Former Reform UK councillor joins the Lib Dem group on West Northamptonshire

Jonathan Harris (left) and Kathryn Shaw. Photo: West Northants Lib Dems  

NN Journal reports some unexpected news from Northamptonshire:

A former Reform UK cabinet member on West Northamptonshire Council has now joined the Liberal Democrat group.

Cllr Kathryn Shaw previously stepped down from her role as portfolio holder for children, families and education at the start of 2026. In March, she later quit the Reform UK group completely, becoming an independent.

Cllr Shaw told NN Journal:

"Over the past eight months, I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on what matters most to me, both as a councillor and as a person. For me, it has always been about people before politics, with children, families and our communities at the forefront of everything I do.

"Joining the Liberal Democrats feels like the right next step, alongside a group who share that strong community focus and who understand the importance of putting residents first.

"I have also been consistently impressed by the calibre of the Liberal Democrat group. There is a depth of knowledge, intellect, experience and thoughtful challenge within the team that I genuinely believe has a great deal to offer West Northamptonshire.

"I will continue to ask challenging questions, push boundaries and make a bit of noise when it’s needed but always with the same purpose: to make a genuine difference to the people I represent."

Back in March, she explained her resignation from Reform UK to BBC News:

"My decision is grounded in professional judgement and principle. I believe I can more effectively advocate for strong safeguarding systems, accountable governance and the removal of unnecessary bureaucracy affecting children and vulnerable people outside of a party structure.

"My commitment to protecting children, strengthening safeguarding culture and demanding accountability remains unwavering. The work continues, and it must continue with integrity, consciousness and courage."

Jonathan Harris, leader of the Lib Dem group on West Northamptonshire told NN Journal today:

"We are delighted that Kathryn has decided to join the Liberal Democrats. It is clear that Kathryn is passionate about making a difference to the people of West Northants.

"We welcome her energy, enthusiasm, commitment and experience to the team and we are looking forward to supporting her in her work.

"She joins our group as another community-focused councillor; Lib Dem Councillors work hard to support their communities and have a strong desire to make a difference to people’s lives."

God adds:

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

h/t Mark Pack.

Cormorant released after being found wandering around Market Harborough

Imagine my pride when the judges decided to award Headline of the Day to the Harborough Mail.

I took this photo of a cormorant on the Nene in the centre of Northampton a few years ago.

Stanley Unwin is now remembered by a blue plaque at his old home in Long Buckby

Here's the great Stanley Unwin on Pebble Mill at One in 1985. He had the sense to know that his unique act worked best in short doses. That way he kept his audience comftybold, two-square on their botties.

The latest news from Long Buckby is that a blue plaque has been installed on the bungalow in the High Street where Unwin lived for many years.

I once went to the village to photograph his and his wife's grave. I feel another journey coming on.

The rigged system Freda Jackson overcame to become an actress in the 1930s

I wrote about the actress Freda Jackson's background on Central Bylines:

Jackson was born in Nottingham in 1907, the daughter of a railway porter. She was educated at High Pavement School and the city’s University College. In 1933 she was teaching English and Drama at Haywood School, Sherwood, and spending her evenings acting with a local theatre group, when a letter to the director of its repertory company won her an audition at Northampton’s Theatre Royal.

Yesterday's purchase Repertory at The Royal: Sixty-Five Years of Theatre in Northampton 1922–92 tells us what happened after that successful audition:

Miss Jackson's status for her first five months in Northampton was that of pupil, which meant that she received no salary. She had originally applied to Herbert Prentice, by then at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, but, since the pupil system did not operate there, he advised her to try Northampton. The pupil arrangement was confined to actresses, young actors being in such short supply that they could command a salary from the outset.

The dedication of the pupil actress extended not only to support herself without salary, but also to providing an adequate personal wardrobe for modern plays, a much more onerous requirement than for her male colleagues.

Were young male actors really in such short supply, or was it simple sexism that saw them paid from the outset when young actresses weren't.

Whatever the reason, this arrangement made it next to impossible for a young working-class woman to embark on a theatrical career. It explains why maids in Thirties films, of which there were many, were usually played by upper-class girls with unconvincing cockney accents.

We are seeing a return to such an arrangement in Britain today: every well-endowed private school has its own theatre, but the public facilities open to youngsters from poorer homes are under increasing financial pressure.It's no wonder we see the same limited group of privately educated actors snaffling the star roles in British films. And narrowing the pipeline of talent entering the acting profession can only result in a reduction in quality.

