Some futher information about Joseph's Magic Albatross

This old postcard of the "Albatross" was discovered by a reader in a second-hand/curio shop in Eastbourne.
It has a press cutting attached reporting the demise of the bird.

 

Note the dates of card and press cutting which belie the era in which the story is set: Author's licence!

The front and back repros above are from a poor photocopy which is all I could get.

 

And here is an extract from a letter received from another reader

To: John Howard-Worsley, Esq., Little pearl BOOKS,

Dear Sir,

Two weeks ago I was in a bookshop in Cowes, Isle of Wight, when a copy of your book "Joseph's Magic Albatross" caught my eye and I turned the pages with amazement - how could anyone else know about old Joe and the albatross, I thought that he was our secret:

To explain, my Mother's home was in Ventnor and, as children, we spent all of our summer and Christmas holidays there. Steephill Cove was a very special place to us and we spent many wonderful, long summer days there climbing over the rocks and catching shrimp in the pools. Joe was a special friend of ours and we always got our fresh crabs right out of his boat, so when he came back with the albatross we were very excited. We saw the wonderful relationship that Joe had with that bird and watched as the healing process proceeded slowly but surely and it was a sad day for us, too, when the albatross went back to it's own world.

I live in the United States now but get back to England as often as possible. This year the trip was a special one as I brought my two oldest grandchildren with me for their first visit to this country. After eight days of seeing the sights in London and elsewhere we headed for the Island and the first stop Steephill Cove' So, just two days before I saw your book, I had been telling them all about Old Joe and the albatross and showed them where he had built the pen to house it.

Having told you all of this, I would like to add that I enjoyed your book immensely and have sent the copy that I bought to my youngest grandson in the U.S. and will add my story to yours when I return. Meanwhile, I would like to have two additional copies, one for myself and one for my sister, and if you could sign each of them I would really appreciate it.

Sincerely yours, Kathleen McNally

Old Joe with some summer girls, taken about the time of the "Albatross"
This photo is from our family archives

This is how Steephill Cove looks now.
The cottage, second from right is Genevra and was
built by my Great Grandfather Charles Blake who was
father-in-law to old Joe