Thursday 30 April 2009

1708 An amazing cricket day and Ballykissangel

I awoke sufficiently early to attend to several activities before settling down to divide my day between watching Durham at Somerset and undertaking some work at the computer or photographing completed sets.

In contrast to yesterday the morning was bright and temperature reasonable. After washing up and washing me, and completing my notes on Helen Keller and the fictional Esther Costello I made my way to Jarrow, to visit Wilkinson’s to see if they had any of black coloured set volumes which I need for the completed MySpace and Google not writing. This was a success with five bought as well as two more red and three bluish.

On the way I discovered that work on the second Tyne Tunnel has commenced creating additional problems on reaching the present entrance area which has to be negotiated before be able to take the road into Jarrow centre and Morrison’s Car Park. The work should be completed during 2012. The second tunnel similar to that on Merseyside has become essential but how effective it will depend on improvements to the approach roads and to the paying of Toll facilities at the North Tyneside end or start depending on which way you are travelling.

On my return journey I forgot to position myself at one junction with the consequence of then having to take a different route which brought me one end of Fredericke Street where the former Plessey Factory and then site of the replacement electronics factory and which once employed over 2000 people has been cleared in an attempt to rejuvenate the area. By coincidence I had written about the factory and the shopping street in December 2007 and only last night transferred the writing from MySpace to Google. I found the connection between the mistake and the recent work interesting.

On return the first interest was the news of those selected for the Test Matches against the West Indies at Lords and then Durham followed by three one day matches where the side for this is to be announced later as well as for the World 20 20 competition. Michael Vaughan former Captain and a centrally contracted player, as is Steve Harmison have not been included. However Graham Onions has been selected for his first cap in the 12 and is likely to play with two spinners in the selection. This means he will not be travelling to Brighton for the Sussex game but Steve will. Liam Plunkett will be available to take his place after appearing for England against the West Indies Touring side.

There was an extraordinary change in the county game with new Batsman Mustard joining not Blenkenstein and struggling to get any runs as Somerset had sharpened up considerably over the previous day. The immediate task was to increase the total to over four hundred runs to gain the final and fifth batting point. I misunderstood the situation yesterday in that it is only possible to gain 3 bowling points making a total of 8 bonus, with four for a draw and 12 for a win.

The uncertainty about Durham position was reinforced when Mustard was run out for 4 and the score had changed from 284 for 3 to 382 for 7 and where the run rate had halved. Then Ian Thorp added 32 in 53 balls with Blenkenstein steadfastly moving towards 150. Young pace bowler Mitchell Claydon also showed competence with the bat and he and Blenkenstein moved the score forward quickly once more with Claydon 38 in 33 ball and Blenkenstein looking at 175. He was out at 181 with Steve Harmison 10. The total had reached 543. Today their Captain said it had been the right decision to put Durham into bat and the outcome would have been different if the four or five catches had not been dropped.
The task facing the Durham bowlers was to take the ten Somerset wickets before they reached a total of 393, thus making them bat for a second time in succession. Given that Somerset had scored over 600 runs in their last game on a similar wicket this might prove a difficult task although it was to be hoped that Harmison would set out to show that the selectors had been wrong to overlook him and Onions that they had been right to choose him.

What happened next was beyond anyone’s wildest dreams as Durham on of their greatest days bowing against one of the strongest batting sides in the country on a batting sympathetic wicket.

When the score was 12 Onions clean bowled a surprised Marcus Trescothick and then Captain Justin Langer one fo the great opening batsmen of all time seemed to have the situation under control although the other opener Suppiah looked as if he was finding the pace of Durham’s openers a challenge. Then for Somerset the sky fell in. Suppiah was caught and bowled by Onions for 12. Hildreth who had scored 303 runs in the first championship match of the season was out leg before wicket also to Onions and the score was 39 for 3. Only one run later de Bruyn was caught behind by wicket keeper Mustard of the bowling of Steve Harmison for 0). Only nine runs later Nieswetter was caught Thorp off Onions for 0. Then Thorp replacing Harmison had his finest ever spell bowing Trego caught Di Venuto for 4, and bowling Banks for 2 and Stiff for 0. It was 66 for nine with Captain Langer standing bemused and helpless at the other end having scored half the total. Onions got his sixth wicket when Captain Smith caught Willoughby for 0 and Somerset were all out for 69 giving Durham record lead of 474.

The bowing figures were

Graham Onions 14.2 overs 4 maidens 31 runs and 6 wickets

Graham Thorp 6 overs 2 maidens 5 runs and 3 wickets

And Steve Harmison 8 overs 2 maidens 29 runs and 1 wickets.

Sky’s commentary team were universally ecstatic advocates of quality pace bowling and Sky had a memorable television event after the boring and disappointing Test draws over the Winter in India and the West Indies. Durham’s reputation was considerably strengthened and the Sky team were speculating that only Notts might be in competition with them for the Championship this season

It was not to be expected that the rout would continue as Smith continued with the bowlers who had ended the first innings. However the batsmen had found new resolve and determined not to repeat the humiliation and the bowlers had understandable lost some of their fire. Somerset ended the day 83 for 1 with Claydon getting the wicket of Suppiah but Trescothick and Hildreth looking strong. However Hildreth was dropped and one possibility two LBW decisions were not given when they should probably making up for two dodgy decisions which contributed to the Somerset batting debacle earlier. Such days rarely come and joy was to be able to watch rather than listen or read about later.

I enjoyed using pat of the chicken from Sunday to make a Korma curry dish on Monday and yesterday used the remainder for a stir-fry. To day I had the rest of the stir fry and Thai sauce for lunch and then two salmon fishcakes with cold baked beans for the evening meal. There were fresh strawberries for lunch bough from green grocers in Jarrow where I purchased four giant plums the largest I have ever seen. Grapes, bananas and melon have provided fruit over the week so far. I have discovered some thin salt and pepper crackers which are enjoyable on their own or with anchovies, for a snack this afternoon, or with a slice of salami previously.

I missed the third series of Ballykissangel when it was first produced, upset with the departure of the two leading characters. The third series has been that much more enjoyable because my expectations were so low. It was an effective recreation introducing several new characters while retaining the strengths of some of the originals.

The first was the arrival of the son (Sean Dillon played by Lorcan Cranitch ) of a deceased man hated for having created his wealth and built up his farming land at the expense of his neighbours. There were several notable episodes in which he featured with the arrival of his daughter Emma, when he makes his peace with his neighbour (Eamon Byrne- Birdie Sweeney) Birdie was given his nickname as a child because of his ability to mimic birds. Growing up in a poor family of ten he did not turn to acting until in his 50’s. He had 8 children all of whom are now said to live in Philadelphia. The son of his brother also arrives to create a second teenage interest Danny- Colin Farrell who has since had a developing major career in films and TV, culminating with his award winning appearance in In Bruges one of the funniest films of many a year, black, clever and beautifully shot in the City which I have visited. He establishes a relationship with Emma.

Other memorable episodes are when the town forgives him for the his father’s past actions after a tree partially destroys his home and they rally to make the house habitable again.
He establishes a relationship with Niamh the daughter of Brian Quigley after she has married dull and respectable Policeman Ambrose and borne his child. Hit by the death of her close friend Assumpta Fitzgerald she finds the stability of marriage and the demands of motherhood are not for her because of a sense of having missed out on life and the world. When Ambrose dies having discovered the blossoming relationship with Eamon Byrne, she is consumed with guilt and resentment.

The new priest plays a less significant role than before and in contrast to his worldly predecessor has been cloistered in a Monastery for a decade. As the idealist he is counterpoint for Father MacAnally who schemes and enjoys the good life playing golf and drinking whisky, but also is wise and compassionate. He was in his sixties when appearing in 52 of 58 episodes of the series and has continued working into his late seventies. One interesting note is that both the curate priests appeared in the series Father Ted which was religiously watched by my birth and care mothers.

The arrival of the curate priest’s sister provides a friend for Niamh and then for a fiesty relationship with the man who rescues her when the balloon in which she is travelling with Brian Quigley crashes into the sea. For a time it looked as if there would be a relationship with the older Brian who is her kind of strong and adventurous man, As tenant of Padraig for time and who operated the garage she break his heart as well as fancying Eamon Byrne. She is the free spirit running amok in what appears to be a tranquil and traditional Irish community.

The shock of the series is when school master Brendan has a fling with the vet Sioban and they have a child, eventually marrying and living together. We also learn that Kathleen of the village shop who plays the church organ and disapproves of all things modern and of change meets her beau of twenty five years ago and who before going to London to make his fortune, with money given by Kathleen promised to call for her to join him when he was established, but never did.

Brian Quigley continues in his role as the local wheeler dealer acquiring the golf course but shows compassion and understanding when his daughter begins the extra marital relationship and when her husband dies. He also shows hidden talents in the care of her son. The local Doctor is the star of one programme as the winner of the annual horse race on the sands. He appears in 38 of the 58 episodes.

Only two characters appear in every episode and surprisingly this is the pair of self employed workers mainly for Brian Quigley, Donal and Liam. In the latest episode they discover a hurriedly discarded crate of stolen best caviar selling for £80 a tin which they give to the cat before being told what they have. As usual the scheme to sell the find falls apart.

Two established film and TV actors also make appearances. James Nesbitt appeared as the estranged husband of Assumpta Fitzgerald, before making his name in Cold Feet and Murphy’s Law. James Ellis plays the eccentric Uncle Minto in 4 episodes. James had some 50 mainly TV credit shows and series which he has continued

It was a good day but two in a row is not expected

Monday 27 April 2009

1705 Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour and Daniel Craig

Yesterday I had an unexpected treat. There are 15 films in the wonderful Daily Mail War Movie Collection with several, the most outstanding films of the post second World War period. There was one which I thought I had not seen before as I failed to immediately recognise the title, The Sword of Honour.

