Other than a few childhood home movies, no film footage of Nick Drake exists. So director Berkven had to create a sense of Drake through other means. That he succeeds is quite remarkable.
He is enormously helped by Nick’s mother Molly. Her own music uncannily evokes her son’s and creates a deeply emotional dimension to A Skin Too Few.I blogged about Molly Drake a couple of years ago.
"I have got a family that still includes school age children. And the commitment that it takes to be party leader in modern politics is enormous.
"My family already miss out on a lot just by virtue of the fact that I'm an MP and I'm a minister and I'm away from home every week .
"At least I feel that they miss out on a lot, they might feel differently."So perhaps there was something in Lord Bonkers' tip after all?
"My wife comes from Shopshire."
"Much Wenlock?"
"I get my share."I once wrote about the Wenlock Olympian Games in the New Statesman.
The real problem with tuition fees is that they are largely a PFI scheme, designed to get the debt off the government's books for a while
— Jonathan Calder (@lordbonkers) February 27, 2015
It was a disastrous combination of Britain’s draconian libel laws (generally so beloved of celebrities with unsavoury secrets and lawyers well aware of ‘star-struck’ juries), victims intimidated by Savile's celebrity status and powerful connections plus police indifferent to (or themselves intimidated by) allegations against the rich and powerful ... that conspired to protect Savile and other VIP abusers.
The documentary itself is a rather straightforward forerunner to his more complex classics such as A Century of the Self and the Power of Nightmares.
It's lacking his voice (it's narrated instead by reporter David Jones) and his trademark crazy soundtrack but otherwise many of the Curtis tropes are here: suspicion of those in high places and the whiff of institutionalised corruption and conspiracy. But the style feels more like an episode of Panorama rather than his later authored pieces.
Still, there's great interviews with T. Dan Smith, Kenneth Campbell and particularly Cleeve Barr, and some amazing archive footage.
An iconic symbol of Leicester’s industrial past and radical working class traditions has been given listed-building status following a campaign to preserve it.
The former Boot and Shoe Operatives Union Building, in St James Street, off Humberstone Gate, has been designated as a Grade II-listed building. It follows a campaign by the Leicester Group of the Victorian Society.
The 103-year-old building, designed by city architects Harrison & Hattrell in the final year of Queen Victoria's reign, survives largely intact.
Dr David Holmes researched the city’s boot and shoe industry as part of the Victorian Society's application to conservation watchdog, English Heritage.
He said: “The building was threatened with conversion to flats which would have destroyed its fine interior.
"We are particularly pleased because it is unique in Leicester as being the only major national trade union headquarters in the city."So on Saturday I went to photograph it. It is a pleasing building, very much of its era. You can find it off Humberstone Gate in Leicester, behind Sainsbury's and across the road from the Spiritualist church.
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| © Ashley Dace |
I am not worried that Nick Clegg will lose Sheffield Hallam. This is not so much that I believe Nick is immensely popular as because I cannot picture Labour winning a prosperous suburban seat like this.More recently still, Lord Bonkers has scotched the idea.
Sheffield Hallam is far from the highrise towers and former steelmills of the Steel City. Whilst not all the seat is not rich ... overall Sheffield Hallam is one of the most affluent constituencies outside of the South East and it has the 70th highest median income of the 650 in the country – that is wealthier than Tunbridge Wells or David Cameron’s Witney. It has the lowest level of child poverty of any constituency in the land.
It is certainly one of the most highly educated seats in the nation: 60% of those of working age have a degree – that’s more than Cambridge. In 2001, the constituency had more people classified as professionals of any in the UK.But what about the disaffected student vote? Surely that will cost Nick dearly?
A lot of the Liberal Democrats’ success here since 1997 has been put down to the student vote. Whilst there is a fairly large student population ... this is less than before the 2010 boundary changes. Those changes removed Broomhill ward, which includes the main campus of the University of Sheffield, and replaced it with Stannington ward to the north.
Now, it is Sheffield Central next door that is the student hotbed: 39% of adults there are in fulltime education.That's blog's conclusion ("with some regret") is that Nick "looks likely to continue to be Hallam’s MP".
