Our final day brings a relentless week of shows, exhibitions, walking, eating, drinking and socialising to a close. I am so relieved I posted everything I experienced on twitter as I would never have remembered it all otherwise!
The week was brought to a memorable climax for me on Friday night at the Preview of
I knew a bit about the founding of a Scottish colony in
But it was an unmitigated disaster resulting in the loss of over 2,000 people and a virtually bankrupt
Well that concludes my
The best part of today was discovering I had 100 followers on Twitter. And... I had Champagne to celebrate my centenary too! But the worst part was in discovering they had reduced to 99 by the end of the day!
Such is life... It’s been a mixed a day with beautiful moments such as the Impressionist Gardens Exhibition at The National Gallery to a few disappointments as well. Both the disappointments were very different in their lack-lustre performances. In one case it was the play itself, in the other the lack of audience:
The Gay Geese: The problem here was not so much the acting but a rather ridiculous and outdated plot – the one where the 17 year old best friend comes out as gay much to the horror and repulsion of his best mate who can’t handle it (for a while). And then there’s the revelation that his father was caught in bed by his mother with another man so he had to leave. On meeting his father for the first time after many years he confesses that he ‘doesn’t do that anymore’ (therefore it is alright because he’s not really gay anyway!).
Something Relevant: Obviously judged as being irrelevant to most Edinburgh festival goers as there were only about 5 people in the audience. Apparently that is the average size of audience for an Edinburgh show so at least it hits one target but it must be really hard to be a lively up-beat band when there are more on stage than in the audience – especially when you have travelled all the way from Mumbai! The seven guys in the band were loud and confident – a bit to loud for me – fine for one number but the thought of having my eardrums pummelled for a whole hour was too much so I had to leave.
I was pondering as to why this group had not caught people’s attention. Could it be the rather bland name ‘Something Relevant’? Could it be the uninspired title of the show ‘Feels Good to be Live’ or could it be that despite coming from India they seem to have severed all their musical roots to become yet another western jam rock band? I would have loved to see and hear a little more subtlety – especially at the start of the show and some exploration of the sounds of India and the west.
Getting to that mid week waning of energy, enthusiasm and interest but still managing to keep going. The plethora of reviews often are anything but a vague guide as to what might be worth tracking down but more often its down to word of mouth, instinct and sheer good fortune.
Songs by Michael Topping about gay geriatric sex was enough to blow the cobwebs away this morning. Then an extraordinary part sung / part spoken monologue about a young woman’s gradual decent into madness and ultimate suicide brought me back down to earth.
An afternoon with Hardeep Singh Kohli’s Chat Masala sort of put things back on the rails before a mesmerising red electric south African cellist and a very bleak and ghostly musical/opera about a disintegrating family!
Fortunately, our colleagues Michael and Martin joined us at the end of the evening and after a few beers in the Broadway Baby bar and Underbelly bar we staggered back to our flat.
Where was the rain? It’s day 4 and I’m already trying to catch up with day 3! Fortunately, it’s amazing how much quieter Edinburgh is after the weekend. The queues have dispersed, the litter is slowly being cleared and most of the shows we wanted to see are having a day off!
Ah yes, but that doesn’t mean a lazy start to the day as we had the first of two frantic networking sessions to deal with yesterday:
Amazingly this is my 12th year of Edinburgh Festivals and despite all the predictions of it having outgrown its own boots it is back with an even bigger line up with a staggering 2500 shows. It has proved to be a great source of innovative, quality and cutting edge arts which we frequently programme as part of our work at Pound Arts and I am hopeful that this year will be no exception.
It was a desperately early 5am start this morning from Bath but we were in our first show by 11am. See my twitters (opposite) or those of my partner ianjmartin for up to date brief reviews of what we see.
I hope to see some great new work this year, some inspirational visual arts, and some challenging and thought provoking physical dance and theatre. But above all it is the city itself which never fails to impress me. The wonderful buildings, bold architecture and a pulse which never ceases - that is what Edinburgh Festival are all about.
In addition to my show and event tweets I will try to keep up a daily blog. Today comes from the cafe at the Underbelly – one of the most extraordinary (and smelly) venues. Despite the early start I am hoping for a second wind as I have several shows left tonight!
