Review of 2017

My highlights of 2017 start with running, but only because it coincides with a holiday in Northumberland and a weekend in Portsmouth.

It is now five years since I started running. To be able to run with Alison around a deserted Hulne Park on the outskirts of Alnwick was such a pleasure. Our weekend visit to Portsmouth for The Great South Run was equally enjoyable, despite the stormy weather, so much so that we have already booked for next year. My time for the Milton Keynes Half Marathon in March was not my best, but I was amazed to receive a certificate for first place in my age category. But I did get a PB at the Marlow 5 Mile with a best age grade for any race I have run. I also managed a PB at our regular  Maidenhead 10 Mile on Good Friday.

Our Holiday in the Lake District was memorable for the weather. It was sunny and hot! Sitting outside for breakfast and dinner on the first few days. Holehird Gardens were fabulous on a lovely day. We also enjoyed good weather in Northumberland. Especially on the last day at Druridge Bay parkrun, followed by walking on the huge beach and a visit to Amble with fish and chips at The Old Boathouse. And the day at Dunstanburgh Castle with another beach walk.

I could not miss mentioning Alison volunteering at the World Athletics and World Paras.

I made huge progress on my project to describe the history, landscape and lives of my Ascough ancestors on the border of East Fen in Lincolnshire. My draft in complete with only final editing left to do before publishing it on a website. Gaining permission to include sections from numerous publications became a major task. All this culminated with my visit to Lincolnshire in early September included the two churches of Toynton All Saints and Toynton St Peter, a trip around the back roads of the old East Fen and the drains as they are today and Lincolnshire Archives and Lincolnshire Family History Society's Research Centre.

Theatre was a mixed bag this year. Whilst Coriolanus (now just two Shakespeare plays left to see) at the RSC was an interesting production, People Places and Things was let down by a less that perfect lead actress. Jane Eyre at Aylesbury and Julius Caesar at Stratford were disappointing but Peter Pan at the National was brilliant. It was left for theatrical productions live in cinemas to be the best seen this year, from the outstanding Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead to Hedda Gabler, The Tempest and Follies.

My favourite film of the year came early in January. Manchester by the Sea should have won the Oscar. I also loved Hidden Figures, Elle, Get Out, Blade Runner 2049 and Lady Macbeth. But what surprised me more than anything was the succession of great British movies later on in the year: Goodbye Christopher Robin, Breathe, The Death of Stalin, Murder on the Orient Express, Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, Paddington 2 and The Man Who Invented Christmas. I guess they were getting out of the way for the American Oscar contenders due in 2018.

I only went to one concert this year, but Amy Macdonald at The Royal Albert Hall was outstanding. My highlights on TV were the final series of Detectorists and Series 2 of Michael Portillo's Great American Railway Journeys. The books which earned from me five stars this year were Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore, This Must Be The Place by Maggie O'Farrell and the script for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard.

The lowlight of the year was Mathew Bourne's production of The Red Shoes at Milton Keynes Theatre. The lack of any mention that there would be recorded sound instead of a live orchestra (as there was in London and Plymouth) was only matched by the disgraceful price of the ticket. £54.90 for second rate dancers compared with £10 less for English National Ballet's superb Nutcracker with Tamara Rojo and the full ENB orchestra in November 2016. Despite a succession of emails exchanged with the producer and theatre, I have not received any satisfactory reply. Only that the latest production from the same team now advertise "Cinderella will be performed in surround sound .... featuring a specially commissioned recording etc ". At least patrons in MK now know what they are getting. A second rate dance show. 

My Shakespeare Plays

My visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon in September to see the RSC production of Coriolanus was the penultimate play to see from Shakespeare's First Folio. There are 36 in all. I actually didn't start keeping the tickets until 1988 and I had seen a few before then. So this is the list so far in chronological order. It does, however, include Pericles and Two Noble Kinsmen that do not appear in the First Folio.

So there is now only one more to see: Henry VIII (listed by the RSC to be performed in due course). Edward III isn't in the First Folio or in my book of Complete Works, nor in my father's The Works of William Shakespeare dated 1930. It is not on the schedule of all the Shakespeare plays that the RSC announced in 2013. It may have been written by someone else entirely and hardly ever performed. The last time was in 2002 at the Gielgud Theatre.

With regard to Henry VIII, the authorship of the play is in some doubt. John Fletcher may have written some lines. But it was included in the first folio of 1623 so is on my list to see.

