That Was The Year That Was

What do I know?

As screenwriter William Goldman (The Princess Bride) wrote in his 1982 memoir Adventures in the Screen Trade

Nobody Knows Anything

And looking back to January 2020, I could not have predicted that I would live through historic times:

• the stout guarding of George Eliot’s statue in Nuneaton Market Square in case any protestors felt the need to vandalise the author of Mill on the Floss;
• the (final) Brexit deal, heralding months and years of further bureaucratic wrangling (thank goodness the deal is “oven-ready”) but hopefully there is an end to the Tory EuroPsychoDrama which distracts, deflects and divides;
• the clear and democratic defeat of President Trump in a corrosive American election;
• the clamping down by Chinese authorities on civil liberties in Hong Kong;
• the (to date) almost 83,000,000 cases and almost 2,000,000 deaths from a global, deadly pandemic.

What I DO know.

I know I’ve done a lot of local walking, completed a lot of jigsaw puzzles, re-read Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit and Dombey and Son, read a lot of other books (including my book of the year, Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet), watched a lot of TV, attended lectures, interviews and Tai Chi classes online, watched theatre online and extracted every ounce of pleasure I could from the family and friends I’ve managed to see with the changing (and sometimes confusing) restrictions, lockdown and tiers. I know one daughter was furloughed for a time (and has worked from her home for much of the time.) I know another daughter continued training to become a nurse (including working on Covid wards and now helping deliver the vaccine.) I know my wife attended French and ballet classes and a book group online and I know she continued to work (safely) at a local Food Bank which, in 2010, delivered 600 bags a year and currently delivers 600 bags a week…. anyone care to speculate what social policies have led to the increase in the demand for food parcels?

Rainbows everywhere

In windows, on hillsides, in the sky…. Rainbows expressed appreciation towards key workers. Compassion, kindness and solidarity triumphed over selfishness after the initial panic of the approaching first lockdown and before the cynicism of the Autumn. The environment bounced back. Birds filled the air. Nature triumphed. In the Spring and Summer children rode bicycles freely on emptier-than-usual roads. Until this year the record for the speed of developing a vaccine was held by the 1960s mumps jab, but the glory (and hard work) of scientists cooperating around the world have produced two safe and effective vaccines for Covid-19 within a year, and a third vaccine is imminent. Hopefully the days are over for those who believe Michael Gove’s soundbite that “people have had enough of experts….” (Particularly those who never heard Gove’s pitiful attempts to wriggle out of saying it in the months following.)

Women-led countries

An analysis by academics at Liverpool and Reading Universities of the initial governmental policy responses to Covid-19 up to 19th May, adjusted for variables (GDP, population density etc), concluded that countries led by women handled the pandemic “systematically and significantly better” than those led by men, particularly ones following a populist agenda (take a bow, Trump, Bolsanaro and BoJo.) So, let’s hear it for Finland’s Sanna Marin, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen and Germany’s Angela Merkel. “When women-led countries are compared to countries similar to them along a range of characteristics, they have performed better, experiencing fewer cases as well as fewer deaths.”

So, looking back through the diary of my little life for 2020, what did I comment upon?

January & February 2020

• Confirmation reaches the UK Media that Chinese people are dying of a novel virus, probably originating in a wet market in Wuhan. (As the weeks go by, I convince myself that my 33 days of coughing and high temperature in November and December of 2019 are not connected. I am NOT Patient Zero.) The Republican-controlled Senate acquits President Trump of charges of abuse of power and obstructing congress; in February President Trump tells a rally that the now-identified Covid-19 virus will be gone by April.

In my little life I saw Cats, Little Women, Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker, Jojo Rabbit, EMMA. and Parasite at the cinema. At the theatre I saw King John, A Museum in Baghdad and The Whip at the RSC, the musical Gypsy at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Ballet Rambert at Bradford Alhambra and I went to a Van Gogh audio-visual display in York. I enjoyed a cheese and wine evening in Leeds with a pal, attended a school reunion in Wakefield and marvelled at the National Space Centre in Leicester. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Sally and I chugged along on a steam train with Prosecco and afternoon tea. (Meanwhile, Covid-19 rolls down the line to Italy….)

