CoolTan Arts Dickens News

II DICKENS NEWS

www.cooltanarts.org.uk

OOLTAN ARTS are proud to present our new and unique arts project the ‘Dickens News’.

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CoolTan Arts believes mental well-

being is enhanced by the power of creativity. We are a charity run by and for adults with mental distress.

Cooltan Arts run a varied programme of creative workshops

from our vibrant arts centre in Southwark’s lively Walworth Road.

The Dickens News is a heritage newspaper to be published in partnership with Southwark News.

Accompanying the newspaper is a series of exhibitions at the Cuming Museum, Southwark Cathedral, Morley Gallery and the Charles Dickens Museum.

The Dickens News Series is a set of four themed exhibitions showcasing work by participants and volunteers at CoolTan Arts. The inspiration behind the project is Charles Dickens’ first novel The Pickwick

"The sleeplessness of a great city, and the way in which it tumbles and tosses before it can get sleep." Dickens would walk until dawn, apparently plagued by some restless affliction

- ‘1859 Night Walks essay.

The First Edition Cuming Museum 25th October - 29th November 2012 Private View 8th November N THE first of the series this exhibition sees the launch of the Dickens News newspaper: a collaboration between participants at CoolTan Arts and the Southwark News.

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This modern version of Charles Dickens’s Pickwick Papers is a collection of articles and poetry, prints, drawings from Cooltan Arts visual arts workshops. These illustrate Dickens’ walks through Southwark collecting the diverse impressions of Victorian life.

Classes in journalism with Kevin Quinn, one of the Managing Directors of the Southwark News, helped in the publication, as well as workshops in creative writing with author and novelist Aoife Mannix; storytelling with Rachel Reid, and oral

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: We would like to thank: The Heritage Lottery Fund for their generous support.

Kevin Quinn and everyone at The Southwark News, Catherine Hamilton & Keith and The Cuming Museum, Nia McIntosh

history with Verusca Calibra from the Oral History Society.

Artworks in this exhibition have all been specially made, led by tutor and printmaker Dan McDermott and artist and tutor Georgina Rodgers. Exhibited original Batik textiles have been designed by CoolTan Arts textile artists Liz Innnes and Ese Imonioro, led by Sanae Saragae and Lu Firth.

Adrian Whyatt, project volunteer, said of participating in the project: “This has deepened and extended my knowledge of the area and its centrality to London as a whole. It has shown that the issues raised

by Dickens, especially around poverty and social exclusion and mental health, inequality and exploitation are becoming more and more relevant in the present day”.

Michelle Baharier, CEO of CoolTan Arts, said: “CoolTan Arts chose to develop this Dickens project to revaluate where we are more than 150 years on from the Lunacy Acts. Dickens himself campaigned to improve the lives of people with mental distress. Today CoolTan Arts would have made a great stopping point for Dickens as he could have joined and supported us in our work”.

, Florian Schweitzer and staff at The Dickens Museum, Christopher Owens and Southwark Cathedral, and Jane Hartwell and Morley Gallery, and everyone at Cooltan Arts.

Dickens News Project: Editor – Kevin Quinn

2012/2013

Papers and his prolific walks through London collecting rich and diverse impressions of Victorian life.

The newspaper, with content provided entirely by CoolTan Arts participants and volunteers, will examine the relevance of Dickens’ work today and aims to bring to life and contemporise characters created by the writer. Articles, poetry, and illustration will explore Dickens’ early years in Southwark and will compare cultural and social issues in Dickensian London to those of today.

Dickens’ characters are often eccentric, and many have been

deemed to be experiencing mental disorders.

Dickens himself experienced melancholia, now known as depression. He spent much time observing patients in Victorian lunatic asylums, writing about the inhumane treatment by restraint.

Dickens’ work reflected the extreme hardship experienced in Victorian London. The project will look at poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, prostitution and the great recycling industry of London’s poor.

Through the Dickens News will be told the hidden histories of those excluded and those without a voice.

Life & times of Charles Dickens...

1812 - Born on February 7 to John and Elizabeth Dickens.

Copperfield begins.

1824 - John Dickens arrested and sent to the Marshalsea debtors’ prison, Borough. Charles Dickens worked at the Warren's Blacking Factory, Hungerford Stairs, north side of Blackfriars Road. Dickens lives in Lant Street, Borough

1851- Catherine Dickens suffers a nervous collapse.

John Dickens, the father of Charles Dickens, dies.

Daughter Dora Dickens dies when she is only eight months old.

‘What Shall we have for Dinner?’, a cookbook by Catherine Dickens, is published.

1834 - Began using the pseudonym "Boz". Meets his future wife, Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of George Hogarth, editor of the Evening Chronicle, where Dickens was a young journalist.

1836 - The first chapters of The Pickwick Papers are published. Sam Well, publican from Pickwick Papers, works at The White Hart Public House on Borough High Street. The Pickwick Papers presents the wedding of Mr Snodgrass and Emily Wardle at a 'Dulwich Church' 1837 - The publication of Oliver Twist begins and Charles has the first of his ten children.

1840 - Publication of The Old Curiosity Shop begins 1841 - Barnaby Rudge is published.

1843 - A Christmas Carol is published.

1846 - Publication of Dombey and Son begins.

1848 - Dickens' sister, Fanny, dies.

The Haunted Man, his last Christmas book, is published.

1849 - The publication of David

1852 - The publication of Bleak House begins.

1854 - Hard Times is published.

1855 - Publication of Little Dorrit begins. Little Dorrit was born in Marshalsea Prison, Borough, and christened at St George The Martyr Church in Borough High Street. One night she returned to the prison too late and was locked out for the night, so she slept in the vestry of the church with the register for a pillow.

Litle Dorrit marries Arthur Clennam there. In the bottom right-hand corner of the modern stained glass window at the east-end of the church is a representation of Little Dorrit wearing a poke bonnet.

1857 - Hans Christian Anderson is entertained at Dickens’ home. He meets future mistress Ellen Ternan, with whom he continued a secret relationship until his death and which was not known to the public until 65 years later.

