Arts & music

STAG’S WORLD OF ROCK

Great to see our favourite magazine through our doors again. I’ve been off Facebook, as, being a serious respected world-renowned songwriter, there’s only so much ‘Rock the Lockdown’ and ‘Virtual Jam’ one can take! On a serious note, I can’t see live music coming back this year even when the pubs are open. The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), which represents 65 UK festivals, reported that 92% of its members were facing costs that could ruin their businesses and 98.5% were uninsured for Covidrelated cancellations. Although the government has put some finance into the entertainment industry it’s not going to help the grass roots end of it and sadly I fear it’s going to get tough for venues. Nice to see two of our top musos back! Porthcawl based Ed Rees’s new band, One Time Alive, has a new song/video out called ‘Fact from Fiction’, while The Mighty RA, featuring Andy Edwards, has a single out called ‘The Ballad of Dadz’. Local legend and singer with rock band Sex and Big Fat Blues Band, Phil Jones, has been seriously ill, but hopefully he’s on the mend. My own and Phil’s musical journey have run parallel for many years –rivals but great friends. We all wish him a speedy recovery.

Stag Marks 07549 728356

Photo: Phil Jones and Stag

A FILM MAKER’S POINT OF VIEW

Work has now resumed on ‘The Mystery of the Llandow Air Disaster’, and this month I am appealing for information, in the hope that someone who reads Seaside News may know, through family or friends, of one or other of two men connected with the disaster. Firstly, the pilot of the Avro Tudor 5 airliner that crashed in Sigingstone on 12th March 1950 was Captain Dennis Parsons, a former RAF bomber pilot who went on to fly in the Berlin Airlift before taking up employment with Fairflight Ltd, the owner of the doomed aircraft. At the time of his death, Captain Parsons was living in Shepperton, and before that, Maidenhead, but inquiries in the Home Counties have so far revealed nothing. Secondly, the pilot of a Cambrian Airways Dragon Rapide, which flew a similar route to the Tudor 5, was Captain Geoffrey Barclay of Bradford Place, Penarth. Apparently the two men knew each other from the Berlin Airlift days, and when they met up at Dublin Airport on the weekend of the disaster they talked about the potential difficulty of landing a big fully laden aircraft back at RAF Llandow. If you have any knowledge of either pilot, please let me know.

Anthony Hontoir 07510 934299

Photo: Anthony Hontoir

PYLE & PORTHCAWL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

We recently announced our Annual Awards for the 2019-20 season - there were 3 awards to be won. The Photographer of the Year for Prints, which was won by William Baker. The Photographer of the Year for Digital Images, won by William Baker. The Overall Photographer of the year and recipient of the ‘Trevor Owen Trophy’ which was also won by William Baker, congratulations William for winning all 3 awards. We’re a very friendly camera club with a mix of male & female members and welcome new members of all ages and skill levels, it’s all very informal so if you have an interest in photography why not join us, we usually meet on Thursday evenings at 7:30pm at St Clare’s School, Newton CF36 5NR but our meetings are currently suspended due to the Coronavirus situation so we’re currently holding competitions etc online instead. Our program is available at www.pyle-porthcawl-ps.co.uk

Geoff Baker