SPECIAL VILLA #2:
9 Mays St, Devonport. Built 1908 by Selwyn Mays, son of Oliver Mays. Selwyn was a Chief Crown Prosecutor and younger brother of my Grandfather, Howard Mays (see tomorrow's "Special Villa"). The street was known then as Grey St but was renamed after the Mays brothers who were well-known identities in Devonport The house was owned from 1926 to 1985 by the Mason family who were related by marriage to the Mays family.
Classic features of the villa include a distinctive filigreed facade and upper and lower balustraded veranda with cast iron decorations. The tower was built by the present (2007) owners but something similar had apparently had been planned by Selwyn. (photographs by Paul Knight.) Purely by coincidence, Helen and Catherine Knight, daughters of my Father's brother Denis, each lived here while they were at university, not knowing anything of the admittedly indirect family connection. About 1926, Selwyn dived off the Devonport wharf to rescue a drunk and scraped his arm on barnacles under the wharf lavatory. He almost died from the resulting septicaemia and, unable to make a full recovery, his career ended.
Mute Swan. 2017-1
Mute Swan. Note the interesting parallel, horizontal lines on the swan. I suspect they might be created by reflections from the ripples on the water surface. Please enlarge.
Poll: Do you set New Year’s resolutions?
🎉 2026 is almost here!
We’re curious ... how do you welcome it?
Do you set resolutions, follow special traditions, or just go with the flow?
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10.5% Yes! New Year, New Me
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20.7% Yes - but I rarely stick to them
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68.8% Nah - not for me
Quote for the Day
Interviewer:
"Do you think that the British class system has finally ended?"
Upper-middle class Romance author, Dame Barbara Cartland:
"Well, of course it has; otherwise I would't be sitting here, talking to someone like you!"
Happy New Year [hopefully!]
Mike
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