Monthly Archives: July 2020

Snapshot in Time: ‘Escaping from too much reality’ written by Pat Tempest

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My father’s sister, Peggy got an infection in her neck glands so bad she had to have major surgery which left her jaw and throat disfigured and mangled from the age of ten. Protected by her doting mother, she got used to life in the shadows.
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My birth in 1937 was followed within three years by the arrival of two brothers who kept my mother very busy. Peggy, aged about twenty by then, helped out and doted on me. By 1940,my grandmother had been asked to offer lodgings to ENSA  actors and singers who came to entertain the troops and factory workers at the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton.
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A Godsend for Peggy, now about 20.  She had been taken from school at the age of ten, and suddenly her home was a backdrop for lots of attention from some seriously glamorous gentlemen – including Russell Thorndyke and Peter Cushing – skilled at charming audiences. They were immensely kind to this starstruck girl. She treasured their signed photographs, fell in love countless times.
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My grandmother, an obsessive housewife,was very proud that she had never read a book or wasted good cleaning time in a theatre in her life. But an auntie in Ealing loved to treat Peggy to the best seats in both the Wolverhampton and the London theatres so Peggy could imagine herself into the silken robes and feathery hats of leading ladies like Googie Withers or Patricia  Roc.  So she collected all her programmes, undated of course because big productions never have the year  included in adverts. It’s totally obvious at the time, and a perfect nuisance now.
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Hearing Maureen talk of her dedication to the City Varieties, I thought she might appreciate these relics of some very hard times when  the importance of creativity was recognised by a government who even requisitioned lodgings for travelling artists, who had the capacity to inspire a girl who would otherwise have learned nothing except the art of floor scrubbing.
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Antiques RoadShow has surely taught us of the importance of funny little relics like these which embroider our national life.
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Over to you, Maureen, and more power to your elbow as you lobby this government to acknowledge the power of art in these desperate times.
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Pat T
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Thank you so much Pat, I took a look at the programmes myself and will be handing  them over to Maureen soon, what a treat indeed. Until next time…

See attached pictures, one of Pat handing over the programmes and a few pics of just some of them. 

The Deep Blue Sea – National Theatre at Home

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Streamng this week from the National Theatre  Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea

 

Helen McCrory plays Hester Collyer and Tom Burke is Freddie Page.

A flat in Ladbroke Grove, West London. 1952. When Hester Collyer is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge begins to emerge. With it comes a portrait of need, loneliness and long-repressed passion and containing  one of the greatest female roles in contemporary drama.

The Deep Blue Sea is streaming from 7pm  9th July until 7pm 16th July. — The running time is 2 hours 5 minutes with a very short interval. The BBFC rating is 12A, due to depictions of suicide attempts and some strong language.

‘Nature Writing Workshop’ with University of Leeds and Caring Together

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Dear all,
Working alongside University of Leeds we are delighted to be able to offer a one off ‘Nature Writing Workshop’ for the Nature Revealed Project.  Ideally we would be gathered in a room yet COVID has changed how the workshop will happen. It is a pen pal style nature writing workshop done in the comfort of your own home, as well as outdoors if you wish.
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The four themes are climate, animal and bird migration, nocturnal animals and the subterranean. There is a pack that I can deliver to you that explains it all. In a room we would have sat and chatted, shared stories etc yet this is no longer possible. Yet if you love nature, writing and enjoy all things creative then this is for you. Please get in touch to learn more. Poetry is also fine. If writing is not your thing and you are still interested, I can always arrange to meet you and we can record bits too.
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It is open to all, so just call me on 07436 530073 , or email me: lisa@caringtogether.org.uk, if interested.
Kind regards

Shared Moments: Day 79 – ‘Boodle Am’ written by Maureen Kershaw

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Day 79 Shops & Shopping: The streets between Briggate and Vicar Lane were home to more Furriers, Suede & Leather and Sheepskin shops but also those selling musical instruments and sheet music, for example ‘Kitchen’s’. Round the corner was ‘Vallances’ where we could visit the listening booths and hear the latest records. Wearing headphones and bopping along, it was easy to outstay one’s welcome! Another music shop, ‘Barker’s’, was on the corner of Albion Place and Lands Lane and appeared to be geared more towards pianos and organs rather than guitars and drum kits as with ‘Kitchen’s’.

It later moved to the narrow street behind ‘Schofields’ and one could book – if one fancied – tickets for classical music concerts. The building was replaced by the one housing ‘Curry’s PC World’ – with no character. ‘Scheerers’ in the Merrion Centre sold instruments too and I was sad to see it close – on a personal level, due them selling greetings cards, mugs and pens for musicians and music lovers alike.

There was a ‘Classical Music Shop’ also in the Merrion Centre, a tiny place occupying a corner position overlooking Wade Lane and a one-time Job Centre. Run by Graham Bennett, no-one knew their stuff like he did and it’s closure brought sadness to many as buying classical music in HMV offered neither the knowledge or the ambience.