1858 - Dickens separates from Catherine, his wife. This was much publicised and rumours of Dickens’ unfaithfulness abounded, which he vehemently denied in public. Dickens and Catherine had little correspondence after the break, Catherine moving to a house in London with oldest son, Charlie, and

Project Development Manager – Susan McNally Coordinator- Lu Firth Curator – Dani Berg Picture Editor – Billie Tomlin

Ismail Ali, Sanae Saragai, Adrian Whyatt, Sasha Dee, Barnaby Hughes, Ann Fen, Lucy Fridi, Peter Cox and Dani Berg

Reseachers & Authors / reporters:

Poets: Sasha Dee, Gary Stevens, Charles Browne and Emile

Zoe Clifford, Michael Grey,

Dickens retreating to Gad's Hill in Kent with Catherine's sister, Georgina, and all of the children except Charlie remaining with him.

1859 - A Tale of Two Cities is published.

1860 - Publication of Great Expectations begins. In Great Expectations, Dickens indicates that Camberwell was a more genteel place to live as '...anyone who could lay claim to an acquaintance with people of rank and title had a sure passport to the table of the Maldertons who lived at Oak Lodge, Camberwell'.

His daughter, Katie, marries and ten days later his brother, Alfred, dies.

Dickens burns his personal papers.

1863 - Dickens' mother, Elizabeth, dies. Dickens begins work on Our Mutual Friend.

1864 - His son, Walter, dies in India.

The first instalment of Our Mutual Friend is printed.

1865 - Dickens is involved in the Staplehurst railway accident, along with Ellen Ternan and her mother.

1868- Dickens rents a house in Linden Grove, Nunhead, under the pseudonym Charles Tringham, for himself and Ellen Ternan between 1868 and his death in 1870.

1869 - Dickens is ordered by doctors to discontinue readings and begins writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

1870 - Dickens gives his final public reading. Publication of The Mystery of Edwin Drood begins. Charles Dickens dies at Gad's Hill Place on June 9.

Visual Arts: Graham Newton, William Ball, Marjorie McLean, Safron Saidi, Vasily Nilich, Zoe Rafah, Mike Fox, Cathy Smart, Billy Weston and Karen Unrue

CoolTan Arts Visual Arts workshops:

Technical & editorial support from Rik Saunders and Emma Thatcher Exhibition Installation from Eva Meglas and Sanna Khokher Tel: 020 7701 2696 Email: info@cooltanarts.org.uk www.cooltanarts.org.uk

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2012/2013

DICKENS NEWS III

“Seasonable tokens are about. Red berries shine here and there in the lattices "You may be an undigested bit of ……….daintily sticking sprigs of holly into the carvings and sconces of the Cathedral stalls.” beef, a blot of - The Mystery of Edwin Drood mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!"

- ‘A Christmas Carol’.

The Winter Edition Southwark Cathedral 4th December 2012 - 14th January 2013 Private View 6th December 2012

AH!" SAID Scrooge.

"Humbug!"

C o m e and celebrate the festive season with us in the Southwark Cathedral.

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Take part in our interpretation of

Dickens’ creation of Christmas and revisit Scrooge and Marley in the shape of prints and drawings by CoolTan Arts participants.

This exhibition explores the meaning of winter festivities; the change of season and the harbouring of food, charity and good will, and of those who do without.

Etchings, lino cut prints, drawing and paintings illustrate Dickens and Victorian Christmas. Research on Dickensian chefs and Victorian recipes have been collected for this exhibition, accompanied by beautiful original illustrations with Cooltan Arts’ own contemporary take on these.

Etchings, prints and hand printed Christmas greetings cards will be on sale in the Southwark Cathedral shop.

Something for everyone...

Dickensian markets in Southwark OWADAYS WE’RE more likely to nip to the supermarket, but back in the 19th century everyone, rich and poor, was dependent on the markets, writes

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Michael Grey...

These were places of extraordinary hustle and bustle, where the sheer variety of products on sale would take your breath away.

They were open night and day.

Charles Dickens would undoubtedly have wandered through these markets on his famous nightly strolls.

Though often dark and foggy, the streets of London were made vibrant by the shouts of market traders busily flogging their wares. Street sellers and hawkers were everywhere. They sold all manner of products, from food to toys to rags. From their barrows and baskets, they offered an astonishing range including oranges, nuts, watercress, hot eels, sheep trotters and pea soup. Pies of

every description, kidney puddings, crumpets, and plum cakes were on display. Also on offer were all types of drinks including ices, tea, coffee, cocoa, curds and whey, as well as rice milk.

You could even get your milk straight from the cow in the Royal Parks.

New vegetables started arriving into England in the 1860s. For the first time you could buy tomatoes, marrows and pumpkins in Borough Market. As one of London’s oldest markets, Borough had been going strong since the 13th century. Stalls were found all along London Bridge, but in the 1850s the entire market was rehoused in a brand new building of iron and glass.

Getting bigger by the day, markets spread in all directions across London East Street Market being another fine example.

Saturday nights were famous for boiling hundreds of beetroot for hours to ensure a soft, sweet taste.

Haddock was also extremely popular amongst the poor. If you watched the haddock seller at work, you’d see him

A True Story of a Street Seller

Watercress Girl

Dickens loved the wild atmosphere of the markets with everyone vying for his custom...

Admittedly he did complain about the filth, the overcrowding, being pushed and having to beat away the unwashed putting the fish on a pole or skewer, which he then placed into the smoke hole. He’d set fire to some sawdust on the floor and then leave this to smoulder for a long time - the result being that the haddock eventually emerged, smoked and browned and delicious.

Dickens loved the wild atmosphere of the markets, with everyone vying for his custom. He was a huge fan of fish, including oysters. Admittedly he did

RUSTY IS eight years old and she makes a meagre living selling watercress in the streets this is an account of her life in Borough, writes Michael Grey...

complain about the filth, the overcrowding, being pushed and having to beat away the unwashed. Yet at the same time he was greatly inspired by the cacophony of traders’ voices, the richness of the smells and the fascinating tales of market life. Indeed despite the clinical cleanliness of today’s supermarkets, Southwark’s markets today still retain much of their Dickensian zest and fascination.

She has little time to play with her friends. Struggling with life’s problems she has never played in parks or gone to school – all she knows is work. She stays in the streets around her neighbourhood in Southwark.

Her face is pale and thin, she doesn’t have much of an appetite and food can make her sick at times.

She wears threadbare clothes – a loose cotton gown and a thin shawl, nothing on her head and her hair is rusty and sticks out everywhere.

Her slippers are too big and make her shuffle along.