The Merchant of Venice   28th May 1988        The Barbican Theatre, London
                                            20th August 2015    Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Hamlet   22nd October 1988   The Phoenix Theatre, London
                8th March 1993        The Barbican Theatre, London

Twelfth Night    13th April 1991          The Playhouse Theatre, London
                            30th October 2014     Watford Palace Theatre

Richard 11     15th January 2000        Royal Shakespeare Theatre,  Stratford (The Other Place)
                        7th January 2016         The Barbican Theatre, London

Henry IV Part 1     18th July 2000     Royal Shakespeare Theatre,  Stratford 

Henry IV Part 11   9th August 2000   Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Henry V          12th September 2000    Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Henry VI Part 1     30th December 2000   The Swan Theatre, Stratford

Henry VI Part 11   30th December 2000   The Swan Theatre, Stratford

Henry VI Part 111  30th December 2000   The Swan Theatre, Stratford

Richard 111         24th May 2001   The Young Vic, London

Julius Caesar      5th September 2001      Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford
                             10th August 2017          Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

The Tempest       28th January 2003       The Old Vic, London
                             5th August 1989          The Barbican Theatre, London

Titus Andronicus      8th October 2003     Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Romeo and Juliet      25th May 2004        Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Comedy of Errors     4th October 2005    Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

King Lear           6th December 2007        New London Theatre
                             (Also in 1963 - Aldwych Theatre, London)   

Love's Labour's Lost    13th November 2008    Rose Theatre, Kingston-Upon-Thames

Taming of the Shrew     10th July 2008     Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford   

Othello          26th February 2009     Oxford Playhouse

The Winter's Tale         30th Jun 2009     Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford
                                        2nd March 2017    Oxford Playhouse

Troilus and Cressida     26th August 2009       The Globe Theatre, London

Measure for Measure    8th April 2010     The Almeida, London

Antony and Cleopatra      19th August 2010    Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Merry Wives of Windsor    17th November 2010     Milton Keynes Theatre

All's Well That Ends Well    19th July 2011       The Globe Theatre, London

Macbeth         24th August 2011        Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Timon of Athens      14th August 2012       The National Theatre, London (Olivier Theatre)

King John       5th September 2012      The Swan Theatre, Stratford

Two Gentlemen of Verona        15th April 2013     Bristol Tobacco Factory

As You Like It     21st August 2013      The Swan Theatre, Stratford

A Midsummer Night's Dream          11th September 2014     Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury

Much Ado About Nothing      20th October 2014      Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Pericles             14th April 2016     The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London

Cymbeline           27th July 2016     The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Two Noble Kinsmen         21st September 2016   Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford

Coriolanus        28th September 2017     Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford     

Songs from Call the Midwife Christmas Special 2017

Four songs from the Christmas Special:

A Marshmallow World by Bing Crosby. Written in 1949 by Carl Sigman (lyrics) and Peter DeRose (music), it was a hit for Bing at Christmas 1950.

C'est Magnifique by Peggy Lee from her 1960 album Latin ala Lee! Written by Cole Porter for his 1953 musical Can-Can.

Wipeout by The Sarfaris. Written by Bob Berryhill, Pat Connolly, Jim Fuller and Ron Wilson.  A Hit for The Surfaris in January 1962.

Sealed with a Kiss by Brian Hyland. Written by Peter Udell and Gary Geld, it reached no 3 in the UK singles chart in 1962.

The episode is set in the winter of early 1963 when it started to snow just after Christmas 1962. It then froze and the country was in the grip of icy conditions for over two months. One of the coldest winters on record. I had just turned 18 and did a paper round six mornings a week. I never missed a day. Amazing what you could do at that age.

Shuttlecock, Quarantine and Only Human

Shuttlecock is a very clever story that interweaves a family drama with a memoir written by the father of our narrator, Prentis. The father was a spy in WW2 but was captured near the end of the war. But was this all true or not? The author writes about how truth is sometimes elusive, especially when someone has the power to distort it or hide it away. Again, I loved the conversational structure ("The small mammal house at Regent's Park Zoo. I can recommend it") as Prentis tries to make sense of his relationship with his family and the mystery that is his father. 

