Me in the Walker Gallery ,Liverpool ,Yesterday. I studied and lived in Liverpool between 1976-1980. (Teacher Training Certificate & B.Ed(hons) from Lancaster Uniy& C.F. Mott,Huyton.) My life in Liverpool was an in-between time for me. Many memories.Mostly good, tho i never loved the place the way i loved East London where I moved onto afterwards....... Saying that ,Liverpool was,and is ,a Spirited Republic. I wish it well in these dismal times in Dear Old Blighty. God.England is shit at the moment. A type of purgatory.Non?
"The Dinner Party" [1980] by Sam Walsh.
He was a Liverpool lecturer who painted this in the last years of his life.
The sitters , who would never meet all at the same time, are people who from periods in his life.
They include neighbours, solicitor, ex-wife, partner, bank manager & friends.
Me & Cathy went with Capo Martin to St.Michael's de-consecrated church in Ancoats.
It was the first ever gig in a place that the Roman Jesus had just vacated.........
(On the night, I think we all struggled with what the correct ceremony for such an occasion might be......?)
All i can say is that the acoustics in the place are superb.Its clean,it's light & it has a good vibe.
A lovely sweet venue (tho the Bar charges Old Trafford prices!)
Simone was his usual Spiritual Self........a most underrated soul.
He had flown in from New York that morning.He had been detained in a small room alone for 4 hours at Gatwick because of passport irregularities
He seemed unimpressed with UK Border Control.......
I am nearly 65. Yorkshire Born & Bred! I was brought up in Halifax in the 50/60/70's . I always throught it "a grimy republic" . I love the place, but i still think it dark.......
Although ,a case in point, clickthis Martin Parr photograph of Old Halifaxto see a photo very similar to some of B.H.'s photos. Now Martin Parr is probably my favourite English photographer. Remember ,me & Cath went to his curated exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery recently.I beg to suggest that several of B.H. 's unseen photos stand comparison with Parr's?
n.b. I wrote this very brief overview
of Martin's work.
This is a Sepia Saturday post.
My previous post here reports of my visit last Sunday night to Hope Baptist Church in Hebden Bridge .
I heard the political commentator & journalist Owen Jones speak.
He talked about how we English are becoming disenfranchised from the politics in our life.We start to believe poverty ,hunger& unemployment etc are all'Acts of God' .Inevitable ...just like the rain outside......
As it happens, the BBC are filming a new series of Happy Valley at the moment ,in Hebden Bridge.
Two nights ago, on the street that I work, they were filming this scene.
Given the nature of Yorkshire weather,dig the irony.It wasn't raining,so they had to use artificial rain!
As a Halifax child of the 50's, I remember during our Wakes Week some people , not themselves away on holiday, would climb to the top of Beacon Hill to admire the view.
We live in a beautiful place.During Wakes Wake all the factories shutdown spewing smoke,so it was the only time you could see the beauty!
The photos I share here show plenty of washing-lines.All those white clothes! How did they keep'em clean within the smoke & rain?
To me,the clean washing look not like white flags of surrender ,but defiance .
I believe we see the same defiance in the works today of Jeremy Corbyn & that fine American Bernie Sanders.( a tad strained link....but there you go!)
Incidentally,Mr Sanders name was respectfully mentioned several times at the church on Sunday
Halifax
I must admit,i cringed a little when i saw this on the telly live.('seemed a little bit too "Bono" for my taste ) But I agree with the sentiment , and it does make for a cracking end to this post.....
.
Although!This is a Beautiful Englishman singing the song to its best
.Everytime i hear Robert Wyatt's voice ,i sort of roll myself into a ball & weep gently...it's so beautiful in my humble opinion.
Me ,Cath & Martin Thorpe went to the annual Peterloo Massacre Memorial in Manchester today.
Approx 600 souls attended. A Choir;a folk band and actors Maxine Peake:Christopher Ecclestone (eg Dr Who):John Thompson (eg Fast Show);John Henshaw (eg Early Doors) gave readings.
A minutes silence was observed to respect those who were murdered.
For my American friends, Peterloo (1819) was England's Tiananmen Square(1989): England's Sharpville (1960): England's Kent State (1970 )
Peterloo was the subject of Shelly's poem The Masque of Anarchy
Maxine read Shelley's Masque of Anarchy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_Anarchy
i took a wee video clip of her reading some of it tonight......(Shelly on a Saturday night!) which i will add here soon.A splendid night.A full house.
