OVER 2 YOU 221 (08/03/05)

OLD SONGS

My wife suffers from dementia and resides in a care home. She has one interest, old songs such as 'It's a long way to Tipperary', 'Clementine' and so on. Does anyone know of an Internet download site that caters for old tunes like these so that I can compile them into a CD-ROM?

Derek A. Bamford, via email

There is a site containing practically all the music of Jack Hilton and his Orchestra. This covers music from the early 1920's to the 1940's. Amongst the singers are Sam Brown, Pat O'Malley, Arthur Askey, Bruce Trent and Leslie Sarony. The site was compiled by Pete Faint and can be found at www.petefaint.co.uk/jackhilton/index.html.

Brian Pankhurst, Finmere, Buckingham

I recommend  ‘The Virtual Gramophone’ at: www.collectionscanada.ca/gramophone/index-e.html. Basically it is an archive of Canadian sound recordings taken from old 78's from which tracks can be downloaded without charge.

David Smith, via email

I managed to find all of the tunes Derek Bamford is looking for, and many more using the Deepnet Explorer web browser, mentioned some time ago in a Boot Camp article (free from http://deepnetexplorer.com/). This has a peer-to-peer file sharing utility built in and you just type in the name and up pops the download. I’m not sure of the legality but since these are mostly very old songs and most of the artists are no longer with us I am doubtful that there would be any serious copyright issues.

Colin Peters, via email

Derek Bamford will find that iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes/) has numerous versions of It's a long way to Tipperary and Clementine and most other songs one would care to name at 79p a track.

Charles Miller, Holywood, Co. Down

I suggest a double CD called ‘Songs that won the war’, which contains 36 songs. It is produced by Delta and numbered 63053. Songs included are We'll meet again, White Cliffs of Dover, Run Rabbit Run and the like all by original artists. (Vera Lynn, Gracie Fields, Carroll Gibbons, Monte Rey etc.)

Mike Northcutt, via email

Some time ago I bought a CD called ‘50 Wartime Favourites’ (Soundsrit Music, tel: 061 370 6908). Volume One includes It's a Long Way to Tipperary, Pack up Up Your Troubles, Bless 'Em All, Shine on Harvest Moon and many more

Peter Uloth, via email

Last year my wide and I we went to Harrogate and came across a shop called ‘Past Times’ which stocks various CD's with the type of Music his wife enjoys. We actually bought two of the ten or so records, which they had on display. One is called ‘Love Sons of the War Years’ which features 18 tunes, including Night & Day, A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square, Long Ago (& Far Away), I Remember You, and so on.

June & Ray Barnes, via email

KEEPING WATCH

I am a member of Coastwatch which is a voluntary charitable organisation manning ex Coastguard lookout stations keeping a watch, around the clock, on our coastline for the safety of people using the sea, foreshore and cliffs. We produce a monthly manning roster in Excel but this is assembled manually. The length of duty watches can vary between weekdays and weekends and two people are generally required per watch. Some watch keepers are trainees and can only do watchkeeping when accompanied by a qualified watch keeper. Each watch keeper is expected to do 4 watches per month. Can anyone recommend software, preferably free, which will assist us in producing our duty rosters?

Neil P Tourle, Newhaven

I suggest that your correspondent has a look at a shareware program called Scheduler Lite 1.2, which looks as though it will do everything that he wants. A free evaluation copy can be downloaded from: www.schedulerlite.com/, and if he finds it suitable he can buy the licensed version for around £15.

Peter Cummings, via email

I have used the AnnoPlan Rostering Spreadsheet in my small company for some time; it is easy to use and works really well. The program costs $30 for the full version but you can download a 30-day trial free from the publisher’s web site at: http://annoplan.idx.com.au/

Mark Stevenson, via email

CAN YOU HELP?

My wife and I collect Victorian pottery much of it from obscure British manufacturers, most of whom have long since gone out of business. Some of it can be difficult to identify, we’ve got a few books but they tend to fairly specialist in nature and only cover the well-known companies. Does anyone know of a comprehensive online database of maker’s marks and impressions?

Reginald Hampton, via email

I find it almost impossible to follow a crochet chart. Is there any software, which could convert the chart and symbols into words more like a knitting pattern?

Christine Knight, via email