"There is a story that a Halifax market-woman was riding her horse past the Gibbet as the axe fell and the severed head bounced across the platform and into her lap, where it seized her apron in its teeth and refused to let go....... "[from:]
One of the cues/prompts for this week is to 'celebrate our ancestral homes ' Hence this audio of John's voice.
The photo here is of an unknown member of the Scottish branch of my family in Perth.(taken ,presumably outside his house?) .He looks like a hermit,non?
My Family tree has many branches of Half-members.
In the 1960s .I remember Me & my Mum visiting one relative, obscure & reclusive in Perth.
We knocked and we knocked but therelative I never saw didnt answer the door.....I think the house in the photo was where we waited & eventually (sadly) walked away........
Now.This photo is much older.(1920's?) But I feel a connection with my own memory and with the hermit of Hælɨ fæks.......... .
On Sunday.Me & Cathy went on a splendidly wet & breezy Guided Walk around Halifax with local historian & writer John Billingsley.
Check out my next post for an audio of him explaining how Halifax came to get its name.Part history:part folklore & part magic...I think you might find it both interesting & surprising.
Also,John told many tales of Halifax I didnt know.eg that the last two people to be executed in Halifax were two of "TheCragg Vale Coiners".
Once dead ,there bodies were put on display on Beacon Hill (high overlooking the town)As a warning to others.[A bit like Calvery.......]
Even more macarbe, their corpses were held erect within iron cages.The cages were specially adapted so that one arm was elevated (in Nazi Salute-fashion)So that they appeared to be seen pointing out the part of the town their supposed "crimes" had been committed.......
We returned from our "Ghost Walk" to hear the News of Lou Reeds death. walk on the wild side indeed!
Rossendale Council close Haslingdon Baths in 10 days (like FOREVER)
I thought today,Friday, would be somber....But all the staff got themselves dressed up in pink St Pepper uniforms to raise funders for breast cancer awareness. A jolly good idea....
.I thought it would be a really sad day .Another public facility closed by Tory Cuts.
But,to be honest the saddest thing for me was, as we arrived in the building ,we saw about 6 young council staff sat in their pink cancer-awareness uniforms & I said something like "Oh,you look like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ...!" And,in unison they said "Who's Sgt.Pepper?"...I felt very old............
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
{RUMI}
Lord I Like This Photo of Me taken in Manchester's Northern Quarter the other week.Nothing to do with anything below (is it?) But do i need an excuse or reason ?
"Hey, let's put on a show! The desire to dress up, lark around in public, utter words that you would not normally recognise, is as old as the hills - or at least as old as a string of Judy Garland films. Sepia Saturday 199 celebrates the theatre, be it professional or amateur, serious or comic, situated below a proscenium arch or behind a kitchen table. Dressing up, dressing down, acting daft or acting dreadfully - they all form part of the script for Sepia Saturday.............." But do we have a choice in our costumes? All The World's A Stage and we spend our lives trying to work out who the Director is......p.s. & where is S/he?
This is slideshow of stills mainly taken from 2 films.
A Pace Egg Play in Hebden Bridge :1961 And
The Halifax Gala:1960
plus a few other photos from Halifax's past I threw into the mix.......A bit of a hodgepodgeof styles & timeperiods.But they were all taken in Hebden Bridge & Halifax.They all are (i think) about performance;forgetting oneself & being caught unexpecting.The all also challenge how we are suposed to remember Them Olden Days......
This is asepia saturday post
Funny really.I always associate Buddy Holly's voice with memories of 1960's Halifax.
If I were to close my eyes while listening to this song my mind would conjure up a picture of old Haley Hill (the road up to Boothtown)
Stood in Evan's Record Shop.All dusty & dark.
(They knocked it down in the 1970's to build a Bleeding Flyover .....).
Me & Comrade Mrs Gentle Author went to The Hebden Bridge Trades Club for a fund raiser for The Morning Star Newspaper.
Throughout the night,the ghost of Halifax's most famous Marxist & novelist Ralph Winston Fox danced on my shoulder.......
