Another visit to Oxford

Alison's sister and her husband were visiting and wanted to look round Oxford. So I dug up my map (see bottom of the page) from the last time and off we were. We took the park and ride from Thornhill which dropped us off at the High Street. We cut through the covered market (which I had not seen before). Arriving at Cornmarket, we decided to go up The Saxon Tower at the church of St. Michael at the North Gate.

I had been up the Carfax Tower but not this far older and superior structure. The photo at the top is a view over the city. The bells are visible on the way up.

We also liked the mechanism of the old church clock. A small old wooden door that is propped against a wall is that through which passed the Oxford Martyrs, Latimer, Ridley and Cranmer, on their way to the stake on Broadgate. The plaque below describes what happened.

We then followed the route I had previously planned. Broad Street, Sheldonian Theatre, Bodlein Library and Radcliffe Camera before passing under the Bridge of Sighs and making our way past the colleges to High Street and Magdalen College. Then over the road, past the Botanic Gardens and Christ Church, up St Aldates to Pembroke College and Queen Street.

Here we diverted to the new Queensgate shopping centre and a great lunch at Comptoir Libanais, a smart Lebanese restaurant. From there we made our way to the Ashmolean Museum which was our last port of call. A long day, but the weather was dry though cloudy and not too cold.

Touch, Still Here and Birdcage Walk

"Touch " is an ingenious, twisted fantasy that runs out of steam too early. At times, the complications of the plot gets in the way of any literary merit, unlike Claire North's first novel which I enjoyed. The first half is entertaining and fascinating, but the story then becomes too repetitive and I became bored with the one trick pony that is at the heart of the novel. The chapters are short, mostly between two and six pages long. But I needed something deeper to keep me interested. 

Linda Grant is one of favourite authors, so I was catching up on an earlier novel from 2002. "Still Here" was one of her best, tracing the brand new friendship of Alix and Joseph whilst exploring the backstory of their lives and that of their families. But they are both approaching fifty, one single, the other trying to make his marriage work.

Alix is one of the best female characters I have ever read, prickly, fiercely intelligent, outspoken (she calls it mouthy), a product of a Jewish family from Liverpool. You wont understand until you read the book when she says "Be gone with you Issie, a new phantasm will come to me tonight". Joseph is an architect from Chicago building a hotel near the docks. His story alternates with that of Alix.

Grant writes with a sharp point to her pen, describing Alix's grandparents escaping from Dresden and making a new life in Liverpool. As Alix says "I have to admit that my generation, born after the war, has had the easiest ride in the whole of history. ". Haven't we just. 

Another outstanding novel from Helen Dunmore. A great pity that this is her last. Our narrator, Lizzie, is a young woman ahead of her time for 1792. Her older husband is building a fancy terrace on the edge of the Avon Gorge at Clifton. But he is not all he seems. When her mother dies, Lizzie has lost her rock. Full of gorgeous descriptive prose, the relationships between all the main characters are beautifully drawn. I loved it. 

A Woman Of No Importance - Live in Cinemas

It is no surprise that the last major performance of A Woman Of No Importance was back in 2003. This is just a play for those interested in the history of theatre, or ticking a box for an Oscar Wilde production. I have never seen the cinema so empty for a live screening.

That is not to say there is some merit and humour in this revival by Dominic Dromgoole. The first half is extraordinary in that it is a succession of comments on life as seen by the aristocracy, most of which are absurd. Wilde is trying to find a witticism in every line. A few work, lots do not.

The second half is pure melodrama and the fact that it's fine is all down to Eve Best. Her Mrs Arbuthnot only appears towards the end of the first half, but the second is her's. She somehow, unexpectedly, breathes fire, anger and love into her woman scorned.

Anne Reid is also very good as hostess Lady Hunstanton. Her singing in the quaint musical interludes between acts is exceptional. I also liked Emma Fielding as Mrs Allonby and Dominic Rowan as the caddish  Lord Illingworth. Maybe not the best Wilde play to start a new season.

Murder on the Orient Express, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool and Paddington 2

Three wonderful British movies in succession. Starting with Kenneth Branagh's hammed up Agatha Chrstie's Murder on the Orient Express. His portrayal of Poirot suffers a little from the accent coming and going, but I forgave him because of his magnificent speech at the end. The cast enjoy themselves immensely. Even Daisy Ridley is surprisingly good. Never mind that I knew the ending, the huge wide screen did justice to a colourful show.

Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool is an emotional roller-coaster, memorable for an Oscar deserving performance by Annette Bening. Her portrayal of the fading star Gloria Grahame is top drawer. This is a celebrity who feels she has to act that part in normal life. taken the sweetnes from  screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh, based on Turner's own memoir, is superb, as is the direction by Paul McGuigan. The editing of the different timelines is spot on. And finally the soundtrack is first class. So one of the best films this year.

The amazing thing about Paddington 2 is just how it is so well written. Director Paul King and Simon Farnably (famous in our house for Yonderland), with some help from Jon Croker, have taken the sweetness from Michael Bond's story and made it relevant and hilarious for the present day. OK, the plot and action is all fantasy stuff, but with such sensitive feeling towards all the characters, it means so much at the time. Again, the cast are first rate. Hugh Grant is getting all the plaudits, but I much preferred Sally Hawkins as Mrs Brown. Her desperation at Paddington's predicament is something special. A small cameo from Tom Conti and something more from Brendan Gleeson are both terrific.

RECENT BRITISH MOVIES

I have been so pleasantly surprised by how many British movies have been released recently, and how all of them have been so good:

Goodbye Christopher Robin
Beathe
The Death of Stalin
Murder on the Orient Express
Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool
Paddington 2

And it looks like there are more to come, including one about Charles Dickens writing A Christmas Carol.

Eynsham 10K

My third time at the Eynsham 10K, our last race of the year. A frosty morning turned into a beautiful sunny day, although it remained very cold. I was pleased with my time of 55 minutes 16 seconds, exactly (to the second) the same as the Bearbrook 10K in August. Alison did well at just over the hour. They don't give out medals, but we much prefer the great quality tech t-shirt, this year in blue.

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

On the 15th November last year, I posted a list of what were then my main sources for a study of the history of the East Fen in Lincolnshire, where my Ascough ancestors lived. A year later and my visit to Lincolnshire in September provided more information that I have now included in my final draft.

I say final, but lacking an editor, I am now embarking on my own major edit of what is now quite a large document. But I do have a definitive list of my sources and this is it:

Notes on the History of Toynton All Saints and Toynton St Pete by Ethel H Rudkin edited by Robert Pacy. First published 1992 by Old Chapel Lane Books, Burgh le Marsh, Lincs. Copyright Robert Pacey. Second Edition 2001

Margins of the East Fen: Historic Landscape Evolution by Professor I.G. Simmons. Durham University, Department of Geography, Lower Mountjoy, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK. Website https: www.dur.ac.uk/east-lincs-history. A provisional narrative landscape history by I.G. Simmons with major contributions by Patrick Mussett and additional work by Meryl Foster; made possible by the encouragement and financial support of the late Arthur Owen, FSA

English Peasant Farming. The Agrarian History of Lincolnshire from Tudor to Recent Times by Joan Thirsk. First published in 1957 by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd. Reprinted in 1981 by Methuen & Co. Ltd, 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Old and New Landscapes in the Horncastle Area Lincolnshire. The Enclosures of Twenty-Three Parishes – With Maps by Eleanor and Rex C. Russell. Lincolnshire History Series No 7 Copyright Rex C Russell. First published 1985 by Lincolnshire Recreational Services, County Library Headquarters, Brayford House, Lucy Tower Street, Lincoln LN11XN

A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire, Being a description of the Rivers Witham and Welland and their Estuary, and an account of the reclamation, drainage, and enclosure of the Fens adjacent thereto by William Henry Wheeler (1832-1915). Originally published in 1868 with a Second Edition Greatly Enlarged 1897. Published in Boston by J.M. Newcombe and in London by Simpkin, Marshall and Co

Lincolnshire County Council’s historical website http://www.lincstothepast.com. Lincs to the Past is a site that contains hundreds of thousands of records covering items held in Lincolnshire’s Historic Environment Record, Archives, Libraries, Museums and Tennyson Research Centre. Its search engine provides a single place from which to search through the catalogues of the cultural heritage collections held across Lincolnshire

Cassini Historical Map  Old Series 1824   Skegness and Horncastle Sheet 122. Cassini Publishing Ltd 2006

OS Explorer: Skegness, Alford and Spilsby Map 274. Published by Ordnance Survey Limited 2015

The Fenland Project No 8: Lincolnshire Survey, The Northern Fen-Edge by T.W. Lane with a major contribution by Peter Hayes. East Anglian Archaeology Report No 66, 1993. Fenland Project Committee, Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire. Download from East Anglian Archaeology

The Agricultural Revolution in South Lincolnshire by David Grigg 1966. Published by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London NW1

The history of Imbanking and Drayning of Divers Fens and Marshes both in forein parts and in this kingdom, and of the improvements thereby extracted from records, manuscripts, and other authentick testimonies by Sir William Dugdale (1695 – 1686)  Printed by Alice Warren 1662. Website: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A36795.0001.001?view=toc