Back to Briggate and ‘Readicut’ next door to the Empire Theatre sold Kits consisting of a canvas and a selection of wools which would be hooked through and hey presto a fireside rug in a contemporary style would be born! I think it was a progression from ‘painting by numbers’ a popular pastime in the 50s. Opposite ‘Readicut’ was ‘Boots’ a very tired looking shop but following its relocation to the Bond Street Centre, the building was taken over by ‘Zodiac Toys’ which had a ‘Farmhouse Kitchen’ cafe downstairs. Very popular in the late 80s with my young son who would admire the toys on Thursday Christmas late shopping evenings, enjoying a plate of chips downstairs, before catching our bus home outside ‘Chelsea Girl’ (?) or where ‘Chelsea Girl’ had been previously – and ‘Peel’s Chemist. The chemist being open until late, offered warmth and shelter on the occasions when the bus missed. It was a safe haven to test the perfumes and if felt obliged to purchase, we would leave with at most, a tube of glucose sweets or a drink.

Queen Victoria Street was swept into the ‘Victoria Quarter’ and the run-down shopping arcades were restored to their former glory and beyond. I made purchases at its outset; cards from ‘Chuckles’ who still had a branch in the Merrion Market but its name was soon changed to two surnames to be more in keeping with the tone of the ‘VQ’. ‘Boodle Am’ came from much more humble premises on Woodhouse Lane and was fabulous – but their prices rocketed in the County Arcade. They had a stock of ‘Kickers’ shoes and boots like no other, with sizes and styles to fit the smallest of children to adults who could team their ‘Kickers’ with clothes and accessories from their extensive stock.

‘Boodle Am’ was the only shop throughout Leeds I knew to have such an abundance of Boho wear which I dearly loved. It was one of those shops where every bit of stock was on display, its rails bulging with rich velvets, silk florals, long-flowing linens and eye-watering tie-dyes. There were fabulous long silk scarves, velvet hats for every occasion and chunky jewelry unseen anywhere else. A heady aroma of burning incense permeated the air on entering the shop. I wanted to buy everything and it was probably the shop in which I would be at my happiest should I have been locked in somewhere overnight; there or ‘Ainsley’s’ confectioners!

I bought only one garment from ‘Boodle Am’ when a wedding outfit had to be sourced in 2004. I chose a cream linen suit which had a wrap skirt, a floaty top of pink and green floral design and matched with a long asymmetrical linen jacket, its cotton pockets picking up the floral of the blouse. The ensemble was finished by a delicate scarf in the matching fabric of the blouse, however It was not a good value-for-money garment – I think I wore it twice – but that did not hold the regret and sadness I felt at ‘Boodle Am’ closing its doors for ever. Annoyingly I missed the ‘Closing Down’ Sale!

Next time: ‘Lewis’s’, ‘Schofields’ et al.

Thank you Maureen, such a vivid recollection, until next time….

Kirkstall Abbey’s 1152 Club Online

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Kirkstall Abbey 1152 club, normally a fortnightly get-together for over 55s for a short talk and discussion on local history topics, has moved online. Every other Friday at 10am there will be a short talk and you can see the details for this Friday’s here: https://www.facebook.com/KirkstallAbbey/events/?

The talks will also be available afterwards on their YouTube channel and you can see previous talks here https://www.youtube.com/playlist…

 

End of Lockdown? written by Oliver Cross

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Dear all,
AS the national lockdown lurches its way towards a resolution, I realise that the reopening of pubs, restaurants and other places I miss is leaving me less filled with joy than I had expected.

Firstly because viruses can’t be wished away, however much we wish they could,  and second because I think I  might have become institutionalised, which first happened to me when  I was aged about six and which  I wouldn’t want to go through again.

I was admitted to hospital with a big lump under my chin which everybody called ‘swollen glands’, although nobody told me what glands were because it was none of my business.

It was decided that I would have to have the swelling, or maybe the glands, surgically removed, which I’m sure would now be done in a day, but which then required me to stay in hospital for what seemed like half of my short lifetime – maybe  a fortnight or more.

My mother explained to me later that this was due to an administrative oversight – the hospital forgot to discharge me and my parents forgot to ask for their son back.

I was the only child in a men’s ward, probably because, this, being the 1950s, the children’s ward was packed with victims of polio, TB, diphtheria, rickets and other diseases a lot more dangerous – to children at least.

This gave me a special status; I became, for the first and last time in my life, a kind of novelty or ward pet, particularly to the nurses, who must have welcomed treating a patient who felt perfectly well and asked for no more medication than a daily dollop of yeast extract, a thick, syrupy substance once  given to all children to ‘build them up’ and now almost certainly now banned under obesity guidelines.

When things got sorted out I remember sobbing uncontrollably on the way home from the hospital. I had become institutionalised; so used to living on the ward, that I couldn’t imagine life outside it.

Now I wonder whether my unease over relaxing the coronavirus rules is connected with this institutionalisation. Perhaps I have become, over the lockdown months, so comfortable with the present limitations that I’m frightened of moving on from them.

On the other hand, it could be that, having invested so much time and effort into the collective effort to stem the disease, I don’t want to go out into the great wide world and walk straight into a stray coronavirus particle.

Thank you Oliver, until next time….

