistent I'm afraid...
Anyway, regarding your other requests... I've certainly got more Thorndyke in the pipeline for the near future (although unfortunately The Naturalist at Law in particular has an uncertain US copyright status so I'm sticking to his earlier cases while I investigate further). A few people have suggested the Thinking Machine too so I'll bear it in mind. And would definitely like to cover some more Arthur Morrison. Thanks for the suggestions!
@@BitesizedAudio Thanks Simon, glad to hear you have some more Thorndyke in mind. I'm pretty sure all are now out of copyright as the complete novels and short stories were republished last year. I will confirm with the chap responsible as I have contact details. As for the pronunciation, I think I and others may have been influenced by the TV series Hazell from the 70s which used the version I mentioned. Either way keep up the great work.
If you do find any more information on that point, I'd be very interested, thank you. All the works of R. Austin Freeman have been public domain in the UK for several years, but he's one of several British authors who died in the 1930s and 40s (Conan Doyle, M. R. James and G. K. Chesterton are others) whose later works are still technically under copyright in the US, because they have different rules... which is annoying when it's a British author, but I generally think it's safer to follow US rules for RUclips. Funnily enough I did specifically check 'The Naturalist at Law' a year or two ago, as I do like that story, and at that time it appeared the story wasn't yet public domain in the US... The status changes annually though, so it may be different now. Anyway, do let me know if you discover any more! Best wishes
@@BitesizedAudio My husband asked me how I would pronounce this, and I am with you, Simon. As far as Dominic Cummerbund ;) is concerned, he pronounces Ngaio Marsh's detective's name, Roderick Alleyn incorrectly, so I don't consider him to be the benchmark! Excellent, as ever.
@@BitesizedAudio Hi Simon, sorry for the delay in replying but I wanted to check my info carefully.
Here's a link to the list of renewals of copyright for Freeman.
exhibits.stanford.edu/copyrightrenewals/catalog?exhibit_id=copyrightrenewals&search_field=search_author&q=austin+freeman
As you can see everything by Freeman pre-1925 is out of copyright in the US. After this date some works are renewed. But the renewal only takes copyright to a maximum of 95 years total (25 originally then an extra 70 if renewed)
Therefore 'Natualist At Law' for instance is out of copyright next year. As most of his short story collections were pre 1926 most are copyright free now. I'd love to hear you do 'The Case Of Oscar Brodski' for instance - the first inverted detective story so an important milestone.
Hope this helps.
Great story
I am interested in your stories.
my collection of books are not here and Ur recordings make easy to understand
If you pardon MY saying so, your voice sounds just like the man who does the voice of mr Peabody with is boy, Sherman. Its a delightful cartoon from the late 50.s/ early 60.s. Fun. Look it up, and listen 🚗 m. Illinois usa
Whitechurch was handsome. He looks like "the didn't vicar" on "Keeping Up Appearances".
Oh wow, he's vegetarian! I wonder if the author got criticised for making Thorpe so, or if Victor himself was.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better of a story, that was said! Thankyou for reading this.
Glad to know you enjoyed it! Yes indeed, I'm not sure how widespread vegetarianism was at the time, or if the author himself was, but he makes good use of it as a character "quirk" for the detective in these stories - I wonder how contemporary audiences reacted to him. If you haven't heard it you may also enjoy 'The Affair of the Corridor Express' ruclips.net/video/kWeOi-C_XT4/видео.html featuring the same character. Funnily enough I'm currently working on another Thorpe Hazell story for release in the next couple of weeks I hope, so stay tuned for that!
@@BitesizedAudio Oh yes, I have listened to that one, I enjoyed that one too. What's exciting news your doing another Thorpe story, I look forward to listening to it.
I believe the writer, an Anglican clergyman, was keen to stray as far as possible from the Sherlock Holmes model with his hero.
Reminds me of _The Lost Special_ by you-know-who.
Just had to stop a librivox recording at the 4th minute. The reader mispronounced 3 English words in that short time. Whereas, this story is very well read. 🥳
Must have been an American (I'm one). Simon has command of the King's English.
@@tomcurran1538 and Judi Kingsman: Even the best readers occasionally screw up.