Sometimes you read a book where the story is great but the writing is ordinary. And sometimes it's the other way round. Quarantine definitely belongs to the latter. The seven characters who meet in the wilderness above Jericho are all superbly described. I particularly liked how Musa, the conman, was so excruciatingly bad. I liked how the story was told alternating between the main protagonists. But the plot itself is pretty boring, there are some interminable sections where a character tells a particularly dull story. "Five go on a Fast" as Enid Blyton would say, and that's it. 

I enjoyed this very readable and well written book. Only Human is not quite up to the five stars I gave to Susie Boyt's The Small Hours but still very good. Marjorie is a sympathetic character, but does not always seem suitable for her role as a marriage counsellor, for reasons that gradually become apparent. We are drawn into her struggles to keep the relationship with her daughter that has been key to her life for many years. A short book in length but one that will resonate for a long time. 

Detectorists - The Final Episode

What will we do now Detectorists has come to an end. The greatest comedy on television for years saved it's best episode for last. Mackenzie Crook has written and directed the three short series of what will become a classic. The bitter sweet humour has an emotional tug very few dramas can match. Mark Braxton in the Radio Times online is also a big fan. Amongst his extolling the virtues of the programme comes:

Modern comedies are often predicated on cruelty: laughs are hard, clanging or sharp as barbed wire. In its quiet, undemonstrative way, Detectorists has ploughed its own furrow. Buried in its field of fun are evergreen truths about life, and the things we don’t say but should. So if kindness and companionship are unfashionable, I know which side of the hedge I’d rather stand.

My favourite of the marvellous tiny clips in the concluding scene is when Lance's girlfriend and Andy's wife  meet in the field and share a glass of wine. I cannot remember seeing them before in the same shot. Brilliant.

The Battle of the Sexes, Wonder and The Man Who Invented Christmas

An uneven movie in my opinion, Battle of the Sexes is entertaining enough but I found the central character, Bobby Riggs, to be pathetic rather than funny. Steve Carell does a decent enough job, probably too decent that we resent Bobby so much. Emma Stone is again OK as a boring Billie Jean King, but for me, the star was Andrea Riseborough's manipulative Marilyn Barnett. She just gets better and better. There was a splendid cameo from Alan Cumming as the designer Teddy Tinling ( I cannot remember anything he has done since Goldeneye). And Sarah Silverman was aslo very good as Gladys Heldman. A good screenplay (as always) from Simon Beaufoy let down by some dull directing by Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris.

Wonder is a sensitively made movie that is both interesting and, in it's own way, quite powerful. The cast are all very good. The critics are almost unanimous in calling the story of a boy with facial disfigurement inspiring and heartwarming. And it is. Just a little bit too predictable.

This was the seventh British move in a row that I thought was outstanding. The Man Who Invented Christmas is part drama and part fantasy as Charles Dickens struggles with writer's block. The way the two are superbly merged is all down to the director Bharat Nalluri (I thought his Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day to be equally good) and writers Susan Coyne and Les Standiford who wrote the book. The British cast again rise to the occasion. Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer revel in their leading roles but some of the minor characters are superb. Morfydd Clark as Mrs Dickens, Donald Sumpter as Jacob Marley and newcomer Anna Murphy are all excellent. A Christmas treat shown early on Silver Screen at £3.45 was a gift.

P.S. On another level, this could be considered as a course in creative writing, as Dickens gains inspiration from events happening around him. Stumbling on a graveyard at night, he meets a grumpy old man burying his business partner.

Tring Book Club - The Pier Falls by Mark Haddon

A collection of pretty dark stories. I can watch a horror movie, but the written word has much more of an effect on my brain. Fortunately, the shattering nature of each piece seems to melt over time, and I was just left with a sense of wonder at their construction. Haddon is such a great writer; has anyone described an appendectomy in such vivid detail? And I loved it when one of the characters in danger recalls his wife's warnings as "my greatest fault was to give insufficient weight to her misgivings". Superb.

This was my choice for book club, and I was a little concerned how the ladies might view such an intense batch of stories. I need not have worried as the majority thought, like me, that they were brilliant.

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.

The Fen Laws of Common

On the 21st October 2016, I published a post about the Great Inquest into the Soke of Bolingbroke in 1548. At that time I included the following description:

"The Great Inquest set out to organise how the fen commoners used the common land of the fens to the advantage of all. It is described in W H Wheeler’s “A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire” published in 1868. On Page 36 it reads:

“In the reign of Edward V1, a code of fen laws had been drawn up for the defining the rights and privileges of the commoners, and for the prevention of disputes and robbery (of livestock on the fen).