As soon as it opened I realised this was the outstanding BBC shown dramatization of the three novels by Evelyn Waugh, Men at Arms 1952, Officers and Gentleman 1955 and Unconditional Surrender 1961 (The end of the Battle in the USA) and which was based on his actual experience, however loosely. Given that I continue to regard the 13 part television series of his work Brideshead Revisited as the greatest TV production of its kind ever made, I am surprised with myself for not having acquired any of his other works, especially as early on I became a fan of C P Snow and Anthony Powell and have the majority of their novels. I would like to remedy this situation but suspect time has run out.

The three novels are said to have been fully covered in this 2001 adaptation which lasts over three hours and I have no recollection if I saw the 1967 version with Edward Woodward, although it was the kind of programme I would not have missed. Waugh’s style is to portray the reality of the middle and upper classes with a humorous wit but he is also a very serious writer as I discussed after noting my experience of Brideshead on acquiring the series on DVD.

The idealistic hero of the three works is Guy Crouchbank, upper class with his father with whom he has a good relationship, struggling to maintain the family home and estate. They are both strong practicing Catholics although Waugh himself was a convert, a non unusual occurrence for middle and upper class Englishmen and women who find the reality of life very different from the idealism of their youth. Waugh maintained his respect for English culture and traditions, possessed a strong masculine approach to social order and government and hated what happened after the second World War and would have probably become a revolutionary and he lived to experience something of the changes from 1960’s. He died in 1966 at the age of 62. He was therefore in his mid thirties when the Second World commenced and the first book chronicles his experience of getting a commission and his first expedition adventure to North Africa. The book also coves the failure of his first marriage to someone who needed the excitement of new relationships.

The character in the book is Guy Crouchbank whose wife has married again someone part of the social circle of public school, Oxbridge University, London scene and country house parties, the Gentleman’s club in Pall Mall and the army. In real life because Waugh converted to Catholicism after his marriage he was able to gain an annulment and he remained married to his second wife for the rest of his life with seven children, and with one son Aubron also becoming an internationally known journalist and writer. It is noteworthy that Evelyn’s second wife was a cousin of his first.

In the book he attempts to seduce his divorced wife when he returns for a decade in Italy but she rejects him and then has an affair, one of several, with a charlatan hero who fathers her child. Pregnant, she turns to Guy who inherited his father’s (played by Leslie Phillips) wealth and estate and they remarry. When she is killed in a bombing raid the final scene of the film is his return from the war to get to know and bring up his son.

How far Waugh’s experience of the army is portrayed in the books and films I cannot say but almost none of the fellow and senior officers come out well.

There are two official hero’s in the books and film The first is a press office creation during the period when something was desperately needed to raise public moral. Crouchbank has joined the new Commando brigade after coming home in disgrace from the North African mission, and he nominates Trimmer McTavish, a man who has spent his war to date keeping out of danger and chasing the ladies. He takes up with Guy‘s, former wife when he remeets her again when on leave and we learn that he had been her lover when a steward on an Atlantic liner. The press orientated mission is to go with a small group and blow up a tower on a poorly defended island of the French coast. By mistake they are bought off the French coast by the submarine and there is no tower and only enemy is a French peasant woman with a shot gun. The sergeant with the group has the sense to blow up the railway line before they leave and this is represented as having affected important German transport links with McTavish made into a national hero and used to raise funds by promoting the sale of war bonds. When Guy’s wife falls on hard times she is taken in by the press officer and his wife and he forces her to establish an affair with McTavish if she wants to keep her free board and lodgings. When McTavish is sent on a six month raising campaign to the USA and Virginia finds herself pregnant, she openly admits to using Guy to get out of the situation.

While Guy has no illusions about he manufactured hero McTavish he is fully taken in by someone he believes is a true hero Ivor Clair who is young, handsome and full member of the upper classes. It is only in the last third that Guy realises that the man its not as honourable as he seems as he has disobeyed the order to surrender on Crete and escape to Egypt where he is having an affair with the wife of the Commanding officer and also learns that his original gallantry award was obtained under false pretences.

Covering up military mistakes and individual misdeeds is a great theme of the books as well as the incompetence of the hierarchy. I understand that in the first book Guy who just about managed to get a commission in a ill thought of fictitious corps called he Halberdiers spends a great deal of his time getting on and off trains and ships that go nowhere. When training with Halberdiers he encounters one fellow officer who is equipped with a vast expensive kit for every possible climate and terrain and which includes a portable toilet called the thunder box, coveted by the Commanding officer when he sees it and which is blown up in in tussle between the two over ownership. When they are stopped from the first mission from North Africa Guy agrees to lead a raiding party to capture something although against orders. However Guy gets sent home when he smuggles alcohol to a fellow officer who has become sick and is under treatment in sick bay from an alleged tropical disease from his work in Africa. Guy is told that the man died as consequence of this gesture because he suffered from liver disease.

As a consequence of this he is taken from the front line and made responsible for training until able to join the commandos and after training is posted to Egypt and then Crete before the Island is abandoned. Here because the commanding officer has an accident and breaks a leg while in transit, the unit is led by a rule clinging petty Hitler who lacks commonsense and panic freezes in adversity. Played by Robert Daws, Major Hound, nicknamed Fido is murdered by a Sgt who later with Guy survives an open boat which they take to escape from becoming a prisoner of war on Crete and land in North Africa. Later the same Sgt becomes the commanding officer of a parachute training camp to which Guy is sent and who spends his time hiding in his office from Guy. He has been keeping a diary of his adventures which he publishes as a novel when the war is over.

It is in the final book and section of the film that Waugh switches from lampooning to the very serious as Guy is sent as a one man military mission to Croatia prior to the formation of Communist Yugoslavia. The communist partisans are portrayed as dedicated and effective but also ruthless and he risks the wrath of both his hierarchy and the fledgling state by taking the part of 100 Jewish refugees from the camps. He is successful in getting all but a couple free to travel to a transit camp in allied controlled Italy en route to Palestine. The couple includes a cultured English speaking Italian Jewess whose husband becomes essential to the state because he is an electrician and can keep the allied supplied power station generators functioning. Later they are found guilty of treason and executed on the fictitious grounds of having capitalist propaganda, which includes a magazine provide by Guy when he visits to say goodbye. When Guy protests that the allied command took no action to save the couple he is reminded of overall priorities and the bigger picture. It is the justification which has been used by capitalists governments to justify their deals with fascists and communists states and dictatorships ever since democracy was developed in the USA and Britain.

In the first version of the series Guy has children by second wife who are disinherited by Trimmer’s son because he has been registered as Guy’s. In the published edition but not the film he married the daughter of another old Catholic families but they have no children not to complicate the succession. One of the points of the book is a conversation which Guy has with his father before his death in which his father explains that regardless of the pain and suffering, the disappoints and failures of life, the essence of being a Catholic is the saving of souls, and this is the inspiration for his decision to marry his former wife and bring up the child by a man he despises as his own.

Oddly the film does not explain its title, in that in the third book “a splendid ceremonials word is made at the King’s command,” to be presented to the Soviet Union in recognition of the sacrifices that he Soviet people made in the war against the Nazis.. In reality this was a sword commissioned by the King commemorating the battle of Stalingrad, It was put on display in Westminster Abbey and people queues to look at it. It sums up Waugh’s view that Guy is not impressed or with Stalin and is not tempted to join in the party held for the event and give sup the opportunity to enjoy luxury food for lunch on his 40th birthday.


Guy Crouchbank is played by the excellent actor Daniel Craig who has become more internationally known through taking over the role of James Bond. I especially enjoyed his performance in the TV series Our Friends in the North and also the films the Road to Perdition and Munich. His wide range of roles includes Lara Croft Tomb Raider, a Kid at King Arthur’s Court and the Golden Compass.

Monday 20 April 2009

1245 Oliver Twist and the Human Factor

I awoke and could hear what I interpreted as a nearby house alarm but it seemed to continue on and on as I dozed and came too several times and there I wondered and then I realised what it was and that from 8.30 until 9.48 the buzzer had been my unpacked disconnected alarm clock, but with battery, in the one of the travel bags, somewhere in the house. Just as well the neighbours on the side of the house are away and there is the open patio space on the other.

It has been a leisurely day and commenced with opening and sending a Christmas card and the decision to write an overview of the year, something I used to do, but stopped two years ago. There was no attempt to be comprehensive, and it proved a longer than had time for experience, as I attempted to distil priorities and summarise.

I made do with soup and then there was another letter and card and decisions to sort out this and that, a visit to the Council's environmental centre to dispose of accumulated rubbish, but the pong from the decaying prawn heads and shells was such that I decided to do the supermarket first and acquire some air freshener, but before that I took my suit to the dry cleaners, also my main car wearing coat, but the label was machine washable so it came back via the post office and supermarket where a lot of time was used finding the air freshener, which proved essential once the rubbish was in the vehicle.

It was not until just before the new five day production of Oliver Twist that I felt the need for food, Chinese style chicken wings, a generous carton followed by a puff pastry mince pie. The Oliver Twist is yet to compete with the most recent film production strangely omitted from the Daily Mail Role Replay information which mentions the original 1948 film and the 1968 musical. Oliver Twist is the story of the Male Supremacist nature of early Victorian society ranging from the attitude of the mother of Oliver Twist and the abuse and exploitation of Nancy and the way the ready way in which the upper and middle classes relished sending street children who committed offences to the gallows, on prison ships to the colonies or to hard labour in prisons, or the workhouse. The pervading attitudes of those are still heard on daily chat shows such as five live.

I was then looking forward the last Spooks as there was no advance showing last week but fell soundly asleep. I woke again in time of a gem of a programme about three women who went in search of their parents, two fathers and one mother. The two fathers were found through the Salvation Army service both with positive outcomes but sadly the woman who has spent nearly two decades trying to find if her mother is alive and two years actively enquiring since the death of her father had by the end of the programme failed to make any progress. The national release of a photograph tonight will hopefully produce the breakthrough for her.

