The last couple of weeks seem to have had, inadvertently, a musical theme to them. Since the Wychwood festival I’ve donned a tuxedo (first time in over a decade) to attend the opening night of the 2008 Grange Park Opera season;

attended Party in the Park on the village green in Stathern;

rocked out at the Download Festival (Jemima was just about the only child amongst the 100,000 black-clad revellers);

and watched the dress rehearsal of the musical High Society at Emmanuel College, put on by the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatics Club.

 

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The most interesting idea to surface during our stay in Essex was emailed to me by a teacher from St. Philips Priory School in Chelmsford, who invited me to photograph the school’s last ever sports day to be held in their eighty year history. The event featured all the old favourites, the egg and spoon race, sack race and the highly competitive parents sprint!

St. Philips was founded as a fee-paying school in 1927 by the Servite Sisters with 30 children on the roll. Originally, there was a primary and secondary school until 1954; now, it is just primary. Although a Catholic faith school, they have welcomed children of all faiths and it was fascinating to see how many Hindu and Muslim parents had enrolled their children (in one class, Christian children were actually a minority,) presumably in recognition of the school’s excellent Ofsted results and the fact it’s a feeder to the local grammar.

Sadly, the Sisters are having to sell the school as the majority of the order are getting quite old and need to start providing for their later years. The news came as a huge blow to the students, parents and staff. Several of the staff had been students at the school themselves. The teacher who contacted me was one of three generations of her family to attend. Despite an active campaign to save the school and keep it independent, efforts have failed, and a neighbouring private school in Chelmsford (sold to St. Cedd’s Educational Trust, a charity that already runs another primary school in the local area, St. Cedd’s School) has bought the site.

 

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I was interviewed by Etholle George this morning on BBC Radio Essex. Etholle put out a request to her listeners for ideas and events happening in Essex this week. I’ll post up up any interesting ones later.

 

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One of the interesting dilemmas before starting a journey, especially one of this length, is what reading material to pack. Space is at a premium in a motorhome so you have to choose carefully.

I’ve finally finished reading H.V.Morton’s In Search of England and debating what to start next. Although, to be honest, I’m not getting much downtime to read, hence the length of time it took me to get through Morton! It’s amazing what little opportunity I have after a daily routine of photographing, traveling, finding places to camp for the night, servicing the motorhome (filling with water, emptying sewage, putting up/taking down beds etc), checking posts on the website, researching future destinations and events, updating the blog, loading and unloading film (in a portable dark bag), eating, helping to entertain Jemima and finally Sarah and I trying to get some personal time together!

So here’s a list of what I have to choose from on our cupboard shelf-

A Dream of England, John Taylor

A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway (Sarah’s recommendation)

Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh (Sarah’s recommendation)

Catch 22, Jospeh Heller

Ed Ruscha and Photography, Sylvia Wolf

Landscape and Power, Edited by W.J.T.Mitchell

Larry’s Party, Carol Shields (Sarah’s)

Lonely Planet Guide to Britain

Notes From A Small Island, Bill Bryson

On Photography, Susan Sontag

Persuasion, Jane Austen (Sarah’s)

Sugar and Other Stories, A.S.Byatt (Sarah’s)

The Art Book, Phaidon

The English Year, Steve Roud

The Fifth Child, Doris Lessing (Sarah’s)

The Granta Book of Reportage

The Paris Review Interviews, Volume 2 (Sarah’s)

The Photo Book, Phaidon

The Story of England, Christopher Hibbert

The World of Robert Fisk

If you have any recommendations on good books for a journey around England, please post them below.

 

Posted in INSPIRATION, ON THE JOB, RESEARCH | 3 Comments »

I recently saw Billy Bragg perform (with The Imagined Village). He was wearing a Marmite t-shirt. The reason, he told the audience, you either love him/ his music or hate him/his music. I’ve never really explored his music so couldn’t comment. Saying that, I’m currently listening to his 2002 album England, Half English and quite enjoying it. I can’t say that I love his music, but I’m definitely coming to appreciate it. I particularly like the title track, the words of which you can read here.

 

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I was collared by a bright and breezy charity volunteer in the foyer of a shopping centre recently. He was working on behalf of The Woodland Trust, a charity I’d never heard of. Over the past few weeks on the road I’ve been amazed at how many awful new-build housing estates seem to be encroaching on green belt (or at least wooded) land. So I was happy to listen to his two-minute pitch. And I must admit, I was won over. 

First a few facts-

• The UK is one of Europe’s least wooded countries.
• Ancient woodland is home to more threatened species than any other habitat in the UK.
• Half of ancient broadleaved woodland that had survived until the 1930s has now been lost.
• 85% of ancient woodland has no legal designation to protect it from outside threats.

And a small plug for the work they do-

• The Woodland Trust, founded in 1972, is the UK’s leading charity dedicated solely to the protection of our native woodland heritage.
• By acquiring woodland sites The Woodland Trust bring them into our care and protection. Many of our woods were previously under threat from development pressure or unsympathetic management.
• Woodland Trust woods are sympathetically managed for wildlife and public enjoyment.
• We also replace those woods that have been lost to landscape and create more new native woodland than practically anyone else in the UK.
• We have created 3,200 hectares of new native woodland.
• Our Millennium Commission backed Woods on your Doorstep project has created 200 new community woods in England and Wales and 50 more in Northern Ireland.

Find out more about The Woodland Trust on their website and why not commit a few pounds a month.

 

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Apologies to anyone who received a photograph from me in the post this morning without the slip of paper explaining what it was for. No, I’m not trying to bribe you (as one worried caller enquired). It is in fact the limited edition print that was promised to the first 150 people who posted an idea on the website. 

By the way, it’s not a dead person in a hedge (as another caller enquired). It’s my parent’s neighbour, Henry, who was exploring the vegetation! A rather curious photograph, I know.

 

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Continuing my weekly dispatch in The Times, week 3 was taken at Ratcliffe-on-Soar.

 

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We’ve now covered close to 2000 miles during our first two months on the road.

It seems timely to have a short rant about petrol prices given the current panic buying of fuel due to apparent shortages caused by striking tanker drivers. Yesterday we came dangerously close to getting stranded on the A1 while it took us four attempts to find a garage between Peterborough and Huntingdon that had diesel available.

Since budgeting this road trip in September 2007 fuel prices have risen by nearly 50% from £0.95/litre last September to a high of £1.35/litre today. Fingers crossed prices don’t continue to surge, otherwise we’ll have to resort to converting the motorhome to run on vegetable oil!

By the way, we’ll be working out our carbon footprint at the end of the journey and doing our bit to offset.

 

Staying with numbers, I have to admit I’ve got a strange fascination with clocks and speedometers! There can be something quite beautiful about the order of numbers. Hence why I got quite excited this morning when I noticed the speedo had reached 44,444 miles.

nb. Before I’m prosecuted for taking my hands off the wheel when driving, I took this picture while Sarah was driving!

 

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Continuing my weekly dispatch in The Times, week 2 comes from the Epsom Derby.

Spectators on The Hill celebrate as Bureaucrat wins The Northern Dancer Stakes at this year’s Epsom Derby. An estimated 100,000 people (most of whom weren’t dressed in top hat and tails) enjoyed the beautiful weather and a fine day’s racing. Saturday 7th June 2008.

 

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