Anyway, you can see Freda Jackson above as Mistress Quickly in Laurence Olivier's 1944 film of Henry V.

The other actors in the scene are Robert Newton as Pistol and two who were to be dead within months of shooting it: Frederick Cooper (with the nose) as Nym and Roy Emerton as Bardolph. The boy is unmistakably a young George Cole.

Professor Joad sees his play at the Theatre Royal, Northampton

I braved the heat today, went into town and called at the market. I came a way with a book called Repertory at The Royal: Sixty-Five Years of Theatre in Northampton 1922–92. As you would hope, there's plenty about this blog's heroine Freda Jackson, but this post is about C.E.M. Joad.

Joad was once a substantial public figure, chiefly as a member of the panel of the wildly popular radio programme The Brain's Trust. There he allowed himself to be called "Professor Joad" when he was no such thing, which riled his fellow philosophers. They also, whether from jealousy of his fame or impartial study, regarded his writing as either eccentric or plagiarised.

According to hero of the blog Bryan Magee:

He was an engaging but essentially fraudulent character. His popular books on philosophy thick-skinnedly recycled Russell’s work without acknowledgement; asked once to write a recommendation of a book by Joad, Russell replied: 'Modesty forbids.'"

While Ludwig Wittgenstein once said, in a meeting where Joad had delivered a paper criticising the form of analytical philosophy popular at Cambridge, that "naturally a slum landlord would object to slum clearance". In other words new thinking was clearing away the sort of stuff that Joad still came out with. 

The Magee quote is from an article by Richard Symonds that tries to rescue Joad's reputation as a philosopher, while the Wittgenstein quote is from Wikipedia entry on him.

Reading that Wikipedia article on Joad, you get the impression that he embraced just about every nutty theory going in the first half of the 20th century. He was a thumping sexist, though some of his braver views on social issues are now widely accepted. You may think the law of averages means he was bound to be prescient sometimes.

Anyway here's the story about Joad from my book on the Theatre Royal, Northampton. There it is credited to a manuscript in the county record office written by a theatre manager called Stephen Sylvester – presumably this Stephen Sylvester – and Alex Reeve was also on the management side of the theatre.

Northampton stuck to its commitment to new plays. In March 1946 Crackling of Thorns by C.E.M. Joad the philosopher and radio Brains Trust personality attracted widespread interest for its first professional production.

The substantive scenes, for which locations included a youth hostel and a national school, advanced the author's ideas on the reduction of the nation's population. These were interspersed with duologues between Mr .Playwrite and The Critic (Mr James Aggravate – alias for James Agate) discussing the craft of play writing.

Joad attended the first night, but although he had lent Alex Reeve, making one of his rare stage appearances as Mr. Playwrite, one of his suits he was less than enthusiastic about the identification of the character with himself:

Being the same size as Joad he [Reeve] was able to make himself up to resemble him, beard and all, and when he imitated Joe's squeaky voice the impersonation was very funny. Jude was a famous public figure ... and the audience quickly recognised the character and fell about. 

When Joad came to see the show his lack of amusement was positively Queen Victorian. In the bar afterwards he told Reeve, "I'm sure I don't speak in that squeaky voice." He said this in such a squeaky voice that we thought he was being funny, and laughed. But he wasn't, and in his subsequent radio broadcasts it was noticeable that his voice had gone down quite a few semitones.

You can hear Joad in the video clip above. If you watch the whole thing on YouTube you may form the opinion that he was a bit of a poseur. And an article on Herestical will give you the reason for the sudden end to his radio career,

Still, such was him fame that he got a mention in Shirley Bassey's first recording, which was banned by the BBC for being too sexy. Do watch it if you've not seen it before: she's wonderful. 

Alan Moore and Iain Sinclair in conversation

When I first discovered Iain Sinclair he was obscure enough for me to feel I had him largely to myself. That notion encouraged was by the fact that his early novels – my first was White Chappell Scarlet Tracings – were published in Uppingham by Mike Goldmark.

But that was 40 years ago. Now psychogeography is no longer a novel idea and its big beasts are getting distinctly long in the tooth. So this conversation between Sinclair and Alan Moore, who has fished in the same waters, has a valedictory touch.

I used to count Moore, along with Jeremy Seabrook and Ray Gosling, as part of a post-war Northampton working-class renaissance. Now I've discovered Henry Bird, I may have to move back the date of its commencement.

