Bare cheek: Hove factually

Five more fantastic facts you didn’t know about fantabulous Hove.

1 In The Prophecies Nostradamus it was correctly predicted both the uncovering of a 13th century burial mound in Palmeira Square in 1850 (quatrain 503) and the construction of the West Brighton Estate in the 1870s (quatrain 771). A third prediction (quatrain 873) suggests that Hove will be visited by aliens in 2015.

2 The 1996 Adam Sandler comedy film Happy Gilmore was entirely financed by George Street businesses (including Fine Records, Prestige Cycles, and Shoefayre Ltd.) after Universal refused to back what they thought would be an unprofitable film. As a result all the owners of these businesses are now billionaires.

3 The internet exclamation “oh noes” was first used by Hove-born statistician Francis Anscombe in 1936.

4 William Willet, the builder of much of Grand Avenue and The Drive, and the inventor of British Summertime, was the first man in Britain to write to Points Of View.

5 Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born on Lorna Rd.

Edward De Boneheads lateral thinking puzzles

NO. 19: THE ODD SHOES

A man is lying dead in a small field next to a filling station. He is wearing a beautifully-pressed dinner jacket, shirt and bow-tie, but one of his shoes is black and the other is light brown. He is also wearing a Bruce Forsyth mask and a tape recorder by his left elbow is playing the 1958 Conrad Twitty hit ‘It’s Only Make Believe’. How did the man die?

SOLUTION TO LAST WEEK’S PROBLEM

Thirty years previously Rameses had been a veterinarian, who had accidentally killed Don de Carlo’s pet dog by attempting to use a joy buzzer as a defibrillator, and de Carlo had vowed to kill him. Rameses had revealed his identity with his trademark impersonation of Max Wall.

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brianandjoe@foundrygroup.co.uk