The code was drawn up by the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster at “The Great Inquest into The Soke of Bolingbroke”, held in 1548 and confirmed in Queen Elizabeth 1^st reign in 1573 and remained in force (for two hundred years) until the enclosure of the fens in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries."

During my visit to Lincolnshire Archives in September, I found all 72 fen laws published in 

Lincolnshire Notes and Queries Volume 20  No 160  Page 58

By Charles Brears   October 1928   Item 33

I was able to photograph all the pages and I now have been able to transcribe and publish on the internet for the first time.

THE FEN LAWS OF COMMON

Orders made Anno Domini 1549 as well by the Council of the Court of Duchy of Lancaster as the Great Inquest of Bolingbroke Soke in anno secondo Edwardi Sexto Regis Anglicci (sic) renewed and likewise ordered by several Inquests since the year aforesaid:

IMPRIS. It was ordered that every Town within the Soke of Bolingbroke, and every Township within the parts of Holland being Commoners (by Charter or otherwise) having common in the Earl’s Fen, East Fen, and North Fen shall ordain and make to have for every Town one true Brand and no more and it shall be named the Town’s Brand, to continue for ever within every Town, which Brand shall continue from time to time and be by the direction of the King’s Steward for the time being, appointed to the Custody of one or two honest and Substantial Men of every Town to the end that every man inhabiting within the Soke of Bolingbroke or within the said Towns of Holland being Commoners in the said Fens shall repair and resort to them from time to time for the said Brand to be branded upon the Flesh of every of their Cattle or Horses or Beast which shall be put to feed or pasture on the said Common or Fens, noting to the said persons which shall have the Brand the true number of their Cattle and also shall certify unto the King’s Court the mark or sign of every Brand in writing, on pain of default twenty shillings.

2ND. It is ordered that every one having Common in the Earl’s Fen, East Fen or North Fen, which shall put any cattle in the said Fens to Feed or Pasture shall brand their several Cattle in the Flesh, that is to say on the Buttock or Shoulder with the Town’s Brand where the owner shall dwell or inhabit on pain of every default 6s. 8d.

3RD. It is ordered that if any man having Common in the said Fens do Brand or put to Feed or Pasture in the said Common any but his or their own proper Cattle to lose to the King or his Farmer for every horse or beast for the first default 6s. 8d. and for every second default 8s. and 4d. and for every further default 20s.

4TH. It is ordered that no outowner nor Foreigner having any Lands or Farms within the Soke of Bolingbroke or within any of the Towns of Holland shall have or take the Benefit of Commons or Fens with any of their Cattle except he or they Couch from time to time within the Soke of Bolingbroke or Towns of Holland and so to use the Common as a Commoner unless he be approved and agree with the King or his Farmer, upon pain to lose for every Beast 10s. or for every Offence to lose or forfeit 40s.

5TH. It is ordered that no outowner or foreigner shall put any manner of Cattle as Horses, Beast, Sheep or Swine into the said Commons or Fens to Feed or Pasture unless he be approved and the number of Cattle entered into the approver’s book upon pain to forfeit to the King or his farmer for every horse or beast 6s. 8d., and for every sheep 12d., and for every swine 4d.

6TH. It is ordered that none shall rouse, resist, turn, or shed, or put aside in the said Fens any Cattle such as Beast, Sheep, Horses or Swine to be taken in the King’s Drifts in the Commons or Fens from time to time but that all men shall aid or diligently help the King’s Farmer or Approver or Deputy with the said Cattle at the several Drifts to the Pinfold in pain to lose to the King or his Farmer for every offence 40s.

7TH. It is ordered that no man shall come into the Pinfold or place appointed for the several drifts of Cattle as Horses, Beast, Sheep or Swine until the said Cattle shall have been one hours space quietly upon pain to lose for every offence 20s.

8TH. It is ordered that no man during the King’s Drifts of Cattle as Horses, Beast, Sheep or Swine to be taken from time to time or at any time shall bring any Dog or Dogs into the Fens or Commons with him but shall put him away on pain to lose to the King or his Farmer for every offence 20s.

9TH. It is ordered that none shall ride but leave their horse and go on foot to shed and put forth their Cattle as Horses, Beast, Sheep or Swine out of the several Drifts quietly on pain to lose to the King or his Farmer for every offence 20s.

