Sunset over Weston Turville

 

This was sunset on Sunday evening. Photographs never do true justice to a late evening sky.

Exit West, The Flight of the Maidens and The Man Who Saw Everything

 

Knowing my dislike of most fantasy stuff, I should have read the back cover more closely. "All over the world doors are appearing. They lead to other cities, other countries, other lives. ........ But the doors only go one way. Once you leave, there is no going back".

I had loved the author's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" and this book was recommended as a BBC Between the Covers Book Club pick. Yes, there is lots about doors. I liked the early part when we are introduced to Saeed and Nadia, two young people who find a connection for each other. Their lives, and those of their community, are under threat and they decide to leave through.....

There are intermittent very short pieces about other people, other lives. Some were fine, others less so. The writing is still pretty good and kept me sort of interested. Just not my kind of story.

This was my seventh book by Jane Gardmam, and in my opinion her best. I think it surpasses her award winning and nominated novels and even the "Old Filth" trilogy about Sir Edward Feathers QC, where I gave the last two books five stars. It may be that this novel is not "important" enough for award juries, but that is to ignore the masterful prose, brilliant characters, wonderful humour and fabulous descriptions of the English countryside.

The main characters are Hetty (Hester or Hesta! if you prefer), Una and Lieselotte, the three friends whose experiences during that month or so in 1946 between "A" Levels and University, reminds us of that poignant time. Although they are the main characters, there are others who I found even more engaging. I am particularly thinking about Hetty's father Malcolm Fallowes (mostly referred to as the Gravedigger) an enigmatic veteran of the first war, damaged in some ways, but still that incredible intelligence that occasionally rises to the surface, seemingly less disturbed of mind than was once thought.

Then there is Una's widowed mother (Mrs Vane) whose hairdressing salon at the front of their house had "once been a doctor's surgery and still held the whiff of anxiety and prognosis". Una herself has a cycling friend in Ray ( a railway porter) who ultimately makes the proposal "You'd do for my life, Una. You know that".

All sorts of reminders of those days after the war. It's Hetty who finds the "WC, which was ancient and decorated inside the cracked bowl with garlands of grey flowers. There was an overhead chain and rusty cistern and the toilet paper was squares of newspaper threaded on a string". Exactly as my grandmothers outdoor lavatory before the council installed one indoors. Then there is the ending, one of the most emotional that I have ever come across. Superb.

I enjoyed the construction of this interesting and ingenious story that is told in two halves. The first is set in 1988 and our (unreliable?) narrator Saul Adler is involved in an accident on that famous zebra crossing on Abbey Road. Only superficial injuries this time, which is fortunate as Saul is off on an academic trip to Eastern Germany, his girlfriend Jennifer having ended their affair. But not to worry as in East Berlin, Saul meets Walter.

Fast forward to 2016 and here we are on Abbey Road again? Saul's description of what happens seems identical to that at from the first page of the book. Except the driver is crying. In hospital Saul is confused and so are we. The description of an older man, doped up with morphine, with only fragments of memory is truly awesome. The people who visit maybe someone else to Saul. They sometimes trigger fragments of memory from more recent past, but mainly it's only old memories that occupy his thoughts and morphine fueled dreams. There is a new important character, but Saul tells us "I ignored Jack's attempt to plant himself in my more recent history". Very, very clever.

There is mention of an Italian restaurant in 1989 where Saul discovers spaghetti vongole and penne arribiata. It reminded me of eating spaghetti bolognese for the first time at an Italian restaurant on a corner down Chiswick High Road in 1965/6. 

Tring Book Club - Holding by Graham Norton

Just my kind of  police drama, no violence, nobody dies, except for the bones uncovered during excavations. Graham Norton has written a surprisingly decent novel where the characterisation is especially strong in the first half. The overweight Sergeant PJ Collins, the three Ross sisters (Evelyn, Florence and Abigail), Mrs Meaney and Brid Riordan are people living in the remote Irish village of Duneen. 