She has been working on the harsh streets for more than a year and goes about the street crying ‘watercress!’, but customers are as few and far between as friends.

Other attractions around the Winter Edition SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL - Wed 5th Dec: Better Bankside St Nicholas Choral Evensong 5.30pm - Fri 7th Dec: Det Norske Guttekoret visiting choir, Norway 11.30am - Sat 8th Dec: Southwark Cathedral Friends Christmas Fair 12.00pm - Mon 10th Dec: The Worshipful Company of Launderers Carol Concert 6.30pm

- Fri 14th Dec Cathedral Choir Concert 7.30pm - Sat 15th Dec Finnish Church fundraiser and recital 12.00 noon CRISIS Charity Carol Service 6.30pm - Mon 17th Dec GLA Carol Service 7.00pm - Thurs 20th Dec Cathedral Sing-In 12.45pm - Fri 21st Dec Cathedral Carol Service I 7.00pm

- Sun 23rd Dec Cathedral Carol Service II 6.30pm - Mon 24th Dec Crib Service 4.00pm Midnight Mass 11.30pm - Tues 25th Dec Morning Prayer 8.45am Eucharist with Carols 9.00am Choral Eucharist 11.00am Cathedral Closes 1.00pm www.cathedral.southwark.anglican.org

BOROUGH MARKET The Market will be open for extra

trading days in the run up to Christmas – between Thursday13th December and Monday 24th December and for New Year between Thursday 27th and Monday 31st December.

A winter wonderland, bedecked with seasonal decorations, carol singing events and cooking demonstrations: There will be entertainment as well seasonal produce including spit-roast turkey, mulled wine and Christmas brownies. www.boroughmarket.org.uk

THE GOLDEN HINDE Beside Southwark Cathedral - Sir Francis Drake’s ship is offering: 8th December - Christmas Tudor Fayre, 11am-5pm £7 adults, £5 children, £20 family 15 & 22 December - Christmas Fun Day, 11am-2pm £7 adults, £5 children, £20 family 21 December - Christmas Carol Concert, 6pm-8pm Free of charge www.goldenhinde.com Booking 020 7403 0123

IV DICKENS NEWS

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2012/2013

Taste of literature Alexis Soyer's Famine Soup Original Recipe 1847: • 12.5 lbs legs of beef • 100 gallons of water • 6.25 lbs of drippings • 100 onions and other vegetables • 25 lbs of flour (seconds) • 25 lbs of pearl barley • 1.5 lbs of brown sugar • 9 lbs of salt

CATHERINE DICKENS, wife of Charles, was always cautious about money – generosity was important, but economy was also a positive virtue, writes Michael Grey...

These were values shared with her husband and his French chef acquaintance Alexis Soyer, (pictured above), as all had experienced poverty and hardship growing up.

As Charles Dickens was always guarded with money, he carefully supervised Catherine’s budget.

Hodgepodge was a favourite recipe of the Victorians - this was simply meat cut in small pieces combined with old vegetables in leftover gravy.

Mrs Beeton’s contemporary, fashionable French chef Soyer calls his recipe for this dish ‘Remains’.

Nothing is wasted in the Victorian kitchen. Hardly any cookery book then or since has been so full of tips on how to make food more economical.

One cheap ingredient of the time were oysters, the recipes for this far

Method: 1. Melt the butter in a heavy based pan (famine pot) 2.Sweat onions and other vegetables, add sugar and flour; cook until coloured 3. Add pearl barley and stock 4. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hours, adjust the seasoning 5. Serve from pot with oat cakes more versatile than today; for example stewed oysters, pickled oysters, and oyster sausages.

Soyer made dishes from leftovers and ingredients that were not commonly used, and recommended that expensive cuts of meat be kept for special occasions. Inspired by this, Catherine writes of using pork in all its forms to make as many dishes as she could for the sake of choice and economy.

Charles and Catherine loved fish. and thought for a long time that the poor nutritional and financial situation of the working classes could be alleviated by the consumption of more fish.

Era of milk pudding THE MILK pudding came into prominence in the 19th century, introduced by Eliza Acton amongst other cooks, writes Michael Grey...

Milk puddings were thought excellent for invalids and the young.

It stemmed from Mrs Beeton’s fervent belief in the efficiency of milk for all ailments. This soothing diet of

pudding is good for thin nervous people and those with emotional disturbances, milk being a nutritious and sedative. A great number of remedies were prepared with milk.

Eliza Acton, like today’s chefs, promoted simple cooking, while Mrs Beeton preferred to instruct her readers on how to cook apples a hundred different ways.

Buy some original

Cooltan Art

Christmas cards

The Winter Edition Southwark Cathedral 4th Dec-14th Jan

OCAL ARCHITECT Tim Wood moved into a decrepit warehouse in Lant Street in Borough in 1982 - he soon discovered it was where Charles Dickens lived aged eleven, when his father was incarcerated in Marshalsea prison. He recently set up ‘Dickens in The Borough’ and is now running tours that bring the streets of Southwark alive with the references to the great author and social reformer. Here Sasha Dee interviews Tim...

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Why did you set up ‘Dickens in The Borough’?

“I got very interested in the names of the streets in this area that are all named after Dickens characters. The characters are all from his autobiographical novels; Little Dorrit, Pickwick Papers, David Copperfield etc. They are all characters that meant something to Dickens when he was living at Lant Street. The streets are Weller Street, Trundle Street, Quilp Street, Caleb Street, Copperfield Street, and many more.

“These are not just streets named after characters from his novels but characters who were based on people he knew when he lived here. For example: his landlady in Lant Street or the people who were in Mareshalsea Prison with his father. After more research I found out that most of these streets were renamed between 1935-1939. So they must have been re-named by someone who really was some kind of Dickens nut, a real fan of Dickens. He must have known the way that Dickens walked to his work as a child at the Blacking factory, on the other side of Blackfriars Bridge, because if you plot these streets on to a map it shows a trail running from Lant Street all the way to Blackfriars Bridge.

“On the first part of this walk Dickens would have gone down Weller Street and Mint Street and straight past the workhouse. The workhouse stood on the corner of Mint Street and what is now Caleb Street. I think quite a lot of people think this is the workhouse where Oliver Twist wanted more food, and is the workhouse that is in David Copperfield.