March & April 2020

• The World Health Organisation declares that Covid-19 is a pandemic, Italy goes into full lockdown and, after increasing clamour from health experts, the UK government locks down, and the “Clap for Carers” begins on Thursday nights at 8pm. For a fortnight, supermarkets struggle to fill shelves with particular items. Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister is diagnosed with Covid-19 and Keir Starmer becomes Labour leader. Captain Tom Moore becomes a hero by doing laps of his garden on a zimmer frame and raising £32m for the NHS. The Queen reassures the nation. President Trump suggests injecting bleach and bringing light inside the body (worth quoting verbatim for the record):

"I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs…. I said supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that too... So, we'll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute - that's pretty powerful."

In my little life I saw Dark Waters, Military Wives and Onward at the cinema and Acosta Danza (Carlos Acosta dance group) at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford. They were the final trips to the cinema and theatre until the Autumn because of lockdown or tier restrictions. Final meals out, final family gatherings, the beginnings of Skype and Zoom group calls, the scheduling of WALKING began. Emily returned home to live in our attic in isolation as she worked on a “hot ward” and subsequently recovered from what was almost certainly Covid symptoms. My niece, and then my sister, were diagnosed with (and hospitalised by) Covid-19 in April – thankfully both went on to recover. NT Live, YouTube, quality TV and lectures online filled time and Tai Chi classes switched to online.

May & June 2020

• Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s claim of delivering 100,000 Covid tests a day is debunked when he has to admit that what he meant was that the bulk of them had been put in the post. UK government credibility is undermined by advisor Dominic Cummings’s ludicrous version of his trip to County Durham and Barnard Castle. George Floyd, an unarmed black man, is unlawfully killed by police in Minneapolis. Marcus Rashford leads a successful campaign for free school meals for disadvantaged children.

In my little life I attended my first Zoom funeral (very impressive) and phrases like “socially distanced” became ubiquitous. The Hay Festival successfully broadcast its talks and performances online. Our future holidays were cancelled. We got a new bed and in May became an “empty nest” again.

July & August 2020

• Chancellor Rishi Sunak launches an Eat Out To Help Out scheme to revive the hospitality industry. Joe Biden chooses Kamala Harris as a running mate to stand against Donald Trump later in the year. The awarding of GCSE and A Level results is a fiasco that was predicted and could easily have been avoided and the hapless Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, keeps his job after the first of what seems like a series of gaffes and U-turns that continues through the rest of the year.

In my little life we celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary with a picnic and walk on Penistone Hill. We were able to meet friends in the garden – but only until August 1st. The birth of Great Niece Charlotte added new life to the wider Johnson clan, a welcome miracle in the middle of the year. The RSC started broadcasting the Talking Shakespeare series of interviews. Pre-Covid arrangements and maskless supermarket shopping seemed to be a very distant memory.

September & October 2020

• The “world-beating” (organised by the PM’s private sector chums) Test and Trace system fails as schools and office workers return at the same time to superspread Covid-19 and kickstart the second wave of infections. Jacinda Ardern wins a landslide victory in the New Zealand elections having shown clear leadership in dealing with the pandemic. Having publicly argued with the Mayors of Middlesborough and Manchester about regional lockdown rules, Boris Johnson announces a second national lockdown for November.

In my little life I went to the cinema once: The Perfect Candidate and, gloriously, went to Leeds Playhouse to see some socially distanced theatre: Orpheus in the Record Shop, Krapp’s Last Tape and La Voix Humaine. My 60th birthday came and went without pomp but with good food, a terrific hike and Katherine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby.

November & December 2020

• The second national lockdown makes some, but not enough, impact on the rising cases of Covid-19 but the world celebrates as a German-Turkish couple, Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin, produce an effective vaccine at Pfizer. Dominic Cummings (and Lee Cain) exit from UK power struggles in 10 Downing Street and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris decisively win the US Presidential election with a bigger margin than Trump beat Clinton in 2016. A 90-year old grandmother from Coventry, Margaret Keenan, becomes the first (non-clinical-trial) person in the world to receive a fully-tested and approved Covid vaccine. Second in line for the jab in Warwickshire was 81-year old William Shakespeare….!

In my little life, I squeezed in one cinema trip: Uncle Vanya and was deliriously happy when the US election made sense of my hope in humanity. I started my re-reading of all Shakespeare’s works with Two Gentlemen of Verona and we began having posh takeaways delivered once a week to “celebrate” another week survived. As the year ended we managed to see a good number of friends in outdoor venues and the Christmas spirit endured in spite of the government’s poor communication skills.

So what next?

It would be good to think that 2021 will be the year when lessons learned from the pandemic begin to bear fruit. That....

• the “rat race” is not the only way to live
• home working is possible
• a long daily commute is not conducive to good living
• nature is indispensable
• a cleaner environment is achievable
• community resources are value for money
• the arts bring entertainment, inspiration and solace to millions
• local expertise is invaluable
• experts are worth attending to
• heroes come in all shapes, sizes, creeds and colour
• an equal right for one is an equal right for all
• carers, volunteers and key workers are more important in a crisis than pin-striped hedge-fund managers
• compassion and kindness are free
• the welfare state is as precious as the NHS
• magic money trees are not and have never been real – because where there’s a (political) will, there’s a (financial) way.

New Year. New Decade. Welcome to the future....  

Lockdown Time

Elastic Time
Time seems to exist in a multiverse in these times of Covid-19 Lockdown. I seem to have all the time in the world. And time passes like whispers in the wind. Is it April? Is it June? Was that Friday? Is this Saturday? Have I had breakfast? Did I sleep at all? Am I who I have always been? Or am I, my city, my country, my continent, my planet changing irrevocably? There have been personal earthquakes in recent times – some obvious political ones, but also natural disasters (The Year of the Flood) and personal convulsions (Beginning to Look Back). In my handwritten book of Helpful Life Quotations I can usually find something that fits most scenarios: in this case, Andy Warhol’s They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

Distraction Techniques
I thought this peculiar “Lockdown” would be a perfect time to do a hundred jobs still undone: declutter shelves and cupboards, sort out books and photographs, tidy the cellar, finish writing my trilogy of novels. Instead I seem to have a problem with concentration and with not being able to stick to the easiest of plans. Freshly-crucial activities have risen to become weirdly compelling: planning shopping like a military campaign, watching Box Sets on TV, doing jigsaws, cooking, baking, cleaning, walking, Skyping, Zooming, reading, clapping, handwashing, watching and rewatching parody songs, witty memes and entertaining tiktoks. Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wisely said Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time” is to say “I don’t want to.” I’m known for spending (wasting?) time imaginatively dreaming of time-travelling, lurking in Shakespeare’s language or being absorbed in the fantasy worlds of Narnia, Middle Earth, Pern, Westeros, Marvel Comics, Robin Hood and King Arthur. Why haven’t I spent more time in Wonderland during Lockdown? Why does making a Victoria Sponge suddenly seem so important?

Luxury of circumstances
In Lockdown I have the absolute privilege and luxury of living in a great house with plenty of resources. So when needed, I can marshall support easily. I can bathe in forests, stride across meadows and walk along the River Aire within minutes. I know other people are facing Lockdown under enormous pressures with vulnerable dependents, restricted movements, money worries, job worries, underlying mental and/or physical illnesses, the demands of children out of school, genuine fears about what tomorrow will bring. The distraction techniques of the latest tiktok don’t distract everybody. The endless summers of childhood only seemed endless because the “normal” world was operating within “normal” parameters and “normal” September would come around soon enough. Charles Darwin wrote: A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. Well, Darwin, my old mucker, as my bowl says, The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. If Lockdown has taught us anything, it is that Time can feel Elastic but Lockdown means nothing to Time. This too shall pass.

Around the World at Christmas

Around the World

The world is a big place – and in some ways a small place – and a marvellously diverse place. As I’ve said before, home is where the heart is. By the end of 2020 the UK will have “Brexited” whatever that might mean, deal or no deal, with full sovereignty or, more likely, the illusion of sovereignty. The rich of England will continue to get rich, whoever pulls the invisible purse strings. In the meantime, one pair who I usually spend time with in the Festive season went off to Europe on a train (see central image above – Amy and Maggie on a sledge not a train at that point.)  This past Christmas season, home was Badby, home was Saltaire and home was Around the World in Christmas-themed displays at Chatsworth House….

“I think I might be different, I might not be the same.”

Michael cooked up a feast or two in Badby (and Janet and Alex turned their hands to a gingerbread house.) This year’s Royal Shakespeare Company Christmas show was only tenuously Christmassy, but it had a very witty set, enthusiastic performers and very jolly songs, though one (If I don’t cry) made my eyes moist…. David Walliams’s The Boy in the Dress has been adapted by Mark Ravenhill with songs by Robbie Williams, Guy Chambers and Chris Heath. The main character, Dennis, sings of being Ordinary but by the end he is anything but – he’s extraordinary – and the message, I thought, was all about the intrinsic value of individual differences – an apt reminder in this most divided of eras. 

Sparkle round the globe

The differences between Morocco, China, Japan, India, Portugal, Italy and America were celebrated in exuberant style at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire this year. Some of the differences were artistic and involved traditional (stereotyped?) imagery but some of the displays were harder to spot: Venetian masks, the Russian dolls on the huge Christmas tree in the Painted Hall, and the Nativity scene in the baroque Portuguese-inspired chapel.

“It’s really useful to travel, if you want to see new things.” (Jules Verne in Around the World in Eighty Days)

Quirky nods to fictional traveller Phileas Fogg and historical aviator Amelia Earhart guided you through imaginatively lit rooms containing hidden and not-so-hidden delights, like the Chinese lanterns and paper dragons. Floating candles hovered around the Nativity in the Chapel, warding away Damien Hirst’s Exquisite Pain statue of Saint Bartholomew.

Cherry Blossom

Probably my favourite display was in the Japanese-themed room, partly because it was a potent reminder of Spring in the dark days of Winter.

Hokusai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa

A calligraphy desk, paper fans and more blossoms framed 3d art work reminiscent of Hokusai’s Nineteenth Century woodblock print Kanagawa-oki Nami Ura.

Effortless glory

Staff at Chatsworth apparently unite from the middle of Summer onwards to prepare for the Christmas displays and it certainly impresses with thousands of baubles, wreaths, swags and greenery. I particularly like the charming homemade smaller items that appear when you have time to stop and stare.

Decking the Hall

It’s impossible to walk around grand Christmas decorations without Christmas carols ear-worming into your subconscious and I was amused to read about the two variations of Deck the Halls 

Deck the hall with boughs of holly,

Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

'Tis the season to be jolly, (Fa….!)

Fill the meadcup, drain the barrel, (Fa….!)

Troll the ancient Christmas carol (Fa….!)

See the flowing bowl before us, (Fa….!)

Strike the harp and join the chorus. (Fa….!)

Follow me in merry measure, (Fa….!)

While I sing of beauty's treasure. (Fa….!)

Fast away the old year passes, (Fa….!)

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses! (Fa….!)

Laughing, quaffing all together, (Fa….!)

Heedless of the wind and weather. (Fa….!)

Censorship of meadcup, barrel, bowl and quaffing

The tune may well go back to medieval times and the original lyrics were in Welsh, with the variation above appearing in 1862, the lyrics being attributed to Scottish musician, Thomas Oliphant. In Chatsworth’s gift shop I learned that the Pennsylvania School Journal attempted to rewrite the lyrics changing all the references to getting drunk:

Deck the hall with boughs of holly,

'Tis the season to be jolly,

Don we now our gay apparel,

Troll the ancient Christmas carol,

See the blazing yule before us,

Strike the harp and join the chorus.

Follow me in merry measure,

While I tell of Christmas treasure.

Fast away the old year passes,

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!

Sing we joyous all together,

Heedless of the wind and weather.

Soft bosoms

Even the quaffing version of Deck The Halls is a dilution of the Seventeenth Century version which celebrates bosoms and blisses and kisses – and why not? It’s Christmas, after all.

Oh! How soft my fair one’s bosom 

Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

Oh! How sweet the grove in blossom (Fa….!)

Oh! How blessed are the blisses (Fa….!)

Words of love, and mutual kisses

Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

Tastes of Beijing

From train sink to hotel sink to The Forbidden City

From sink to sink

The top left picture shows the shared sink on the Trans-Siberian Express and, by way of contrast, the top left is the elegant sink they are currently enjoying in China’s capital city. Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City are key sights to visit in Beijing and Sally is seen above entering the World Heritage Site of the Imperial Palace complex. Maggie is shown below in the same place, alongside the appealing outdoor corridor and private ablution area of the quaint and welcoming Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel. The Sudoku book (look closely) travelled across Asia to be there; it doesn’t come as standard issue in the hotel.

Return to China

Sally has been to China before (with Emily, Harriet and me too) on an extended visit during a hot July and August back in 2009. That time we travelled widely and saw a total eclipse of the sun; this time Sally will be based in Beijing at the end of a journey with her pal, Maggie, from Saint Petersburg, via Moscow and the Trans-Siberian Express through Mongolia to China. As far as I know it’s the first time for Maggie in China, though she has recently travelled to Japan with her daughter, Amy. As I said in the first of these dispatches (by proxy) from the East, the world is at once a small place and an immense, unfathomable place.

The Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel

The images above are from the magical oasis where they stayed in China. After travelling 4,992 miles to reach their destination, rest, relaxation and restful lighting were all appreciated.

Ri Tan Park to Shipley

One less obvious place (not on the main tourist routes) visited by the dynamic duo was Ri Tan Park with extensive gardens, a small lake and dramatic “Star Gates.” The picture above has interesting vertical imagery with nature and man-made structures, ancient and modern, mingling on the eye…. All that remains is to trust British Airways to bring the intrepid travellers back to their families and friends in Yorkshire and the UK.... and the world....

Mission Impossible? Mais non....Mission Accomplished!

The Trans-Siberian Railway

Proxy Adventures
So I’m not there myself but into my phone arrive sporadic images from Sally and Maggie and their adventures across Asia. What can I glean?

• Passport and visa checks and compartment searches at borders
• Sunsets, Sunrises, Fascinating glimpses of life in remote corners of the world
• Forest, Snow, Steppes, Lakes, the Gobi Desert
• Stupendous Lake Baikal (biggest, deepest lake on the planet)
• Grumpy Chinese guard, hard beds, limited hot water
• Friendly fellow passengers (Dutch)
• Jolly Restaurant car staff who will (also) drink and dance
• Champagne, Beer, Wine and all types of vodka
• Borscht, Stroganoff, Pot Noodles, Chocolate
• Memories of the Romanovs passing through Yekaterinburg….

Next stop Beijing

Tastes of Saint Petersburg and Moscow

Hospitality in Saint Petersburg
Dispatches from the East suggest that the goodly folk of Saint Petersburg are friendly and hospitable. The River Neva flows, despite some icy patches; snow flurries quickly turn to slush and vodka top-ups and generous afternoon tea treats keep the cockles warm.

Destination Saint Petersburg....

Peter’s legacy 
So Sally and Maggie arrived safely and admired the sights of Saint Petersburg, formerly named Petrograd and Leningrad at points in the 20th Century. Peter the Great (all 6 foot 8 inches of him) founded the city to prove his global, Enlightenment credentials and tourist highlights now include the Hermitage Museum, St Isaac’s Cathedral and the Mariinsky Theatre.

Highlights of Saint Petersburg...

Birthday in Moscow {Москва}
Somewhere between St Petersburg and Moscow Maggie celebrated her birthday and St Basil’s Cathedral (Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed) and Red Square had to be visited by the English travellers….

Happy Red Square Birthday to Maggie....

Underground Overground
Sally and Maggie then took a guided tour of the extravagant architecture and urban art of the Moscow underground. Translation might be difficult, but the top left image below shows a young Colombian: “our guide Mario touching the rooster…” I expect a more detailed explanation when Sally returns. The bottom right image, of course, shows the moment of destiny: Train 4 Moscow-Beijing 23:55…. Signals and networks will be patchy over the next seven days but the map in the previous blog shows the route: Nizhni Novgorod – Kazan – Perm –  Yekaterinburg – Omsk – Novosibirsk – Krasnoyarsk – Irkutsk and the extraordinary Lake Baikal and Ulan-Ude before heading south into Mongolia….

Travelling East

The travellers depart

Sally left me (for a while)
In February 2019 Sally set off to travel almost 2,000 miles away from Saltaire to Saint Petersburg in Russia. Then she’ll go a further 440 miles to Moscow, not to mention a further 3,790 milles to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia and finally a further 725 miles to Beijing in China. Almost 5,000 miles in total….mostly by train…. All being well she’ll fly back home after her adventure of a lifetime, inspired by her pal Maggie’s dream to travel on the Trans-Siberian railway. Sometimes dreams come true. I’m holding the fort and experiencing the adventure by proxy via WhatsApp and texts.

To the East and back.... Amy's Japanese adventure, savoured by proxy

Big world, small world
In some ways the world is a small place, given that pictures and voices can travel almost instantaneously via cyber-routes. But in other ways, the distances between countries are still very great and geographical features still have to be traversed by foot, bicycle, car, train, boat, plane…. Maggie’s daughter, Amy, recently worked in Japan and brought back recipes (and prezzies) to expand my palate and tell tales that illuminated Japanese culture. The last time I experienced Sally leaving me for so many nights was when she completed her medical elective in Mysore, South India – that was about 5,000 miles away, as well….

Carpe Diem
But seizing the day is what it’s all about, I suppose. Birthdays, Easter, Bonfire Night, Armistice Day, Christmas, New Year, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, St George’s Day (aka Shakespeare’s birthday….) If an opportunity presents itself, as E M Forster declared in A Room with a View:

By the side of the everlasting Why there is a Yes – a transitory Yes if you like, but a Yes.

Memories are made of this.

The everlasting Yes
Sally said Yes to Maggie’s madcap dream and there they are, on the banks of the River Neva, visiting St Isaac’s cathedral and the Nevsky Prospect, attending the ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre and downing several shots of vodka….

One element of this year's "birthday season" for Amy.... carpe diem! Declare the Everlasting YES!

Blog Two Hundred

August 2014.... final days living temporarily down South

Blog Two Hundred
Welcome to my 200th blog. Time to look back. Older? Wiser? Healthier? Back when I started writing a blog (in August 2014 - see pictures above) I’d just taken early retirement and had a dream of trying to write (and finish) a novel. I imagined blogging might make me produce words that were spewed out regularly into cyberspace. It might teach me about writing deadlines and train me to keep on writing, keep on churning out stuff that might form into a novel. Well, now in 2018 (see pictures below) my bucket list dream of writing (and finishing) a novel is approaching fruition.

Scenes from March 2018 including birthday pals Sally & Maggie, at Salt's Mill with bass player and sterling friend, Dudley Phillips, Emily, Harriet and Chris. (An Autumn pudding for wintry Spring and a new laptop.) 

Blogspot Data
Comparing Blog One Hundred (31st May 2016) with the stats of Blog Two Hundred:

• TheReadinessIsAllLetBe had been visited (in early June 2016) over 13,000 times
• Now the visitor tally is 36,638
• Back then people in 76 countries had followed links to the site
• Now, it’s 104 countries (I don’t expect that to go any higher)
• The most frequent countries to visit my blog in 2016, apart from the UK, were the US, Ireland, Russia, France and Germany
• Now, China has replaced France in the top 6
• The most frequently-mentioned topics in 2016 were: Family, Shakespeare, History, Yorkshire and Reading
• Now, Writing has replaced Reading in the top 5

Apart from Family weddings, parties and holidays the most popular blogs (so far) seem to be about Wine, the Catholic Church, Brexit, the “Tampon Tax,” the book H is for Hawk and the film God’s Own Country. So much for my ambition (back when I started in August 2014) to focus on the works of William Shakespeare!