10TH. It is ordered that every one shall drive their Cattle as Horses, Beast, Sheep or Swine approved or taken out of the Pinfold from the King’s Several Drifts to their own Walks or Haunts, or one mile distant at least from the said Drift or a place appointed on pain to lose to the King for every offence 6s. 8d.

11TH. It is ordered that no Foreigner shall Fish or Fowl or gather any Turf or Fodder in the East, West or North Fen unless they be approved or Licenced so to do by Writing under the Approver’s hand on pain to lose to the King for such offence 20s.

12TH. It is ordered that none shall Fish or Fowl in a place called Gowt-syke in the North Fen or in any part of the said Syke but the King or his Farmer or the King’s Officer as the Auditor or Receiver or such as shall be appointed there unto by the King or his Farmer from time to time on pain to lose to the King or his Farmer for every offence 20s.

13TH. It is ordered that none shall keep any Foreigner’s Cattle but such as to be named and known to be common Herdsmen and keepers of Cattle in the common Fens upon pain for every offence 40s.

14TH. It is ordered that no man shall keep any great Dogs or Mastiffs or other great Dogs to bait any Cattle at their Dairy Houses in the Common Fens on pain for every Dog so kept 6s. 8d.

15TH. It is order that none shall take any Cattle out of their said walks in the said Fen at any time but their own upon pain for every offence 10s.

16TH. It is ordered that none shall make any Dunghills upon the Common upon pain for every offence 6s.8d.

17TH. It is ordered that no man shall put any scabbed Horses or Beasts infected with the Murrain or any other disease into the Fen to Feed or Pasture upon pain for every offence 10s.

18TH. It is ordered that every Man having Cattle as Horses or Beasts dead upon the Commons or Fens shall bury them within three days on pain of every offence 3s.4d.

19TH. It is ordered that no Man shall wilfully Chase, Bait or Slait, any Cattle depastured in the Fens with is Dogs or by any other means to disturb or to trouble any Man’s Cattle as Horses, Beast, Sheep or Swine or Geese depastured upon the said Common on pain for every offence 6s.8d.

20TH. It is ordered that every Man that Graveth Sods in the Fen or taketh in any Sod Parks shall forthwith and immediately finish the same on pain of every offence 3s. 4d.

21ST. It is ordered that every Man shall fill his Sod Park dyke before Martinmas day yearly upon pain of every default 3s. 4d.

22ND. It is ordered that no man shall carry Sods or Turfs out of the said Fens before the sun doth rise or after the sun doth set with his Carriage on pain of every offence 20s.

23RD. It is ordered that the inhabitants of the Frith against Earls Gate which hath any Slows, Gates or Bridges opening upon the said Common shall sufficiently repair them before Ascension Day yearly, and so keep them sufficiently repaired upon pain of every offence 6s. 8d.

24TH. It is ordered that all other persons having the like Slows, Gates or Bridges against the Common Fens shall before the said day repair them sufficiently on pain of every offence 6s. 8d.

25TH. It is ordered that the inhabitants of Bennington shall well and sufficiently repair Hilldike Bridge before the feast of Pentecost yearly on pain of every offence 20s.

26TH. It is ordered that the inhabitants of Skirbeck shall sufficiently repair Cow-bridge from time to time with Landing and the East side of Boston shall find wood for the same and that the said Bridge shall have a Gate sufficient upon pain of for every offence or default 20s.

27TH. It is ordered that no man shall rate any Hemp or Flax in the Common Sewers or Drains in the Fens or draw any Waters out of the said Sewers or Drains upon pain for every offence 6s. 8d.

28TH. It is ordered that no man shall put any sheep into the Fen or Commons without a Pitch Brand of the Owners or of the Town’s Name wherein he dwelleth on pain for every offence 10s.

29TH. It is ordered that no man shall mark any sheep in the Fen, except he dwelleth in the Fen, on pain for every default 10s.

30TH. It is ordered that no man shall take any sheep but his Master’s and such as be free Commoners by Charter or otherwise and so well known to be upon pain for every sheep 4d and those sheep to be voided presently of the Common upon pain for every sheep so offending after warning given 1s.8d.

31ST. It is ordered that no man shall put any Swine into the Fen unrung, for if they be taken there unrung to forfeit 4d.