I noted early on that this was a story made for a film, and sure enough, an  ITV production is ongoing. The mystery of the skeleton haunts the locality as PJ and his boss try to uncover the truth. PJ's interview with Evelyn I felt was sensitively written. At the same time there is the Norton trademark humour and wit. The last part suffered a little by being all plot, but that's to be expected. Overall I enjoyed the story and was impressed by the prose.

West Side Story, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain and Licorice Pizza

 

I always find that there is something missing in a musical without an audience. No clapping or cheering at the end of a big production number, and here there are plenty of those. Maybe too many? I had forgotten that West Side Story is mostly song and dance and much less dialogue. But I did love the orchestration, especially those hints of a big number up next. I liked the performances of Rita Moreno as Valentina and Ariana De Bose as Anita. But I felt the leads were unconvincing. Steven Spielberg's direction was impressive and full of verve, but overall I found the experience unengaging.

Although I found the story unexciting, the script and the acting made this an enjoyable movie. Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy were on top form, and despite criticism of Andrea Risborough, I though she was terrific in an Oscar worthy supporting role. The period setting looked gorgeous and the costumes first rate. It probably looked better than it actually was. Wain was famous for his pictures of cats.

This is one I particularly liked: "Carol Singing Cats"

I think I have seen just about every film from Paul Thomas Anderson and this was up there with his best.  A bitter sweet coming of age movie, and not just for fifteen year old Gary Valentine played by Cooper Hoffman, but also for twenty five year old Alana, with Alana Haim hugely impressive in her first main role. (the whole family of Haims are in there somewhere). There are times she acts more like fifteen and Gary twenty five. Their platonic relationship is obviously going to have it's ups and downs, but this is a completely sweet natured and funny movie. Among the huge cast there are cameos from Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper and a totally bonkers Tom Waits. The soundtrack is completely amazing, representing some of the best of early seventies tracks. Not all to my taste but some crackers amongst the many tunes. And great incidental music from Johnny Greenwood. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian gave it five stars and I would not argue with that.

The Ascough's of East Fen

 It was an episode of Who Do You Think You Are that made me want to look again at my Ascough family history. Former minister Edd Balls is taken back to the nineteenth century and a radical ancestor, an agricultural labourer who stood up to the changes in farming in Norfolk, especially mechanisation that threatened their livelihoods. Not far away were the Ascoughs, also agricultural labourers.

I wanted to be reminded of what the changes of that same century meant for my ancestors living on the edge of East Fen in Lincolnshire. I had found five generations who lived there from Thomas Ascough (born 1735) to John Ascough (born 1758), his son John Ayscough (born 1781) then James Ascough (born 1808) and finally George Askew (born 1852). More detail is on my post of 26th December 2015 The George Askew Story Part 1 - Five Generations of Agricultural Labourers. However, it was my later post of 15th August 2016 The George Askew Story - Part 2.that explored their lives in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 

There are no records of the Ascoughs before Thomas. If they were in the same locality, this is what I found.  Going way back in time, I noted in my post of 12th November 2017, "The Great Inquest (of the Soke of Bolinbroke 1548) set out to organise how the fen commoners used the common land of the fens to the advantage of all. This included the area of the East Fen and particularly The Deeps that provided such a good living for the commoners. These are described in more detail later. The map below is dated 1661.

However, if we start with the birth of Thomas Ascough in 1735, East Fen is shown in the picture below that is dated 1774 when he was thirty nine. It already shows the first drains that were to eventually eliminate The Deeps a whole century later. 

At the same time as the common land of The Deeps was under threat with those drains shown above, and more to come, the enclosure of the common lands around the villages of Toynton St Peter and Toynton All Saints (those open  fields shown in the map below) took place through the Enclosure Act  of 1774. So both the common land around the villages and the common land of the Fen were about to become extinct. The life of the commoners was to change in the most dramatic way.

This is some of what I included in my website https://theascoughsofeastfen.weebly.com.

THE TOYNTON VILLAGES BEFORE AND AFTER ENCLOSURE

 It is evident that the inhabitants of the two villages lived a kind of double life. The East Fen certainly provided one type of livelihood. But it was the fields and common land close to the village centres that allowed the commoners to graze livestock in the winter, and to grow crops on strips that were ploughed for their use. It is clear from both the following surveys that before enclosure in 1774, the majority of the land was common land described as Open Fields.
 