“From there onwards the little walk goes past Clennam Street and Doyce Street, named after characters in Little Doritt. The trail then continues down Copperfield Street and then over to where the ‘Dog & Pot’ statue will soon be erected on the corner of Union Street and Blackfriars.

“So this is a very interesting ramble and I am fascinated by it. I would love to find out who the person was who had the idea to change the names of these

Walking in Charles Dickens’ footsteps... streets. I’m sure he was a Dickens scholar or an avid reader, or both.

“There are juxtapositions of streets, for example Quilp Street and Leigh Hunt Street. Quilp is the nasty diminutive money lender from ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ and he is right next door to Leigh Hunt Street. Leigh Hunt is not a character in Dickens but a real person, an artist who wrote a satirical magazine of the time. I understand that Dickens used to feed him stories about some of the pompous people that he used to meet. Dickens would let Leigh Hunt take the mickey out of these pompous people, or prick their bubble in his satirical magazine. So putting this nasty evil character next to Leigh Hunt I think is quite an interesting juxtaposition. Then there are Clennam & Doyce situated next to each other, who were business partners in ‘Little Doritt’.

What was Borough like in Dickens’ time?

“Dickens knew very well the workhouses here and the whole area of slums which stood in the liberty. The liberty was an area which had ancient rights, where the police were not allowed in. So you can imagine what was happening in these areas. It was a poor part of London. It was originally built on reclaimed swampy land and lots of nasty industries were based here, such as tanning, curing pelts to make hats, etc.

These were particularly smelly and horrible industries right next door to residential properties.

“Dickens was fascinated by this and the social implications of it. Later in life he saw the public hanging of Mr and Mrs. Manning outside the Horsemonger Lane Gaol at Newington Butts. Dickens was appalled by this and wrote to the Times. With the support of other social reformers, he helped to stop public hanging in his life-time.”

What plans does the ‘Dickens in The Borough’ group have?

“The group also celebrate the history of the Little Doritt church, (St. George The Martyr) , and of course the surviving wall of the Marshalsea prison.

“This year we been very busy with the bicentenary of Charles Dickens. We have commissioned Maggie Hambling, a local sculptor, to design a monument to celebrate Dickens’ work, which will sit right next to St. George The Martyr church. Maggie Hambling is also a patron of CoolTan Arts and she is working on a couple of maquettes for this important piece.

“We need to raise a lot of funds for this, but I am pretty confident that this group will achieve this. We are supported by Southwark Council. We have also been doing a lot of work with them to produce a Dickens map of the area and also an app that can be used to do your own walk of the area. The map and app will be free and available very soon.”

Are there any particular plans for Lant Street?

“Yes, there is a future aspiration to calm the traffic in Lant Street and make it a more pedestrian friendly area. The original house on Lant Street where Dickens lived does not exist anymore.

The school has taken its place.”

Isn’t there a Southwark Blue Plaque there?

“Yes there is a plaque that is situated on the Charles Dickens school. Interestingly enough the road is closed. It has been closed by the school - however, some of the local people are not particularly happy about that. The original reason for closure was to create an open space that could be used by the school in playtime and by the community as a park in the evenings and weekends. It has not quite worked out that way. I don’t know what Dickens would have thought about that.

I think he would have been a bit annoyed, because he would not have been able to walk down Lant Street.”

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2012/2013

DICKENS NEWS V

Are you living in Miss Havisham’s house or a block of flats named after Oliver Twist?

N HOMAGE to Dickens’ links with Southwark, the council gave the names of Dickensian characters to the blocks of flats on a Bermondsey estate, so a stroll through it conjures up a gallery of favourite characters and memories of their fictional lives, writes Ann Fenn...

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The naming of the blocks of flats is particularly apt at the Dockhead end of the estate. It was a slum area in the nineteenth century and at high tides the creeks filled up and cut off a ramshackle collection of buildings called Jacob’s Island.

This was the location famously used by Dickens as the setting for dramatic scenes involving Bill Sykes and Nancy.

DICKENS ESTATE lies a little to the East of Tower Bridge between Jamaica Road and the river.

“These are not just streets named after characters from his novels, but characters who were based on people he knew when he lived here.”

Will the Dickens in the Borough group hold annual events?

“This year there have been many Dickens events, but I would like to think that we will have an annual Dickens event, probably on the closed Tabard Street where the statue will be.

“I am the chair of the Bankside Open Spaces Trust as well and we have an annual Octavia Hill event. I think it is only right that Dickens should have his own celebration as well.

“Dickens in the Borough partnerships are with projects like CoolTan Arts, Southwark Council, Film & Video Umbrella and with the Dickens Museum. We have quite active partnerships with them. We are not yet affiliated with the Dickens Society or fellowship, but I’m sure we will in time.

Will there be a permanent place this side of the Thames in which to observe and to study Dickens artefacts?

“I think so. The Cuming Museum Dickens exhibition has been lent a lot of artefacts from the Dickens Museum in Doughty Street that is being refurbished at the moment. This is great place on Walworth Road to show stuff. If the Cuming Museum gets itself a permanent home, then I think this would be a fantastic thing.

“The Cuming does have its own Dickens artefacts. They have the pump from the Marshalsea Prison which is on show now and this will need a permanent home. It is a really huge cast iron monster that we could maybe even locate in St George’s, next door to the surviving Marshalsea prison wall.”

If are interested in joining ‘Dickens in The Borough email Tim Wood at tim@forgearchitects.co.uk

It is a pleasant area of housing, a mixture of handsome, brick-built prewar blocks and typical late fifties/early sixties modern blocks of the type that appeared all over London, as councils threw themselves into a manic rush to rebuild after the war and create a brave new city. No high rise flats here, though - all the blocks are lowrise, two to five storeys, and among the flats there are open spaces, grass, trees, three schools, a church, a convent and two pubs. It feels peaceful and residential, and any flats that come up for sale are in demand by people who want to live a mere stone’s throw from the city.

The naming of the blocks of flats is particularly apt at the Dockhead end of the estate. The blocks of flats there stand where tidal creeks once ran in from the river. It was a slum area in the nineteenth century and at high tides the creeks filled up and cut off a ramshackle collection of buildings called Jacob’s Island. This was the location famously used by Dickens as the setting for dramatic scenes involving Bill Sykes and Nancy.