32ND. It is ordered that all men shall take their Rams and Ridelings out of the Fen or Commons before the first day of August commonly called Lammas day yearly, and that no man shall keep any Rams or Ridelings there until after St Luke’s Day upon pain for every old Ram or Rideling 1s. and for every Tup, Lamb or Rideling 6d. for each offence.

33RD.  It is ordered that no man shall put any Geese into the Fen to feed or pasture unpinioned and not Footmarked. If they be taken unfootmarked and pinioned the owner to forfeit for every offence 6d.

34TH. It is ordered that no man shall drive any Geese out of the Fen but his own on pain for every default 6s 8d.

35TH. It is ordered that no Fowler shall carry, lead or leave any Dog in the Fen after sunset in pain for every default 6s. 8d.

36TH. It is ordered that no person shall keep any Sheep in flocks or otherwise shed out by themselves in the Fen above 12 days together at any time through the year only at Washing time upon pain for every default 40s.

37TH. It is ordered that any man having lands abutting upon the Common Fens shall make his Ditches or Fence sufficient against the said Fens, and so keep it sufficiently repaired from time to time yearly upon pain for every rood undone 1s.

38TH. It is ordered that no man shall dig any Pit or Pits in the Fens for Manure or Clay to the prejudice of the soil unless he be licenced by the Approver upon pain for every default 10s.

39TH. It is ordered that if any man dig any Pit or Pits for Clay or other Manure in the Fens or Commons that they shall fill the said Pits again with Manure or Dung within fourteen days after upon pain for every default 6s. 8d.

40TH. It is ordered that no man shall grave any Sods or Bobs in the Fens or Commons on the Hills but he shall carry them away before Martinmas yearly on pain for every default or offence 6s. 8d.

41ST. It is ordered that no man shall bring up any Crane Birds out of the East Fen except he hath witness thereof upon pain for ever default 20s.

42ND. It is ordered that no man shall wash any sheep at Northdyke Bridge and that no man shall go and stand upon the Binds there upon pain for every offence 6s. 8d.

43RD. It is ordered that no man shall work upon the Common of East Fen without paying his amercement of fine for breaking the soil where he liketh so that he cut through no man’s works, or within forty foot one from another on pain for every offence 20s.

44TH. It is ordered that none shall gather Wool being above twelve years of age except Impotent persons, nor before the Sun’s rising nor after it’s setting from time to time in the Common Fens upon pain for every default made there 3s. 4d

45TH. It is ordered that no Butcher or any other person shall drive any Cattle as Beast, Sheep or Swine out of the Fens or Common either of their own or any other persons before Sun rise or after Sun set upon pain for every offence 10s.

46TH. It is ordered that every Butcher shall make due proof of all such Cattle or Sheep as he or they shall buy in the Common Fens, if they be thereof demanded, before the Cattle be driven out of the Liberties of the said Commons or Fens, and to Name and let be known the Seller thereof on pain for every default 40s.

47TH. It is ordered that no herdsman or shepherd or any other person inhabiting within the Fens or Commons or elsewhere shall take to keep or Pasture in the said Fens or Commons any Foreigner’s Cattle as Horses, Beast, Sheep or Swine without the consent of the Approver upon pain for every offence 40s.

48TH. It is ordered that all men shall void their Cattle out of the East Fen before St Barnabas Day yearly upon pain for every offence 20s.

49TH. It is ordered that no Man shall Mow any reed, thatch, star or bolt in the Fen at any time but such as be of two years growth or upwards upon pain to forfeit 10s.

50TH. It is ordered that no Man shall sell any Turfs or Sods to any out owner or Foreigner not inhabiting within the Soke of Bolingbroke upon pain for every load 1s. 8d.

51ST. It is ordered that the Approver or his Deputies, when they shall drive woolard sheep, shall keep the said sheep in Sibsey or where he shall make his fold by the space of twenty four hours reconing from the first hour he doth begin about the said drift and that he shall have and receive towards his charges 2d. for every sheep that shall be borrowed (sic) within twenty four hours after pounding.

52ND. 1573 – 15^th. Reign of Elizabeth. It is ordered by Simon Mawer and his Fellows that the Approver or his Deputies shall not drive any Horses or Beasts from the Fold after the Drift or Drifts until such time as they shall have there remained in the said Fold the space of twenty four hours reconing and counting from the first hour that the said Approver or Deputies shall begin to go about any of the said Drifts and according to ancient Custom the Approver to have and take for every Horse and Beast there in the said Fold above twelve hours 2d. and for every Horse and Beast being then kept twenty four hours 4d. and so rateably after they be rated according to ancient Custom in consideration of his pains and charges.