Wiltshire Council's planning meeting last night was livelier than usual with controversial plans for building nine single person's flats in the grounds of this grade 1 listed building on the agenda.
I spoke representing Corsham Town Council's unanimous recommendation for refusal of this this proposal and reminding the committee that this was backed up by overwhelming local opposition which demonstrated very strongly that this proposal is inappropriate.
As expected the meeting was packed with the good folk of Corsham (including a good few hecklers!). The debate lasted over an hour and a resolution was eventually proposed to reject the application which was carried by 6 votes to 3 (with one abstention).
So that is the end of round one! But I suspect this is not the end. The trustees may appeal - or submit an amended plan. But this must be costing them an enormous amount of money and questions may be asked as to whether this is an appropriate use of the charity's funds.
It was good to see how local opinion can make a difference - particularly when it is so strong, so vociferous and overwhelming that to override those views would be ill judged and a smack in the face of local democracy.
The disease is caused by The Leaf Miner Moth (Cameraria ohridella) and was first identified in
Since 2002 the disease has been sweeping across the
The moth lays its eggs in the leaves so that when the larvae hatch they eat and tunnel their way through the tissues of the leaves. The effects are all too obvious with the tell trail marks on the leaves of these majestic trees causing them to turning brown and wither. Over time this will seriously weaken the tree by preventing it to photosynthesise effectively so the tree starves to death.
Experts believe the effects of the disease could equal the devastation of the Elms 20 years ago.Forestry Research Scientists have estimated that some 35,000 to 50,000 trees are already infected and it is likely that many Horse Chestnuts are likely to be lost over the next decade.
Ongoing research by Dr Darren Evans of the University of Hull and Dr Michael Pocock of Bristolhave recently launched a study to try to discover just how big a problem is posed by the horse chestnut leaf miner. People across the UK are now being asked to help record the impact of the disease at http://www.ourweboflife.org.uk/
In my role as one of Tree Council's Tree Wardens I am keen to raise awareness of this disease so I am particularly pleased with Mike Wilkinson's coverage in this weeks Gazette and Herald: http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/8314574.Trees_in_Wiltshire_face_a_wipeout and also in the Wiltshire Times: http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/8317822.Fears_for_Wiltshire_s_trees/
One surprising ray of hope comes from the increased presence of a parasitic wasp, which is the leaf miner's natural predator as its feeds on the Leaf Miner Larvae. There is apparently a time lag between the moth infesting a tree and the wasps attacking the caterpillars. So let's hope they catch up!
However, to make matters worse the Horse Chestnut is being subjected to a three pronged assault as it not only the leaf miners causing problems for these trees. The second threat comes from the Leaf Blotch Fungus (Guignardia aesculi) which attacks the leaves so that reddish or brown blotches with yellow borders develop. However, the most damaging condition seems to be Bleeding Canker the cause of which is a fungus-like organism - Phytophthora. Varieties of this disease are known to be responsible for attacking more than Horse Chestnuts, such as sudden Oak Death. I think I have also seen this on some of our trees around Corsham.
The announcement of the new ‘Zig Zag’ bus service by Wiltshire Council linking Chippenham, Corsham, Melksham, Bradford-on-Avon and Trowbridge sounds like a great success story for rural public transport.
However as the announcement came just days before the new service started on 1st August - and therefore days before a number of existing services were dropped it is no wonder that local people are wondering what on earth is going on.
Although I am in principle in favour of what this service claims to achieve I am appalled that there was no consultation with any local people or their elected representatives, the timetabling of the service is woefully thin and the complete lack of any information at nearly all the bus stops – while the now defunct ones continue to be listed - is exasperating.
As an example, the bus link from Corsham to
Will we be surprised to see the whole zig zag service cut in a few months due to a lack of customers?
Corsham Festival 2010 came to an end two weeks ago, and that has given me the opportunity to reflect on this extraordinary annual event, the eleventh since Ian Martin and myself took over the festival and gave it the essential character it has today: 8 days of live performance, participatory events and visual arts with a strong contemporary focus over eight days at the end of June.