Starting at Dockhead, walk past the older flats, looking at the name plates. Here you will find Nickleby

House and Copperfield House, reminding you of two of Dickens’ great tales of troubled boyhood “Nicholas Nickleby” and “David Copperfield” - both drawing on his own childhood experiences.

Round the corner is Oliver House, bringing to mind “Oliver Twist”, the most London based, and perhaps the most popular, of Dickens’ sagas of boys surviving adversity.

Keep walking and looking and you will find other familiar, evocative names:

Dombey House – A reference to

“Dombey and Sons”, a novel which, in part, uses a child’s point of view.

Unusually, for Dickens, it has a heroine, not a hero.

Pickwick House - who can forget the entertaining Mr. Pickwick of “The Pickwick Papers” - the book that launched Dickens’ career as a novelist?

Weller House - Named after Sam Weller, the lovable Londoner, Mr. Pickwick’s side-kick.

Bardell House another Pickwickian character, the litigious Mrs. Bardell.

Brownlow House - evoking Mr. Brownlow, Oliver’s benefactor in “Oliver Twist”.

Tapley House - refers to Mark Tapley, Martin Chuzzlewit’s servant, who accompanies the hero to America in the novel “Martin Chuzzlewit”.

On your walk, you might notice a memorial, not to Dickens or one of his much loved fictional characters, but to a modern” lovable London character” and folk hero. There is a blue plaque on Nickleby House commemorating “Tommy Steele, Entertainer”. I somehow think that Dickens would have approved of this Bermondsey Boy who made good!

Also, I’m sure he would, had he still been alive, have relished the progress of Jade Goody into becoming a local legend.

(She lived opposite Copperfield House in Peter Butler House - not, for some reason, named after a Dickens character).

If you go back to Jamaica Road, past Wade House, one of the more modern blocks, named after a character from “Little Dorrit”, and walk east these are the next blocks of flats you come to: Tupman House - named after Tracy Tupman, one of Mr. Pickwick’s close associates. He is elderly, fat and romantic!

Havisham House - the name raises the unforgettable image from “Great Expectations” of Miss Havisham, the bitter jilted bride growing old in her decaying wedding dress, surrounded by the wrecked remains of her

wedding feast.

Micawber House - a reminder of Mr. Micawber, the eternal optimist of “David Copperfield” - always thinking that “something will turn up”.

Wrayburn House - where I live... I hadn’t read “Our Mutual Friend” when I first moved here, but eventually found out that my address refers to one of the main character in that book, Eugene Wrayburn, described as “a barrister and gentleman, but also roguish and

insolent”.

Rudge House - named after the eponymous character in “Barnaby Rudge”, a historical novel set in times of riots and trouble in England in

1780.

Haredale House - using the name of other characters from “Barnaby Rudge.

If you are following my suggestions for a walk through Dickens’ memories, you will now have reached Bevington Street. Ignore the urge to head for the nearby river bank (and a superb view of Tower Bridge and the City) and carry on with your ramble through Dickens Estate. Only a few more blocks of flats to check out!

Most of the flats at the east end of Dickens Estate have a “David Copperfield” theme to their names there is a cul-de-sac of small flats called Dartle Court after the eccentric Rosa Dartle, and then alongside Jamaica Road opposite Bermondsey Tube Station you will find:

Spenlow House - the name refers to Dora Spenlow, the pretty but coquettish girl who becomes David Copperfield’s first wife in the novel.

Dickens claimed the character was based on the fickle Maria Beadnell, the banker’s daughter who was his first love.

Wickfield House - a reminder of Agnes Wickfield, who in “David Copperfield” becomes David’s second wife after Dora dies. She is more “the perfect Victorian wife”, being much more passive and conformable than Dora.

Trotwood House - named, of course, after David Copperfield’s aunt, the inimitable, formidable, but kind-hearted Betsey Trotwood - one of so many larger and more real than life characters that Dickens created.

After Trotwood House you reach the end of Dickens Estate. There are a few more buildings included in the estate, but they do not have names associated with Dickens.

Your walk through Dickens’ characters has finished, and you are free to go down to the nearby river bank and, from Cherry Garden Pier or from the Angel pub, look out at the Thames sliding past you. And you will probably still find yourself thinking of Dickens, and of the many times he used the river in his work.

VI DICKENS NEWS

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Hats off to Dickens!

2012/2013

LITTLE DORITT, 2012

ICKENS USED hats in much of his work, featuring them in his books as high fashion for respectable people, writes Sanae Saraga...

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The Ragshow Edition Morley Gallery 1st - 13th February 2013 Private View 7th February 2013

Hat manufacturing was one of the oldest industries in Southwark and by 1843 Christy’s of Bermondsy Street was one of the largest hat and cap factories in the world.

In 1841 the Post Office directory listed 41 hat manufacturers in Southwark. These were located just off the Blackfriars Road, Union Street and Castle Road.

MICHELLE BAHARIER CEO of CoolTan Arts & models at Team London Bridge Fashion Show, 2012

The Ragshow is a showcase of the textile and batik workshop at CoolTan Arts, commencing with a fashion show.

Inspired by Dickens characters, from Miss Havisham to Nancy, this exhibition explores all levels of Victorian dress. The exhibition will also feature prints, drawings, paintings, and written work by participants.

MS. HAVERSHAM, 2012

MADAME DE FRAGE, 2012.

Madame De Frage sat by the gallows knitting as she watched prisoners of the French Revolution hang.

Dickens’ ‘Tale of two cities’, 1859.

IN SOUTHWARK Bridge Road John Bowler& Son was situated.

In 1850 William Coke asked his hatters Lock & Co of St. James, to produce a hat that would both protect his gamekeepers while hunting and be close fitting so it would not be likely for it to fall off. William Bowler, who worked in his Cousin John’s factory, was given the task of creating the hat.

Despite William Bowler’s work in its development, it was J Ellwood & Sons of Great Charlotte Street (now The Cut) who received the order from Lock & Co. This domed hat became known as the Bowler, which became very popular and during the mid 1850s over 60,000 were produced every year.

George Carter & Sons, the famous milliners, opened in 1851 in the Old Kent Road, selling wholesale silk top hats. This developed into a huge retail hat business, with outlets all over Southwark and south London.

