The Cloggies (A 'Private Eye' book)

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His one major regret in his long career was his failure to save Punch from closure, despite trying, with other artists and journalists, to buy it. He drew for the magazine from 1959 but in spite of his best efforts it folded in 1992. His workload was phenomenal. At one time he was drawing six strips and he said he had to be careful not to mix them up and send them to the wrong newspapers or magazines. He also appeared regularly on television, in Countdown, Blankety Blank and Countryfile. In 1975 he was confronted by Eamonn Andrews with his famous red book when Bill was the subject of This Is Your Life. He was generous with his time. At one CAMRA fund-raising event, he leapt around the room unveiling, sequence by sequence, an enormous strip illustrating the history of beer from Ancient Egypt to the present day. It must have taken him weeks to prepare and draw and all free of charge and for the cause. The obituaries on TV, Radio and in the papers which followed the announcement of his death were many. And the accolades would have made him blush. The local TV station which got his birth and death dates mixed up. That would have made him laugh and undoubtedly draw something on paper, a napkin, a table cloth, a terracotta pot, a wall or anything else that was in reach as the gag pinged into his head. The Cloggies were undisputed champions of their ‘sport’, usually inflicting grave injuries before repairing to the nearest pub. Their capacity for beer was legendary; their home venue, the Clog & Bells, Blagdon, where Doris the barmaid was always in a welcoming mood. There were also unorthodox activities involving the use of ferrets.

Eventually it dawned on me that for most of us, once we are out of our comfort zone, according to the law of averages, we are talking rubbish half of the time anyway! In other words, accept praise and criticism with the same reserve! I’ve had plenty of each. Critical reception at the time was negative, with journalists criticizing the musical for its humor. [11] A journalist for The Chester Chronicle panned the portrayals of the titular Cloggies while citing Stephen Nallon's impression of Margaret Thatcher as a highlight. [13] The Liverpool Echo's Walter Huntley also reviewed the musical, criticizing it for its poor sound quality and humor. [14] Exhibitions [ edit ] Tidy's many TV appearances have included Countdown, Watercolour Challenge, Through the Keyhole, Blankety Blank and Countryfile. His radio appearances included an accomplished performance on a 1989 edition of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, when he stood in for Barry Cryer and a 1991 Series where he stood in for Tim Brooke-Taylor. He wrote and presented Draw Me, a children's television series in 13 parts. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1975 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews. [ citation needed]Neville Grundy said: “Bill Tidy was a neighbour in the early 1980s when our family lived in Birkdale. He used to enjoy a pint in the long-gone Berkeley on Queens Road where I occasionally saw him. Expose of chess-players’ manners tells you everything you wanted to know about the game but were afraid to ask – and perhaps a few things more. Tributes also poured in from famous faces including Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes who simply said that Mr Tidy was a ‘very special man’ who ‘will never die’. The actor and singer Chaim Topol (pictured), best known for his performances in the musical Fiddler on the Roof.

Bill sporting a PCO badge with former PCO ‘Chairleg’ Bill Stott, Photo by Rob Doyle kindly supplied by Chris Williams. Nearly every publication in which I appeared shivered and rolled ever! They included the Daily Sketch, Sunday Dispatch, Reveille, Weekend, Sunday Chronicle, Travel World etc. I was going through Fleet Street like Typhoid Mary! The Cloggies appeared in Private Eye from 1967 to 1981. It was an affectionate send-up of the radio soap The Archers, billed as “an everyday story of country folk” whereas the Cloggies were “an everyday story of clog-dancing folk”. The strip followed the misadventures of a team of clog dancers who took on rival teams and developed such tactical foot manoeuvres as the Triple Arkwright. The dancers had a legendary capacity for beer and would repair to the nearest pub for a gallon or two after every epic contest. The stage play. The time is 1902 and the Fosdyke tripe business is failing, so they decide to move to greener pastures in Manchester – the land of meat pies and perhaps fortune? We follow their progress through to the First World War. OTHER WORKSThe Grotny Hardmen were born, grim-faced keg salesmen who were determined to foist their fizzy brews on drinkers and publicans and were repulsed by Kegbuster. The Hardmen were followed by Twitbread, another giant keg brewery that attempted to phase out cask ale with inferior gassy products.

So popular the Fosdyke Saga was that it became the subject of a BBC 42-part radio series from 1983.

The Tidy Arms

I have always wondered what would happen if all my odd ball characters ever got together so I created the party of all parties at the Tidy Arms and damn it I still couldn’t get them all in.