Julie Marsden
Julie Marsden is one of those tantalising models who are drop-dead gorgeous but made few appearances in Toco’s magazine. She had everything – a pretty face, lustrous hair, legs that go all the way up to the ladies’ lingerie department and that cheeky zing in her poses and body language that says, “so I’m sitting in the boot of a car and flashing my stocking tops and suspenders at you. Do you have a problem with this? ‘Cos I don’t”. So why only four appearances and a few orphaned photos hanging about? And why did she make three appearances in her first year (from her debut in BB112 in March 1965, Spick 139 in June of that same year and BB12 later in November) and then nothing for an entire decade until Span 250 in June 1975? I expect pictures that ToCo had in their files that were taken in the 60s.
She hailed from Warwickshire and knew the local countryside inside out thanks to her passion for cross-country running. So that’s why she looked so fresh and fit. She settled not a million miles away in the idyllic Cotswolds in a romantic little cottage with a lucky American lad she claims to have met in the equally romantic setting of a bluebell wood.
Only four appearances – but here’s a funny little detail. In three of her photos, she is posing on what ToCo calls a “riverbank”. It is not. The bridge bears the number 27, which means for sure it is a canal bridge. As the captions for once are unanimous in informing of us what part of the country she came from, it was not too difficult to locate that bridge. It is bridge 27 of the much-winding and twisting Oxford canal right next to Rose Narrow Boats’ base at Brinklow. You can see the exact spot where she was standing. Hasn’t changed much in the 50 intervening years, has it?
Appearances - 4, debut BB112 (March 1965)
Spick - 139
Span - 250
Beautiful Britons - 112, 120
