Ken Mackintosh

I was speaking to my brother yesterday and he told me that Ken Mackintosh had died aged 86. Ken Mackintosh was a popular saxophonist and band leader. He and his band often played at the Villa Marina in the Isle of Man, and spent several summer seasons on the island. The trombonist of the band, Gordon Langhorn, stayed in my parent’s hotel (the Ivanhoe, on Loch Promenade, demolished in 1998), and through him, my parents got to know Ken. I think I met him a number of times – but my clearest memory of him is when I was seven. He came to visit me in hospital, following an operation. I suspect that I remember it most clearly, because he brought me a toy aeroplane – a Vickers Viscount, which I subsequently played with incessantly.