Huddesfield-based company Saftvale was to primarily concerned with the manufacture of replica dinosaurs, both large scale (for museums) and small scale (as toys for children). David Hill, the man behind the company, was responsible for a series of toys known as the 'Dinocrats', which appears to have inspired a spin-off single by Mike Donald and Bob Siddall, 'Bertie The Bronto' b/w 'King Of The Dinocrats'. Both sides had a separate catalogue number, D-1 and D-2. There is no date on the record, but dinosaur toys created by Saftvale can be found on the web dated 1972, so it's a reasonable guess that the record was from around that time. The sleeve says that the record was 'The first of a series', but the lack of any sign of any others suggests that it may also have been the last. Donald and Siddall, however, did make more recordings, in the Folk vein: there was an album by them as a duo on the Tradition label in 1974 ('A Bug's Eye View'), and at least three solo LPs by Donald, including 'Song Of The Broad Acres' on Folk Heritage in 1971, and 'North By North East' on Galliard in 1972. Thanks to Sam Mauger for bringing Saftvale to my attention, and to Malcolm Henderson for supplying the scan.
Copyright 2012 Robert Lyons.