Announcing her selection on Facebook, she said: "I would like to announce officially that I am the selected PPC candidate for Hitchin and Harpenden.
"Thank you to all the members who attended tonight, for their kind and very warm reception. I look forward to working with you all."
She added: "To my friends and family who encouraged me to keep going and have always got my back I love you all, but it's only just begun because I need your help now to knock some doors and help me on the campaign".
This group of shops, cottages and outhouses were built c1815-30 and are typical of Leicester in the early C19th century. Although they are not architectural masterpieces, these buildings are an important part of Leicester’s social history.
What makes the Garden Street Island special is that it includes slums that escaped demolition in 1931. These one up one down cottages are on Garden Street and the former Garden Street Square (Court C, Garden Street). Apart from Cramant Cottages in King Street, these are the last surviving slums in Leicester. They are the only ones remaining which face onto a street.
The shops on Belgrave Gate are also an important part of the street scene and their demolition would also be a particular loss to the individual character of the City and its history. Linnett’s hairdressers and perfumery at 124 –126 Belgrave Gate was in business in 1835. Next door was the long defunct Brewer’s Arms.I went to photograph the properties on Saturday, and here they are in all their glory.
There she goes! #NewWalkCentre #demolition #demolished pic.twitter.com/S2rcC5RkRn
— LeicesterCityCouncil (@Leicester_News) February 22, 2015
My family moved to Morcott early in 1960 when my father became Rector of Morcott and South Luffenham, and almost at once, the railway became part of my life.
Previously, we had lived a few miles south of Northamapton, close to the main line from Euston to Scotland, and there, I had developed an interest in trains. Now, I was to travel every day to school in Stamford by train.
The train was a tank locomotive (BR Standard or Ivatt 2-6-2T for the technically-minded) and two corridorless coaches. Boys and girls travelled in separate compartments in the front coach and everyone else travelled in the back coach.
It was also an unspoken rule that everyone had their own space on the bench-like seats stretching across the width of the coach. New boys were 'strapped' with the thick leather strap that lowered or raised the window.
The train was well used every day with people travelling to work in Stamford, as well as the school pupils, and the wooden platform at Morcott was always busy at 8-20 each morning. One boy even cycled from Glaston to catch the train at Morcott.
On the way home in the afternoon, it was possible to either wait at Stamford or travel on an earlier Leicester-bound train to Luffenham, and join the Seaton train there. I often did the latter, and once, got into a compartment at Luffenham with two girls returning from Oakham. Even at the tender age of 10, I was told pretty sharply by the station staff to get out and go to the boys' compartment!
On another occasion, the other boys wouldn't let me onto the train, and the driver told me to get in his cab. I had a never to be forgotten ride on the footplate from Luffenham to Morcott!
Apart from journeys to school, I spent a lot of time watching the trains at the station and got to know the station master – Mr Veazey – well. There was one freight train each day which ran through soon after 11 am.
It only stopped if there were wagons to pick up or drop off, and was busiest during the 'beet season' in the autumn when wagonloads of sugar beet were send off to the sugar factory in Peterborough. At this time, the train could be very late, having shunted wagons at every station from Rugby.Last year I found the platform at Stamford station that this service must have used.
Leicester Crown Court heard that Potter, of Winslow Green, Netherhall, drove to the city’s Keyham Lane police station and told officers her car had been spat on when she left it outside a friend’s house in Steins Lane on August 8, 2013.
Potter said she had just seen Mr Taylor, with whom she had split up with in 2010 after an 18-year relationship, driving past her car in his van.
She signed a statement saying she had seen Mr Taylor at the wheel and heard a “flobbing” sound before he smirked at her and drove off.
The police investigated and established Mr Taylor was more than 40 miles away working in Birmingham at the time Potter stated she had seen him in Leicester.
DNA testing of the spitle on Potter’s windscreen showed it belonged to a Simon Birch.