I recently heard an otherwise impeccable audiobook rendition in which the first two syllables of "impious" were pronounced "impy" (and the other syllable as "ess").
Many bookish people have better command of written English than spoken English, for vocabulary items rarely used in the latter context, or for words where context is a weak guide.
(As a kid I thought, for instance, that "misled" was pronounced "myzeld", and that "lowering" (as in a sky) rhymed with glowering...)
you are very good actor. that does not come easily, although you do need talent, which you have. hope you don’t take this like, well, of course i am. :) my parents were in the theatre here in New York, etc., so that’s where i’m coming from. there are talented personalities and then there are actors. you are d-n good! :) 🎭🥂🎥
I live in Newbury and know where the Newbury-Didcot line was
You could read the 'phone directory and make it exciting !! many many thanks
Regards RNK
Thanks Bob, kind of you to say so. I'll bear the phone directory in mind in case I run out of stories, but fortunately I've still got quite a long list still to work though! Appreciate your support as always
I am very curious as to whether all this arm movements and chest massages really improves digestion. I am inclined to think not.
I think you might be right! Although, different things work for different people... so perhaps it might be effective in some cases?
Exercises aimed at improving core strength and flexibility, especially the more energetic and rhythmical ones, have done a lot for my digestion.
(Yoga forward bends, crunches, situps, and suchlike)
That was delightful! But one thought kept nagging at me.... What if the art experts were wrong, and the forgery was actually the original, all along? That would have been even more amusing.
Excellent heist caper, with a exceedingly brilliant plot. But though these tales of Hazell are crafted and adroit---any video rendition would not play-out to 20th/21st Century viewers. Yes, there was an American series called ''Monk", but that was a quirk with an audience of people whom ascribe to such a 'flight-of-fancy' depiction of any given modern American Police Dept. employing someone with extreme OCD and certainly, neither would Scotland Yard. lol...
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This author does write very clever plots; however, I can see why Hazell with his windmill exercises and milk and biscuit vegetarian diet (while being a smoker, lol) did not grab the public with the gusto of Sherlock Holmes. He just doesn't sound like the kind of guy you'd be interested in meeting, I guess. Even the old man in the corner by Orczy had more wit:}. But very good plotting on the author's behalf. He obviously had intelligence and imagination; maybe, he never knew any interesting people on which to base a character.
It does seem that the authors of detective stories in the years after the introduction of Sherlock Holmes tried very hard to think of character quirks to make their own detective stand out from the crowd.... But, as you say, some ingenious stories and plotting
Oh a vegetarian
I Must admit that this waste of time story is the biggest boring narrative that I have ever endeavored to listen to in my history of these many narratives. Absolutely a horrific waste of time. Please do not bore us with this long winded, dry so called author of what? Ghost story? Right.
Well, this isn't a ghost story and it's not labelled as one. I'm sorry that you felt it was a horrific waste of time, but this is actually the second story I've done featuring this detective and I had several requests for more of his cases, so some listeners have enjoyed it. In future you may wish to check the video description before listening: I always write an introduction to the narrative there with some background information, which should make it clear what type of story it is.
About half the stories I've read for the channel to date are ghost stories, and the other half are vintage detective stories or mysteries. Some listeners obviously prefer one type or the other, but many I think enjoy both (there's quite an overlap between the two genres in both audience and authorship, many writers wrote both types of story). If you only like ghost stories I do have a couple of playlists which are specifically for that genre:
Victorian Ghost Stories: ruclips.net/p/PLi95qAoufCZISCGdeBUtYxynNFtZCeRrv
Early 20th Century Ghost Stories: ruclips.net/p/PLi95qAoufCZI0zeT0uMxvy9TkkoUvtOAZ
There is always someone who complains....jezzz Just change the channel lot more stories. Thankyou so very much appreciate your time you put in.
A Gentleman’s morality- the privilege to allow another’s discretion on their part & an affront to yourself, with the luxury of choosing not to allow oneself to be affronted. Ah, the relief of decency by allowing grace to another. Would that their was more, or less, of this in the world. 🧐🤔🕊⛲️🎢🗽🎟🎨🎭🎪🎬🎊