I have written before about the power of this drive to know and how society makes this difficult by allowing mother to register births without information about the name and known circumstances of the biological father

Of course there will continue to be deceptions with false information provided and circumstances where the information is not known or where the circumstances are tricky, but as with adoption there should be opportunity when a young person reaches adulthood to be given the option to obtain the available information, with advance counselling provision if requested. The secrecy is often from the best of intentions and there are sometimes other children or family members whose protection is just as significant at the time, but the power to know should carry a right. The kind of crude bestial justice which is part of the Muslim faith in many countries and supported by national laws in relation to the behaviour and position of women, and as used to be and still is the attitude towards the female in predominantly Catholic nations and which underlines the hypocrisy of the male attitude to the Mary's in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, is symptomatic of male supremacist societies. The way the House of Commons is organised with the gladiatorial combat of Prime Minister's Question Times is another and oh for a Prime Minister with the self confident guts to refuse to perform for their party and for the benefit of the medias, for opposition leaders with similar self confidence, guts and integrity.

And what is this nonsense of the latest sound bite politics of the Liberal Democrats, power to the people, regardless of consequence in terms of justice as fairness, Hullo just as it is fair, is it? for English families to pay for the Scots to enable their children to go to University without the mill stone of charges or for the elderly to retain the value of their savings when they require residential care or comprehensive care, we are now to support the reactionary Liberal notion that it is OK if those who are interested in power holding decide to introduce fascist approaches to the running of hospital or schools, or reintroduce poor law type institutions, of course liberals don't, so why spout the claptrap echoed by Paddy Ashdown and no doubt the assembly of other former party leaders rejected by heir own members or the country at one time or the other, and two men again after the party demonstrated as all the major parties do their ageism. The hypocrisy of attitudes towards, children, the old and the female has not changed although in society in general there is change with recent examples the Queen demonstrating what a better job she has done than any man or that splendid engineer project coordinator for the St Pancras enterprise. This is not an issue of physiological prejudice but of attitude and approach.
This work of tracing missing parents is one role for the Salvation Army who apparently is able to trace 80% of the 4000 requests for help each year and merits greater public recognition. The figures mean over 30000 quests have been solved in the past decade alone.

I then finished the evening with a poor Le Carre type spy traitor film based on a Graham Green, The Human Factor, the last film of the Man with the Golden Arm Otto Preminger and a screen play by Tom Stoppard. The film has nothing original in terms of story and characterization and is light years away from series such Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The double Spy, is Nicole Williamson an actor who has never been convincing or impressed me with a cast of many talents, Richard Attenborough, Robert Morley, Sir John Gielgud and Derek Jacobi and I could have been better employed with my time but once commenced I felt obliged to see it through.

Yesterday was the penultimate programme about the Queen featured the number of official visits, a Royal Garden Party and an aborted visit to open the new Arsenal Football club and broadened to other family members with Charles and Camilla travelling to organic farmers and them meeting farmers in a local pub. The Garden party was interesting because it is regarded as a treat for those who will not make it to an investiture. People dress expensively and queue for half an hour to get in but are given free entry into the Palace and a scrumptious tea of fine fare before being gathered in lines for a family walkabout in which individuals are pre selected to have a few words said to them by the Queen. On hot days as the summer of a year ago, so distant now St Johns was much in demand. Those who are considered VIP's have their own Marquee and a special walk walkabout session. The one important conclusion from the series which has its last episode at Christmas is the serious effort which the firm makes to fit in and understands contemporary society at all levels. It is difficult for anyone wanting to do the job and to attempt consistent professional perfection for decade upon decade. The nature of his task was wonderful portrayed by one stupid woman who drags her mother and son around the country to wave flags and get a close up of the Queen. At one level she was awful cringing embarrassing and one wondered how many of the flay wavers were of this ilk, but she also fulfils an important constitutional function that our brings in he tourist need for the public flag waver, and in fairness I would rather have her as Queen follower than yet another idiot giving credence that those waste of space personalities to contribute nothing to society except their lack of substance.

At last someone has said in the media what I have long suspected, that just as those behind the TV telephone competitions were able to fix outcomes with thousands continuing to phone with no chance of winning, the question has been asked of the X Factor and were thousands prevented from phoning in order to fix the outcome? How could a margin of 1% change to 10% so quickly? Did the earlier votes still count?

Tuesday 14 April 2009

1695 Robin Hood and the Robber Bankers


This week has become a celebration of the City of Nottingham and of myths and legends. The week commenced with the decision to cancel a planned weekend stay the City in May because of the distance I would have to travel early morning on one of the days and therefore I switched to accommodation closer to my destination on that day.

Then I decided to catch up on the latest made for television series about the myth of Robin Hood and his not so merry men and women and then on Tuesday I watched again a loving documentary on the man who also achieved international fame for the city, Brian Clough. A genuine legend.

Just under fifty films and television series have been made about the mythological character who battled against injustice and the Sheriff of Nottingham, swearing allegiance to King Richard, the Lionheart, usually portrayed as good, Prince John, later King John, who is portrayed as the worst King, the Sheriff of Nottingham who is portrayed as corrupt, cunning, two faced and also a ruthless tyrant and his henchman Lord Guy Gisborne as his aristocratic fixer.

First the historical setting I have a copy of Dr Austin Lane Poole’s epic history Domesday Book to Magna Carta 1087 to 1216, The Oxford History of England at the Clarendon Press located down the street from Ruskin College. In the an early chapter Dr Poole explains that vast tracks of land were set aside as Hunting forests for the King and court and in this respect Sherwood was one the smaller. These were not forests in the sense we today have come to regard but areas which included villages and surrounded towns and where the law governing behaviour was different than elsewhere in order to protect the animals that could be hunted, the deer, the roe, the wild boar. Hunting minor creature was also granted only on Royal prerogative to official tenants such as the church. Ione exception were wolves regarded as a pest and King John would give five shillings for a head. A minor army of officials were employed to manage and protect the hunting grounds and it was these who caused the local inhabitants problems as they exercised a “petty tyranny” However Poole explains that while there was considerable oppression avarice and self indulgence on the part of these men many did not enforce the law and were tolerant of transgressions by their neighbours. It is in this context that the Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1230, that is after this period, took control of the chattels worth 32 shillings and 6 pence of one Robert (or Robin) Hood, Hud or Hobbehud who was described a sa fugitive and a bandit. Whether this was the force the subsequent legend or not is not know but the Yorkshire connection is furthered by his body allegedly buries at Kirklees Abbey in West Yorkshire.

All the ballads, stories, books and films however place Robin as living at an earlier time Robin during the rein of King Richard and his relative Prince John. Contrary to the usual representation King Richard was no friend of the English people where noble or peasant.

He spoke little Anglo Saxon and rarely visited England or Ireland where he was also the Lord, using the countries to raise taxes to fund his armies, plunders and subsequently the third Crusade. At the age of sixteen he already had his own army (1157-1199) and with his brothers was trying to gain power from the king, his father. By army these were comparatively small by those of subsequent decades.

Richard was the illegitimate child of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was born in England at Beaumont Palace Oxford. (I went to Ruskin College which is located in Beaumont Street). In addition to his fighting and military prowess he is said to have been an educated man who wrote poetry. However he spent most of his time fighting, putting down revolts, opposing his father and building up his position. It is said that he developed a close relationship with the son of his mother’s ex husband by the man’s third wife. They are said to have shared and the food and bed. There is also the suggestion that he was responsible for the death of his brother who had become King of England.

He was passionately anti Semitic as well as anti Muslim and he was responsible for widespread anti Semitic violence especially in London where individuals were burned alive, their possessions taken and others forced to become Christians in order to survive. When he realised he was de-stabilising his country and tried to rein in the violence it was too late to prevent a massacre of Jews at York.

Richard appears to have made his name, myth and legend after Saladin had taken Jerusalem and he raised and equipped a new Crusade Army. However he did this by taking his father’s treasury, selling off official positions to the highest bidder, and raising new taxes. Such was the darkness of Catholicism at this time that he did all this in the name of Christ. On his travels he sized power in Sicily had had himself crowned the King and after visiting Rhodes he captured Cyprus in 1191, looting the island and massacring anyone who resisted him. He also married someone he had previously met once but they had no children. Later he sold the Cyprus and was suspected of being involved in the murder of the recently crowned King of Jerusalem after the city was taken back from Saladin. After reaching agreement with Saladin that Christians could visit and stay in Jerusalem he set off homeward but was taken prisoner for ransom by the Duke of Austria, Leopold who handed him over to Emperor Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire who was then excommunicated by the Pope for his actions. This did not bother the Emperor who obtained a ransom said to be worth about three times the value of the English Crown. Collecting the ransom involved insisting that everyone gave a quarter of everything they possessed and the stealing from the churches their gold and silver. He was released in 1194 with the Emperor warning Prince John that he had released the devil.

Although John had come close to taking the throne for himself while Richard was away, he reached an understanding and survived the next five years until in Richard 1199 he was killed from an arrow wound inflicted by a boy who it is said was seeking revenge for the death of his father and two brothers killed by Richard.

Among Richard’s other titles were Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Gascony, Lord of Ireland and Cyprus, Count of Anjou and Nantes and overlord of Brittany. He was in effect a nasty bit of work and therefore it would be surprising that any real Robin Hood concerned with the suffering of the poor and the injustices caused by the aristocracy would give allegiance or be concerned about the welfare of the man.

The imprisonment of the King for ransom is the main back story to the film and television series of Ivanhoe based on the story Walter Scott. The 1952 film in which Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders and Finlay Curry starred with Robert Taylor as Ivanhoe also has Robin of Locksley assisting with his archery skills.

Robin Hood stories tend to concern the behaviour of Prince, and subsequently King, John of England, born in 1166 and who held the throne for 17 years, the younger brother of Richard who remained childless. Prince and King John had no inherited lands or wealth, and is now known for having lost France and yielding to the Barons in signing Magna Carta at Runnymede, a site which I have visited.. He is also said to have been hopeless as a warrior. He therefore seems to have had more going for him than Richard, indeed he was popular with Londoners who welcomed him after he offered to make the city a self governing commune if they accepted that he was the heir to throne if Richard did not come back. However Richard’s supporters believed John would not make a good King and raised the ransom for Richard.

