Issue 38 January 2015
Development Director MICHELLE JARROLD features in this month’s interview
TOP FIVE
Photographer Daniel Tink and writer Steve Browning pick their top five Norfolk spots
THEATRE
What’s on at The Norwich Playhouse, the Theatre Royal and Maddermarket
FAMILY TREE
The best local resources to trace your ancestry with Gill Blanchard
FINEPLACES FINEPEOPLE FINEARTS FINELIVING
NORWICH
Advice tailored for you and your family The Family Team at Leathes Prior will work with you to resolve your situation amicably and sensitively. Our experts will help you to decide which process suits your needs best and provide specialist advice in a dignified and professional manner. Legal 500 2014: ‘Outstanding, ethical and excellent value for money’.
Divorce/Separation Financial Settlement Children Mediation Cohabitation Pre/Post-Nuptial Agreements
www.leathesprior.co.uk | 74 The Close Norwich NR1 4DR info@leathesprior.co.uk | 01603 610911
Issue 38 January 2015
Development Director MICHELLE JARROLD features in this month’s interview
TOP FIVE
Photographer Daniel Tink and writer Steve Browning pick their top five Norfolk spots
THEATRE
What’s on at The Norwich Playhouse, the Theatre Royal and Maddermarket
FAMILY TREE
The best local resources to trace your ancestry with Gill Blanchard
30
18 FINE PLACES
FINEPLACES FINEPEOPLE FINEARTS FINELIVING
FINE PEOPLE
NORWICH
Issue 38 Your community magazine Cover image by Daniel Tink @ScenicNorfolk www.scenicnorfolk.co.uk
FINE ARTS
46
FINE LIVING
FineCity Magazine would like to thank all those who have contributed to this issue. This includes but is not limited to: Pete Goodrum, Stephen Browning, Daniel Tink, Wayne De Wet, Tony Cooper, Margaret K Johnson, Lucy McCarraher, Gill Blanchard
66
Editor Jonathan Horswell Jonathan@FineCity.co.uk
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© FineCity Magazine Disclaimer: No part of this magazine may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, either wholly or in part, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the Publisher. Every effort is taken to ensure that the contents of this magazine are accurate, but the Publisher can not assume any responsibility for errors or omissions. Whilst reasonable care is taken when accepting advertisements the Publisher will not accept any resulting unsatisfactory transactions. They will, however, immediately investigate any written complaints. The Publishers reserve the right to amend such submissions and cannot accept responsibility for any loss.
2015 January | 03
Appeal Launched for New Norfolk Hospice The end of 2014 saw East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) proudly welcome HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, as Royal Patron, to the launch of the charity’s £10 million fundraising appeal to build a new children’s hospice in the heart of Norfolk. The nook appeal was officially launched on 25th November at the Norfolk Showground where hundreds of guests from across the county comprising individuals, businesses, charitable trusts, schools and community groups attended to hear the charity’s vision of a new hospice built on a five-acre woodland plot in Framingham Earl, south of Norwich. The purpose-built hospice, which will replace the charity’s current facility in Quidenham, will be named the nook and offer facilities such as a hydrotherapy pool, private areas for clinical care and dedicated rooms for therapies. The nook will be on an idyllic woodland plot, creating a 04 | January 2015
wonderful tranquil setting for children, young people and families. It will also be better positioned in the county, within a thriving local community and won’t be isolated from services, hospitals and road networks. Quidenham hospice is one of the oldest in the UK and has been an incredible homefrom-home to many families for more than 20 years. However, the hospice was converted from an old country house and is extremely restricted in its facilities and development. The demand on services continues to increase, and care for young people over the last decade has become far more complicated – the charity is rapidly outgrowing the constraints of the building.
