Hold-ups at Frog Island

When we left Leicester on Thursday 2nd April 2009 on our cruise to Chester my eye was caught by a couple of things. First, the name "Frog Island"; and second, next to the boarded-up North Bridge Tavern, the manufacturer of belt and braces. I'm now trying to think of an example of using belt and braces.

(Thinks.)

Got it. You can find a reference to Richard Kew and Albert Thurston here: http://www.suspenders.com/promo5.htm, or you can click this link.

Albert Thurston's website doesn't mention Frog Island. There's a fine reproduction of a page of an 1870s catalogue, detailing the India Rubber Albert Brace here, and a testimonial from a few decades later:

When asked for his reaction to the outbreak of war in 1939, actor Sir Ralph Richardson replied that he had gone straight to his tailor on Savile Row and purchased half a dozen pairs of Thurston braces in case they might be in short supply.

(this post edited to add more stuff)