During the early part of his reign he was in military dispute with various relatives in France, but is said to have been responsible for the development of the Navy, making Portsmouth its new home and creating the Admiralty. He was not adverse to the usual behaviour of English monarchs towards their relatives with stories that he personally killed his young nephew, Arthur of Brittany, or alternative castrated him from which he died. He is known to have attempted to kidnap his own grandmother, and to have imprisoned his niece, Eleanor, who remained a prisoner for the rest of her life long after his won death for some four decades. These activities established his reputation as a ruthless man. Nor was he adverse to establishing alliances to secure his position and further his interest marrying off an illegitimate daughter to a Welsh Prince and doing deals with South coast areas of modern France in his conflict with the French. He then battled with the Pope over the next Archbishop of Canterbury with the consequence that the Pope closed the churches until he realised this was being counter productive and then did a deal with John after ex communicating him and threatening worse and which led to the Pope to advise John to sign Magna Carta and then ignore its demands. The Barons who were upset because of the loss of land and revenues in France after John had raised new taxes to pay for his conflicts and disputes. They invited the French to get rid of the King, who became a refugee in his own land, especially when a mistake about the tides resulted in the loss of his baggage train which included the Crown Jewels. He contracted dysentery and died at Newark castle, in what is now Nottinghamshire. The barons then switched sides supporting the new nine year old King.

Despite his image there is evidence that John was not the disaster popular history has assigned him. He tried to gain some order in the way the Royal Courts of Justice were organised, keeping proper records and hearing cases where his judgements were considered fair and well informed. Winston Churchill concluded that despite his failings he did more for the future of the nation than many of those claimed to be good. What did Richard do for England except take?

Now to the Sheriff of Nottingham whose duties included capturing outlaws, ensuring the safety of trade routes and apprehending poachers. There is documentary evidence that William de Wendenal, a Norman Baron, was appointed Sheriff of Nottingham and Yorkshire before the period that the Kind was being held for ransom, but who was asked to help run the country during the period when he was held. Other than these brief facts nothing is known of him and how he did his work. There are others who are known to have held administrative positions during the period and who would have been required to raise the taxes required by the King and the Prince but more likely someone like Robin and his friends would have reacted to the local managers of the Forest because they in turn would have been answerable for the loss of game. It was also an offence to carry a bow and arrows in any of the forest lands. Guy of Gisborne was a fictional character along with all the other Robin Hood characters.

Now for Robin himself who is known to have been the subject of ballads about outlaws fighting in Sherwood of Forest but where there is record two to three hundred years after the fictitious events, “Robyn hode in Sherwode stod.” (The Term hude is said to mean wood) and subsequent reference put him at Loxley South Yorkshire. The number and extent of the ballads make into a stronger myth and legendary figure than King Arthur and also confirm the main parts of the story, that he was exceptionally skilled as an archer, and had a empathy with the peasants. He was referred to as a yeoman, in between a peasant and a nobleman and it was not until the 1500’s that he was referred to as the displaced Earl of Huntington, a large Forest area, some miles south of Sherwood. There was also reference to Little John, Much the Miller’s son and Will Scarlet. Again it was later that Friary Tuck was added and then Maid Marian, although he known to have respect as well being a friend, protector and lover of women.

The extent of the legend is that in addition to his stories he was brought into others, having mentioned the 1819 Sir Walter Scott novel he was also part of the Arthurian legend in the Sword and the Stone. In one early film it was Robin who led the Saxons against the Normans, while in the present BBC TV series, the second season involved Robin in adventures in the Holy land during which Maid Marian is killed.

I have seen many of the films and TV series during my lifetime including Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn. The 1946 Bandit of Sherwood had Cornel Wild as his son. Patrick Troughton played the first TV role although he became better known for Dr Who. Richard Green was involved in the 5 year TV series from 1955 while Donald Pleasance played King John in 1956. In 1964 Frank Sinatra played in Robbo and the Seven Hoods set in Chicago. While 1967 there was a sci fi version Rocket Robin Hood. The Walt Disney 1973 version had Robin and Marian as foxes. Robin (Sean Connery) and Marian (Audrey Hepburn) performed in the 1976 version as two retired characters at the end of their days.

In 1981 Time Bandit had John Cleese as Robin and another spoof TV version occurred in 1984 the Zany Adventures while for five years from 1989 there was a children’s programme called Maid Marian and her merry men. The extension of the story backwards took place in 1990 with Young Robin Hood as a teenager. A year later Robin Hood Prince of Thieves starred Kevin Costner with Sean Connery appearing at the end as King Richard. Princess of Thieves concerned his daughter in a 2001 made for TV series while Ridley Scoot is turning to the Legend at present time with Russell Crowe as the Sheriff.

The TV series where I watched the first three episodes of its third year over the holiday commenced in 2006 with an off beat approach aimed at the contemporary younger audience. Robin returned from the Crusades in the first episode and discovers the oppression of the people by the new Sheriff. The titles indicate the style with Who Shot the Sheriff, the Taxman Cometh, Brothers in Arms, Dean Men Walking, the Return of the King all film titles or record numbers or play on words. The end of the series involved Marian being forced into a marriage with Guy of Gisborne.

In the second series Marian is rescued and becomes a outlaw with Robin in the Forest and one episode has the Sheriff testing chemical weapons in the streets of Nottingham! Titles in the series included Show me the Money, Get Carter, Walkabout and a Good Day to Die. The Sheriff and Gisborne capture Marian and set off to the Holy land to kill the King. However in order to help the King Robin is unable to save Marian who is killed by Gisborne. She dies in his arms and the series concluded.

This was therefore the end of series after 26 episodes until the decision was taken to create a new female character Kate, to replace Marian, a high spirit and independently minded villager from Locksley.

Robin returns a broken man from the Holy lands and the death of Marian and is set on one only thing, revenge on Gisborne. Friar Tuck comes in search of Robin and saves his life and devises a plan to persuade the grief stricken man to fight on behalf of the oppressed people(Total Eclipse). Kate is introduced in the second episode and gets Robin caught when attempting to rescue her young brother who is captured by the Sheriff sale to two Irish brothers trying to take the Irish throne and rising against the English. In the third (Lost in Translation), the Sheriff blackmails the local Abbot into denouncing Robin by capturing his first translation of the Bible into Anglo Saxon, a move banned by the Pope. Eventually the Abbot admits he has lied about the situation and prevents Robin and others being burnt alive and sees his work burnt instead but in a final shot he is seen working on a second edition somewhere in France. Toby Stephens is to appear as Prince John and while a fourth series is under consideration it is understood that Kate is departing so perhaps Marian will be resurrected or her twin sister be discovered!

American enthusiasm for the story is understandable along with the Russians as it provides a strong argument for republicanism and socialism, and for fundamental Christianity. Certainly it has resonance in the era of the robber bankers.

1236 Travelling to London and Churchill's Daughter



Arriving just after seven and demolishing the other roll, a puff pastry mince pie, some grapes and a pear and a cup of tea there was no inclination to go the pictures as intended and the attempt to find out about wireless without being on line was set aside to watch a programme about the wife of Randolph Churchill which included the surprisingly candid comments of their son Winston. The programme was called Churchill's daughter although she was of course his daughter in law.

The programme and the their son and statements by the daughter in law provided a picture of Randolph as a risk taking gambler who in the war lost three year's salary on his way to Egypt and who liked alcohol too much. However even he found the behaviour of his wife too rich as she established herself as confident to her father in law and embryonic courtesan to the rich and famous. It is said that with Churchill's blessing and while still married to his son she became mistress of the leading American in the land and therefore provided Churchill with a unique perspective of the American viewpoint throughout the war from pillow talk. After which there was nothing stopping her although period in Paris and France led to a premature departure.

Young Winston admitted that he never had a mother in the conventional sense and was thrust into the adult world from the age of nine year, expected to accompany her on functions with other adults when she did not have a personal male escort, this included taking her to dances. It was when she met and married the aging and exceptionally wealthy Averill Harriman that her fortunes changed in more ways than the obvious although she quickly controlled the ongoing links with his own family with hers, so that one relative wistfully commented that whereas he was accustomed to receiving expensive gifts, that Christmas he was given a tie and Winston junior was given an aeroplane, a real one.

However it was not her acquisitive and high spending lifestyle which brought her international recognition but her fund raising and social skills led her to become the dominating influence in the Democratic party, and to discover, nurture and financially back Bill Clinton into the White House. Bill then called upon her to ask what she wanted as a reward and he overlooked career diplomats and fellow politicians to make her the American Ambassador in Paris. As the second programme on the working life of Queen Elizabeth demonstrated she has a special relationship with the Governor Generals of former territories and Ambassadors of friends and foes.

I digress to remember the night spent on a vigil outside the Russian Embassy, the sitting down outside of South Africa House and the use made of the American Embassy lending library of books and records. There was also the day I was invited to lunch with Ambassador of a country in Africa, who at Ruskin I had lent my Correspondence course on the English Language and Literature and given my half baked views on the nature of the English Civil service as the strength of democracy, only to find out afterwards that he had been the secretary of the civil service union of his country. Alas I was required to present a report to a court on the day of the lunch and had to cancel and did not receive a further invitation as a consequence.

Churchill's daughter died from a stroke after swimming a number of length the day after returning from a hectic visit to celebrate the birthday of a grandchild, having enjoyed a fox hunt jumping gates between fields. The president of France contacted her son Winston to say he had intended to award her France's highest award which he would now do so posthumously, whereupon President Clinton laid on airforce one and gave her a state funeral. Only within the last week did I discover that David Cameron is descended from the courtesan to a King which confirms the nature of wealth and political power and the opportunities available to young women with the right social education and understanding of men. It was said in the programme that when she hosted a political social event, such as a fund raiser she was skilled in taking the men to oneside, one by one, to explain her requirements of them, but to restrict the time with each individual not to arouse the concern of wives or to generate gossip which had commenced when the whole of social London knew of her special relationship with Churchill and with the American Ambassador.