Potter said she had no idea who Mr Birch was but he told officers he had previously fallen out with the defendant after she had thrown a kebab at him."After the jury's verdict the judge told Potter:
“Perverting the course of justice is a serious offence. It is often met with an immediate sentence of imprisonment. You must understand that may be inevitable in this case."Potter has taken to Facebook to proclaim her innocence, but she has in the past been known for her robust views on punishment.
"Bring it on. Give these murderers the option of the noose, the electric chair or lethal injection. I think the vast majority would back this campaign. People are disgusted and appalled by those who murder vulnerable people such as children, or those who work to try and protect the public, like the police."
A UKIP General Election candidate has agreed to pay £1,000 to charity after making false accusations against Harborough MP Sir Edward Garnier QC.
Clive Langley alleged in a tweet that the former Solicitor General and prominent libel lawyer had made an improper claim for a “very expensive desk”.
In a second tweet he alleged that Sir Edward may have made improper claims for staff expenses to the tune of £133,000.
But Sir Edward said: “My office desk is not mine. It belongs to the House of Commons. The desk at home I inherited from my late mother-in-law. He said the staffing expenses had been authorised and could be seen on line.
He told Mr Langley in a letter: “Both allegations are false and calculated to sow suspicious about me in the minds of the publishees.”I'm not sure what 'publishees' is doing here, but I guess that is why I am not a leading libel barrister like Sir Edward.
The whole of his life had been coloured by the war, and like many other participants in that terrible conflict, the experience made him a passionate believer in European unity.
Much of his political life was devoted to that idealistic concept, including membership of the Council of Europe and a brief spell in the European parliament before it became a directly elected body. He spent many years on House of Lords committees charged with examining EU legislation.As George Mackie he sat for Caithness and Sutherland between 1964 and 1966. At the time of his death, he was the longest surviving former Liberal MP.
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| Copyright © Mike Seaborne |
In 1983-6 I undertook an extensive photographic project on the Isle of Dogs in East London to document the area prior to its redevelopment. This involved not only photographing the streets and buildings but also inside factories, schools, community centres and other social spaces.
The aim was to make a record of the Island before ‘big money’ moved in and transformed both the landscape and the people who lived and worked there. This project was undertaken in conjunction with the Island History Trust whose aim is to collect and interpret the history of the area for the benefit of both local people and anyone else with an interest in the area, past, present or future.
During 2013, with the aid of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, approximately 1500 photographs (all black & white) have been archivally printed, captioned and put into albums arranged by subject. These are available for viewing in person at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives.
All the photographs on the site are covered by a Creative Commons license. This means that they may be copied and used for non-commercial purposes provided they are correctly credited - as above - and are not altered or cropped.However, the photographs have also been digitised and are presented on this website as a series of online galleries which reflect the physical albums in the collection.
Looking at recent opinion polls, I too have been wondering whether the Lib Dems might not outpoll Ukip. It has to be said, though, that this has more to do with the steady slippage of Ukip support than any great surge for us.Further evidence that this may happen came this afternoon in the shape of an opinion poll from ICM.
'SCUSE ME, WHAT IS THIS PROJECT ABOUT?
We’ve put together an adaptation of the Lone Pine Series. We are a registered charity and are producing this play in order to reach young people with quality theatre. We want to share with them a tale of adventure and daring and empower them to be brave in exploring the countryside on their own.
Above all, we want them to have a great time. And in doing so, we hope to bring a new generation of readers to these brilliant books. But we need your help to pull it off. ...
ACKSHERLEY I’D LIKE TO KNOW A BIT MORE.
Pentabus is the nation’s rural theatre company. Based on a farm in Shropshire, over the last 40 years we’ve produced 150 new plays and toured to half a million audience members. We make quality professional theatre inspired by the rural world. Our Artistic Director, Elizabeth Freestone, loved the Lone Pine books when she was a child.
Over the last two years we’ve been working closely with Malcolm Saville’s family and playwright Alice Birch to bring the Lone Pine Club to life. Alice is one of the UK’s most exciting young playwrights. She recently won the George Devine Award for her play Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. She’s written a funny, raucous play that perfectly captures the energy and characters we all know and love.