HAT MAKING was a dangerous occupation because of the inhalation of toxic fumes from mercury nitrate, a chemical used in the felting process. The poorly ventilated workshops and the fumes caused the hat makers to develop ‘Mad Hatters’ disease and damage to the lungs. The fumes affected the brain, which led to paralysis, loss of memory, mental derangement and eventually death. Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865) ‘Mad Hatter’ was based on the hat makers who developed mad hatters’ disease.

EVERY YEAR CoolTan Arts show our own collection at The Alternative London Fashion Show. Alternative London Fashion Show, Spitafields, London 2012

Other Dickens attractions and exhibitions...

THE CHARLES DICKENS MUSEUM 48 Doughty Street, London, WC1N 2LX Telephone: 020 7405 2127 Email: info@dickensmuseum.com

ROCHESTER DICKENSIAN CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL 1-2 Dec 2012 31 May - 2 Jun 2013 Email: info@medway.gov.uk.

Tel: 01634 306000

BROADSTAIRS DICKENS FESTIVAL Charles Dickens visited Broadstairs in Kent regularly from 1837 until 1859 and immortalised the town as "Our English Watering Place".

Started in 1937, to commemorate the centenary of the author's first visit, with the exception of the years of World War 2, it has been held annually in the third week of June ever since.

Sat 15 - Fri 21 Jun 2013 Tel: 01843 861827

BroadstairsDickens@hotmail.com www.broadstairsdickensfestival.co.uk

BLEAK HOUSE Bleak House was built in 1801 and was the home of the local fort captain during the Napoleonic wars. It was here that Charles Dickens wrote several of his famous novels.

Bleak House was leased by the author from 1837 to 1859.

Originally named Fort House, after his death in 1870 it was renamed

Bleak House in his honour. It is the only four storey grade II listed mansion in Broadstairs.

Adults: £4 Child under 14: £2 Open daily 10am-5pm Tel: 01843 865338 Mobile: 07974 131375 enquiries@bleakhouse.co.uk www.bleakhousebroadstairs.co.uk

Fagin the ringleader of the pickpocket gang in ‘Oliver Twist’ is called “the Jew”, 257 times in the first edition of the novel. In later editions during Dickens’ own lifetime, over 180 instances of ‘Jew’ are removed from the original text.

The Underground Edition Dickens Museum 18th February 2013 - 23rd June 2013 Private View 21st February 2013

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DICKENS NEWS VII

www.cooltanarts.org.uk

2012/2013

S A finale to the Dickens News Series, this exhibition, staged at the former home of the author, will be an investigation into the underbelly of Victorian London.

Original artwork, textile, sound art, and the written word will tell the secret histories of those outside of society. This exhibition bridges the gap that sometimes lies in Dickens’ novels and informs us of the multi-cultural city London was in Dickens’ time, as it is today. The richness of diversity is illustrated with historical accounts of local black and Jewish communities, working class politics, Victorian re-cyclers, and lesbian, gay and trans exploits are drawn together to weave the underground edition of Dickens’ work.

Helping the mentally distressed? s a social reformer Charles Dickens did write about the plight of the mentally ill.

However, it’s clear in his work that he did hold widespread believes in Victorian England that did little to help those suffering, writes Adrian

A

Whyatt...

In 1841 Charles Dickens described the character of Barnaby Rudge thus: “Startling as his aspect was, the features were good, and there was something even plaintive in his wan and haggard aspect.

But the absence of a soul is far more terrible in a living man than a dead one, and in this unfortunate being its noblest powers were wanting.”

This is clearly a description of what could now be termed a mentally disabled person. It is not clear whether this was a person who could be described as a person with learning difficulties, an autistic person, a brain injury survivor, a person with another type of invisible impairment or any combination of these disabilities. Dickens thus seems to have held the then widespread view that mentally disabled people were so inferior that they did not have a human soul.

In Dickens’ time, as John Carey points out in his review “Tormented Souls” (Sunday Times, 14 October 2012) of “Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England” by Sarah Wise: “There was no legal requirement for them to be reported to the commissioners in lunacy, so they have left no trace.”

Worse, “Among doctors there was no consensus about what constituted madness or how it should be treated, and in many instances the same patient would

be pronounced mad by some and sane by others.”

In addition, “Trying to get their hands on supposed lunatics’ money seems to have been the commonest motive among friends or relatives who wanted them put away. Doctors who owned private asylums often colluded in the deception, opposing the release of wealthy patients so they could continue charging fees.”

Harmless eccentricity could result in being locked up, such as “one elderly lady who faced incarceration as a lunatic because she fed her five cats on a white tablecloth graced with silverware, china and napkins.”

Likewise “fervent religious belief”, especially of the more cultish sort, such as “the four daughters of a wealthy family who joined - and donated their

considerable fortunes to - a sect called the Abode of Love, which practised scandalous self-gratification behind the high walls of a Somerset estate.”

It is against this background that Charles Dickens made his famous description of Miss Havisham. Less well known is his championing of the asylum reform movement.

As Akiko Takei points out in “Miss Havisham and Victorian Psychiatry”, Dickens co-wrote “Household Words” with W.H. Wills. He describes “their visit to Saint Luke’s Hospital at Christmastime in 1851.” And he refers to the patients’ “oppressive silence” .

And, “In American Notes (1842), he writes of the inhuman treatment and wretched environment in a lunatic asylum in New York: “Everything had a lounging, listless, madhouse air, which was very painful. The moping idiot, cowering down with long dishevelled hair... there they were all, without disguise, in naked ugliness and horror. In the dining-room, a bare, dull, dreary place, with nothing for the eye to rest on but the empty walls, a woman was locked up alone... The terrible crowd with which these halls and galleries were filled, so shocked me, that I abridged my stay within the shortest limits, and declined to see that portion of the building in which the refractory and violent were under closer restraint.”

Though the situation has somewhat improved today, and there are arts programmes for improved mental health in the community and some day services, many mental health patients continue to be deprived of basic human rights throughout the world.

discontented generation rioted last summer, but these were scenes familar to Charles Dickens, writes Zoe

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Clifford...

Those that took part may have been tempted by the easy acquisition of the latest consumer products, as shops throughout the country were looted and some burnt to the ground.

The mayhem only lasted for a few days.

The accused then received harsher sentences than they might on other occasions, to act as an example to us all of what might happen, dare we follow their example.

Charles Dicken’s’ Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of ‘Eighty is a story of domestic London lives, romantic intrigue, secrets kept and contained, crime and especially violent crime, with the short lived anti-Catholic Gordon Riots of 1780 at its heart.