Six months have passed since my last trip of any kind for the Concert marking ten years since the death of Princess Diana, I have yet to go through the DVD again and to see if during the six hours of performers and crowd interaction they came close to where I was sitting. There is still the sense of adventure before and on the day of a trip. There is great advantage in taking the car except for the travelling. Travelling by train is excellent but then there is the problem of the luggage. Little did I know how much the issue of travelling was to be a feature of this trip.

Sunday 12 April 2009

1221 Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez alias Martin Sheen

After the euphoria of yesterday I assumed Saturday would be an anti climax. I did this, and I did that, without much conviction, clear focus or intensity of being. There were no low moments, anxieties, or sadness, and then late in the day, after I had slept for a few moments and considered going to bed, I discovered that Ramon Gerardo Antonio Estevez was being shown Inside the Actors Studio, and I only needed a few seconds to recall the spiritual uplift which this man brings to anyone who cares to listen. You may know him as Martin Sheen.

You, if you are of sufficient years, may have encountered him first in 1970's in that film about the nature of life set in war, Catch 22, as 1st Lt Dobbs, and then as Kit Carruthers in Badlands, but his most famous film role was in 1979 in Apocalypse Now. He has appeared in over thirty major films and about 200 films of all kinds including documentaries predominantly for TV. For many of the later 20th century TV series generation, he is known as the President of the United States, Americans would loved him to have been, because of his role the West Wing 1999-2006.

Why is it that I regard the man as much as the actor, as one of the greats? It is because of a glowing spirit, the consequence of a traditional Catholic upbringing, of having entered into the abyss, then having a near death experience and then finding himself again and becoming a non violent activist, being arrested over fifty times, and having an understanding of heaven and hell which appears similar to mine.

His mother was Irish whose family fled to the USA because of their IRA connections, and his father was Spanish. He was part of a large family with eight brothers and one sister: one year younger than me. Despite parental opposition he borrowed money from a priest to go to New York to be the actor he wanted from an early age. His career commenced in the 1960's as I was going to college, whereas he decided against until in 2006 he enrolled in an Irish University to read literature, philosophy and theology. He is still protesting.

Late afternoon/early evening was devoted to football and to everyone's surprise Israel beat Russia and as a consequence England only have to draw against Croatia at Wembley to qualify after all. I suspect the media will have mixed views about this, sensing that had Russia won and then won its last match, the English Manager would have lost his job. There is no justice, it will be said in Scotland, because the heroic effort of their team came to an end in the first seconds of the match when they conceded a silly goal, and then as the second half progressed they equalised and had opportunities to win, only to lose in the dying seconds. Not many watching Scots will have been on the side of Israel and I expect there would have been a great cheer when after Russia equalised it looked as if they had scored a winner, only for the ball to go out after hitting the goal post. Shortly afterwards a piece of team brilliance and world class finishing sealed the victory for Israel, who also nearly had a third.

However the Scottish nation may be heading for a more profound victory. On Thursday evening I heard Andrew Neil, Diane Abbot and Michael Portillo discuss what would have been considered unthinkable, even treasonable, a decade ago, that in fact a democratic majority in Scotland could seek full political and economic independence and the significant aspect of the programme discussion was that this would not be the end of the world for England, and the rest of the UK, if this happened. If it does then my concern is that the North East would not be allowed to become part of Scotland despite the strongest of Celtic links.

In the build up to the game I reflected on the news of the past two days as a barometer of the state of these Islands. Talk of independent Scotland poses problems for the British Monarchy, as the Queen approaches her sixtieth year of reign, and given her Scottish connections and that her preference was of her mother to spend the Summer in the most northern areas of the mainland. One focus was the fact that Prince Harry is losing his hair quicker than his father, now that is news to rock the foundations of the Empire.

The Daily Mail is a good barometer of the political temperature of middle England, and appears enjoying exploiting to the maximum any government disaster although I do not share in the brutality of its assaults. Coming so soon after the debacle of seriously considering calling a general election when the motive could only have been party political or wanting to move away from manifesto commitments made by his predecessor, and with those words of inclusivity and transparency still ringing in our ears, came the news that the Home Secretary had agreed with her press office to delay disclosure that a significant number of illegal immigrants had been employed in the provision of physical security personnel to government. It is understandable that a new Minister does not want to sack officials for gross incompetence but that she could not see or understand that anything other than honest admission would be counterproductive is astonishing. The newspaper has also published a mischievous piece on Tony Blair about the impact of leaving power after ten years as prime Minister, going for his like of the trappings of wealth, and his difficulties with Gordon Brown, and attempting to suggest marital disharmony when on close reading it appears to be difficulties between the personalities managing their respective offices arising from the temporary situation as the office accommodation is being created. One of the next tests for the government is going to be the proposal to grant authority for suspected terrorists to be held in custody for more than 21 days. This smacks of Gordon trying to impose his authority and alas, if does, he will fail without the support of the Conservatives, and to start his premiership in this way would be terminal for him and for the political party.

What worries me is that at present we have more chance of being killed in a road accident, or by someone crazed from drink, drugs or lack of community mental health supervision and support, or if we are old or young, by a hospital based secondary infection, than by a terrorist. Hopefully this is because of the government led measures to prevent further atrocities but I would like to see greater effort to reduce drug taking and drunkenness on the streets, and on punishing those who fail to take all possible measures to reduce hospital based infections. If I drive a car and kill someone because I am not paying sufficient attention it may be judged to be manslaughter, and if I have not maintained the vehicle when its brakes needed fixing, of I was using my mobile phone, have excessive alcohol or have drugs in my system then the rule is that I will go to prison. If I am in charge of a hospital where not one but dozens of patients die because of secondary infection and it can be shown that I did not do all that was possible to change the position, then I should also go to prison, or at least have the matter tested in court. I do not understand why this is not happening.

1692 Stars in their eyes


Saturday was a day of several highs and lows. Birdie flew off as I opened the day room curtain, and has not been since although I was out for the greater part of day. She is back this morning. I had to go out first thing to top up the mobile as a message intended for sending the previous evening had been held up because of insufficient funds. It was bright and the supermarket car park already indicated the weekend rush to follow. On return and sending messages I enjoyed writing until deciding on an early lunch as I had gone without breakfast. I made a soup in a cup and then with two eggs instead of the usual three or four made an omelette with prawns and a couple of slices of salami. This was also enjoyable and I was soon organised to leave for the match just before one pm.

There was some post. A supply of ink cartridges had been delivered via a post office delivery van, and if there is post on a Saturday morning it comes early so finding several letters on the mat as I left was unexpected. One was the annual notice of the increase in my occupational pension. The letter said there was an increase of 5% and together with the improvement with tax allowances appeared to explain the significant increases. It was excellent news. I began to think how I might use the addition over the coming year, but did not stop to examine the detail‘s as I wanted to catch a bus before the rush. Although Birdie did not seem to be present I did not want the noise and fumes of using the car to cause any problems, similarly on return. If there is wind, opening the door can create the effect of a wind tunnel, blowing over chair or dustbin when it is severe.

On return my first thought was to check the details of the income changes for if the amount was correct there could be an issue of having paid too little tax but found I had completely misread the notice and although there was an increase it was small. I felt stupid.
It remained a pleasant spring morning as i walked down to the bus terminal and found that my delay with the Mail meant that I had just missed my choice route bus first route bus and had to wait nearly after an hour instead of the usual quarter. This was because of the match the service organised itself so that one immediately followed another as provide a service after the first became full. As the journey progressed three other buses going towards South Shields centre were noted. There are at present four route services between South Shields and Sunderland, the E 1 E2 and E6 and the most direct route the 35. In theory this means a must leaving every four minutes but they tend to set off together and at one two of the other routes were behind my bus as we left a stop on the main road passed the Town Hall.

Sunderland were playing one of the great team in the world over the past twenty years and perhaps the greatest team in terms of the consistent winning of trophies. Not only did we expect to lose but to lose badly given the way our team has performed over recent weeks with three losses in a row. The opening minutes confirmed this view as Manchester United demonstrated their ability to move forward with speed and skill. I feared we were to experience yet another football lesson. We had some moves forward but lacked the confidence and sharpness of the visitors and when they scored this came as no surprise. However Sunderland were playing well and matched Manchester at times with the playing skills and accurate passing. At the interval I thought the 1.0 score against us was unfair and therefore the equalising goal was no surprise. At one point before this the ball had hit the post and we were desperately unlucky not to score. The winning goal from united had an element of luck in it but although the loss brought us closer to the relegation bottom three within 2 points the feeling was that all is not lost, yet. I had an excellent seat close to an aisle but the policy of attending match by match rather than invest in a season ticket remains the best approach because of commitments, weather and poor play means that I would only attend a proportion of the home game anyway,

After the game I walked into Sunderland where the two lanes of the bridge roadway are given over to those on foot making their way into the city centre for car parks, the bus station and the pubs and bars. There were not a lot of shoppers left as most establishments had closed at five. My target was Wilkinsons to see if they had more of the black volumes in stock and I had brought with me a soft carry bag in hope. They did not. I then went to the Varsity Bar in a converted former civic building which is located close to the city centre Sunderland University site. I wanted to watch the Newcastle game at Stoke and fancied doing so in company although I knew from a previous visit that the audience would be hostile to Newcastle but in the present circumstances if given the choice between them and Sunderland my heart was with Sunderland more than Alan Shearer. Two of the three North West Clubs presently looked doomed along with West Brom.