This combination of farming on common land close to the villages and the benefits they gained from the open East Fen meant that the commoners living in the Toyntons must have enjoyed a reasonable and independent lifestyle for many centuries. This was all to change with the draining and enclosure of East Fen and the enclosure of all the Open Fields around the villages.
 
The enclosure of the two Toynton Villages is described in two parts. The first is the situation at the beginning of the seventeenth century as detailed in a survey carried out in 1614. This shows that some enclosure had already taken place. The second is the position at 1773 before the Enclosure Act of 1774, and then how the Act enclosed the remaining open fields.
 
What is interesting is that a comparison between the 1614 survey and that at 1773 showed very little had changed over that time. The question is, were the Ascoughs reliant upon the common land (Open Fields) for their livelihood or were they employed to work for the owners and tenants of the enclosed fields? My guess is probably both.

THE ENCLOSURE OF TOYNTON ALL SAINTS AND TOYNTON ST PETER’S: 1773-1774

 By 1773, a good deal of the parish was already divided into hedged closes; however 1140 acres of open arable land, ings and common were still unenclosed. Seven Open Fields still existed. They are basically the same shape, and called the same names as the 1614 survey. (See map below). The purpose of enclosure was to divide these 1140 open acres between the individuals owning lands and enjoying Common Rights to hedge and fence the lands divided. The lands were distributed as the following map.

There is no sign of any Ascough being allotted land, so may not have enjoyed any rights of common at that time. That might have meant that they had no livestock to graze on the East Fen as these would have had to be moved to the higher Open Fields in winter.

Looking back, I now realise that the Ascoughs were most probably agricultural labourers employed by the landowners and even by the fen commoners.

What the Enclosure does show is that the parish did not suffer from flooding as the land is slightly above the level of the East Fen. Indeed, Toynton St Peter is around 10 metres above the Fen and Toynton All Saints at 30 metres according to the latest OS map. The southern boundary of the parish enclosure seems to be where the East Fen Catchwater Drain was placed through the Act of Parliament of 1801 and 1803.

The Drainage of East Fen

So back to where we started with The Deeps of East Fen under threat from the construction of catchwater drains. Some were already crossing the fen and my post of 5th November 2016 describes how in 1784, Mill Drain was deepened and enlarged that resulted in lowering the level of water in The Deeps. The fenmen were upset and erected a dam across the new cut.

That same year, 1784, a Petition was sent to the Commissioners to object to the loss of this common land that had supported generations of fenmen over the centuries. See above post which also includes the following:

At the time of the petition, John Ascough was 25 or 26, his elder brother Thomas was 27 or 28 and their father Thomas was 49. There is an outside chance that one of them signed the petition. However they were living on the northern edge of East Fen on the opposite side of The Deeps from Mill Drain. And by 1784, the common land of open fields around their villages, on slightly higher ground, had been, or was being enclosed by the Enclosure Act of 1773. “An Act for Dividing and Inclosing certain Open Common Fields, Meadows, Ings and other Commonable lands and Waste Grounds within the manor of Toynton, in the Townships of Toynton All Saints and Toynton St Peters ……”

The commoners living on the margins of East Fen had seen their old way of life both by Enclosure of the common fields and by the attempts to drain common land of The Deeps. So it may be that by this time the Ascoughs were employed by the new owners or tenants of the enclosed common fields as farm labourers but with still an interest in those deeps. Once a fenman, always a fenman. That is until Sir John Rennie arrived in 1800 with his plans for the major drainage of East Fen.

My Weebly website describes all the events of the nineteenth century: the schemes and Acts of Parliament for drainage from 1800 1818. the objections with the "Remonstrance" of a Holland Watchman of 1800 and many other complaints. 

The Enclosure Act of 1800 and the Awards of 1812, (see map below) was still premature as The Deeps were consistently under water. Even the map of projected enclosures below failed to included them. 

That is until the arrival of steam power at Lade Bank Pumping Station in 1867. It was then that George Askew saw the writing on the wall and left Lincolnshire for good and the coalfields of Rotherham. This actually coincided with the Great Depression of British Agriculture that started around 1873. It looks like George got out just in time. 