Thanks to John Rogers for posting this – you can find the earlier video he refers to on this blog too. John has a Patreon account to support his videos and blogs at The Lost Byway.

Finedon was once one of Northamptonshire's four largest towns

At the time of the Domesday Book the four largest settlement in Northamptonshire were Northampton, Brackley, Rushton and Finedon. The first two are still towns (one a great deal larger than the other) and Rushton is now a small village near Desborough

Finedon, where I went today, is described as a town, though its population at the 2021 census was only 4552 and there are few shops left in its historic heart.

The pub proved to be closed until six – as it was a Friday, that suggests to me that it's more of a restaurant these days – and the cafe that was my fallback had the builders in. 

I was saved by a small Co-op branch, were I got a sandwich. Looking round for the refrigerated unit with the cans of pop, I found it had a whole cold room devoted to them. How neat is that? The owner offered to let me stay in there for a while to cool off, but it wasn't that hot outside.

Anyway, Finedon's many ironstone buildings – there were many quarries serving the steel industry here at one time – remain and here are some of them.

Later. In fact, as someone pointed out on Bluesky, the pub I mentioned (The Bell Inn) closed in January. I'd assumed there would be some more pubs on the very busy A6 – as seems common in Northamptonshire, the original centre of Finedon lies off the later main road – but there are none.

Finedon may soon resemble the Leicestershire village of Hallaton, which once tried to rival Market Harborough as a market town. It has what still feels like a high street, but there are no shops on it.

Oh, and the Finedon building in the photograph immediately below this text used to be a hotel.

My latest article for Central Bylines: Freda Jackson and Henry Bird

"There has never been anybody like her. To say that she loved acting just would not be enough. We realised only recently when we were looking at some old clippings that newspaper banner headlines had called her London’s greatest actress."

This is the Northampton-born artist Henry Bird paying tribute to his wife Freda Jackson when she died in 1990.

My latest article for Central Bylines pays tribute to them: Northampton's arts power couple.

The long, long apprenticeship of Sir Nigel Hawthorne

Before Yes Minister made him famous in 1980, Nigel Hawthorne served a long apprenticeship in the acting profession. But I had not grasped till recently just how long that apprenticeship had been.

If you click on the arrow above, you will see him in a scene from Going Straight, the short-lived sitcom that followed Norman Stanley Fletcher after his release from the Slade Prison of Porridge.

That scene dates from 1978, but he had a bit part in an episode of Dad's Army as early as 1969. I recall a story that someone had gone to David Croft on Hawthorne's behalf, saying he was a very good actor who was getting many parts and asking if Croft could offer him something. Croft did, though as I recall Hawthorne doesn't really convince as a lorry driver.

But I've now know that Hawthorne's apprenticeship stretched right back to the start of the Fifties, and two of this blog's heroines helped me discover this.

Here's Sheila Hancock writing in The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw:

I was thrilled to be so near London where someone might see me. I was playing quite a good role but whenever I was in danger of getting a laugh, Frank would intervene with, "No, don't laugh – poor soul – she went to the RADA, you know" (pronounced radar by Frank). "No perlease, perlease have some respect."

Nigel Hawthorne and I watched in awe as he jettisoned the script and went off into wild fantasies of his own It was one of Frank's frequent periods in the theatrical wilderness and no one important came near us, but supporting this anguished man gave us a friend for life.

With the help of the British Newspaper Archive I can tell you that this all took place in 1956.

Two years earlier, Hawthorne had been in the supporting cast when Freda Jackson returned to her alma mater, the Theatre Royal, Northampton, to play Marguerite Gautier in The Lady of the Camelias. He was in the repertory company there in 1954 and 1955.

He was acting with the company at the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton, as early as 1951. Hawthorne had first gone on the stage in South Africa in 1950, and was to alternate between Britain and South Africa for a few years without finding much in success in either.

And we have a part for a third heroine of the blog. Because, just as Sheila Hancock does, Hawthorne said he owed his career to Joan Littlewood.

Here's Markland Taylor reviewing Hawthorne's Straight Face, The Autobiography, which was published just after his death, in Variety:

Hawthorne’s luck changed magnificently when he downed six bottles of Guinness before auditioning for a role in a production of Littlewood’s hit

Oh! What a Lovely War planned for a tour of England and Europe, and was cast.

This led to his invaluable relationship with Littlewood and his career blossomed, leading to highly rewarding work on stage, screen and television.