Monday Mind Workout – answers from Monday 6th July 2020

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Good morning,

Here’s ‘Monday Mind Workout’ answers from yesterday, how did you do?

News Quiz

  1. A miner from Tanzania became a millionaire last month after finding what?   Tanzanite
  2. What did archaeologists find near Stonehenge?  Pre-historic shafts/holes
  3. Barcelona Opera had it’s first concert for 3 months with an audience of who or what? Potted plants (almost 3,000 plants were placed in the auditorium)
  4. Which team became Premiership Champions? Liverpool
  5. Who was the ‘Forces Sweetheart’ who died recently aged 103? Vera Lynn
  6. For their birthday on 23rd June, tiger cubs in Whipsnade Zoo were given a giant ice lolly made from what? Blood  ( Dmitri, Makari and Czar, were 2 years old)
  7. What did India accuse Pakistan of sending across the border recently?  A spy pigeon (they believe it was carrying coded messages)
  8. Celebrity and Royal photographer Rankin has released a series of pictures featuring who or what? NHS workers
  9. Mount Merapi volcano erupted on 21 June – where is it?  Indonesia
  10. Who suggested people could drink yards of ale to help social distancing when the pubs opened?  Jacob Rees Mogg
  11. Nasa have launched a competition to design what to be used on the moon? Toilet
  12. Scientist recently discovered which insects can quack?  Bees (Honeybee Queens can make quacking and tooting noises)
  13. What was Boris Johnson photographed doing to show that he is “as fit as a butcher’s dog”?  Push ups
  14. A man in Vienna was fined for doing what?  Breaking wind at the police
  15. How old would Glastonbury festival have been this year?  50
  16. Footballer Marcus Rashford successfully campaigned for the government to do what? Extend free school meals for vulnerable children over the summer
  17. Which legendary band have threatened to sue Donald Trump if he uses their music at his rallys?  Queen
  18. What did ‘Henrietta’ the hen do?  Travelled 90 miles under a lorry (She was unharmed and laid an egg at the end of the journey)
  19. Which country did Poland accidentally invade in May? Czech Republic (soldiers sent to secure the border as part of lockdown made  a mistake on where the border was)
  20. What was the name of the man who’s statue was toppled into the river in Bristol? Edward Colston
  21. Which iconic band are to be featured on a set of Royal Mail stamps? Queen
  22. Swiss railway are trying to track down the customer who left a 3kg bag of what on a train? Gold – worth £152,000
  23. When is County Cricket due to start?  1 August
  24. Why did KFC refuse to serve Ian Bell at their Carlisle Drive Through? He was driving a horse and cart
  25. Which Yorkshire town did the Red Arrows fly over to mark Armed Forces Day? Scarborough

King Regards

Waiting for the harvest

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With all of the rain, the weeds have started taking over on the allotment so plenty of work to be done. Still, the beans have have also pushed forward so looking forward to them.

The potato plants are pretty enormous this year. The last time they grew like this I ended up with hardly any spuds so here’s hoping that this doesn’t happen again.

The good old raspberries are overladen with fruit. Its worth having the plot just for them. I keep saying every year that I will cut them down and replant some new ones but can never bring myself to do it.

Monday Mind Workout – Monday 6th July 2020

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Good morning

Today’s ‘Monday Mind Workout’ is themed around ‘News’, good luck!

  1. A miner from Tanzania became a millionaire last month after finding what?
  2. What did archaeologists find near Stonehenge?
  3. Barcelona Opera had it’s first concert for 3 months with an audience of who or what?
  4. Which team became Premiership Champions?
  5. Who was the ‘Forces Sweetheart’ who died recently aged 103?
  6. For their birthday on 23rd June, tiger cubs in Whipsnade Zoo were given a giant ice lolly made from what?
  7. What did India accuse Pakistan of sending across the border recently?
  8. Celebrity and Royal photographer Rankin has released a series of pictures featuring who or what?
  9. Mount Merapi volcano erupted on 21 June – where is it?
  10. Who suggested people could drink yards of ale to help social distancing when the pubs opened?
  11. Nasa have launched a competition to design what to be used on the moon?
  12. Scientist recently discovered which insects can quack?
  13. What was Boris Johnson photographed doing to show that he is “as fit as a butcher’s dog”?
  14. A man in Vienna was fined for doing what?
  15. How old would Glastonbury festival have been this year?
  16. Footballer Marcus Rashford successfully campaigned for the government to do what?
  17. Which legendary band have threatened to sue Donald Trump if he uses their music at his rallys?
  18. What did ‘Henrietta’ the hen do?
  19. Which country did Poland accidentally invade in May?
  20. What was the name of the man who’s statue was toppled into the river in Bristol?
  21. Which iconic band are to be featured on a set of Royal Mail stamps?
  22. Swiss railway are trying to track down the customer who left a 3kg bag of what on a train?
  23. When is County Cricket due to start?
  24. Why did KFC refuse to serve Ian Bell at their Carlisle Drive Through?
  25. Which Yorkshire town did the Red Arrows fly over to mark Armed Forces Day?

King Regards, Lisa