The Quiddle & Widdendream Disappearances

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For nebulous reasons, the Professor has been investigating the strange disappearance in 1922 of Puthery Quiddle, then Reader in Paradoxical Physics and Hat Manipulation at West Flotmanby Academy. Shortly after the publication of his infamous paper “Unexplained Disappearances and their Relation to Airships and Tethered Balloons” (Swinithwaite Press, 1921), Quiddle himself inexplicably vanished.

Recently, following a particularly lengthy lunch, the Professor indicated that I should follow him into his crumbling garden shed. After locking the door behind us and checking for listening devices with what appeared to be a divining rod, he whispered to me in hushed and questionably portentous tones:

“It cannot be a coincidence that Quiddle was seen in earnest discussion with Hanson "Sammy" Carter in a public house close to the Oval during the tour of the Australian Test Team in 1921. It is my belief that Quiddle was spirited away amongst the large collection of kit bags that our Southern Hemisphere friends were known to require. I have yet to relinquish the hope that he lived out his days in relative safety and anonymity in the vicinity of Warrumbungle.”

My curiosity was inflamed by the Professor's outlandish theory and I resolved to pursue my own investigation. Following several weeks of fruitless research, I came across this photograph in the arenaceous archives of the Brighton and Hove Weekly Bugle. I'm assured by entirely unreliable AI analysis that this photograph shows Mr Puthery Quiddle on the day before his vanishing in the company of Mrs Turquoise Widdendream, the famed exponent of the tethered balloon. 


Mr Puthery Quiddle Shortly Before His Disappearance

Mrs Widdendream herself disappeared only a few short weeks later, her balloon being last spotted near Gurnard's Head. This event, known locally as “The Great Untethering”, is still commemorated annually by the Porthmeor Balloon and Funambulism Society. However, there are several reports from the 1920s and 1930s in the archives of the "Australian Journal of Wooden Accoutrements" that bear witness to the extraordinary spoon whittling skills of a certain Mrs Widdendream of Warrumbungle. 


The Great Untethering 2024

As yet, I have felt unable to discuss my recent findings with the Professor for fear that his resulting melancholy may lead to another prolonged period of karaoke singing in the style of Mr Paul Anka.

Location: Gurnard's Head, Zennor

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