Mark Loades, Appeal Fundraising Manager, explained: “We were thrilled with our launch event for the nook appeal and it was great to be able to share our vision publicly. Everyone at EACH was honoured and extremely proud to have HRH The Duchess of Cambridge as Royal Patron and delighted she was able to join us on the day. “We’ve received a great response to our campaign so far, with so many pledges of support. There are lots of ways that you can get involved and help us to build our new hospice, so please do contact our fundraising team to discuss more and find out how you can help.” To achieve our vision for Norfolk we need to raise £10 million whilst still running our Quidenham hospice to it’s current
high standards. We cannot do this without the support of everyone in the county. So we invite you, whether you are an individual, a company, a school or a community group, to become part of this very special project and we have a number of ways in which you can do this including becoming a friend of the nook or a member of the nook business network. To find out more about please contact the EACH Norfolk Fundraising team: EACH, Suite 5, The Old Dairy, Elm Farm Business Park, Wymondham, NR18 0SW. Tel: 01953 666767 Email: norfolk@each.org.uk Twitter: @EACH_norfolk Web: www.each.org.uk/the-nook
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2015 January | 05
Here is a list of the tweeting dragons @GoGoDragonMcFly @GoGoMadder @ClkworkDragon @gogoflambeau @GoGoKingTut @vroomdingles @gogomorgan2015 @Chilled_Draco @PatchDragon @AlmaryBiggles @GoGoOakley @OerTheWater @Saphire1Dragon @CavellDragon @SnapColemans @gogocapamerica
GoGo Dragons GoGoDragons! will roar into Norwich next summer bringing the opportunity for everyone to take part in the dragon trail around our great City. GoGoDragons! is a Wild in Art event brought to Norwich by Break charity. The presenting partner is Norwich Bid and the two supporting partners are Almary Green and Aspiration Europe. 75 dragons have been sponsored by local businesses and artists have submitted designs. The sponsors had the opportunity to choose their dragon artist at an event at Dingles in November where over 200 designs were displayed. We know we put them all up! 06 | January 2015
Prior to this event we held a sponsors event at The Forum to find sponsors for the figurines which will be on sale during the trail. The designs were snapped up! Patch, Morgan, Cavell, Draco and Norwich City, full size dragons were brought to life by Matt Reeve, Sophie Green, Samuel Thomas, Illona Clarke and Phil Daniels and unveiled on that night. We have been working hard on merchandise which is available at Jarrolds in The Forum, dragon T shirts, baseball caps, fluffy
dragons, mugs, fridge magnets, 3D dragons and badges. Our painting space in Castle Mall, next to Argos will run through January so people can pop in and see some of the artists at work. Keiron Willamson, the mini Monet, is hard at work painting his dragon and most days artists and sponsors are arriving at the dragon store to collect their dragon. The schools project is gathering momentum with 100 medium sized dragons off to schools around the county in January, together with the project pack, so it will be a busy term. There are still five (at the time of writing) Heritage dragons to be sponsored. Each one will be attached to a heritage site in Norwich. There are seven in all. Norwich Puppet theatre and St
Lawrence’s church are already sponsored. The remaining sites are The Guildhall, St Michael Coslany, The Wharf Academy, Country and Eastern, and St Gregory’s. If you are interested in sponsoring a Heritage, please email contact@ermcic.com. The social media campaign is gathering pace with many dragons now on twitter and interacting with each other and their followers during #dragonhour, Monday’s 9.30pm – 10.30pm. For all the latest dragon news, please visit www. gogodragons.co.uk and follow @GoGoDragons2015 on twitter and Gogodragons on Facebook. For information on Break visit www.break-charity. org and for Wild in Art www. wildinart.co.uk. www.finecity.co.uk
Live-in Care, The Real Alternative to a Care Home Getting older sometimes means that a person needs to be cared for twenty four hours a day. Such care can be provided in a care home or in a person’s own home Given the choice, many people would prefer to be cared for in their own home and Able Community Care has enabled thousands of people to exercise this choice. Our experience has shown that having a regular rota of experienced carers in your own home is often a much happier alternative than moving into a care home. Able Community Care provides live-in carers whose role is to provide domestic, personal and social care tailored to each individual’s needs and wishes. Each live-in carer lives in a person’s
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home for a fortnight providing a safe, secure and reliable care package. Able Community Care’s objective is to establish two or three liked carers who return on a rotational basis in order to provide a continuous service with as little disruption as possible. Every person receiving care from Able Community Care has their own Care Manager and the company overnight and weekend ‘on call’ system is run by our staff and not contracted out. Able Community Care also provides live-in ‘home from hospital’ cover, respite care and
holiday companions. Services are available in England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and varying holiday destinations. Able Community Care’s website www.uk-care.com provides comprehensive information, including many moving and heartfelt client comments. There is also an option to sign up for their free email Newsflash, written by the MD. Angela Gifford each week, to keep up to date with the latest care information and news which may affect yourself or your family. Angela Gifford formed Able Community Care in 1980
and as Managing Director she continues to benefit this successful company with her long experience of the care sector. Angela is highly regarded as an expert in the field of home care and also consults at an international level on the subject. For a free information pack please don’t hesitate to contact Able Community Care on 01603 764567 or email Ablemg@aol.com. Alternatively you can visit Able’s website for more information at: www.uk-care.com.