We went to see the actress Maxine Peakeand Anne Scargill
Also appearing wereThe Eccentronic Research Council, Red Hippo, with their remarkable Celtic musical interpretations, and poet Graham Alexander, fresh from his success at the Edinburgh Fringe.
You may noticea young bloke in one of the photos? He came to announce that our new Peoples Assembly holds a meeting in Hebden Bridge Next Wednesday[23rd October}.Details {here}. Expect reports next week.....
"All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life......"KARL MARX
a photo I took of the Artist Jeremy Deller mending the jukebox .But turning 'round & clocking me!
Among his previous projects was a coast-to-coast road trip across the USA displaying the remains of a car blown up in Iraq {read more...}
Me & Mrs Gentle Author went to Manchester today to see the new exhibition at it's Art Gallery called "All That Is Solid Melts Into The Air"
{details}
Its on until early January.Try go see,its rather good!
Afterwards, me & "Mrs" went to watch the opening of The Manchester Dashehra
Diwali Mela outside The Town Hall.
Me & Cathy go see Maxine Peake at The Hebden Bridge Trades Club on Wednesday .A fund- raiser for "The Morning Star".Details of her band [here]
The voice of the actress Maxine Peake singing with a band she's in (something of a side-project).I hope to put here visuals& audio from her gig in Hebden Bridge on Wednesday night.
My Son Chris is 25 today. I love the bloke. He's doing really well. Busy building walls .Making Paths.Doing Horticulture. Chopping down trees.He's had some trouble this year.But thanks to HIS strength & the help of Calderdale NHS (that's even better than Obamacare my American friends!),My Son has grown so strong again .
Meanwhile, Ive not been well for 7 days.(just flu & stuff).& .I sat and watched David Cameron today on the tv
.Irony :(today of all day's) he announced that ,if elected again,he would take away all support for those under 25.Its just so fucking cruel.(READ details )
(I know I have lots of American readers.I would like to say ,you must be puddled if you don't support Obamacare.)
Me & Brother Zyg in 1961
The old magician takes the stage{n.b.reminding me of David Cameron's speech today& various recent comments from Republican TeaParty spokespeople}
His act does not improve with age
Observe the shabby hat and gloves....
The tired act that no-one loves.....
There was a time he produced doves
A mirror and a puff of smoke
His mysteries are now a joke
His poor assistant black and blue
She's tired of being sawn in two
Hidden trapdoor, velvet cape
Still from death there's no escape
......Words of sympathy and tact....
Only underline the fact
Death is a lousy disappearing act
Lord have mercy and be kind
When our faculties unwind
Overlook the hat and gloves
The tired act that no-one loves
There was a time we produced doves
The old magician takes the stage
With sleight of hand he’ll disengage
As dignified as you’ll allow
He’ll take his last, his final bow
He’s lost all his illusions now
.......
He’ll take one last, one final bow
This weekend each year i go the Rugby League Grand Final at Old Trafford in Salford.We meet beforehand at The Halfway House Pub in Royton.(not going this year due to sickness)
I was out drinking with friends in Manchester the other week.My friend Jim Stridgen was telling me something i never knew concerning The Peterloo Massacre in Manchester.
He told me that the woods behind The Halfway House,at Tandle Hill were manmade in the 19th century.Orginally open land ,local people would assemble there to protest ,talk & plan against the authority of the time.
After Peterloo,fearing further protest,the authorities cunningly planted lots of trees there to make marching & grouping more difficult.
A way of blurring the view? Of altering the landscape to prevent folk seeing clearly ?It depends on your point of view i suppose.
This week's sepia Theme is around blurred & unclear photos.Here are 3 of mine.The 2nd a fairly recently one ( 2005) on Boston Common.Me Chris & Ayse had walked in it and a sweet lady offered to take a photo of us together.It was February.Tons of snow on the ground.The sun was both blinding & low.Lord knows how she managed it ,but the snow&sun seemed to leech all the detail out of the image.I still like it..albeit in an abstract kinda way.
