Margrave of the Marshes

When he died in October 2004, John Peel had only written the first part of an autobiography. He had only reached 1964 and was only just over half way through his time in the USA. When his wife Shelia picks up his story, the writing did not contain the same witty, intimate and captivating recollections to which John was privy, and I nearly called it a day. However, sheer curiosity kept me going, and I was rewarded with an incredible tale of an amazing man.

In the last words of Chapter Three, John recalls "I allowed my life to be transformed by hearing first Lonnie Donegan". And the first part of Chapter Four is a tribute to this event. Now I cannot say my life was transformed by Lonnie. I happened to be only eleven when "Rock Island Line" reached the charts in 1956 and John Peel was fifteen. However it did pave the way, even at such an early age, for my love of folk/country/rock that this record embodied.

When we lived in London in the 1950's, I can remember my brother and I being put in the care of the guard on the train from St Pancras to Rotherham to visit our grandmother (Nanan) in the summer holidays. She used to meet us at the station and take us to the semi on Wordsworth Drive. Still living at home with her were three uncles, all in their twenties. The youngest was Geoff and he was the one who owned "Rock Island Line" on a single 78 (rpm). During the day we were allowed to play this and an LP of Bill Haley's "Rock around the Clock". It was the single that I thought was magic, and it was played time and time again. It certainly has influenced my musical taste to this day. When Johnny Walker included requests in his Drivetime show on Radio 2, the four he played of mine started with "Rock Island Line".

Like John Peel, I was never a huge fan of Lonnie's comedy records, although the inspired release of a live recording for "My Old Man's a Dustman" is still entertaining. But it was records such as "Cumberland Gap", "Jack O'Diamonds" and "The Grand Coolie Dam" that I shall remember. John Peel may have mentioned "Six Five Special". This was probably the first rock and roll music programme on British TV. It started on the BBC in 1957 and Lonnie was one of the stars, so it was obviously my favourite programme of the week. A black and white film version was made the next year and mum took us to see it, one of my first movie memories.

Best Things about Retirement Part 3 - Reading at Night

The most reading I have done over the past ten years has been on the train. It started when I used to commute every day to my first contract with Shepherd Construction at Cavendish Square in the West End. The 50 minute journey every day from Stoke Mandeville to Marylebone was only tolerable with a good book. Recently, the long but not frequent trips to the Discovery Dock site in Docklands and Burlington Danes labs in Acton, meant I could get stuck in to my current novel.

However much I thought it would be nice to read last thing at night, I was always too tired during the week. But since retiring, I now look forward to switching off the TV after the late news, and reading until my brain tells me it didn't capture the page I was on. I always read fiction. Biographies etc I leave for the daytime, which reminds me, now that I have finished John Peel's, its time to start the latest from Terry Wogan.

May in April and April in May

April started off sunny and stayed that way. No rain fell until the 25th when some drizzle and the odd shower over a coup,e of days gave way to clear weather through the beginning of May. Temperatures for April were typically around 18 degrees, way above the seasonal average. They peaked at 24C on the 15th. Bluebells were in flower three weeks early (see Blog 22nd April) and the lawns were as hard as they are in June.

But the weather changed on the 7th May with heavy rain overnight, the first useful rain for five weeks. And we have had rain most days, some heavy. Boy, did the gardens need it. Temperatures now reach a maximum of 12 to 14C so quite cool. We have had to switch the heating back on over the last two days.

Hay Fever, Old Times, John Gabriel Borkman and The Seagull

I went to see Noel Coward's Hay Fever and Harold Pinter's Old Times at the Oxford Playhouse. Both were very enjoyable in their own way. In the first,Stephanie Beacham stood out as Judith Bliss. It was a light and amusing comedy, rather than hysterically funny.

I love seeing any Harold Pinter play. I went see Old Times at the Donmar two years ago. The Oxford production could never match a thee hander in such an intimate theatre as the Donmar. But Sir Peter Hall's direction brought the best from Neil Pearson, Susannah Harker and especially Janie Dee.

John Gabriel Borkman at the Donmar was the best play that I have seen for ages. David Eldridge had previously written an acclaimed new version of Ibsen's The Wild Duck which the Donmar had produced. His version of John Gabriel Borkman is outstanding. Whilst Ian McDiarmid (Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in Star Wars) received rave reviews as Borkman, for me the two sisters, played by Penelope Wilton and Deborah Findlay, were superb.

I was looking forward to my first visit to The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford where the RSC are playing while The Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Swan Theatre are being refurbished. As a temporary theatre, it is certainly very grand. See www.rsc.org.uk/transformation/courtyard/. It has been built next to the studio theatre that was called The Other Place. I only went there once, to see a wonderful and memorable production of Richard II as the first in the RSC history cycle.