March 2018 - Sally's birthday - What stature is she of? asks Jacques. "Just as high as my heart."

Frequency of posting
I posted

• 25 times in 2014
• 50 times in 2015
• 60 times in 2016 (5 per month)
• 60 times in 2017 (5 per month)
• 5 so far in 2018 (working to 3 per month this year)

I’ve reduced the number of blog posts to 3 per month in order to spend more time writing Rhenium Tales, my trilogy for the Young Adult market that is moving along apace. July 2018 is my personal deadline for submitting it to professional agents. A few people (in addition to First Reader Emily) are getting glimpses and giving me feedback. Nick Shelton has produced brilliant designs for particular aspects of the story. Book 2 is pouring out reasonably easily and Book 1, Raydan Wakes, is about a third of the way through its final edit before submission.

I started this blog in August 2014. Time passes and now....

Funny how…. Time will tell….
Funny how time goes by…. Funny how in August 2014 I had no idea who Raydan Brain was, or Vera Valente, or Pheebus Yadiel…. Rhenium was a rare element in the periodic table, used in the manufacture of aeroplanes…. now, to me, Rhenium’s a planet in a galaxy far, far away. Only Time Will Tell whether Rhenium, Pheebus, Vera and Raydan will become familiar to anyone else…. In the summer of 2014 I didn't imagine the arctic weather of March 2018. Now I can. Back in 2014 I didn't know Chris Grimley. Now I do. Here’s to the next 100 blogs!

Can Spring be far behind?

Triggering Article 50

Dreaming of Heathcliff's dogs chasing Michael Gove

In the week that the (unelected) Prime Minister of the UK intends to trigger Article 50 that begins the country’s negotiations to separate from the European Union, I’m going to type whatever comes out in a stream of consciousness. My past few blogs have been about writing, Emily Brontë and Wuthering Heights in particular. I wonder whether Heathcliff looking through the windows of Thrushcross Grange and despising the spoilt lives of privilege is a common experience. Is that why 52% (of the voters who bothered to vote) voted to Brexit? Would Heathcliff have voted to leave the European Union? (In truth, I don’t think he would have voted; he might have set his dogs on Michael Gove…. Or set fire to the polling booth….)

Do we want a return to the feudal system?
In the past it was easier to understand Britain’s/England’s/the UK’s social system:

• Before the Norman Conquest in 1066 there were serfs (slaves), cottars (cottagers), ceorls (freemen), thanes (landowners), earls and other nobles, royalty and the king
• In medieval times the feudal system dominated: serfs now had villeins below and peasants above; freemen came after yeomen came after servants; then came knights and vassals before the nobles and the king
• Both pre-1066 and post-1066 there was a parallel hierarchy in the Church too with the Monks after the Priests after the Dean after the Prior after the Abbot and then the ArchDeacon, Archbishop, Bishop, Cardinal and Pope (and then Henry VIII complicated everything by divorcing and beheading his spouses and inventing the Church of England)

It must have been comforting living in a feudal society. Do Brexiters want to return to this period of our history?

Knowing your place

The four seismic shifts since Medieval Times that have affected the UK’s class system are the Industrial Revolution, World War One, World War Two and Globalisation. Before the Industrial Revolution it was easy to know your place: your goods and lands were your own as long as you gave up a portion to the level above you (a portion either in cash, goods or a willingness to supply male bodies to fight in wars.) Apart from in times of famine – or catastrophic upheavals like the Black Death – people lived lives “sufficient unto themselves.” The sons of blacksmiths generally became blacksmiths; the youngest sons of nobles generally went into the church; the lives of non-religious women generally focused on giving birth. Occupation, social status and political influence were the anchors of society. You only broke the mould if someone on a higher plane of the structure conferred some favour upon you in terms of land or status. Do Brexiters want to return to this period of our history?