Our play is called The Lone Pine Club because it’s not an adaptation of one particular book. Rather, it’s a play inspired by and based on the main characters that crop up across the whole series. Our hope is that young people in the audience will go away inspired to do two things – play outside and read the Lone Pine books for themselves. ...
IT ALL SOUNDS BRILLIANT. WHAT DO WE NOW?
Make a donation at the level that feels right for you. We promise to honour our pledge and give you something in return. And we’ll look forward to seeing you on tour!
accused the authority of overlooking the county's hillier rural parts where the recent snow had lingered once the ice had melted in towns.
She said in particular the village of Priest Weston had not seen a school bus for three weeks due to a combination of roadworks and a lack of arrangements to grit the roads. ...
Councillor Kidd said: "The recent blast of wintery weather came and went quite quickly for most of the county.
"But for much of the Bentlawnt, White Grit and Priest Weston area the snow and ice lingered much longer.
"Unfortunately the council seemed to have forgotten much of the area when it came to gritting."I knew this photograph would come in useful one day.
At the moment it fells like they are making it up on the hoof, as teams do when they dither over sacking a captain and leave it until a few weeks before a tournament.
Here they dropped Ravi Bopara after 11 consecutive games to replace him with Gary Ballance, who had not played a one-day international for nearly six months. He batted at three too, a position Taylor had occupied with occasional distinction since November. He in turn was demoted to bat at no 6 for the first time in his England one-day career and made a mockery of that move.
England tinkered with the bowling as well. Chris Woakes had taken the new ball in 15 of his last 16 one-day internationals. This time it went to Stuart Broad for the first time for nearly a year.Let us remember that in order to give England the best possible chance at the World Cup, the England and Wales Cricket Board asked for two Ashes series to be rearranged.
On August 27, Dunn had written in her blog about a dispiriting evening out canvassing with Simon Hughes. "It didn't just rain last night, it poured," she wrote. "In fact the evening became one of the more farcical moments of the campaign. We'd picked what appeared at first to be a fairly standard row of houses. As time went on however, we began to realise that everyone we met was either drunk, flanked by an angry dog or undressed."We have all had evenings of canvassing like that. But the account goes on:
The blog had continued with a joke about how Dunn looked like Worzel Gummidge in the rain. Ed Fordham had checked the copy as usual before posting it online. Nothing he read had sounded alarm bells.
The Labour printing machines turned again, and this time Hartlepool woke up to the news on its doormat that Dunn had accused them all of being "either drunk, flanked by an angry dog, or undressed".And given the opportunity, other parties would no doubt behave just as Labour did.
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| © Stephen Craven |
Launde Abbey was originally an Augustinian priory founded in the 12th century. Beautifully sited in this dip, it must have looked inviting with its church and group of stone buildings.
Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s minister who organized the survey of England’s monasteries that eventually led to the dissolution, certainly thought so. When the religious houses closed in the 1530s, of all the monasteries in England, Cromwell bagged Launde for himself. ‘Myself for Launde,’ he wrote in his journal.
The Cromwell family built themselves a house at Launde, incorporating the priory’s church into the new fabric. The house has been altered quite a bit since, and it’s not known how much of the Cromwell house actually remains, although it shares the site and the inviting prospect afforded by the monastery.Launde Abbey is in Leicestershire, 17 miles from Market Harborough.
Earl Shilton is a fairly nondescript village in Leicestershre ... But in 1959 and 1960, suggests this startling film from the British Pathé collection, it was in the headlines ...
This film ... shows the return home to Earl Shilton of 12-year-old Tony Stephens after having been kidnapped and kept on the Continent for 15 months.
The commentary says that the boy's father, a milkman, gave up his job and searched Europe for him and the film shows an art master, Kevin Tracey, being taken off to Hinckley to be questioned.So I blogged about this case after discovering the film five years ago,
This is the first book to make use of the Freedom of Information Act to evaluate the woman who was Moura. MI5 files, Lockhart’s unpublished diary, letters and extensive interviews with those who knew her help create a detailed and vibrant picture of one of the most fascinating women of the 20th century.
As her lover H G Wells wrote, ‘But the Moura who was never really there has vanished now for ever and nothing in earth or heaven can bring her back.’