The 3rd photo is a rare one of me & my Dad .It must have been taken 72-73.I must have been 21 years old at the time....'back from my year away working in a London Youth Hostel.While in London my weight had shot up to 15 stone.I was on a diet (eventually i lost nearly 5 stone!) but i look poorly in the picture.Over 9 months i studied and gained 6 o levels & 2 A levels (i had no qualifications at the time)I passed & later in the year entered Teacher Training in Liverpool.
But the combination of book-learning & lack of food can be seen in this shot.Its blurred but it still evokes a lot of memory for me.
"Peace" is the Theme this week..So how to photograph it? Surely it's more than an absence.Maybe it's the look of contentment ?
I suppose we are always in transit.....we know the moment will pass.But this photo (taken by my late Mum) tries to defy the moment.Looking at it now,it still work for me.It's not vemödalen to me.
Although I do remember the circumstances behind the image. The four of us had been walking through this olive grove/marble ruin. I noticed the neat dappled- effect of the sunshine on the leaves.
I gave the camera to my Mum & composed the picture accordingly!
Chris ,you can see, is shouting & gesturing to Me Mam to make sure she points the camera in the right direction!
here is a video of Krystal performing for Steven Spielberg, singing "Miss Celie's Blues" Taken from the film "The Color Purple" .Just Imagine at Xmas she might be performing just for you!
a wee preview of a small portion of the concert (quality nowhere near as good as the cd but 'will give u a flavour)
Me & Cath went to see Krystle Warren at The Hebden Bridge Trades Club last night.We met up with Marguerite there.It was nice to see her.
If you like the audio sample above, (i seemed to have sorted out my starch problem!) I have recorded the entire concert!
Email me at zmnsnt@aol.com with your postal address & I will send you a copy!
Me and Cathy went to see Jim White at The Hebden Bridge Trades Club last night.
I took this audio: strangly scratchy sound.....the recorder was on my knee.I must remember not to put so much starch in my jeans in future! But ,never mind! It still gives a certain flavour of a fascinating night..
..Man! Jim White is James Ellroy meets Johnny Cash ! A 3 hour gig .....The best concert I've been too for a rather long time.
This week's theme is around boats and such......older readers will remember that my Mum's side of the family had certain sailors,but my Polish Dad's family had none.The Polish Navy is hardly famous.Their armadas had always to set sail on dry land...............
Late, by myself, in the boat of myself, no light and no land anywhere, cloudcover thick. I try to stay just above the surface, yet I'm already underand living with the ocean
{Rumi}
Sepia Saturday's prompt this week is
"Some times you just need to be alone. You need space : space to think, space to breathe, space to contemplate your place in the great scheme of things..."
And so I thought about my brother Ziggy in 1965.
Look!He is sunbathing on a deckchair in true Hank B Marvin fashionon our front garden at Savile Crescent ,Halifax.
A little like water,except it's grass..........
Last weekend I went to a Garden Party in Cheshire.It was at my friend and ex- teaching colleague Barbara's house.
I lived and worked in Cheshire for 3 years in the early 80's.
For those that dont know,Cheshire is Rural,Posh,Well- Heeled,very quiet..and a relaxing place.Quite how i got to Cheshire {& subsequently left,} is unclear to me (!) Just one of the many random things I peppered my life with.
I arrived in Cheshire after working in a rough n.tough, inner- city East London (East Ham & Plaistow).I swapped Ian Dury for John Constable .I swapped The Sweeney for The Archers.......
My visit last weekend made me realise I dont fully remember the person I was then & the person I might have become .Most odd
.For those of us who travel,we leave bits of us behind us as breadcrumbs.We leave a trail,in case we need to find a way back.....
Maybe Cheshire was my "space to think, space to breathe..."?
The rural flat farming landscape is the nearest I ever came to my Dad's childhood Polish village .Maybe that was it........?
As well as landscape,I,ve always been attracted to extremes. My Mum came from Upper Class roots:My Dad was a working class mill worker.Chalk & Cheese but it worked for them.Ive always felt fairly classless.Accepting all, but always (to some extent) an outsider and observer..
My mate's addicted to drinking brake fluid but he reckons he can stop at any time........
Phil the Ex-Fireman's Mum ,Madge,died a few weeks ago.Me & Ken took him out drinking in Halifax to cheer ourselves up.
Tuesdays are very quiet in Town during the week.As we sat in Cookies Bar nursing our Pints,a lovely young lass (Zoe, a vague friend of Ken's) started putting 40's Music on the jukebox.A discussion began about the merits of Doris Day & the erotic appeal of petticoats.She insisted we all danced with her in turn.It was nice to see her put a smile on Phil's face.
Later in the evening,as we listened to Phil & Ken sing Small Faces songs, i leaned over to Zoe and whispered "arnt old people sweet!". She gave me a slightly dismissive look.This i interpreted as her thinking i looked much younger than Ken & Phil.....& i shouldnt poke fun at my elders.Point Taken!
See all the night's photos here
I went down to a Private Viewing of Mick Kidd & Annie Lawson 's "Wooly Yarns" this afternoon.
what a lovely time!
Its on until 11th October.If your in town,please go visit & say hello.Lovely exhibition/lovely people.
I went to see an old friend of Clive's ,Mick Kidd (aka Biff) Famous textual cartoonist of Guardian fame.What a grand chap.
Here are a few photos ( a 10 minute video of him reading from his new book-that mentions Clive..will follow here tomorrow /its proving a Pig to upload/sorry) It was the Real Deal .Most odd.....I walked into Hebden afterwards & the 'Free Hugs guy'seemed like a cartoon...........
You know,back in the day,one of the biggest insults the counter culture could throw at you was that you were a "weekend hippy".These days Hebden Bridge seems to have perfected the art of "The Bank Holiday Hippy".
Not knocking, but if its worth doing,then why not ALL the time:Why not everywhere?
I get worse & worse at visiting:reading & replying to your comments.I am sorry.I will visit & be social again before my next post here! (that was ,obviously a lie! BUT! I shall return soon!)
Those of you who use facebook will know that ,if you click "messages" & click again on another subfolder ,messages (usually from unknown people) are stored there.Sometimes I dont think to look there and a message can sit unopened/unread (in my case,for up to 6 months!).
By chance i looked there this week & found this message.It's a bit of a mystery because (a) I cant recall the photo mentioned(b) I dont know Wanda(c) it was impossible to reply to her (she wasnt recognised by facebook-and even a Google search of her proved zilch.......
)
So.Wanda Sikes Boyd..if you read this..get in touch again,but not via facebook!!!
"To dream that you are at a picnic represents a happy and peaceful domestic life. To dream of seeing a picnic basket hints of an opportunity to gain knowledge then impart your thoughts and insights to others"{from:} .Oh.OK..............
".....There were many families in attendance and there had been a picnic atmosphere prior to the attack..."[read more}
Ian said: "Simon came up with the idea of calling it 'Beach to Bench 2013', so we found a random bench on The Nower which was not special in any shape or form."It was falling apart a bit and half buried in a hedge. If it had had some redeeming feature I think we would have shied away, but because a few slats were missing we thought, 'This is perfect'."
BUT!What I really want to do is go the York Dream Walks Imagine!Walking people through your dreams!
Taken in Halifax.other details unknown,But I am minded to think they are off for a nice picnic....?
If you read my post the other day you will know that today we travelled to Manchester to remember those murdered there.To lay wreaths and such. Here is a video I took of the actress Maxine Peake reading out the names of 3 of those who died.......
{this is taking ages to download for some reason?As soon as it's downloaded,i will embed it here..}
To know that Martha Partington was "Thrown into a cellar and killed on the spot..." somehow seems to worse...?
Some recent Photos I have taken.See My full image Album by clicking [here]
A bit of a 'political' few days for the gentle author! Tonight I attend a meeting (the first) of a new Calderdale anti-fracking group in Hebden Bridge.
You may remember ?my recent post which mentioned The Peterloo Massacre in Manchester .
Well ,tomorrow , Me,Cathy ,Chris (& meeting Capo Martin there?) go to Manchester for a ceremony to mark the 192nd anniversary of that event. (hopefully , my photos & videos of it shall be be planted into this post afterwards)
Here is some background about the campaign to get a suitable monument built in the city to remember the dead (& the birth of the right to vote).
As to the Anniversary itself,other events are being held over the weekend (eg in Oldham & Rochdale).
The Manchester event tomorrow will include wreath laying & the public naming of the dead ( read out by the Mayor of Manchester & the actressMaxine Peake
Kick Off is 1pm (near the Radisson Hotel).There is also a walking tour of battle sites ,leaving The Midland Hotel at 11am..but I doubt our train will arrive in time for us to go to that?.
This is a Sepia Saturday post.
This first photo is taken from a private collection of early 70's in Halifax I entitledInvasion Of The Baby-Boomers And why the devil not?
"....all manner of strange or unidentified contraptions. And if you are fresh out of contraptions there is always cars or people sat in ridiculous positions....."
A Family photo taken in upstate New York in the very early 1900's.Taken by my great grandfather.A whole series of these photos can be found here
I have a new flash looking photo album here
.It looks better than before...but I havnt got the hang of the settings yet ..So no photo badge at the moment(does it still have that option?who knows.....I dont!)
Anyway.......
......here are today's new photos..mostly taken by Cath at Hardcastle Crags where the BBC are filming a new costum drama /follow up to Pride and Prejudice with a host of B-List British tv eg Trevor Eve (who someone once said I looked like.....) & the purty young Dr Who sidekick (joy!)......
PJ Harvey has released a song to highlight the ongoing detention of the last British resident held inside the US prison at Guantánamo Bay.
The track, called Shaker Aamer was recorded by the Mercury prizewinning songwriter to help maintain pressure to have the 46-year-old, whose family live in south London, released back to Britain. Aamer has been detained in Guantánamo for more than 11 years, despite being cleared for release in 2007, and remains imprisoned without charge or trial. He has a British wife and his four children -- the youngest of whom he has never met -- were all born in Britain. They live in Tooting, south London.
The British government has stated repeatedly that it wants him back in the UK and last week, under escalating international pressure, the US announced it is to restart transfers from the prison. Concerns remain, however, that Aamer might be forcibly sent to Saudi Arabia and imprisoned there instead of being reunited with his family in the UK. Aug 2013
"In Africa, almost every cultural group has its own version of the crossroads god. Legba, Ellegua, Elegbara, Eshu, Exu, Nbumba Nzila, and Pomba Gira are African and African-diaspora names (in several languages) for the spirit who opens the way, guards the crossroads, and teaches wisdom. ........"[read more about Crossroad Lore Worldwide]
This is a Sepia Saturday post.OK this week's post is about blokes in hats (& indirectly boats).
My photos& Videos from John Billingsley walk in Heptonstall here
"As trickster, Eshu is associated with disorder and destiny in the Yoruba pantheon. As "orisa orita" or "esu orita", orisha of the crossroad or the corners, Elegba represents the transitional or center point of the crossroad where one must make a decision. In this position, Elegba represents all the bewilderment and confusion one faces when attempting to make the proper choice. Once the choice is made, he is involved in the consequences and through his own devices guides us towards and along our proper path....." Who Is Elegba?
a photo i took in 2009 on The Albert Dock in Liverpool.
If you want to help me celebrate you might want to know I am PAYPAL;WONGA & CHURCH of ENGLAND ®. compliant.
To celebrate my birthday, British Sea Power rode into Hebden Bridge on Friday.(they brought a couple of their Bi_Polar Bears with them!) See my photos HERE
A series of 16 short films each detailing a crime of the British monarchy, based on Heathcote Williams' poem "Royal Babylon: The Criminal Record of the British Monarchy": RB opening - The Sex Pistols argument, Killing an Ibis, Mad Monarchs, Michael X, Harry Trouble, I Danced With A Man, Foot in Mouth, Folk on the Hill, Knighthoods, Milton Gas, Glitter Freeze, Swift Justice, Raj Doubt, Gaunt etc, Koh I Noor, Paine & Thoth/Blake Acres Zappa.