This was in 1964, so Hawthorne still had 16 years to wait before be became famous overnight. This is a story about talent and persistence, but it may ultimately be one about having the right mentor.

Northampton Labour councillor joins the Liberal Democrats

A Labour member of West Northamptonshire Council has crossed to the Liberal Democrats after becoming increasingly concerned”= with the party's national leadership, reports NLive Radio ("The station that loves Northampton):

West Northamptonshire Cllr Farzana Aldridge said she left Labour after feeling the party was moving away from "community-focused and forward-looking politics", adding that she is committed to serving the residents of her Kingsley and Semilong ward.

Her defection means the Lib Dem group now hold seven seats on West Northants Council (WNC), just one behind the Labour group, which now has eight elected members. Reform UK is still in charge of the council with 41 seats.

The radio station goes on to quote the Lib Dem group leader Jonathan Harris:

"Farzana is a very capable and hard-working councillor who cares deeply about her community. Her skills, experience and enthusiasm, along with her strong commitment to represent residents in her ward, will make her a great addition to our team. It is clear that Farzana shares our core values of liberty, equality, human rights, internationalism, environmentalism, democracy and community."

"I've met men on the road who could tell you the name of every star in the sky"

I thought I'd played chess for Northampton Working Men's Club (or Whyte Melville, as we were often called) only in the national club knock-out competition, which was a tournament to which Market Harborough did not aspire.

But, sorting out some old files, I found I had also played a season for them in the Northamptonshire league and done rather well too.

All of which makes more sense of this memory...

I was playing some five-minute games at Whyte Melville after winning my league game, and there was a beat-up old guy watching us. Even non-players are entranced by people playing blitz.

We got talking, and he asked me his favourite quiz question. What was the correct name of the Southern Lights? I knew the answer and he was suitably impressed.

And then he said something I've never forgotten: 

"I've met men on the road who could tell you the name of every star in the sky."

It sounds like a tale from the pre-war days of tramps and tramping, but that is what he said. 

I blogged here about the Whyte Melville Club last summer.

Flann O'Brien makes the case for banning poetry

Today I visited Heyford Books in Northampton, which maintains a good general secondhand stock and sells most volumes for £2.

One of the books I came away with was The Best of Myles, an anthology of the writings of Flann O'Brien.

If you're puzzled by the title... Flann O'Brien's real name was Brian O'Nolan. As he was a pillar of the Irish civil service as well as a satirical columnist and novelist, he generally wrote under a pen name, and Myles na Gopaleen.

Here he making the case for banning poetry:

Having considered the matter in – of course – all its aspects, I have decided that there is no excuse for poetry. Poetry gives no adequate return in money, is expensive to print by reason of the wasted space occasioned by its form, and nearly always promulgates illusory concepts of life. 

But a better case for the banning of all poetry is the simple fact that most of it is bad. Nobody is going to manufacture a thousand tons of jam in the expectation that five tons may be eatable.

Furthermore poetry has the effect on the negligible handful who read it of stimulating them to write poetry themselves. One poem, if widely disseminated, will breed perhaps a thousand inferior copies. 

The same objection cannot be made in the case of painting or sculpture, because these occupations afford employment for artisans who produce the materials.

I think Flann O'Brien and I are going to get on very well.

Former chief constable of Northamptonshire charged with fraud

Nick Adderley, the former chief constable of Northamptonshire, has been charged with fraud, reports NN Journal.

The website quotes a statement from Northamptonshire Police:

The charges follow our independent investigations into allegations Mr Adderley falsely claimed, over a period from 2018-2024, to have been a former Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy, had served in the Falklands War, and was entitled to wear associated service medals.

It’s also alleged the 59-year-old made false claims relating to a naval career on his CV and application form submitted in support of his bid to become the Chief Constable of Northamptonshire Police in June 2018.

Adderley was sacked from the post of chief constable after a gross misconduct hearing last summer. He will appear at Westminster magistrates court on 10 November.

There's some useful background to the case in another NN Journal story – this one from July of last year. In it, Mick Stamper, a former senior officer in the Northamptonshire force talks, about working with Adderley:

From day one, Adderley’s naval record was front and centre. When he arrived he moved the chief constable’s office from a small inconspicuous room at the Wootton Hall headquarters in Northampton (where the previous chief had resided) into a grander office, one more befitting of the most important person in the building. 

On the wall he mounted a large painting of a naval warship, which Stamper says was inscribed underneath with Adderley’s name and naval rank. In the corner of a room was a naval flag, (known as an ensign), which another staff member told Stamper had been from the ship displayed on the wall.

Alleged Jesus Army abusers may receive larger pay outs than were given to victims

Since the broadcast of a BBC documentary, Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army, Kathleen Hallisey, a lawyer from Scott-Moncrieff and Associates, has taken on about 60 new clients who are pursuing claims.

The BBC News report also reminds us of a worrying discovery:

A lawyer representing 150 victims of the Jesus Army said plans to allow people accused of child abuse to receive a share of the cult's fortune were "shameful".

A BBC investigation revealed 172 former loyal members of the disgraced Northamptonshire-based evangelical sect would receive much larger payouts than those awarded to victims under a redress scheme.

It is understood some who have been people accused of perpetrating or covering up abuse could be among the beneficiaries of the group's assets – which is estimated to be more £50m – a prospect survivors have described as "sickening".

Malcolm Johnson, a lawyer from Lime Solicitors, said the only right action to take was redirect the leftover assets for charitable use.

Once again, I'm left wondering why the scandal surrounding the Jesus Army hasn't been a bigger story.

The Joy of Six 1391

“The Jesus Army, or JA, seemed to own everything, like a religious multinational corporation, with money and investments everywhere. Big Victorian houses scattered across the area, from Kingsley to Kingsthorpe, Semilong to St James and villages beyond were home to followers. All of whom, we were told, had given up everything, their houses, their salaries, even ownership of their cars and bank accounts, to this huge cult-like organisation.” Hilary Scott lived in Northampton alongside the cult of Noel Stanton for 25 years.

Steve Darling, as the Local Government Association explains, used his lived experience as a disabled person to change the culture of Torbay Council. He raised awareness and worked with other disabled colleagues to reduce barriers for both staff and councillors.

Rowan Moore on the battle over Liverpool Street station.

“Most of the inhabitants of these remote regions were not, he suggests, truly pagan;'s instead, they practised creolised religions that combined Christian elements with traditional rituals. Many had been baptised, and some attended church. But the depth of their faith was (often justifiably) doubted by outsiders, whose views were heavily influenced by lurid tales of human sacrifice, sexual deviance, and snake worship.” Katherine Harvey reviews Francis Young's The Silence of the Gods, a study of religion in North-Eastern Europe between the Middle Ages and the 19th century.

Nation Cymru reports on moves to restore the Swansea and Tennant Canals: “New waterways will be constructed to link the River Tawe to historic canals at Port Tennant and at Clydach, to create a 35-mile boat trip across Swansea Bay. Avenues of trees will shade the canal paths from climate change and provide a haven for wildlife.”

“If Kubrick invokes Hogarth in the service of cynicism, the way he uses setting and landscape is no less cutting – at least, on the surface. He frequently uses long zoom-outs to make his characters seem dwarfed by their surroundings, suggesting the transience of Barry’s actions, and the pettiness of his woes, against a seemingly timeless backdrop.” Arjun Sajip looks at the use Stanley Kubrick made of 18th-century art in his 1975 film Barry Lyndon.

The Jesus Army: A column for the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy

There is a long read on the Jesus Army in today Guardian, and on Sunday the BBC beings showing a two-part documentary series called Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army.

I have been blogging about the Jesus Army several times in the last three years and devoted one of my quarterly Sighcology columns in the Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy to it.

Sighcology: The Jesus Army

Somehow Bugbrooke isn’t the sort of place you expect to spawn a dangerous cult. People with well-paid jobs in Northampton, a few miles to the east, search for houses there. It has a pub on its high street and a second just outside the village where you can watch boats go by on the Grand Union Canal. St Michael and All Angels, its church, dates from the early 13th century.

But it was Bugbrooke’s Baptist chapel that in 1969 gave birth to the Jesus Fellowship, later to be popularly known as the Jesus Army. Its leader, a lay pastor called Noel Stanton, soon attracted a younger and larger congregation.

In 1974 the village’s Anglican rectory was purchased to house a Christian commune. By the early 1990s, there were 850 people living in 60 Jesus Army communal households scattered across the Midlands. 

The Army also preached to people in the street, seeking out the addicted and destitute. Some were scooped up and came to live in its communes and work in its commercial activities – the Army operated shops, businesses and two large farms. As Medieval monasteries proved, taking vows of poverty can make you paradoxically prosperous.