What we always aimed to do was bring something unique to Corsham which would not normally happen in a small town like this; to help put Corsham firmly on the cultural map and inspire people with something fantastic and amazing. At the same time the festival must also be Corsham’s Festival and have real relevance to the town, its history and identity.
So I think this year’s festival in particular was stronger with ever on so many levels. To give a few examples:
Many people have been following my ‘Double Standards’ theme on Twitter which has highlighted some great examples of how a certain political party seems to be speaking with a forked tongue (see the lower right hand column on this page)
At the Corsham Hustings our conservative candidate Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones said that he refused to share the platform with the BNP because it would ‘legitimise’ their views. The Labour party candidate, Greg Lovell for Labour said he was showing solidarity with Wilfred’s views. So what is going on in Morley and Outwood?
Thank goodness that’s all over! You have to be a bit mad to try and arrange a hustings event – particularly when you have to deal with various shapes and sizes of political egos bouncing around and making various demands on the order, content, arrangements and structure of the evening.
As it happens it went fairly well with Allan Bosley doing a valiant job in chairing the evening. Not everyone in the packed community centre was entirely happy - but many were very impressed by the way CCAN had attempted to create an event which enabled all six of the candidates present to answer questions from the platform for at least part of the evening.
The BNP candidate did play ball in the end which was a positive for all of us and earned him a place on the platform in the second half alongside the Green, UKIP and Liberal Democrat candidate.
Splitting the evening into two halves with all candidates who wished to be on the platform except the BNP in the first half and having previously submitted questions helped dilute the potential for the BNP issue to dominate. However, as soon as a question was posed which asked why the Tory and Labour candidates had refused to share the stage with the BNP candidate it was clear how much unease there was beneath the surface.
The lesson, if there is one, is that yes it is perfectly possible to defeat the BNP arguments if they are presented as part of a fair and open debate - surely the ONLY way forward in an open democracy rather than a blanket refusal to engage at all.
The hustings have undoubtedly helped raise the profile of CCAN in this area and has no doubt gone some way in informing the local electorate of the strengths and weaknesses of their candidates - but I hope we don’t have to do a re-run in the near future!
This Friday’s Hustings will be the only opportunity for the local electorate to meet and question the candidates from the new Chippenham Constituency.
Our key aim in the spirit of an open and fair democratic system was to provide a platform to present the candidates for the benefit of the local electorate. We had decided we needed to invite all legitimate candidates to our hustings and give them the opportunity to respond to questions from the audience – some prepared and some spontaneous.
As I know myself from last year’s Unitary Council elections, when you throw yourself into the political arena you expect to have to justify your views and challenge those of others – often in a forum of public debate – and almost inevitably with people who hold the opposite viewpoint.
I believe that in a democracy all candidates must be treated fairly as they are legally equal. In addition, all have a legitimate right for their individual views to be presented – whatever our individual viewpoint. It is for the electorate to decide whose views are most valid – and whose are not.
It has been a real challenge to get agreement from all the candidates to enter into these hustings whilst still holding onto these basic principles. What we have arrived at is something of a compromise which reflects the respective expectations and demands of the individual candidates and it will require a level of give and take from all candidates to ensure the event is of real value to the electorate.
An article in Corsham People (7 April www.corshampeople.co.uk ) makes a strange assertion that 'better buses would mean more housing'
In the Corsham People article Mr Taylor the councillor for Gastard has quite rightly referred to the deplorable No72/73 subsidised service from Corsham to Melksham which goes through Gastard. There are virtually no timetables or bus stops along the entire route, local residents have reported the service to be unreliable and sometimes failing to turn up, and if you go to the traveline website: www.travelinesw.com the service does not even exist! Combine that with a published timetable (if you can find one in Gastard) which offers a very fragmented service. There is little wonder the passenger numbers are low with the perception of a service which is next to useless.
What an interesting Corsham Area Board meeting last night:
I was really pleased to be able to present the Corsham Community Area Bus Stop Audit last night. It may not sound like a ‘must read’ piece of literature but I knew it was real evidence of how a well researched and structured piece of community driven work cannot fail to be taken seriously when it addresses common sense issues and reveals clear weaknesses in public services.
There are 115 bus stops across the community area and there are some alarming statistics in the report including:
