Songs from "Call The Midwife" Christmas Special 2013

Despite the numerous songs on the Christmas Album of "Call the Midwife", I only heard four on the 2013 Christmas Special. And the one at the end of the programme is not even on the CD.

However, here is the song list:

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" by Perry Como

"Mary's Boychild" by Harry Belafonte

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee

"All the things you are" by Frank Sinatra.

I hope I have got the singer right on this last song. With no help from the CD, or even the versions on Youtube or Spotify, I'm hoping someone might come up with the answer.

The Colour, Money and The Testament of Mary

Rose Tremain is one of my favourite authors, but The Colour is the least captivating of her novels that I have read. A story about the early settlers in the south island of New Zealand revolves around the struggles of Joseph Blackstone, his wife Harriet and mother Lilian to make a new life against the wild and dangerous isolation of their new home. However, despite wonderful sections that truly transported you to that awesome landscape, these alternate with what I found to be boring and repetitive descriptions about their hardship. So not many laughs. In fact none. I also thought that the book seemed to be padded out to reach a meaningful 360 odd pages. Some new characters that appear over halfway through would have been OK, but why do we get so much of their back story. This did nothing for the flow of the plot. But Tremain is such a good writer, and so despite it's bleakness, I found enough in the storytelling to keep me interested most of the time.

I stopped reading Money Martin Amis after 80 odd pages. I just could not bear to listen to any more of the garbage that came out of the mouth of the narrator, John Self. The first time I have read any Martin Amis and I thought it may be the last. I tried again and this time made it to the end, though it hardly deserved it. Yes, it was a bit of a struggle, a bit of a rambling mess. But after a while, the narrator becomes a more tolerable character, or did I just get used to him? The writing is the same frenetic jumble of almost English language as John Self talks to you as an almost friend, although friendship is something he would not recognise. Now that tricksy language is normally something I love, but boy, can you have too much of a good thing. Think caviar for every meal. Try this: "At sickening speed I have roared and clattered, I have rocketed through my time, breaking all the limits, guzzling gas and burning rubber, staring through the foul screen with my fist on the horn. I am that fleeing train that goes screaming past you in the night. Though travelling nowhere I have hurtled with blind purpose to the very end of my time. I have lived headlong at desperate rhythm. I want to slow down now and check out the scenery, and put in a stop or two. I want some semi-colons. Maybe Martina will be my big break .... I can't change, but maybe my life can. Mere proximity might do it all for me. Maybe I can just sit back, with a drink (I'm surprised the author did not say a bottle or three)and let my life do all the work". This must have been an exhausting exercise for the writer to have to keep this up for the whole book. Whatever Martin Amis was on when he wrote this, I want some, but only a tiny bit.

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin is an extraordinary book. Very short, only 104 smallish pages, but dynamite on every page. Mary tells the story of her son's demise from her own vivid recollections of that time. There is nothing here outside her own personal experience, but what an experience. Enough to send any mother mad. One review said it was a "gentle, thoughtful reimagining". He must have a thicker skin than me. Mary pulls no punches in what she saw, the images have stayed with her through to old age. The writing is poetic and devastating. Not for a reader of a nervous disposition.

The Hoyland Inheritence

On 23rd February 2009, I published an article on my blog entitled "Three Generations of Brush Manufacturers". The business was started in Sheffield by Jonathon Hoyland (1797 - 1867) around 1816 according to an obituary of his son. But that would make him eighteen or nineteen years old, so he started very young. We do know, according to White's Directory of 1857, he listed as "Jonathon Hoyland, bristle merchant, 53 Queen Street and Adelaide Place". The business was known as The Queen's Brushworks.

When Jonathon died in 1867, it is likely that all his three sons carried on the business. In the 1861 Census, his sons Walter (28) and Arthur (20) and both living at Jonathon's home in Adelaide Place and their occupations are given as brush manufacturers. In the same Census, son Charles (31) was boarding with the Dickerson family in West Derby, Lancashire and his occupation was given as brush manufacturer.

I have no knowledge of what happened to Walter and Arthur, but we do know that Charles built up the business to become quite wealthy. By 1881 he and his family were living in at a smart address in Heeley. The Charles White Directory of 1857 lists "Charles Hoyland, Brush Manufacturer of Victoria Road". Charles died on 23rd June 1905. His obituary was published in The Independent newspaper on 26th June 1905. It said his business was an extensive one. He also did a considerable amount of philanthropic work. His son Charles had taken over the management of the business.

The value of the estate left by Charles Senior was over £44,000, which would be worth in today's terms over £3.6 Million. But this does not take into account the worth of the business which had previously been sold to Charles Junior for £4,000 on a promissory note that was cancelled in the Will. The Will is quite extensive and mostly provides for a Trust to be held for the children, Charles Junior, and daughters Kate, Isobel and Hannah. Charles Senior's wife Hannah died in 1909. I do not have her will, but presume that her wealth was added to the Trust for the children, or divided between the four.

What we do know is that children Kate and Isobel (my father's great aunts) (and presumably Hannah who was married to the artist Fred Mayor) never married but lived comfortably without working for the rest of their long lives. So how did Charles Junior (Charles Haywood Hoyland to give him his full name) get on with the business? This is where things get very interesting, though not at all clear.

Charles H Hoyland started buying property/land on Busheywood Road in Dore. Here I am very grateful to Holly Smart who has found a substantial amount of documents relating to this property. The first of these is a lease to his wife, Louisa Maria Hoyland (ne Brooks) on 19th December 1908 for Plot No 5 Busheywood Road for two properties which have been more recently numbered 14 and 16. There was also land to the north-west leased by Charles to his wife (possibly where 18 and 20 now stand) and land to the south-east "not yet demised" where now probably stands numbers 10 and 12.

What is certain is that the 1911 Census shows Charles H Hoyland living at a house on Busheywood Road with his wife, youngest daughter Edith ( my grandmother and aged 19) two nurses, a servant and Charles' sister Isabel. Charles' daughter Kate had moved to Wimbledon according to the same Census, and living off "Private Means" with one servant. Visiting were two nephews and a niece as well as a friend who was a widow.

In 1913 Louisa Hoyland mortgaged her property with the Huddersfield Equitable for £752, so perhaps the needed the money. That document also now  shows that Charles has moved to Thornfield on Totley Brook Road. But Edith was still living in one of the Busheywood Road properties ("Baulby") in 1917 where my father was born.

But what about the brush manufacturing business? I guess that it started to struggle, maybe Charles did not have the head for business as dis his father. In 1924 there was a problem with an inspection of the Brushworks by the Brush and Broom Trade. Then comes more crucial documents found by Holly Smart. We know from a later mortgage that the first mortgage on the Brushworks took place in 1925 for the sum of £600. Then there is a SECOND mortgage in 1928 of the premises of The Queens Brushworks and other property bought by Charles namely 14, 16 and 18 West Bar Green, 30 and 40 Lambert Street and 1,2,3,4 and 5 Lambert Place all in Sheffield for £4,000. Strangely, both mortgages were with his sisters, Kate and Isobel Hoyland. So they had the capital to lend their brother.

There was also another mortgage in 1928 for leasehold land and two properties (14 and 16 again) on Busheywood Road. This time with Mrs E Willis.

But the most staggering document of all is the mortgage dated 20th December 1930 between Charles and his sisters. Here it refers to the previous mortgages that had obviously not been repaid by Charles as the new mortgage was established "in order to avoid legal proceedings being taken against him by the lenders for the recovery of the last mentioned sum". This time the mortgage is secured on a vast list of freehold and leasehold properties:

Freehold properties

First all those 10 messuages to dwelling houses situate in chemical yard totley in the county of derby known as "cliffe cottages" (2) "brook vale cottages"(2) "northeast cottages"(2) "ford cottage"(1) "Tranmere"(1) and "sheaf cottages"(2) 

Secondly all those 5 messuages or dwelling houses situate in victoria road totley aforesaid known as "woodbine villa" (1) "Narne villas" (2) and "holly mount" (2)
Thirdly all those 3 messuages or dwelling houses situate in the numbed 9 11 and 13 ruskin square albert road heeley in the city of sheffield
Fourthly all those 5 messuages or dwelling houses situate in the numbered 136 140 142 144 and 146 Totley brook road aforesaid
Fifthly all those 5 messuages or dwelling houses situate in and numbered 4 10 24 28 and 30 bushey wood road totley aforesaid
Sixthly all that garage (formerly used as a billiard room) situate on bushey wood road
Seventhly all that garden or land situate in bushey wood road aforesaid
Eighthly all those 5 messuages or dwelling houses situate in albert road heeley aforesaid four of which are known as numbers 268 270 272 and 274 and the other as "brookside"
Ninthy all that hut and land situate in and numbered 82 rangeley road in sheffield aforesaid
Tenthly all those nine dwelling houses situate in and numbered 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 and 24 Quarry hull fields wickersley in the county of york
11thly all that messuage or dwelling house situ are in and numbered 608 barnsley road in sheffield, aforesaid
12thly all that piece of land situate at hollinsend gleadless in sheffield aforesaid
13thly all that messages or dwelling house situate in and numbered 196 mount vale in the city of york together with the cottage stable croft and railway carriage
14thly all that messuage or dwelling house situate in and numbered 36 beers give in the city of nottingham.

Leasehouse properties

1st all those 2 messuages or dwelling houses situate in and numbered 28 and 30 bushey wood road totley aforesaid

2ndly all those 4 messuages or dwelling houses situate in and numbered 143 145  147 and 149 coleford road in sheffield aforesaid
3rdly all those 6 messuages or dwelling houses situ are in and numbered 6 8 10 and 12 and 1 and 2 in court 2 woodside land in sheffield aforesaid
4thly all that messuages to dwelling house situ are in and numbered 209 pits moor road in sheffield aforesaid

All the properties described int his schedule are subject to certain mortgages or charges and this collateral security is given subject to all such mortgages or charges existing at the date hereof entitled to priority hereto.