Stanton, described in one BBC report as “a firebrand who preached daily about sins of the flesh”, died in 2009. It will come as no surprise to you students of human psychology that allegations he had committed sexual assaults against boys soon began to emerge. 

By 2019, accusations had been made against 43 people who were active in the Jesus Army, and hundreds of former members were seeking damages for alleged abuse. This included rapes, bullying, brainwashing, forced labour, financial bondage and beatings of young boys by groups of men. The BBC was told that children suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse “on a prolific scale”.

*****

One of the talents of a backwoods Conservative MP used to be the ability to spot bounders and bad hats – I think it was something to do with the number of buttons on the cuffs of their suits. And you have to hand it to Michael Morris, who sat for Northampton South between 1974 and 1997: he was on to Noel Stanton.

Thanks to the extensive online archive of press coverage maintained by Jesus Army Watch, we can see that in 1985 he expressed concern about members of the Army holding posts as teachers, doctors and social workers: 

“I strongly object to people following a particular cult or philosophy holding an influential position in society where there is a danger they can influence people into their faith.”

A year later he called on Northampton Borough Council to ban the Army from its land and buildings.

Another item you can find in this archive is an article William Dalrymple published in the Independent in 1989 after visiting Bugbrooke. He was only 24, but this was also the year Dalrymple published his first book, In Xanadu. Today he is a much-decorated historian with particular expertise in the Indian subcontinent and its religions.

Dalrymple listed many of the charges laid against the Jesus Army, contrasting this catalogue with the happy experiences of the people he met in Bugbrooke. He then quoted a sociologist as saying that the term “brainwashing” is nothing more than a metaphor used to explain strong religious convictions by people who find them inexplicable.

But Dalrymple had already quoted an account by a former member of the Army that shows this explanation won’t do: 

“You have to fit in,” he says. “They take away your ability to make your own choices and you cannot express your own opinions. If you don't obey Noel you're accused of not loving Christ.”

In the end, he clashed personally with Stanton. “He turned everyone against me,” he remembers. “All my old friends cut me dead. One guy came up to me and fell on his knees crying and weeping, saying 'God forgive him.' It scared the hell out of me. Then they began trying to persuade me I was insane – possessed by demons.”

Eventually he fled to Denmark … but the Jesus People traced him there. “They kept ringing me up and telling me I had the heart of Judas Iscariot and was under God's judgement.”

As a partisan of the Midlands, I take a certain grim satisfaction from seeing a writer who has mastered the subtleties of Eastern religions defeated by those of Northamptonshire.

******

It’s easy to call someone like Stanton a hypocrite, but we’re all good at keeping contradictory beliefs and actions well apart in our minds. I recall someone else who shared Evangelical Christians’ remarkable affection for corporal punishment, John Smyth. He was Mary Whitehouse’s barrister and a fellow campaigner for purity, who posthumously brought down an Archbishop of Canterbury.

He had attached himself to Winchester, the public school, leading some pupils in religious discussions. One of the housemasters described a friendly conversation with him. “It’s good of you to give up your time like this,” he said to Smyth, “and the boys obviously enjoy their time with you, but I notice you only ever invite the good-looking boys.”

At this, he recalled, Smyth curled up in his chair into an extraordinary foetal position. I suspect he feared the compartments in his mind were about to be ripped down.

******

I no longer see the Jesus Army’s bus, in its Scooby Doo colours, passing through the town where I live; nor do I see it parked up in the centre of Leicester as the crowds are evangelised. The Jesus Centre in Northampton, a striking art deco cinema the cult owned, is now a theatre and conference centre.

A news report I saw late last year said the organisation winding up the Army’s affairs had accepted liability for 264 perpetrators of abuse, but 539 people have been named as offenders by former members.

So far £7.7m has been paid in compensation, the money raised by sale of the Army’s properties. And I am left wondering why this extraordinary scandal has not received more media coverage.

Part 1 of Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army will be aired on 27 July

The first part of the BBC's two-part documentary on the Jesus Army, the abusive cult that grew out of the Northamptonshire village of Bugbrooke, will be broadcast on Sunday 27 July. It goes out on BBC2 at 9pm, and its full title is Inside the Cult of the Jesus Army.

On the BBC website it's billed as follows:

A look at the origins of the Jesus Fellowship. Founded in the 1970s, its early vision of communal living, shared finances and spiritual commitment changes over time, becoming more structured and controlling. Unexplained deaths begin to occur within the community, exorcisms are performed on members with "unclean spirits", and children as young as two are disciplined with birch canes in a practice known as "rodding".