The Age of Reason

The Industrial Revolution brought wealth to unexpected people in unexpected ways. Suddenly ordinary people could make swift profits through inventions and hard word. Mass migration of people to factories in cities disrupted the equilibrium in the towns and villages. Ideas from the French and American revolutions trickled through the brains of thinkers and agitators and God was on trial for His/Her/Its very existence as the Church began to lose its influence over society. The Age of “Reason” or “Enlightenment” had arrived. The old ways were being disrupted. But the peasants/working class were still labouring in filthy conditions, underpaid, underfed, uncared for in terms of health, safety and welfare and likely to die from dysentery or diphtheria or cholera. Do Brexiters want to return to this period of our history?

The Années Folles

The Middle Classes (old cottagers and freemen) began to find political voices and by the time of the First World War the demand for women’s equality was a clarion call. There was no turning back and universal suffrage and meritocracy meant it was possible to use the capitalist system in most of the world (or, clandestinely, a corrupted version of the communist system in the USSR; or, strangely, a smoke and mirrors version of communism in China) to beat the system and rise to the top from wherever you started. You just needed to know how to play the system. So – just after the First World War – that seemed like a good time to be alive – the Jazz Age, the Roaring Twenties, the French called it the Crazy Years (Années Folles).I could understand if Brexiters wanted to return to this period of our history (as long as what came next could be avoided.)

Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart

The 1930s, tragically, brought the financial crash (sound familiar?) that led to The Great Depression that led to the rise of Fascism that led to The Second World War, the holocaust and the atomic bomb. The peace at the end of World War One had clearly been an attempt to impose outdated terms on political systems in countries whose societies were going through convulsions. The Roaring Twenties may have been the period, after all, of the greatest ostrich-head-in-the-sand national-delusion. And after World War Two all the certainties about “isms” became uncertainties and the world had faced, as Ralph weeps at the end of Golding’s 1954 Lord of the Flies:

the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart

Surely Brexiters don’t want to return to the 1950s, or do they?

James Aubrey as Ralph in Peter Brook's 1963 film of Lord of the Flies with images of the end of innocence, the darkness of man's heart

Taking back control or business as usual….?

Much good followed the Second World War – attempts to build global organisations to end poverty and improve health on an international scale. There was an upsurge in cultural sharing and tourism that improved understanding between nations. Great strides were made in treating all citizens equally with reforming legislation about gender, race, disability, sexuality, age and religion. It once again seemed possible that, with the age of the internet, we might all be able to work more efficiently for fewer hours and enjoy more leisure time. If everyone worked fewer hours more people could be employed. As computers and mechanization became more sophisticated the work could become less stressful. Why didn’t it happen? Greed for profits…. leading to the 2008 financial crash in not-dissimilar circumstances to the crash of the 1930s. And then a skillfully-managed Establishment and Media campaign managed to deflect the blame for the consequent political decisions to impose AUSTERITY and blame OTHERS in order to help the financial institutions return to business as usual.

Staring through the windows
I have some sympathy with the cries of Fake News these days, but I’m worried that the wrong news is being called fake news. In my opinion the last five years have seen a dreadful polarisation of stances in all the Media and our brains have not yet caught up with the bombardment of manipulation that comes our way in ever-increasingly sinister bits of brainwashing. The arguments on both sides of the EU referendum were not presented clearly or honestly and the claims of the “victors” (ie the Brexiters) are the ones that are now being strained. I blogged earlier that Time Will Tell but between that blog and now I am still waiting for the government to present certainty about what the post-Brexit world will be like. I hope clarity will start to emerge in the following weeks. What I am sure about is that much of what I think people thought they were voting for will not have changed. The rich will remain rich and will continue to get richer. The establishment will still protect itself and bolster itself. The only control that has been taken back will be the Haves controlling the Have-Nots. The disempowered and disenfranchised will still be staring through the windows of Thrushcross Grange wondering how it came to this.

Fake News has been with us longer than The Donald....