I was hungry and rather than a snack decided to order a jumbo size sausage two eggs and beans plus chips for the cost of £2.50. After the food and watching Stoke score the first goal and looking as if they could go on for two or three more I decided it was time to make my way home and rather than wait for the next 35 took the E2 . Before then I noticed a man in a suit and tied back long hair move cases and bags, all his worldly good it seemed in two groups as I walked to the stop and then saw that he had managed to move some distance and close to Varsity bar as my bus went along a nearby street. He did not look the usual homeless character living on the streets. I suppressed an instinct to enquire and try and assist in someway. I am not sure I was right to pass by on the other side of the street so to speak. Perhaps I was more affected by the incident a minute or so before when there was a police vehicle and three officers speaking to one man outside a fast food outlet. It was evident this was the end of a situation as he then walked off and officers returned to their vehicle but it was a reminder that great caution has to be taken in cities and town centres on weekend evenings. This was underlined when arriving in an almost deserted South Shields centre, a very drunk and shouting man in his later 20’s early 30’s appeared from the entrance of the Ship and Royal threatening to take on all comers. Whereas the Sunderland bar had become packed with a combination of football supporters and Saturday night early revellers, I did not get the impression that the few visible occupants of the bars and pubs that I saw in Shields heralded the build up for the evening. What the situation would be like a few hours later I will investigate on another evening. The liveliest place appeared to be the supermarket as I took escalator feeling lazy after a good day. On my way tot he bus stop earlier the traffic had been at a standstill in the road leading to the supermarket and vehicles were waiting to join the queue already in the car park waiting for the next space. As I have not been this way at this hour for some time I cannot say if this was normal or unusual but suggests that in the recession food is making way for a night out.

I was back and organised before Britain’s Got talent, sorting the washing that had finished drying before departure but I left for my return. This time there was greater concentration on good and brilliant acts rather than the embarrassing hopefuls.

The biggest surprise was a plain 47 year old who reminded of Hannah Hauxwell. At the age 46 Hannah was living the family home on her own, a spinster, looking after a small farm in the Yorkshire hills which had no electricity or running water and where her income was said to be less than £200 a year but she was happy. She became famous world wide following television programmes and books about her life. She remains alive although in old age has had to leave the farm but still had an eccentric and lonely lifestyle in a village. I predict a very different future for Susan Boyle except for the world wide fame although I hope fame will not alter her basic personality. A young male tenor should go far as well as some of the novelty acts. A young black dance troupe from North London can also be expected to get to the final but less certain is a family of five mother, father a brilliant teenage son and two adorable twin girls. The son is a great find and the daughters will have all the parents saying wow.

I went to sleep watching an episode of Taggart reminding of what army life can be like as the instructors with their mission to turn out a succession of effective killers who can withstand the extremes of deprivation and weathers push the recruits to breaking point. Fortunately I woke in time to catch the hour later edition to find out the ending. Two of those killed had participated in the rape of a female recruit and a recruit had been pushed into undertaking the killings to stop them and their girl talking.

I have mentioned being contacted by someone from Australia regarding an ancestral branch of the family. The contact has now provided confirmation papers on another branch where an ancestor became the Mayor of Cape Town. I will send copies of the papers to interested members of the present day extended family tomorrow.

Friday 10 April 2009

1217 A Brotherhood and a Requiem

I have been, and remain, privileged, enjoying the experience of exceptional new events and able to unlock the memories of so many that have been. It is rare that a day passes without something which makes me say “wow, am I not the lucky one,” and then feel guilt, sadness, with the knowledge that for so many others day follows day in deprivation and misery. This was brought home to me in a radio interview of a young new immigrant family living the most appalling of tenement condition in an area of Glasgow and which reminded of when I was training to become a professional child care social worker and nearly lost my place because of writing to a Member of Parliament friend about the rented housing condition in which they found themselves. The new immigrants will always been prey to the unscrupulous profiteer and it is understandable that established communities will give priority to supporting their own. There is also the aspect of personal accountability and lack of responsibility which cannot be overlooked. In the interview the mother confided that she was too ashamed for the children to go to school because they did not have proper clothes and footwear and yet she was pregnant again. I suspect most of the existing European Community countries were unprepared for the scale of the migration of the poor from the new countries but I blame the professional advisers and planners, not the politicians, a theme which I suspect I will be returning to time and time again over the next twelve months.

The role of immigrants in welcoming countries is subject which also arose as I watched the second part of the fictionalised account Joseph Bonanno story who led one of the five main Mafia families in the US between 1930 and 1960. The second part of the story covers the decision not to support Batista in his call for the US to invade and stop Castro because Bonanno recognised that Castro had the support of the majority of the people, except for those who were part of the corrupt Batista power. The film also argued with conviction that it was the link between the Mafia and the father of the Kennedy boys that got them into power, and that the assassination was arranged by Mafia families because Bobby's insistence of pursing organised crime. So much for the Warren Commission and other official investigations then.

The Wikipedia internet information on Mafia crime in the USA is amazing. It explains that the Castellammerse war between Masseria and Maranazno families was used by Charles Lucky Luciano to have both the leaders killed within six months in order to remove the boss of bosses and create a federation called a commission to regulate activities and one of the five major families created as a consequence, was from part of Maranazno facility, the Bonanno family headed by Joe Bonanno It is widely believed that Mario Puzo based Vito Corleone, the Godfather, on Joe Bonanno because both wanted their sons to succeed them and both were opposed to moving into narcotics trade. It is understandable why many remain fascinated by these men, the leaders, especially those who kept the moral codes which meant you did not attempt to kill law enforcers and non combatants, you remained silent and took your medicine even when that meant a decade in prison, you were devoutly Catholic and financial supported the church, you tried to go into legitimate business, especially for your families and you put your life up for the welfare of your family.

These men killed, or arranged, the killing of each other, they were terrorists who exploited the poorest sections of their own communities, and attempted to corrupt, often successfully, officials in the justice system and in government at local and national level. The life of Tony Soprano and his ilk is closer to the truth than with some of the glossy the self image portrayed in the Bonanno film. The Bonanno family which commenced in 1925 with Salvatore Maranazno the boss for only 1 year and Joe for 33 years was followed 18 others with the present boss Vincent Vinny Gorgeous Bassano convicted and imprisoned so Sal the iron worker Montagna is the acting boss, Michael Mickey Nose Mancuso the underboss in prison, Nicholas Nicky Dimes Santora has become the acting underboss, Anthony Fish Fat Tony Rabito is the consigliore. 28 influential members are listed including Andrew Bonanno, 22 associates are also listed 9 inducted members of the family have defected (provided evidence) hence our knowledge of the family, plus five associates and what appears to be the seven key members of the Bath Avenue Crew. It also emerged that the defence lawyers came to admit that they were also members of the family.

What supports my contention that while the crime and corruption can never be condoned and should be appropriately punished, it is important to see the whole individual, Joe Bonanno was brought to the USA his father in 1906 and operated a bar restaurant until being required to return to the family in Castellammare del Golfo in Scilly because of feuding family business interests,

Joe was orphaned at 15 and attempt to make his way enrolling in a nautical college at Palermo and shortly aft wards Mussolini rose to power cracking down on everyone in Sicily thought to be mafia or associated because of their potential threat to the regime, torturing and executing hundreds. Jo joined an anti fascist student group and were forced to flee Italy for their lives by freighter to Marseilles, then to Paris and Cuba and hen smuggled ashore in Florida by boat from where he got himself to the area where he had lived as a boy in Brooklyn, affiliating himself to the neighbourhood Mafioso who were mainly from his home town.

I have explained all this because England is having to get used to the arrival of the Mafioso from all parts of Europe these days just as it was many of the Hungarian Mafioso who came here after the failed revolution. Protection rackets, the sex industry in all its form and drugs and money laundering have become an international and world wide business which digital and internet communications and international transport systems has made easy, together with the corruption by those in the police and judicial systems, and in politics and the administration at national and local level. Britain was never immune but the scale and pace of the development is now our problem. The film alleges that Joe and fellow Sicilians actively supported the allied invasion to end the Fascist rule in Italy, which would explain some official blind eye in the immediate post war period.

It is also important to member that addition to the individual role in the Mafioso, the Cosa Nostra and brotherhoods or whatever romanticised name given organised criminal gangs the majority led normal family lives marrying and raising children. Joe married Fay Labruzzo in 1931and had three children, his eldest son Salvatore developed a mastoid ear infection and was sent to a private residential school in Tucson Arizona, and Joe, who had already moved out of Brooklyn to Long Island, subsequently bought property in Tucson and retired and died there subsequently.

It was only in the mid sixties that the USA authorities were able to begin to officially unravel the extent of the situation which had developed in the century before then, because Joseph Valachi of the Genovese family broke the code of omertia and accurately explained the working structures and many of the leadership, as well as something of the recent history.

The significance of Bonanno is not that he made a multi personal fortune from loan sharking, bookmaking, numbers racket running (we now call it the national and European lottery) and prostitution but he became an effective business man in the fields of the garment industry, cheese factories and funeral homes and had interests in Tucson and Canada as well as the original interests in New York. The concept of the global business is not a post second world war phenomena.

And I underline, as I have mentioned before, and will continue to repeat I found some of the most loyal monarchists, national flag wavers and religious people were criminals, encountered in prison and through my professional and managerial work.

While the likes of you and me will plan to make at least one visit and make one trip to or from what the head if the best railway system in the world, the SNCF, has said, is likely to be recognised as the best railway station in the world, it is the international business class, and celebrities and personalities that are like to make use of the new 5 star hotel and private apartment complex to be opened in 2009 from the neo gothic front of St Pancras station and it can be assumed that only proportion of the 150000 a week using the international part of the station will be able to afford to use the longest champagne bar and the other top nosh places to be opened and also that a proportion of these will be using cash that is dodgy, but this does not mean that the rest of us cannot celebrate the fact that the station has been created in the capitol than elsewhere and for me that it is next door to my usual arrival station is an added bonus. There is no doubt that the new station will become an even greater attraction than the New Wembley and the completion of two such buildings in one year does indicate an upturn in national fortunes despite all the other problems.

The programme tonight concentrated on the role of the architect as he battled to ensure the standards of the design and concept were maintained, (and at a personal level if he has developed throat cancer which he had not), and the young female project coordinator for the lower level commercial centre working seven days a week for six months. The more I find out I am in greater awe.