2015 January | 07
About Most Curious Most Curious began life in Norwich in 2011, set up by interior design journalist Becky Hoh-Hale, she remains the creative director of the brand steering the wedding shows which take place annually in both London and Norwich. Our Norwich shows are expertly organised by fresh and fun East Anglian wedding photographer Beth Moseley of Beth Moseley Photography, who connected and bonded with Becky due to her being the first Norwich exhibitor to adorn her stand with paper honeycomb balls, rather than bunting back in 2013. www.bethmoseley photography.co.uk
will be joining us with unique bouquets and accessories made from vintage jewellery and handcrafted felt flowers as well as some of the hottest local photographers including Camilla Andrea who has shot for Zele and Florum Fashion magazine. The first ever Most Curious show began right there in St Andrews Hall, Norwich way back in February 2011 and we are delighted to be back, bigger and better than ever!
Most Curious Wedding Fair The wedding fair for the style savvy couple is back in Norwich for spring 2015 The bridal event of the year for the style-savvy couple is back at St Andrews Hall, Norwich town centre on Sunday the 8th February 2015. Sponsored by national brands Rock n Roll Bride, You and Your Wedding mag as well as local companies Norfolk Brides, Beth Moseley Photography and Adnams. Now in double figures with our 10th show, we pride ourselves on being the first of its kind to ask for something more from a wedding fair, with stylish, creative suppliers 08 | January 2015
showcasing beautiful, fresh, fun, vintage-inspired and laid-back loving products and services. Most Curious carefully handpicks its merry gang of exhibitors who range from the swoon worthiest and edgier established brands to up-andcoming makers working from their bedrooms, kitchens, studios and raw imaginations, with a focus on local suppliers from the East Anglian region. Inspirational catwalk shows, a pop-up vintage tearoom and
live entertainment make it a great day out beyond finding your perfect suppliers. There will be over 60 stands, ranging from innovative cake makers, stationers, deco ideas, vintage, boho and design-led gowns and suits, creative florists, the coolest photographers, prop hire, en trend accessories, the list goes on! Amongst those already confirmed are the super cute Poppy’s Cake Toppers, which is Spixworth’s illustrator Poppy Iddon’s cake topper, stationery and favour company. The Enchanted Florist will also be there who work with wild, seasonal and local flowers for a relaxed, rustic feel. Miss Violet
Most Curious - the wedding show for the style savvy couple. Sunday 8th february 2015 11Am - 4.30Pm. St. Andrews Hall, St Andrews Street, Norwich Nr2 4ad. Find out more online at: amostcuriousweddingfair.co.uk
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November Keys New Generation Publishing launches November Keys November Keys Inhabitant “If we had known, we would not have sold the club. I admit we succumbed to greed but we did not realise we were putting our heritage at such risk. They did take the team to great heights but the consequences were disastrous.” American Gangster “They asked for what they got. Did they seriously think that we were interested in some run down hick football club?” November Keys Inhabitant “Our benevolent buyers turned out to be ruthless. We had never experienced a murder in our village before. Not unless you include Cheryl’s cooking.” American Gangster “What did you expect? They had something I wanted. Something life
changing. Do you think I was going to get it by playing peek a boo?” November Keys Inhabitant “Although we celebrated Harvesting Leaf Day and talked about the creatures in the tree, we did not actually expect to see them.” November Keys, a quaint village that was ready to sell its soul to the Devil for hastily promised riches. However, when the Devil buys he expects to collect. A very funny tale of greed, gangsters and things that go bump in the night. To purchase November Keys, visit Amazon. Review copies available on request. For interview, comment and information from New Generation Publishing, email: info@newgeneration-publishing. com or call 01234 711 956