The Surveighe of the Manor of Toynton taken the twentithe of November in the xii yeare of our Soveraigne Lord King James. Lincolnshire Archives Ref Name 5-ANC/4/A/14

The Fens and Floods of Mid Lincolnshire by J S Padley 1882                                     

Website: https://archive.org/details/fensfloodsofmidl00padl

Maps of the Witham Fens from the Thirteenth to the Nineteenth Century

Edited by R. C. Wheeler. First published 2008. A Lincoln Record Society Publication, published by The Boydell Press, an imprint of Boydell and Brewer Ltd, PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP123DF, UK

Lindsey Archaeological Services – Toynton Sewerage Scheme (Toynton St Peter and Toynton All Saints) Archaeological Desk-Based Appraisal. Report prepared for Anglian Water Services Ltd by G. Tann. LAS Report No. 671 June 2003

A Short History of Enclosure in Britain – The Land Magazine by Simon Fairlie

Website: http://www.thelandmagazine.org.uk/articles/short-history-enclosure-britain

The Lost Fens: England’s Greatest Ecological Disaster by Ian D Rotherham. First published 2013 by The History Press, The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloucestershire GL52QG

The Fen Slodgers - Skegness Magazine 11^th May 2013

Website: https://skegness.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/the-fen-slodgers/

From Punt to Plough – A History of the Fens by Rex Sly. First published in the United Kingdom in 2003 by Sutton Publishing Limited

In the Fens by Rex Sly Website: http://www.rexslyinthefens.com

The Changing Fenland by H.C. Darby. Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB21RP. First published by Cambridge University Press 1983

Lincolnshire Fenland Lidar by S J Malone (Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire/Archaeological Project Services) Publication Date: 2014 Publication Name: HTL/APS Working Paper 1

Website: https://www.academia.edu/5807526/Lincolnshire_Fenland_Lidar?auto=download

Settlement and Society. A Study of the Early Agrarian History of South Lincolnshire by H. E. Hallam. Published by Cambridge University Press 1965.

The design for the initial drainage of the Great Level of the Fens: an historical whodunit in three parts by Margaret Albright Knittl. Published by The British Agricultural History Society in their Agricultural History Review 1^st June 2007.

Website: http://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/55_102Knittl.pdf

Lincolnshire and the Fens by M W Barley. Published by B T Batsford 1952

Fenland Riots and the English Revolution by Keith Lindley. Published by Ashgate Publishing Ltd and Heinemann1982

Lincolnshire Notes and Queries Volume 20 No 160 October 1928. Item 33 - The Fen Laws of Common by Charles Brears

Commoners: Common Right, Enclosure and Social Change in England, 1700-1820 by J M Neeson. Published by Cambridge University Press Online 2010. Original publication date 1993. Website: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511522741

Lade Bank Pumping Station on Grace’s Guide: British Industrial History

Website:  https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Lade_Bank_Pumping_Station

The Great Depression in British Agriculture - Wikipedia

Witham Fourth District Internal Drainage Board – History

Website: http://www.w4idb.co.uk/

Remonstrance by a Holland Watchman 1800

Website: https://books.google.co.uk/books

An Address to Ninety Commoners by Rev Edward Walls   1807

Website: https://books.google.co.uk/books

Adventurers (land drainage) – Wikipedia

Toynton St Peter, Toynton All Saints and Wainfleet St Mary - Wikipedia and Genuki

Witham Navigable Drains - Wikipedia

Follies - National Theatre Live

I normally steer clear of musicals, but the five star reviews for the National Theatre;s "Follies" took me to a live screening last night. I also love the Olivier Theatre, and the big revolving stage was perfect for this production.

Apparently, this is a problem play, but director Dominic Cooke has worked some magic with staging the songs. There is very little dialogue. The music is typical Stephen Sondheim, not always to my liking. But the cast gave it everything. I particularly liked Di Botcher's full steam delivery of "Broadway Baby". All the main cast have big numbers.

But for me, the stand out performance was from the wonderful Janie Dee. I have previously enthused about her in "All's Well That Ends Well" at The Globe, in Pinters's "Old Times", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at Aylesbury Waterside, Alan Ayckbourn comedies and others. But I have never previously seen her in a musical, although she has done many. Imelda Staunton is also  very good, and she is an equally great  singer.

What really impressed me was the way the younger selves of the older main characters appear almost as ghosts, watching their mature characters in all their glorious failings. Usually in the background, but occasionally up close. This theatrical device made it for me.