On Friday, 2nd June, 1780, 60,000 gathered at St George’s Fields, near Blackfriars Bridge, in support of Lord Gordon’s anti-Catholic petition. In the early days of the Gordon Riot the mob were intent on the destruction of Catholic chapels and domestic dwellings. By the 7th June the mob had travelled south of the river, to the King’s Bench and Fleet Prison, which were set alight and the prisoners freed.

The riots were short-lived and many of the participants hanged, though not the well connected leader of the rioters Lord George Gordon. It happened at the time when America was fighting for its independence (1775 - 1783), and preceded the French Revolution by nine years, (1789 -1799).

The social unrest in London society that led to riots in 1780 mirrored the political situation of Dickens’ times. The extreme

Rioting in 2011, 1848 and 1780 changes in society and the growth of the hated factory system eventually led to countrywide dissent; in the form of the Chartist movement. Dickens was writing Barnaby Rudge during the rise of the Chartists, whose demands lay in the People’s Charter of 1838. Voting rights had been reformed with the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, but only middle class men had gained the right to vote.

Chartists continued to demand that the government recognise the rights of the working class, as had happened in France.

A demonstration was held in Kennington Common, in order to present their ‘monster petition’ of 5,600,000 signatures.

The Illustrated London News reported that the morning of Monday, 10th April, 1848, was ‘hot and a brilliant sun shone forth’. Scotland Yard would allow the petition to be delivered but not a procession. The south division had a meet up point in Peckham Fields; but the majority of the marchers needed to cross the river, some marching across Blackfriars Bridge, along Blackfriars Road to the Elephant, then onto

Kennington Common. An assembled crowd of up to 50,000 was joined by another 25,000 marchers.

The Kennington crowd may have been good natured and peaceful, but trouble started as the returning crowd was met by mounted police at Stamford Street. As more Chartists arrived, the crowd pushed forward and the police pushed back.

Stones were thrown by the Chartists, who appear to have been kettled for hours in an attempt to keep them from crossing Blackfriars Bridge. Those who did break through were arrested on the north side.

At the demonstration, the London delegate William Cuffey had insisted that the petition should be accompanied by the people until opposed by the military.

Cuffey, a tailor by trade, had been involved with London Chartism from its inception. Cuffey was amongst the Chartist leaders who were sentenced for their involvement in the Kennington demonstration. He was transported to Tasmania in 1848 and later pardoned, but he stayed in Tanzania, working again as a tailor and dying in poverty.

Dust to Gold Dust T'S NO dirty little secret. Hard times call for resourceful solutions. Recycling in Dickens' time, practised on a wide scale, was a rough kind of alchemy based on little science and no magic at all,

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writes Ismail Bingor...

The industry fed on discarded remnants of everyday human living, or rubbish, typically accumulated in London in 'dust heaps' or about the polluted River Thames.

The plot of Dickens' novel, 'Our Mutual Friend', hinges on garbage heaps and who may inherit them.

In reality, an ordinary person's dreams of turning dust to gold-dust was extremely laborious and fiercely competitive, with risks to health. The work fell to the underclass, often the women and children, who had few other choices at the time. It was considered a step above vagrancy or the workhouse.

Among volunteers at Cooltan Arts project HQ, we uncovered a family link to that point. Helen of Bermondsey gives an impression of her great Aunt Val, trained as a young girl to work on the dust heaps by her father, in the mid-19th century. A dustman, he died in a tragic accident, crushed on the job by his dustcart, as it rolled back downhill.

The family took in the little girl Val, but due to financial constraints sent her sister to an orphanage.

The separated sisters were reunited only years later. Aunt Val worked in dust most of her long life. She considered it progress to find a job cleaning public toilets.

Fortunately, great Aunt Val seemed a resilient, cheery soul and didn't complain about her lot - not an unfamiliar trait in working class women of a certain vintage. But she felt a glowing pride when her great niece Helen dusted herself down - and landed an office job.

VIII DICKENS NEWS

www.cooltanarts.org.uk

2012/2013

What a drag for Stella & Fanny IE BACK and think of England, the England of the nineteenth century,

L

writes Ismail Bingor...

A self-protrait of Hans Christian Anderson

A fairytale romance with Hans?

N 1857 Dickens meets his future mistress Ellen Ternan, but there was another in that year who adored him.

But unfortunately it all turned sour for the fairytale king Hans Christian Andersen, writes Ismail Bingor...

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Some say bisexuality intensified Andersen's infatuation for his "Dear delightful Charles Dickens". It is just speculation, but he might have been too repressed to have been aware of it fully.

A decade earlier Dickens gifts Andersen his book collection. Andersen never stops sending his creations to Dickens for review, or to flatter his writing talents in public. But a 'bromance' fails to blossom, as Dickens is late or uneven in responding.

Andersen's persistence pays off with an invitation to stay at Dickens' family home in Gadshill, Kent.

Ringing the pomp, Dickens writes, “In these nine years you have not faded out of the hearts of the English people, but have become even better known and more beloved.”

Andersen forgets all social graces, fails to confirm an acceptance, but trumpets his London comeback in the press. Very late, he writes to Dickens, this "visit is intended for you alone" and requests “always leave me a small corner in your heart.”

Dickens meantime confides to a friend, on the sly, “you won’t mind him - especially as he speaks no language but his own Danish, and is suspected of not even knowing that.”

Andersen arrives, finds the house in Kent unbearably cold and takes offence at finding no servant to shave him. He summons Dickens’ eldest, and reluctant, son to do it. A horse and carriage is laid on for Andersen to take morning shaves in town.

Hosting dinner for friends, Dickens offers his arm to a lady guest, but Andersen swoops for it, “leading Dickens triumphantly into the dining room,” notes Dickens’ son Henry.

Dickens escapes often to London for play rehearsals. Andersen compares the atmosphere at the house to tea that lacks in sugar. Dicken's daughter Kate sums up the family verdict, “He was a bony bore, and stayed on and on.” Dickens tires of Andersen's many “wild entanglements of cabs and Sherry". Taken to London to see the play, a still adoring Andersen's moved to tears at Dickens' death scene, and again when he finally parts the family. Dickens writes on the guestroom mirror, “Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks — which seemed to the family AGES!” So Andersen has outstayed the original plan of two weeks, in epic style. He writes to beg Dickens, “Kindly forget the unfavourable aspect which our life together may have shown you of me.”