Fantastic Fires
Exciting displays, beautiful showrooms, let our fires ignite your imagination
1 Penfold Drive, Wymondham NR18 0WZ | 01953 602482 | alcosa.co.uk
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Twelve Days of Tradition Forgotten Norfolk new year customs Robert Burns’ poem, The Auld Farmer’s New Year Morning Salutation to his Auld Mare, Maggie recently put me in a romantic, nostalgic pining for all things pre-commercial. In it, the old timer feeds his old nag a ripp of good luck corn. Hanselling in the New Year, the handing over of gifts for good luck at Hogmanay is the Scottish custom. But we here in Norfolk (although fewer and fewer of us) still have our own. Few people outside the county have heard of “Old Year’s Night”. It’s rarely heard these days, some believing the name puts the celebration in a negative context; “New Year’s Eve” is considered more optimistic. Traditionally, once upon a time, on the stroke of midnight, people would open the back door to let the old year out and the front door to let the head of the household enter bearing salt (a charm for the coming year
to see family and guests have enough money) bread (that they may have enough to eat) and coal (wishing warmth) for survival. Nowadays, some of us are happy and inebriated enough to conga in and out of the pubs and clubs. If you’re picturing the anarchy of 31st December in our city centre, imagine then, this Christmas tradition long gone: On Holy Innocents’ Day (December 28th) parents would, for this one day in the year, actually allow their kids to tell them what to do. And then cameTwelfth Night. Christmas turned to Epiphany, and as with the Scots, the English in times gone by, reserved their bunfighting, including the Christmas cake, for January. Old Year’s Night or New Year’s Eve, a happy and successful 2015 everyone. Séan Hindle, Deputy Chairman, The Norwich Writers Circle 2015 January | 09
LadderLimbTM With the winter weather upon us and the use of ladders growing by the day take a look at LadderLimbTM! Putting up & taking down xmas lights on the outside of our homes But by no means is it only for exterior work. I have used mine recently whist working on a high stair well. The uses are endless, time saving is massive, and the safety implications are fantastic. This little gadget will be commonplace for all tradespeople. if you’ve got a ladder then you need LadderLimbTM. By keeping the area that you stand on whilst up the ladder free it makes for safer working. With a 10kg Weight limit this is more than enough. The stainless steel karabina is very strong and able to swivel & most of the aluminium metal parts are covered in a strong soft grip black Pu with the handle part having an additional grip feature
allowing a stronger & safer hold when your hands are wet. It is a ladder accessory that enables the tradesperson to release one of their hands that would normally be holding items. Safely holding items from paint cans, tools or even buckets, the Karabina safely clips onto the item. Thus the name LadderLimbTM. Your third hand.. A future proof detail allows for new features to be incorporated with out the huge cost of re tooling. I can remember my Dad always saying “it’ll have to wait Son, I only have one pair of hands.” Well I rest my case. LadderLimbTM gives you the third hand... Well sort of. Push securely & firmly into the rung of a ladder and away you go!
I really like it and its so simple to use. The the best ideas are the simple ones. Any tool that makes working at height safer gets a big thumbs up from me. Benefits • Swivels • Safer working on a ladder • More efficient • Stainless steel and Aluminium parts • lightweight Features • Karabina safety clip • Soft grip handle • Black Pu type body • Max 10KG load • Future proof design allows for new ideas to be added Find out more online at www.ladderlimb.net
Competition To be in with a chance to win Wayne’s reviewed product just email your name, and full contacts details to: competition@ FineCity.co.uk You must be 18 or older to enter. The winner will be drawn at random on 20th January 2015 and will be announced in the February edition of FineCity Magazine.