The Deeps

The Deeps (or “Deepes” as they were earlier called) of East Fen were the most prominent of the wetlands of South Lincolnshire. East Fen was an area of wetland, prone to flooding from the run off down the edge of the higher ground of the Wolds. This was fresh water that replenished large pools that had been created in medieval times by the extraction of the peat that was, a main feature of this particular fen. These pools were called “The Deeps”. The cutting and selling of peat seemed to have been a highly profitable industry. The Deeps were also a good source of fish:  bream, pike, eels, roach and perch could be caught.

J S Padley in his 1882 book The Fens and Floods of Mid-Lincolnshire records the names of the sixty-one pools. They gradually reduced in size and number during the drainage schemes of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
 
The pools were connected by “Havens”, “Rows” or “Boating’s” and it was a pleasant excursion in the summer to row from pool to pool the entire length to Wainfleet. They also enabled the transport of goods including livestock, to the harbour there.
 
The centre of each pool was free from weeds and although the bottom was mud, perhaps three feet deep, above was three to four feet of amazingly clear water. It was therefore easy to see and catch fish with a net or even a hay-fork.

The following extract is from H C Darby's "Changing Fenland":

Under these conditions, important items in the diet of the fenmen and their families were fish and fowl, together with milk, butter and cheese, and bread made from spring corn that grew in small patches.
 
For fuel the fenmen used peat, dug in “turf fens” and dried. A week’s work was usually sufficient to provided firing for the whole year. For thatch, they had reeds cut from reed ponds; osiers (species of willow) were also important as were rushes (for flooring, bedding etc).
 
In the waters and among the reeds, fish and fowl still continued in abundance. Fish included perch and eels, and especially tench and pike. Quite as familiar a fenland figure was the fowler. The older method of catching large numbers of fowl was to drive them wholesale into a net at the end of a pool or mere, with the aid of a large number of assistants and boats. (J Ray and F Willoughby “Ornithology” 1678). There were vast quantities of geese yielding large amounts of quills and feathers as well as meat.

So I can well imagine Thomas Ascough there on The Deeps, either as a commoner with rights to this part of the Fen, or more probably being one of the two labourers allowed to assist. An experienced  labourer in this part of the world would be in great demand. However, commoners were given land when the Enclosure Acts were enacted. No Ascough was ever recorded so my conclusion about them being just labourers seems to fit.

On my Weebly website I included the following text about the "mud and stud" cottages where the Ascoughs may have lived.

I D Rotherham says in his book The Lost Fens:
 
The independent commoners who eked a living from the fens often lived in basic and very poor accommodation. Cottages were not built to last but put together with materials easily and freely available. (Mud and stud walls) the roofs were thatched with reed and turf and the heating would be peat and wood. There was generally no chimney, just a hole in the roof and the smoke went out of the door and any windows. The acrid peat smoke had the benefit of keeping out biting insects, particularly midges and mosquitoes, in the summer.

The end of the Ascoughs in Lincolnshire

Five generations of Ascoughs had seen dramatic changes to the landscape and their livelihoods during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The drainage of East Fen and the Enclosure of Common Land around the villages of Toynton St Peter and Toynton All Saints left them reliant upon the landowners for work. George Askew was in his twenties when he saw the writing on the wall and left Lincolnshire for the coalfields of Rotherham. Another hard life down the pit, but one that provided for a wife and eleven children! George was still a miner at 67 and lived until he was 73. My great grandfather.

Other posts include:

The George Askew Story - Five Generations of Agricultural Labourers 

Ditto Part 2

The Ascoughs - Life on the border of East Fen - The Sources

The Commoners of East Fen - The Petition of 1784

Askew or Ascough

The website:

https://theascoughsofeastfen.weebly.com.

Different Class, Right Ho, Jeeves and Summerwater

 

This is the sequel to "Gentleman and Players" that I read over ten years ago. On occasions I had to refresh my memory of what happened there by dipping into that earlier novel. Very little time has passed since those events and memories are still quite raw. I wondered if certain characters from that first book would appear here. I was not disappointed. Again we have two alternate narrators as we dash between 1981 and 2005. The main character again is Roy Straitley is our venerable Latin master, but the other is a mysterious pupil who I got wrong at first. Not being a great fan of thrillers, I am always impressed by the prose of Joanne Harris and that keeps me interested.