Dickens' reply rings a poetic death toll, “The corn-fields that were golden, when you were here, are ploughed up brown; the hops are being picked; the leaves on the trees are just beginning to turn; and the rain is falling, as I write, very sadly — very steadily". This is Dickens’ final communication to Andersen, who clings tight to the ghost for the rest of his lifetime.

Fascinating to imagine Dickens may be inspired

by Hans to create the scheming creep, Uriah Heep, in 'David Copperfield'.

What comes to mind? Dickens' grimey London, the buttoned-up morals of Queen Victoria's rule? Or is it Oscar Wilde's colourful wit and notoriety?

There is the Importance of being Ernest (surname, Boulton) and Frederick (Park) - were men who loved a frock, corset, wig, and lots of slap. As entertainers, 'Stella and Fanny' made a good living, rocking music halls and society balls in London and countrywide.

Ernest's mother had encouraged him from childhood to dress like a girl and impersonate maids.

Unconventional for Dickens' era, but perfect preparation for the theatrical life.

However, 'indiscretion' doesn't begin to cover it. They'd begun to upset the establishment. Even out of drag they cruised the Burlington Arcade, flirting gaudily at passing men. They rented a studio by Regent Square, as a dressing up box to fix themselves up for nights out.

Eventually, outraged voices rang out sufficiently loudly enough to arouse police attention. On 28 April 1870, they were arrested in full drag on the charge of, "conspiring and inciting persons to commit an unnatural offence". The escorts claimed not to know Stella and Fanny were in fact fellas.

A show trial followed. The press coverage adopted a high moral tone, but revelled in the lurid detail.

The public gathered in crowds outside court, mostly to support the

Ernest’s mother had encouraged him from childhood to dress like a girl and impersonate maids. Unconventional for Dickens’ era, but perfect preparation for the theatrical life celebrity defendants, who in turn played up to their audience.

Judge and jury - unconvinced by evidence for the crime of felony (buggery) or that wearing female clothing was a crime in any sense aquitted them to loud cheers of "bravo" from the gallery.

FAR LEFT: Frederick Park in and out of drag LEFT: Ernest Boulton out and in drag

Dear Stella & Fanny

All exhibitions feature original poems...

Good Boy Bullseye

by Gary Stevens

Get your arse over here Bullseye You mangy old mut We’re off to see Nancy My flaxen haired slut Down to the tavern where the ale overflows There’s weavels in the bread It’s only fit for the crows So come walk with me my bow legged pal Let’s beat up some toffs, throw them in the canal But first pinch their money perhaps a gold watch Then back to the tavern For a nice drop of scotch You flea-bag, you low life You’re my best friend Don’t give me away or your life it will end Good Boy Bullseye, Good Boy my son Now let’s get to work There’s a job to be done

Ernest and Frederick risked all to live freely. Some say, recklessly. We say, they were strong, brave and wise. Casting for agony aunts to counsel Dickens' many troubled characters, we thought who better than Stella and Fanny?

Dear Stella & Fanny I shall admit to isolating myself lately.

Dwelling on the past. It's time I moved on. Or I could have a loft extension. But can't abide bastard beastly builders. Give men a worse name than they have already!

By the way, I am a woman of independent means.

Ms Havisham (age - "look older than my years") Madam, you need to get out more often. Don't stay stuck in the past.

Memories enslave minds. We have experience of a young builder or two.

Skilful hands, very respectful, so reasonable to keep. We shall recommend a few by name. Choose well, and you shall have solid satisfaction and sterling service for years!

Dear Stella & Fanny People misjudge my eagerness to please (which I do at great cost of 'umbling m'self) for an altogether darker motive. The purpose of my most 'umble life is to help and to serve others. This world is a cruel, cynical place, for such an 'umble, sensitive soul as mine!

Uriah Heep (age - "too 'umble to say")

Really Uriah! How much humble pie can one person eat?

You ought to vary your diet, a bit. Such a large load of humility would burden a saint!

Dear Stella & Fanny My master is a monster - and my boyfriend's a brute!

Why women such as me set our rotten hearts on the wrong 'uns, I cannot say. Ladies, surely, I must have gone too far to go back!

Nancy (aged 17 years) A heart bruised black and blue will heal itself, eventually. Get out while you can, Nancy. Never feel defeated at the hands of men.

Believe us - we've unique insight into this matter. Pity them, or play with them. Men are only puppies, there for your pleasure if desired. Nothing more serious!

Dear Stella & Fanny I need guidance on how to extract maximum productivity from these dear children in my loving care, with minimum compromise to their health and happiness, of course. Little blighters!

Fagin (age - "countin' coins, not years")

How marvellous you value the welfare of the young as high as you do a profit margin.

What precisely is your business, Fagin? And why so many children? Just curious! You clearly have a deeply loving, caring side. Watch that you don't burn out. Try to make a bit of 'me' time everyday, if you can.

Dear Stella & Fanny

Two Empty Chairs

by Sasha Dee

One chair is in a house on a hill At the coll place called Gads’ Hill Surrounded by the walls with the wall paper With the pictures of faked books’ covers And in front of of an empty dusty desk

By the by, I bin watchin' ya ladies last night, givin' it high kicks. Real gud show! Had me richest pickin' time in dat crowd, too! HaHaHa. Don't know if me girl Nancy or dog Bulls-Eye will eat the better dinna tonight!

Bill (age -"who's bloody asking?")

Another chair now famous artwork Originally just was a pastime painting Of a desperate, dynamic, unstable Mental health patient with one ear cut off Self- mortification of a suicidal, yet energetic Enough to have a rowdy row of a drunkard With his congenial, amiable artist friend

We must tighten security at our shows! How d'ya get past 'em again? Bill, you can serve humanity best by running away to the circus.

Though a lion tamer might have the hardest job whipping you into a shape fit for any use. Never mind ya name spellin' - coz you're going straight to hell - where you won't need one!

The empty chairs sadly tell, The tell of the tale-tell signs Of their masters’ pathetic lives, Singing from moods to moods Unstable, insecure, unsocial ungodly But the geniuses of all time Who left the treasures for us That Apollo would scorn to have

Even displebsicks, such as m'self, are right justified uppity about me own name getin' spelt correct by people. It's SYKES not Sikes, alroight?