So now we know that Charles was far more interested in property development that he was the brushworks. It is my belief that by 1932 the brushworks had gone bust, possibly between 1928 and 1930. But what happened next is a mystery. Charles H Hoyland died in 1943, but his sisters lived on for many more years. Did they and Edith inherit all the above property? Certainly when my grandmother died there were many properties she owned (mostly leases?) that that were realised in dribs and drabs after she died. I could never locate the will of Charles H Hoyland, so perhaps one day this might reveal a lot more information. However, it has to be said that he inherited some great wealth that gradually was lost. But Gran (Edith) did leave me and her grandchildren £200 in her will and for that I will be eternally grateful. It bought my first car, that impressive red Triumph Herald Convertible. If it wasn't for that car, maybe my children would not exist.

Thea Gilmore at The Stables, Milton Keynes

This was the third time I had been to see Thea Gilmore at The Stables, the previous times being in 2004 and 2007. A packed house had a very enjoyable evening. On first was husband and producer Nigel Stonier. I found most of his songs fairly ordinary, but his jazz influenced Messin' With Fire, which was used on the soundtrack of the movie Confetti was the best of the set.

Before the concert, I had read that Thea would be performing with Nigel on guitar and piano, and with a violin and cello. So basically an acoustic set. So I was pretty worried that the concert would lack something without her usual backing band. But in the end the instruments complimented her mostly hauntingly beautiful songs so well. This was mostly due to the expertise of the musicians. Nigel, of course, is a terrific accompanist, but the revelation of the evening were Susannah Simmons on violin and Liz Hanks on cello. These two young women were outstanding, as were the arrangements. Thea's voice was as excellent as usual despite complaining of a cold coming on.

Her choice of her own songs was great, and the cover of The Cure's Lovesong was superb. Move over Adele. For a taste of her performance, her song I Will Not Disappoint You (Live) at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London is on YouTube. An outstanding concert finished with (not my favourite oldie This Girl Is Taking Bets) but the equally rousing London. One final touch was the entrance of seven year old son Egan Stonier on violin to help out on a couple of numbers. I can remember at the last concert at The Stables, he was just a baby. Yes Thea, he should have been in bed. What a family.

The full set list:  This Is How You Find The Way - Old Soul - Cold Coming - How The Love Gets In - This Road - Start As We Mean To Go On - Lovesong - December In New York - The Man Who Sold The World - I Will Not Disappoint You - Beautiful Hopeful - Pain In My Heart - Love Came Looking For Me - You're The Radio - London.    Encore: Sol Invictus (a cappella performance by Thea) -  Thea Gilmore's Midwinter Toast - That'll Be Christmas.

Aylesbury Choral Society - A Mozart Celebration

For their December concert, the Aylesbury Choral Society performed three works by W A Mozart. The two major works were his Vesperae solennes de Confessre and his popular Coronation Mass. I actually preferred the former, especially the famous Laudate Dominum section. The programme was completed with the Regina Coeli and two carols. The conductor, Peter Leech, invited the audience to join in with Silent Night and O Christmas Tree and insisted we sing some of the verses in German.

The choir was in fine form and happily drowned out the accompanying sixteen piece Frideswide Ensemble from Oxford. Just as it should be. I thought that the baroque and historical instruments of the orchestra suited the music, which was not always the case in previous concerts. The four soloists were fine, although three of them had very little solo work. The exception was soprano Elizabeth Weisberg who sang beautifully. Her big moment came with the Laudate Dominum where she was superb. When the choir came in, we had the highlight of the evening. I just wish they had sung it twice.

Gravity, The Butler and The Hunger Games - Catching Fire

Gravity was one of the most gripping experiences I have ever had at the cinema. To think that I mainly like good stories and good scripts, this was revelation. A nerve trembling rollercoaster ride where you feel that you are there with the astronauts, right up close and personal in outer space. Everything in 3D is there to let you experience exactly what it would be like to be up there when things go wrong. And they go wrong big time. This is all down to the director, Alfonso Cuaron who has made one of the definitive movies of this century, no, of all time. The actors could have been anybody, but George Clooney brings a certain "gravitas" and Sandra Bullock is fantastic. I have always loved her acting, she constantly brings that air of vulnerability to her roles, and here this is taken to an extreme. Tough but vulnerable.

I was quite disappointed with The Butler. I  thought there would be far more interaction with the eight American presidents that were served by Cecil Gains over three decades at the White House. And instead of visiting any number of critical events during this time, the movie concentrated on a family story of the civil rights movement, one which seemed far too familiar. There were some nice touches, but I felt the director, Lee Daniels didn't know what he wanted it to be. The acting was just about OK, the outstanding contribution was from Oprah Winfrey as the wife and mother. The film has been referred to as something like Forest Gump, but it is nothing near as good.

I had no better luck with The Hunger Games - Catching Fire despite the excellent reviews. The second in the trilogy is not much more than a rehash of the original with a bigger budget. The first half hour is OK when the media circus homes in on it's heroine from the last Hunger Games. But the rest is just a repeat. Cutting the film down by half an hour might have been the best idea.