Founder Derek Simmonds

Derann Vaults

A Derann Story

  • Newsletters

    Newsletters

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    by

    Ged Jones

    One of the very first jobs that Derek passed over to me was the printing of the newsletters, that most important link with all our customers, whether renting or purchasing films. Derann possessed an ancient AB Dick offset printer and I was shown what to do and put to work. That machine could sorely try…

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  • Elvis

    Elvis

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    by

    Ged Jones

    As my life progressed it reached a few important junctions and here’s one of them. Elvis Presley entered my life in 1963 when I saw the film ‘It Happened At The World’s Fair’ at my local ABC. It wasn’t that I was unaware of his music, his 45s were always being played on the radio,…

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  • Clubs

    Clubs

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    by

    Ged Jones

    I’ve already mentioned the film shows at the working-mens clubs in #24 of this series, they were extremely popular and the right film could fill a large venue and the more crowded the hall, the happier the manager(s) of the club. Word of the cash in the coffers of some of those clubs must have…

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  • Bourton

    Bourton

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    by

    Ged Jones

    My strict father and the lessons I’d had at university about always cleaning up as you work in a kitchen have meant that I’m more than a little house proud. The curtains have to hand straight, sofa cushions must be neat and the Gtech cordless carpet sweeper is constantly in use. This also meant that…

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  • The Talbot – Part 3

    The Talbot – Part 3

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    by

    Ged Jones

    I’m hoping that this post will get the Talbot Hotel out of my system, so without further ado let’s get on with the show. The two KP’s (Kitchen Porters), had started work at the Talbot when they were young boys, both coming from the same children’s home, they had already been working there around 16…

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  • Rights – Part 1

    Rights – Part 1

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    by

    Ged Jones

    And so it was that around August 1975, having found lodgings just over the road from my new Boss’s house, where Derek’s wife, Anne, said that it would be no trouble to cook an extra evening meal each night following work, I started my new job at Derann Film Services. The regular business trips to…

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  • The Talbot – Part 2

    The Talbot – Part 2

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    by

    Ged Jones

    The Talbot cat has switched on my memory and much more than that deceased puss has came flooding back, here are few more morsels. Commis-Chef Dave and I decided to explore the Talbot attic and found evidence that part of this vast area, had at some time been a living space, complete with old decorated…

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  • Prelude

    Prelude

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    by

    Ged Jones

    Before I started work at Derann, Derek invited me along to watch one of the film shows Derann Film Services regularly put on at various local workingmen’s clubs, and this is where I met John(ny) Thompson. John worked as a TV engineer for one of the big TV rental companies, a first rate electrician and…

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  • The Talbot – Part 1

    The Talbot – Part 1

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    by

    Ged Jones

    As you may recall, I had two stints at the Talbot, one lasting 8-9 months and the second around 6 years. There was a large friendly cat at the Talbot during my first period there, in truth it wasn’t exactly the Talbots’ cat, it belonged to a long serving member of staff in her 90’s,…

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  • Metamorphosis

    Metamorphosis

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    by

    Ged Jones

    The Talbot was a just a minutes walk from the Town Hall, so it wasn’t surprising that I should have my first taste of live theatre there. I saw the Stourbridge Amateur Operatic Societies annual productions for a number of years including, Oliver!, Showboat and Half A Sixpence, as well as several Gilbert and Sullivan…

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