Afterwards I discovered an audio visual tour on the official site which is yet limited in the information provided. I cannot wait to see the 9 metre statue of contemporary lovers (a successor to the Rodin?) and there is to be, if not already, a statue of Sir John Betjeman who I remember fighting to save the station from demolition in the 1960's. Although Eurotrains commenced operation yesterday the complex is still in the process of completion. The main area is the famous William Henry Barlow shed which now has 18000 panes of self cleaning glass and repainting the iron work to match the original blue required 20000 litres of special paint I will leave some of the other stats until later in the series.

I stopped working comparatively early last night to check out the suitability for a young view of one the Daily Mail free DVD's which was fortunately in two episodes as it enabled me to see first the programme on St Pancras and then a magnificent recording of Verdi's Messa Da Requiem, which I first heard live at a Promenade at the Royal Albert Hall in 1956, over fifty years ago, after buying a half season Promenade Ticket. The Hall was a magnificent magical place then and I plan to return to see the latest refurbishments on my December visit to London although it looks as if there are no behind the scenes tours scheduled, or they are already fully booked. I will make further enquiries by phone. Alas I have not retained the programmes, tickets or other information of that first experience. As soon as I was able to do so I purchased the Deutsche Grammophon version with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Ferenc Fricsay (Hungary) conducting. and it is only within the past three years that I purchased a CD recording with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker, also on Deutsche Grammophon. Tonight's Performance channel recording also featured the Berliner Philharmoniker, conductor Claudio Abbado and the soloists the gorgeous Angela Georgiou, Daniella Barcellona, Roberto Alagna and Julian Konstantinov.

No one can hear this Requiem without being moved by its beauty, tenderness, celestial soaring, and powerhouse crescendo's and thundering choruses and I always listen in wonderment at the human being who created the work and those who perform it. I also have Requiems by Mozart, Rutter, Faure, and Durefle. No one can hear Verdi's work and doubt the immortality of the human spirit.

I should have gone to bed then but wanted to see the outcome of Merlin's Apprentice which I quickly decided was not suitable for anyone under 12 which if I looked closer is what it states on the cover. The first three Daily Mail giver always were marked PG so I forgive myself a little except for my motto Never assume anything, always check first and if possible do it yourself.

Monday 6 April 2009

1218 St Pancras rebuilt, Bonanno and the Gasman did not cometh

Tuesday Tuesday the gas man cometh, not. I went to bed around 1am and was up soon after 7am having set the automated BT reminder call service. I had two risings and associated dreams during the night which I cannot remember, the dreams that is or the feelings associated with them. At present this does matter because I am not having to make any decisions which affect others, but I need to constantly monitor my emotional balance and have a connection with the forces within me, even if they are buried and I do not understand the specifics.

Although I believed I had everything organised for the visit of the gas servicing man it was nine before I was satisfied that everything was in order, and it occurred that it would be good self discipline to establish such a detailed check once a month. I sat down after two slices of toast and tea, feeling more tired that on rising and was bleary eyed for the next two hours.

The planned highlight of the day was significantly better than hoped for. This was only the first of two programmes about the recreation of St Pancras station at a cost of £800 million to become Europe's premier railway destination, transporting 20000 people a day. The first programme brilliantly conveyed the tensions and conflicts between the architect designer responsible for maintaining the standards of listed 1 building, satisfying Heritage standards which is something I have learned a little about over the past two decades are exacting, together with the missionary zeal of the architect to produce a building with a quality finish which will last another 125 years, and with the commercial interests to build on budget and on time and where significant bonus payments were to be obtained. It was evident that those involved were in the big league, likely to have interest in projects such the 2012 Olympics and the new London Thames flood drainage system. Reputations made or were therefore of crucial importance.

The surprise therefore was the unexpectedly honesty of the programme, revealing four interesting and genuine personalities. The lead architect, on his own now when in the beginning he had worked with a team of 40, was in despair as short cuts were made because of costs and time scheduling, and he was left to fight the 900 responsible for getting the engineering and building work completed according to time and budget. I know a little about the problems of project control and coordination, having attended a short management course and subsequently being accountable as lead client officer for the replacement of several old buildings by purposed designed projects. These were modest buildings in terms of cost and numbers involved but they affected the lives of vulnerable individuals, young, old and disabled.

The lead architect broke down at one point, threatening to resign until talked out of out by a colleague and told to stay in to fight his corner for all his might. He was up against a formidable budget controller who interestingly was a woman who combined likeability and good communication skills with a determination which could still build an empire but on budget and on time. She explained, with great charm, that she had one of many conversations such suggesting how £25000 be saved by doing x, but then asked if this was achieved could £15000 be used on y and where she had to point out that each was a separate issue, and one felt that not only would she question hard why the £15000 was needed but also if more could be saved by doing z instead of y. It was also evident that she was able to get everyone else on her side by setting their goals with the carrot of the bonus structure which also interestingly had not been revealed to her.

The other extraordinary young woman was in overall charge of completing the under train level which is now being publicised as the feature of the station with up market shops and the longest champagne bar in the world, and which makes it different from being one other international transport centre. She came a cross as a little powerhouse of directness and honesty which I suspect would have won the Great War in half the time. The fourth individual was the man responsible for finishing the lower ceiling on time when the prefabricated panels arrived very late and then in bulk. The lass thought the architect should have been firmer saying on camera what she thought of the individual in question. She was obviously right but so was the Architect who explained that if he had been tougher the individual might have broken under the pressure and then they be!

I am a great believer that any building reflects all those involved, the commissioners, architects, engineers and every construction worker. I have yet to see the second part or the building itself which is now on my agenda for the Monday of the return journey from London in December. (I have the beginnings of an idea in that if as I now expect from a recent e mail I will receive the free first class ticket from GNER I will use not for a trip to London in the new Year but to Paris, even if this only involves one night or two stay.) But if tonight's programme is any indication the visit to the station will also be important because the building involves the recreation of the past made relevant for to day and to morrow. This is what my work is all about.
While I was cool about the non appearance of the gas man as the morning progressed I could not concentrate on the work in hand and decided to progress further my effort to beat the computer 101 times at level two chess. I have altered my approach which previously was to reset the information table until it was able to 101 games without defeat or a draw. Now I included all games played at the level so as to have a record of the nature of task undertaken. That I did not think of this approach before is another example of my slowness. By the end of the day 153 are registered since taking the decision of which 143 have been won, 10 drawn, and no loses, also showing a run of two draws in succession. The current winning streak is 32 which has lowered the percentage of drawn games from 10% at the worst point to 7%. However this tells less than half the story as not included are winning runs of 56, one in the forties, in the thirties, two in twenties and several in the tens, somewhere between two hundred and two hundred and twenty five games I estimates more than are shown. But the third level will be inclusive, although I am not sufficiently confident to predict when this will commence as I still have moments when I press ahead when tired or otherwise not concentrating, and lose to a draw, in a situation which with a fraction of extra care a negative position can be reversed.

Once I have mastered a level of play I should be able to complete 101 games and anything less than that underlines the progress that has to be in having the kind of total self control that enables some to walk through fire, chop through thick wood ro endure multi facet deprivation. While by body has reached the point when it is too old to be put such a test in a practical way, I should still be able to discipline the mind which in turn should discipline my emotional being.

I believe that only then will all aspects of my work attain the standards I seek and I need. One physical manifestation should be long term weight reduction which will only come about by eating less quantities and for the time being cutting out all comfort eating, however tempting. The test will be to spread the eating of the Christmas goodies to a little at a time although the inclination will be to wolf the lot before Christmas Day, I have taken the decision not to plan too much in advance other than to get what food I will need to avoid the madness which comes over supermarkets in the week beforehand.

The gas man did not come between the allotted time of 8am and 1pm and it was 1.15pm before I decided to find out the position. I was put through to customer services after someone checked the record and could not understand why no one had arrived. I was told that the service operative had not indicated why she had not arrived and I would be contacted again. Thus the gas man became the gas woman.

I was then told that I should not expect a visit until 2.30- 3pm of if this was not satisfactory another individual could be allocated. I had no reason to doubt what was being said to me at that time. This fitted into my wish to go to Smiths, for to-day's DVD and in order not to be unduly long I took the car as a Asda and walked from there. It was very cold and the cold gets easily into my chest and in haste I had forgotten a hat and scarf. Beginning to think of Christmas was reinforced by the arrival of two undressed Christmas Trees either side of the central mast which appeared at the junction between the two shopping roads in town and the area of night clubs bars and restaurants, I speculated that this might be an unwise location as revellers revelled the closer to Christmas. Today workmen were in the process of enclosing the lower level of the tree so it was evident my misgivings were shared by the powers that be.

I returned home knowing I was likely to need another wee dram of single malt at bedtime if there was any sign of the cold wind on chest having lingered. I continued with some work, some chess and some in tray attending, all at a leisurely pace. Around 3.45 I decided to check again and this time it was revealed that the service operative had switched off their mobile phone, so I began to question if there had been any contact earlier. I was told that my job had been pinned which meant I was the next job to be allocated, but at the time I assumed this was in relation to the previously mentioned service agent. I rang again after 5.30 assuming that as no would be coming I needed to when they would. This time I was told that the attempt had been made to arrange for someone to come but emergency calls had intervened. This was reasonable because of the cold, priority had to be given to mothers, especially with young children and the old, and then I realised of course that this included me. A new appointment had been made for between 12 and 2 tomorrow. Somehow I suspect this will be an ongoing situation although this confirms the wisdom of having done a good house make ready.

Throughout the day I had the TV on the umbrella channel for the option of then uninterrupted radio channels as the selection was good and stayed good and I was not tempted to watch a film, until the evening meal, a ham omelette with oven chips. Ok it should have been salad instead of chips but once a fortnight should be alright and it was a few chips. I will do some smoked mackerel fillets and vegetables tomorrow with perhaps an early soup and roll or two tomorrow around 11.30. I must plant bulbs for spring flower although I do not want to disturb the window boxes yet as the pink/purple flowers planted in April have continued despite the cold nights.