"At St Oswalds, all of life can be found in microcosm. Tragedy and Comedy pursue each other down the halls, great friendships are forged and forgotten; impossible dreams pursued; tears shed. These may not be the happiest days of our lives, but they are surely the keenest; days when everything cuts like a knife; days when the future seems infinite." I'm sure we know what that means.

The construction of this book is a wonder Although the thrills are actually saved for the last third. The author writes so well about the male species and all their funny ways, both masters and boys.
The ending was not totally satisfactory, although the last few lines before the Epilogue are brilliant.
This is what I wrote about the earlier book:

"Gentlemen and Players" is a highly original novel by Joanne Harris. The setting of an old boy's grammar school and the eruption of a long harboured grudge appealed to me. What we have is a black comedy, told in alternate chapters by two highly engaging characters. Roy Straitley is nearing retirement, but his wit and experience are legendary. We are happy in his warm and funny company. The new teacher is Chris Keane, but he tells his story with growing malice. The other teachers and pupils are well described, but I could have done with a who's-who list beside me. As the story unfolds with twists and turns of the plot (both current and in the past), the story darkens to it's gripping climax. And I couldn't wait to see what happens at the end.

This was a recommendation from Greg James on the "Between the Covers" programme as a light Christmas read. I should have looked at my review of my only other book by this author "Something Fresh" where I said "I wont be reading any others". Although I did find the first half quite amusing. It was a shame that the story lost all momentum and became repetitively boring. Why do newts play such a big part?

One rainy day in The Trossachs. Six families in cabins close to each other and next to a loch. One rainy day. The story is told by twelve characters, each from one of the families. Well, lovebirds Josh and Milly are not really a family and David and Mary's are grown up. I loved the first twenty pages when forty-something Justine goes out running at the crack of dawn (maybe it stays light at this time of year in Scotland?).

The retired David sees her running before he and Mary take the ferry to their favourite cafe. Then Milly, Lola, Alex, Claire, Mary, Becky, Josh, Izzie, Steve and Jack, all sorts of ages. All written cleverly in the third person, but inside the heads of each character. One rainy day in The Trossachs. Some of the chapters are better than others, occasionally I was bored.

There is that underlying sense of dread as one of the cabins is inhabited by some Eastern Europeans. They have no respect. The ending (that wasn't) is disturbing and seemed thrown in for dramatic purposes. When nothing else happens. Well, it is just one rainy day in The Trossachs.

Samurai Su Doku

 

On the 9th November 2020 I posted a piece about my graduation to Fiendish Su Doku, the World Championship level of the puzzle. I would not say they have become easier over the last year, but my time for their completion has reduced to about 15 minutes. Nothing compared to the lightning fast masters. 

However I thought it was time to have a go at Samurai Su Doku and a Christmas present brought me this book. On each page there are five interlinking grids, which will keep me occupied for a couple of days. I have already completed two and will try to complete one a week. Although they can make my head hurt.

Songs from Call the Midwife - Series 11

 

It's January so it must be yet another series of Call the Midwife. Although we gave up watching a couple of seasons ago, I will still persevere with my listing of the songs with the help of Tunefind,  together with the odd anecdote. I could only find one song from the Christmas Special shown on 25th December 2021 and that was Tulips from Amsterdam sung by Max Bygraves. The 1958 recording was a translation of the original 1953 German production.

Now I have found some more songs courtesy of Tunefind:

Sha La La La Lee by The Small Faces. Released in January 1966, it was written by Kenny Lynch and Mort Shuman. It reached number 3 in the UK charts.

Mahalia I want back my Dollar by Lord Invader and His Calypso Quintet. Don't ask.

Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darin. This is the English language version of Charles Trenet's La Mer. It was released in late 1959 and reached number 8 in the UK charts.

Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Vee. Originally released by Bobby Helms in 1957, it was written by Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe. They have been many cover versions and I would never have found the Bobby Vee recording if it were not for Tunefind.