Unfortunately on the night I went to see The Seagull, it was only a third full. I cannot remember when I have ever been to see a play and the theatre wasn't full. So this was an unusual and slightly uncomfortable experience. I'm not sure if this was the right venue for Chekhov. It needed a much more intimate space. The acting and direction was good enough, but Trevor Nunn's choice of translation was patchy. Whilst trying to be modern, some dialogue was clumsy and did not match the traditional 1900 setting. Next time its back to the Donmar.

Shooter, Next and Fracture

Three mainstream Hollywood thriller/action movies. What do they have in common apart from one word titles? None are emotionally challenging, but all three are well directed, well photographed in interesting city locations. Guns play a significant role in all three as you would expect.

Three heroes up against overwhelming odds. Mark Whalberg was efficient but one dimensional. Nicolas Cage seemed to in another movie altogether, but Ryan Gosling was great as the hotshot lawyer. That made Fracture the winner by a short shot.

Theatre Royal, Brighton

As a postscript to our visit to Brighton, and when I was delving into my box of old programmes to find those from the World Cup of 1966, I found three from Theatre Royal, Brighton from 1966 and 1968. The latter, shown above, is for two plays starring a young Ian McKellen and James Bolam.

The first programme from 1966 is a production of Staircase with Paul Scofield and Patrick Magee. The other is Bernard Shaw's You Never Can Tell. This was one of Ralph Richardson's most memorable performances and subsequently played for a long time in the West End. Many London plays previewed in Brighton.

I have always loved the theatre. Dad had always been involved in amateur dramatics, even from a young age, and Mum loved to watch plays on tv. When I was young, we had two great aunts who lived together in Esher. They must have been sisters of Gran who was our father's mother. Every Christmas in the mid to late 1950's, when we lived in London, they took us to see a show. Sometimes these were plays such as Toad of Toad Hall.

I remember going with the school to see Paul Scofield as King Lear in London in 1963 as this was our Shakespeare for English A Level. The same year I played Major Petkoff in Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man,which was the school play for that year.

So now I have been going to see a play half a dozen times a year, more over recent years. So tonight it is Chekov's The Seagull. I do like to go different theatres to look at the building, so tonight is especially exciting as the RSC have opened the new Courtyard Theatre while the main house is being refurbished. I will be going early to have good nose around.

Alan Ball and 1966

This is the only photograph of Alan Ball that I could find from the newspaper clippings I kept from the 1966 World Cup. This is from the Sunday Mirror of 31st July 1966, the day after the final. He didn't play in all the group matches. He played on the right of midfield in the opening 0 - 0 draw with Uruguay with John Connelly on the left. For the next game against Mexico, they were replaced with Terry Paine and Martin Peters. Ian Callaghan came in for Terry Paine against France, only to be replaced by Alan Ball for the quarter final. The rest is history.

When my friend Ray (see blog 25th January 2007) showed me the advert in the Evening Standard for world cup tickets, we were amazed that we could buy a season ticket for all the games at Wembley (where England played all their group matches) including the the quarter final, semi final AND FINAL. So we sent off our applications, and back came all the tickets in a nice little sellophane holder. Although I kept all mine, unfortunately they have been lost over the years. But I still have the programmes as the photograph above.

I missed one game. A friend at work (Rowena - her father had given me the second half of a Chelsea season ticket in 1964 when his work ar Reuters took him abroad) held a party to celebrate her 21st birthday on the same day England played Mexico. So I watched most of the game on their tv with her father. So Ray and I exchanged tickets, so I had his for the France v Uruguay game at White City, a most unusual venue, and took my friend Trevor.

Of course the final was fantastic. We were in our normal position behind the goal opposite the players entrance, the one where Geoff Hurst scored our third goal. The celebrations after the match were tinged with a little sadness. We had followed England through all their games and now it was all over.

From someone who went to nearly all the games England played, the most emotional was the match against Argentina in the quater final. For the eight minutes that play was halted when their captain Antonio Rattin was sent off, the chanting and singing was unremitting. England were by far the superior team until that moment. But then, as is so often playing against ten men, their play faltered. Only a wonderful header thirteen minutes from the end by Geoff Hurst ( only playing as Jimmy Greaves was injured) from a cross by Martin Peters won the game.

I was twenty one when we won the world cup, the same age as Alan Ball. I hope someone says the same words at my funeral as they did for Alan. They think its all over. It is now. But only for us.