Royal Babylon: The Criminal Record of the British Monarchy
“Heathcote Williams has devised a form of polemical poetry that is unique”
Peter Whitfield, author of ‘The History of English Poetry’
“I admire a poetry that is no-holds-barred personal and political. Heathcote Williams’ serial poem ‘Royal Babylon in the relaunched International Times is proper political poetry”
NIall McDevitt in the Morning Star
“It’s a phenomenal piece of work”
Jeremy Hardy
“Where are the Poetry Police when we need them ?”
JC/Times Literary Supplement
www.royalbabylon.com
Above are some of my weekend's photos.
No "big sticks" but I did find this photo of a bar (Gateshead,19th Century)
It's been warm here in Blighty.Hot nights:vivid dreams.
Have you ever dreamed people? People who,in the dream,you think know intimately .You seem to comprehend their back-story & they yours.
Not just one person ,maybe dozens, a searing mass of characters before your eyes .You are best buddies with them all!
And have you ever woken & realized this knowing was an illusion.Rather sad when a friend becomes a stranger in an instant.When a meeting becomes only a theatricality.........
I was always surprised I had sufficient imagination to create a whole cast of characters out of thin air......Then recently on the radio I heard another explanation .It was suggested we never forget a face.
The person I dreamed last night might be somebody i saw on a London street in 1979.Maybe we smiled at each other for a few seconds as we brushed past one another on The Romford Road.The moment was quickly forgotten.But maybe that memory;that image remained....and I used as my template for last night night dream?
It doesn't really matter in itself.But the mind as camera is a nice concept. A belief that nothing is ever lost or deleted..........Nature Wastes Nothing!............
As I say, it's warm:I ramble............
And So (the gentle author wipes sweat off his brow and sips his beer).Sepia Saturday's prompt is "You can choose; or go with armour, helmets, shields, fancy dress, pantomime, theatricals, warlike women or big sticks". .....ok (another sip)
But Sepians,I have a problem here.I need to talk about Margaret Downes .But nobody today knows her.There are no photos or paintings of her (sepia or otherwise).We know nothing about her life.I know more about the Blonde Chick in last night's erotic dream!
All I know about Margaret is that she lived in Manchester until 1819,she died on August 16th that year.She was murdered with a sabre by a (possibly) drunken British soldier.
She was one of 15 murdered that day.(between 400-700 others were injured)
Which doesn't help me find out about Margaret's Life.
She died in what was to become known as "The Peterloo Massacre".60000 working people held a rally in Manchester that day.They wanted to complain about their lives (Poverty:no Vote:etc)This was the biggest even crowd seen in Britain at the time.To placate the authorities ,the organizers asked the crowd beforehand to be peaceful and "Wear Your Sunday Best".
As the speakers on the stage began the speeches..the crowd applauded them and shouted agreement.The soldiers on duty around the crowd (many drunk) mistook the noise for hostility and charged them.
Then Margaret died.You can read the detail
here
I must take some photos of the St Peter's area (if you know Manchester,it's near the Midland Hotel)
The Irony is that many of those killed & injured were themselves former troops who had fought in The Battle Of Waterloo.War Vets..they had been demobbed:were out of work;in poverty......Hence it became know as "Peterloo".
Shelley wrote the famous Poem The Masque of Anarchy about Peterloo.It contains the words "Ye are many — they are few" which was used by the Recent Occupy Movement.
Which still doesn't get us any closer to Margaret does it........
SATURDAY UPDATE: Today I went to Rawtenstall for a cheeky little Sarspararilla atMr Fitzpatrick's Temperance Bar.It's Britain's last such pub/bar.
I remember, as a kid, they had a Temperance Pub up Haley Hill in Halifax.
Temperance Bars were particularly common in 19th century Northern England.
I must say the brew were very tasty on a warm Lancashire afternoon.I raised a glass to John Wesley
.
Sunderland Madge (Phil the X-Fireman's Mum )who i mentioned last week ,is out of Intensive Care and in an Ordinary Ward.I visit her tomorrow. 'Got her a bottle of 'Mr Fitzpatrick Blood Tonic Cordial'.Lord knows what she will make of that............
wikipedia:history of Temperance Bars