I do not include carols or hymns in my lists. 

Episode 1

Tunefind failed to acknowledge the one song at the end of this episode. It's 1967 and the cast gather to watch the Eurovision Song Contest on a black and white TV. And sure enough here is Sandy Shaw singing the winning Puppet on a String. Written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, it became a UK number one in April. (Tunefind have now included this song).

Episode 2

Last Train to Clarksville by The Monkees. Written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, the band's debut single did far better in the USA than in the UK where it only reached number 23 on the charts. It's Beatles inspired tune was recorded with other instrumentalists.

 Little Bit of Soul by The Music Explosion. I have never heard of the song (written in 1964 by British songwriters John Carter and Ken Lewis) and never heard of the American band who  took it to number 2 in the USA charts. So thanks to Tunefind. In the UK it was recorded by the Coventry group The Little Darlings but that sunk without trace, as must have the band.

Exclusive Blend by Keith Mansfield. This British composer wrote many TV theme tunes. Check out the KPM Big Band on YouTube.

Episode 3

 My Love by Petula Clark. We can't go a whole series without a song from Petula. A 1965 release written by Tony Hatch. Although it reached number 1 in the USA, it only made number 4 in the UK.

I have ignored Tunefind's listing of Cry Me a River (sung by one of the cast) and the instrumental Peerie's Air by the Hudson Swan Band recorded in 2008?

Episode 4

Don't Sleep in the Subway by Petula Clark. What is it about this singer, she appears so often on the soundtrack. Is she related to someone in the production team? And yes, another Tony Hatch composition, this time with Jackie Trent. Released in April 1967, it only reached number twelve in the UK charts despite it's popularity.

Episode 5

You Don't Have To Say You Love Me by Dusty Springfield (or according to the late Terry Wogan, Rusty Springboard). Originally a 1965 Italian song by Pino Donaggio and Vito Pallavinci, it was recorded by Dusty in 1966 and made it to number one in the UK. The English lyrics ( by Vicki Wickham and Simon Napier-Bell) bear little resemblance to the Italian version, but are a perfect fit for the gorgeous melody. And Dusty sings with that wonderful voice. The live version is on YouTube and on this weeks episode it backs a montage of characters so we can hear it all with no voice over. I cannot remember a better song, singer and presentation on any episode of Call the Midwife over the years.

Episode 6

What has just happened? Who picked these three obscure numbers? Are they trying to test Tunefind? I would never have found them. Here we go:

I Want You by T-Boones. This is a 1967 recording by a Swedish group led by Kenny Hakasson. Not to be confused by T-Bones (not the American band of that name but it's British counterpart who I must have seen in Brighton in the sixties. The name sounds so familiar..... And there they were. On the same bill as David Bowie at Brighton University on 22nd October 1966. Blog posting of 27th February 2010). T-Boones were apparently a pre-punk band of whom I had never heard. I cannot find the composers.

Baluba Shake by Brunetta.  She is an Italian singer and this track from 1966 is apparently a dance favourite. It sounds to me like something Tarantino would include in one of his movies. It was written by Gorni Kramer and Alberto Testa. 

In The Deep End by The Atwoods. A 1967 single from Ronnie Wood's older brother Art's band and written by Paul Gump. Despite releasing a few recordings, they never troubled the charts.

Episode 7

Back to some less rare songs. Perhaps not for the first.

You're Too Much A Part Of Me by Patti Austin. Written by F Tanner and T Ponte, this was a 1967 recording from Belgium. 

Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks. At last an iconic single from 1967, written of course by Ray Davies, that reached number 2 in the UK charts. 

The Dr Who Theme composed by Ron Grainger and realised by Delia Derbyshire and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1963. The electronic soundtrack was created well before synthesisers. It has been used on every series, albeit in different recordings. 

Episode 8

Elusive Butterfly by Val Doonican. Written by American folk singer Bob Lind, his recording in 1965 went to number 5 in the USA. In the UK it was simultaneously released by Val Doonican and both records reached, again, number five in the charts in 1966. It has subsequently been covered many times.

That is the end of Series 11.