Then, in 1987, leader Noel Stanton announces the launch of a "Jesus Army". Members go onto the streets to evangelise, often amongst the homeless or people with addiction issues, and often bring new recruits back into community homes. One of these homes is in London, and it is here that a young girl becomes a witness to something that will change her life forever.

I blogged about the plans for this documentary when it was first announced. Given the scale of the abuse it perpetrated, I'm surprised the Jesus Army has not been more of a news story.

Part 2 will be screened at the same time on Sunday 3 August.

Kingsthorpe Liberal and Radical Hall, Northampton

In June 2013, wandering the back streets of Northampton, I discovered Liberty Hall on Washington Street. It was a depot for an ice cream company and had once been a cinema:

But I suspect that Liberty Hall had a life before it became a cinema. A church mission hall perhaps? Or does its name point to a connection with the Liberal Party?

Indeed it does. Thanks to the wonders of the British Newspaper Archive, I can reveal that Liberty Hall began life as Kingsthorpe Liberal and Radical Hall.

Here's the Northampton Mercury for 20 August 1887:

Liberal and Radical Hall for Kingsthorpe 

Generous Offer by Lady Robinson

We are very pleased to be able to announce that Lady Robinson has generously offered the Kingsthorpe Liberal and Radical association a fine sight for building a Radical Hall, the only condition being that it is to be conveyed to trustees for liberal and radical uses.

Three pieces of land were offered to choose from and the site chosen by the Committee of the Association is a plot of ground with a frontage to Lincoln-street 

Things moved ahead rapidly. Here's the same paper for 26 November 1887:

The Proposed Radical Hall for Kingsthorpe

We have just had the pleasure of inspecting the plans which have been prepared Messrs. Dyer and Son, architects, for the Liberal and Radical Hall. We are very pleased, indeed, with them. The hall will be large, handsome, commodious structure, an ornament to the place, and every way suited to the requirements. 

It will have frontage to Lincoln-street and Washington-street. The names of these streets seem to be particularly appropriate, being called after two men whose labours for liberty the other side of the Atlantic have become historic. 

The hall will be of red brick, handsomely faced with white stone. It will constructed to possess excellent acoustic properties. Underneath the platform at the end of the room is kitchen, and accommodation for refreshment buffet. In addition to the hall and its adjuncts there is still left a good piece of ground, which may be useful at some future time.

The hall opened on 21 June 1888 - this notice appeared in the Northampton Mercury for 18 June:

There is a very full report on the opening in the Northampton Mercury for 23 June 1888 - Earl Granville stans should hurry to read it.

How long the building remained in Liberal hands is not clear. In my 2013 post I quoted a cinema history site:

Pictures were shown here as early as 1898, but on a temporary basis. The 1910 Kelly’s Guide to Northampton, lists it as Liberty Hall, secretary: Patrick Flynn. 

Writing in the August 1975 Cinema Theatre Association Bulletin, Marcus Eavis referred to it as the Kingsthorpe Picture Palace ‘definitely in business before December 1912’. Local sources also note it as Kingsthorpe Electric Palace, with an opening date of 21st October 1912. 

Foxes on a speedboat: Birrificio Angelo Poretti's Welcome to the Lake cinema commercial

I enjoyed The Phoenician Scheme, but maybe the highlight of the afternoon was this commercial for Birrificio Angelo Poretti.

Don't think you'll be getting a taste of the real Italy though: it's brewed by Carlsberg in Northampton.

BBC2 to screen two-part documentary about the Jesus Army

I've blogged before about the Jesus Army, the cult that originated at Bugbrooke in Northamptonshire, and how compensation paid to survivors of abuse within it may reach £10m. And I've long wondered why this story has not received more media attention.

That may at last be changing, as BBC2 is to show a two-part documentary, Inside the Jesus Army, on this scandal.

I've not seen the transmission dates for them yet, but BBC Factual has page about the two programmes:

Daisy Scalchi, Head of Commissioning, Religion and Ethics, said: "This is a shocking tale of abuse hiding in plain sight. Those who have bravely shared their stories will, I hope, give voice not only to their own experiences but many others like them."

Katie Buchanan, Executive Producer, said: “This is a compelling, urgent and timely story that it is only now coming to light thanks to the powerful testimony of survivors and former members.”