I did watch three TV programmes this evening. The first m over the evening meal there was another chunk of Bonanno, a two part Mafia story stretching, as they all tend to do, through illegal gambling and women, work contracts and protection, on to prohibition and into drugs and legitimate business involving friends in the police, judiciary and in politics, the codes of honour and the need for redemption as life draws to a natural close. One day I will make a point of watching the whole programme as it seems that for years I have watched half an here and hour an hour there. I was reviewing this writing with a programme about Johnny Cash in the background when I remembered to check and loo, the second of Bonanno is on in a few minutes. Time to get the evening meal underway. There are aspects of Ground Hog day today.

This reality of experience past present and future only served to underline the stretching of credulity of the current Spooks series which bravely but unsuccessfully in my judgement attempts to make each programme separate but part of an ongoing series. The writers appear to be doing everything they can to drive a wedge between Britain and America painting us as the goodies and the US as the baddies in the security services, although if this is an accurate portrayal of our present security high ups I would sack the lot for incompetence. There were two glaring examples in tonight's programme. It took sudden recognition that there must be a mole within the system to arrange a full security sweep for bugs of all kinds. Now any five year old these days, well a bit of an exaggeration, but most older children know that if you are in any kind of organisation where us may wish to know what you are going or thinking of doing, you pay to have the best sweep to establish security at regular but irregular intervals. If you are the top security organisation then you will do it continuously. The second is that you will have surveyed every reservoir system and water supply system to ensure that the controls are available to isolate if the supply becomes contaminated in any way and that trhere is an automatic detection warning system for anything which could potential harm the public. Anything less than this is criminal negligence. But then of course I go back to my own experience and starting praying that things have improved over the past two decades.

This morning was milder and the gas man cometh and all is well but after a winning streak of 45 games However I did get round to making two important communications. I need to relax a little this evening.

1215 Remembrance Day,Mitch Sydner Story, Charkes Chilton, My Boy Jack

The sun was shining when I left to walk down my hill and then up the long hill to the Town Hall for the assembly of the Remembrance Day Parade and then continue up the hill to where the Cenotaph is inappropriately located for a large gathering of service and ex service and other citizens to assembly. During the service there was a rainbow in the distance and some splattering of rain. Later there was a plethora of programmes, many overlapping centred on this Remembrance day which appeared to be having renewed significance as the numbers in Whitehall and locally have grown during the past two years as the number of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan have increased.

The programme schedules included choice of programme with two plays on at the same time and Life and Nothing But on BBC4. I can watch one and record the other, Earlier there are similar spoilt for choice problems.

5.50 6.50 BBC 1 Wilfred Owen

6.30-7.30 Not Forgotten Channel 4

6.50-7.50 BBC 2 Cenotaph Highlights

7.00-800Verdun Descent into Hell repeated midnight

7.05 The Girl and the General TCM World War film

8.00-9.00 What did you in the Great War Daddy BBC4

9-11.00 My Boy Jack on ITV

9-10.30 Life is nothing BBC1

9.00 Digging Up the Trenches

9.00-11.00 The Last Tommy Uk History

01.00 Ypres Gas Hell

12.10-12.40 Chelsea Pensioners

Before all this I discovered an interesting biographical film, The Samaritan The Mitch Synder Story, Mitch (1946-1990) appears to have been outwardly a conventional American who was married with two children and working in advertising in New York when sometime before 1970 he abandoned his work and family, and went in search of his true self, but in 1970 he was arrested and imprisoned when it was discovered that the vehicle in which he was travelling with a friend was stolen. In prison he became a born again Christian and a believer in non violence and joined the Community for Creative Non Violence in Washington DC. This organisation which was involved in non violent direct action in relation to the Vietnam War, also provided a medical clinic, a pre-trial house, soup kitchen, thrift store and half way house.

There was a growth in the number of homeless destitute people in the later 1970's and 1980's and Mitch Synder was a major figure in the campaign to obtain official help and support for the provision of accommodation and other services, involving demonstrations, public funerals for those freezing to death and fasting as well as, other direct action which involved illegal activity. The motion picture film is very sympathetic toward Mitch who had many critics, because of his background and methods which included a tendency to exaggerate figures. Nevertheless Jesse Jackson, Cher and one of his two sons walked in the march honouring his life after he committed suicide and the conveys that he was a man wracked with self doubt and self criticism with his campaigning years as a form of atonement

My plan was to record the programme on Wilfred Owen in another room while watching Ian Hislop's visual essay on the social impact of the war, but having decided to watch the opening of the Jeremy Paxman film on Owen, I abandoned the Hislop. I became affected by the poets of the Great War at the very time I was campaigning against the development of weapons of mass destruction, the inevitable progression from the mechanisation of war commenced by Germany in the years leading to 1914

As a young man I came across his poems together with those of Rupert Brooke where I have two volumes, and Siegfried Sassoon and in 1997 I saw the film Regeneration based on the book by Pat Barker which concentrates on the relationship between Owen, who had shell shock post traumatic stress, and Sassoon who had been banished to Craiglockhart hospital because of his criticism of the military leadership and approach to the continuation of the war. Owen recovered sufficiently to return to the front and the letters to his mother reveal the changes that he had undergone and which had led to the creation of poems which are now the most venerated in the English language after Shakespeare. The programme revealed the extent of the influence and involvement of Siegfried Sassoon on his writing, and which in the examples given showed that he helped to make the writing more direct and powerful. Having made the decision to watch the whole of the film I continued by watching the official recording of the morning's national service of Remembrance. The South Shields Member of Parliament represented the government together with the Prime Minister.

After this there was a moving programme about the children of some of the men who did not return with a major voice of influence from my childhood, Charles Chilton recounting that he never knew his father, and that his mother died when he was six, leading to being raised by his grandparents. Charles joined the BBC when he was 15, as a messenger, and after becoming an assistant in the record library commenced to produce a weekly jazz programme, the Radio Rhythm Club before the commencement of World War II.

During five years of War service in the RAF he ran the Forces Radio station in Sri Lanka with David Jacobs, and on return he was responsible for two programmes which dominated my adolescence and first period as a young man in work, the time when I discovered the world of big band jazz, and the traditional jazz revival in around Soho, modern jazz and classical music through the Promenade concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, buying a season ticket. The First radio programme which influenced me greatly and lasted five years was Riders of the Range based on the history of Western America and between 1953 and 1959 he wrote and produced Journey into Space. Having achieved professional success Charles commenced to investigate the reality of the World War in which his father had died and together with Joan Littlewood they created what was regarded as controversial at the time, the musical Oh What a Lovely War at the Theatre Royal Stratford in 1963 transferring Wyndhams Theatre. In 1969 Richard Attenborough directed and produced the film which has that extraordinary image of an endless field of crosses and which starred John Mills, Laurence Olivier, John Geilgud, Michael Redgrave, Maggie Smith and Susannah York.

I am convinced that I saw the production at the Theatre Royal and that I have a programme but can I find, it although I have collated all my programmes from for forty years in one box, Having yesterday written about visiting a show at Great Yarmouth the ticket confirms that I sat in row K12 of the stalls at 8.40 on Sunday August 30th for Grace Kennedy in Concert at the Britannia Theatre, but further research will be required to establish the year. Charles Chilton who is an active 90 was only one of bereaved children whose memories of their brief contact with their fathers remains as alive to day and it was when that had the experience.

These included the daughter whose 15 year campaign led to the pardon of her father executed for shell shock. Others visited the war graves including one who not finding a grave with his father's name was directed to a monument on which are listed the 35000 men missing presumed dead who remains were never found. This was but one of the 200 cemeteries
These programmes were the right build up for an excellent new film Drama My Boy Jack based on the fact that Rudyard Kipling fixed for his son to become a Commissioner Officer, in the Irish Guards at the age of 17, despite the inability to see without glasses, and he approved that his son could go to the front and into battle before his 18th birthday. He died that day in 1915 but it was four years before the parents accepted that he had died, .and Kipling is believed to have felt guilty by writing the lines "If any question why we died, because our fathers died."

Kipling who went out of fashion in the sixties was part of my Childhood. His poems were taught at school and I grew up with those made into films watching recently for the umpteenth time the film Gunga Din made in 1939 staring Douglas Fairbanks Junior and the earlier 1937 Captains Courageous with Spencer Tracey and Mickey Rooney, remade for television in 1977 and again 1996. There was also Kim Errol Flynn in 1950 with Peter O'Toole for TV 1984. His poem Mandalay was used for the Song On the Road to Mandalay, but perhaps the best known and loved have been the Jungle Book stories with films made 1937, in 1942, 1994, 1997 and 1998 with a new two year project commenced this year and perhaps the best known film being the 1967 animated version ,recently released as a special DVD edition, His just so stories have also been enjoyed by children for a century. He received the Nobel prize for Literature in 1907. His belief and commitment in the British Empire as positive development, his distrust of Germany intentions, like Churchill subsequently, led him to campaigning for rearmament, 150000 men against 1.5 million at the time and that he was a key part of the propaganda committee during the war.

It would be surprising if tonight's film did not attract a major audience because the part of his son was played by the young man who the present generation has witnessed grow up on screen from the ages of 12 to 18 years as Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe. It is worth underlining that the Harry Potter books are now the greatest international best sellers of all time and that the films have so far earned over four thousand million dollars at the box office, greater than James Bond films of which there have been 21 and the six Star wars together. The contrast between the two roles could not be greater and such was the level of performance that it was only after watching the film that I worked out who the young actor was, although I accept I was probably the only viewer that did not know. The performance is likely to be awarding winning and already Imperial War Museum and Sussex University have mounted exhibition about the story of the Kipling's son, and the parental search for what happened to him which lasted four years after he disappeared at the battle of Loos. I can understand this need to establish the precise circumstances and if established the fear and the pain which their child experienced. It is a personal need, although at times it is coupled with a compulsion to ensure that others also understand what happened and why. Most learn or know that it will not help to prevent similar situations arises such is the true nature of human behaviour, although if the individual stories touch and influence others in a small way then that is a bonus. I hope I begin to go someway in explaining that memory in all its forms is the meaningful art experience of today.