It’s October 4 in the classic spy thriller ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ and our heroes Carruthers and Davies have finally got to the other end of the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel. Awaiting them is the mighty river Elbe, a first encounter (for Carruthers) with the ‘Sands’ – and also a personal enquiry from Clara Dollmann, a young modern German woman who Davies has taken quite a shine to.
In what seems like a fair division of labour, Tim (notCarruthers) is going to spend a lot of time in this podcast talking about sporty women of the age – British, American and German. Meanwhile Lloyd (notDavies) gets to look over maritime charts to work out where we’re going, and what we’re going to come up against when we set out into the Sands for real in the autumn.
We start with a reminder that Film Club is happening very soon now: there’s still time to book a seat (02:43); Lloyd introduces Brunsbüttel and a famous daughter of the town, the heptathlete Jennifer Oeser (04:54); Tim takes the cue to talk about sporty women, starting with a description of the new German ‘damen’ of 1903 in Jerome K Jerome’s ‘Three Men on the Bummel’ (05:35).
We discuss what kind of woman Clara Dollmann is meant to be (07:34); cyclist Annie ‘Londonderry’ Kopchovsky as a model for the ‘new woman’ (08:18); how sports clothing drove new fashion trends for feminists (10:36); a few ‘outdoorsy’ American feminists Molly Childers might have known (13:50); Lady Henry and the Womans Signal feminist newspaper (14:30); was Clara rather shoehorned – or ‘spatchcocked’ – into this story? (16:03); a tenuous Heidi connection (17:03); a Mata Hari connection (20:17)
Lloyd takes us out on to the Elbe and consults a few digital charts (23:52); we are diverted to Cuxhaven to talk about zeppelins (26:21); a surprise Childers connection with Cuxhaven (27:51); another diversion to Heligoland (30:04); a short talk about holidaying in Borkum from Club member Ed (33:22).
Club business: Kevin on new women & bamboo bicycles (39:50); JerseyCityFrankie on the Asgard & fruit salts (40:59); Tony on head cheese (41:55); Jon on sausages & wurst (42.17); Liz on tin storage on boats (44:03); John on events in the South China Seas (45:45); ‘Ahoy’ to edwardianculture.com.
Missions for next week: watch the film & help us to navigate the sands on the way to Wangerooge.
The Curiously Specific Book Club 
Regarding “Sporty Women” of the period, I will just draw your attention to Annette Kellerman: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Kellerman Probably would have been regarded as a wild woman from Australia by our protagonists, but, shes nautical.………
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Wow, this woman is amazing. We’re going to feature her (and you, Frank) on the next podcast. Thanks!
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