53RD.  It is ordered that every Township in the parts of Holland claiming Common in the West Fen shall at the next Court show to the Queen’s Majesty’s Steward their several Charters or otherwise how they ought to have and hold their Commons in the Fens.

54TH. It is ordered that no Man shall foil or drive Cattle in time of Divine Service out of the Fens or Commons on the Sabbath day or holy days throughout the year at any time upon pain for every offence 3s. 4d.

55TH. It is ordered that all old pains made heretofore shall stand and be in full force and strengthened virtue 1573 Michaelmas anno 15^th. Elizabeth.

56TH. It is ordered on the Queen Majesty’s behalf by Mr Audit and Mr Receiver and others the Queen Majesty’s Council that all the Commoners using or occupying any Horn Brands for their Cattle shall deface them and use no other Town Brand but the Common Town Brand to be set in the Flesh of every of the said Horses or Beast according to the first order in that behalf made.

57TH. It is ordered that every Commoner that shall take the benefit of the Fens with their Cattle shall neither boat them nor make them bridges in the said Fens except in Steeping Howdike upon pain for every offence 6s. 8d.

58TH. It is ordered that no Man shall bring up any Swan, Crane, Bittern or any Fowl Eggs except Ducks and Geese of the Fen upon pain for every offence 3s. 4d.

59TH. It is ordered that no Man shall make any Stacks of Sods, Thatch, Reed or Fodder in the Common Fens but shall take and carry the same away yearly before the Annunciation of our blessed Lady, the Virgin Mary, upon pain for every offence 6s. 8d. and the same to be forfeited to the Approver to take away after the said Feast.

60TH. It is ordered that no Man shall keep Sheep in the Fens severally by themselves but in Commonality at large upon pain for every offence 20s.

61ST. It is ordered that every House which is Builded in the West or East Fens shall be taken down before Michaelmas day yearly on pain for every offence 40s.

62ND. It is ordered that no Man shall Mow any Fodder in the East or West Fens before Midsummer day yearly, nor that any man shall have more than two men Mowing one day, on pain for every offence 6s. 8d.

63RD. It is ordered that no Man shall dig Sods or Turfs before the 10^th day of May yearly in the said Fens or Commons on pain for every offence 6s. 8d.

64TH. It is ordered that no Man shall leave any Bobs or pieces of Bobs in the Drains whereby to stop the Passage of the Water upon pain for every offence 6s. 8d.

65TH. It is ordered that every Town in the Soke of Bolingbroke and the Commoners in Holland shall hook or dyke the drain leading to Anthony’s Gowt, every Town their part as formerly hath been on pain for every rood undone at Michaelmas 6s. 8d.

66TH. It is ordered that every Man that graveth Sods or other Fuel in the Fens shall carry them away before Martinmas day yearly on pain in default thereof 3s. 4d.

67TH. It is ordered that no Man shall put, keep or suffer in or upon the Fens any Stoned Horses to Pasture or Feed, the said Horses being above two years old and under thirteen hands high measured from the lowest part of the hoof of the forefoot unto the highest part of the withers, every hand to contain four inches by the standard on pain for every offence 6s.8d.

68TH. It was ordered (July 3^rd, 1684 last by John King, Gentleman, foreman and the rest of his Fellows of the Jury) that no manner of Person or Persons shall with any sort of Nets or other Engine take or kill any Fowl called moulted Ducks in any of the Fens before the Feast called John the Baptist or Midsummer day yearly and every year hereafter on pain for every offence 40s.

69TH. It is ordered that no Man shall cut any Withys in the Fen but after Michaelmas day or before May day on pain for every offence 6s. 8d.

70TH. It is ordered than none shall hook or otherwise cut any Matts before Midsummer day sun rise yearly on pain for every offence 10s.

71ST. It is ordered that no Man shall hook any reed after Lady day, nor mow any reed or thatch after May day yearly on pain for every offence 6s. 8d.

72ND. It is ordered that no Man shall bind up any Thatch in the said Fens or Commons but every sheaf shall be a whole yard in compass between knot and knot on pain for every 100 of Thatch 6s. 8d.