Imagine No More Parking Problems Brilliant new parking app launched by top Norwich app development company Astutech ltd. A genuinely useful new app which is completely free to download and use. Makes parking in the Fine City hassle-free.
To learn more about this APP, please contact: Astutech Ltd, 47 St.Giles Street, NR2 1JR. Email: ingrid@astutech.com, Office: 01603 666073 Mobile: 07584258042, www.astutech.co.uk
10 | January 2015
The ‘ParkNorwich’ App Features: • It is completely FREE to download and use • Available for iOS and Android devices • You can find out, before leaving home, the exact numbers of parking spaces in the various city car parks • Updated every 5 mins 24/7 • Includes information on the major city car parks as well as Park and Ride • Crystal clear design, easy to use.
So download right away and put an end to frustrating queues at city car parks! Astutech Ltd. 47 St. Giles Street, Norwich NR2 1JR Call 01603 666073 Mobile 07584258042 Email ingrid@astutech.com Web www.astutech.co.uk
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Fine Tweeting The history of social media How It Started It started with the BBS. Short for Bulletin Board System, these online meeting places were effectively independentlyproduced hunks of code that allowed users to communicate with a central system where they could download files or games (many times including pirated software) and post messages to other users. Accessed over telephone lines via a modem, BBSes were often run by hobbyists who carefully nurtured the social aspects and interestspecific nature of their projects – which, more often than not in those early days of computers, was technology-related. Moreover, long distance calling rates usually applied for out-of-towners, so many Bulletin Boards were localsonly affairs that in turn spurred local in-person gatherings. And voila, just like that, suddenly the antisocial had become social. The BBS was no joke. Though the technology of the time restricted the flexibility of these systems, and the enduser’s experience, to text-only exchanges of data that crawled along at glacial speed, BBSes continued to gain popularity throughout the ‘80s and well into the ‘90s, when the Internet truly kicked into gear. Indeed, some services – such as Tom Jennings’ FidoNet – linked numerous BBSes together into worldwide computer networks that managed to survive the Internet revolution. But there were also other avenues for social interaction long before the Internet exploded onto the mainstream consciousness. One such option was CompuServe, a service that began life in the 1970s as a business-oriented mainframe computer communication solution, but expanded into the public domain in the late 1980s. CompuServe allowed members to share files and access news and events. But it also offered something few had ever experienced – true interaction. Not only could you www.finecity.co.uk
send a message to your friend via a newfangled technology dubbed “e-mail” (granted, the concept of e-mail wasn’t exactly newfangled at the time, though widespread public access to it was). You could also join any of CompuServe’s thousands of discussion forums to yap with thousands of other members on virtually any important subject of the day. Those forums proved tremendously popular and paved the way for the modern iterations we know today. But if there is a true precursor to today’s social networking sites, it was likely spawned under the AOL (America Online) umbrella. In many ways, and for many people, AOL was the Internet before the Internet, and its member-created communities (complete with searchable “Member Profiles,” in which users would list pertinent details about themselves), were arguably the service’s most fascinating, forward-thinking feature. Yet there was no stopping the real Internet, and by the mid-1990s it was moving full bore. Yahoo had just set up shop, Amazon had just begun selling books, and the race to get a PC in every household was on. And, by 1995, the site that may have been the first to fulfill the modern definition of social networking was born. The Internet Boom: Social Networking’s Adolescence Though differing from many current social networking sites in that it asks not “Who can I connect with?” but rather, “Who can I connect with that was once a schoolmate of mine?” Classmates.com proved almost immediately that the idea of a virtual reunion was a good one. Early users could not create profiles, but they could locate long-lost grade school chums, menacing school bullies and maybe even that prom date they just couldn’t forget. It was a hit almost immediately, and even today the service boasts some 57 million registered accounts.
Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook In 2002, social networking hit really its stride with the launch of Friendster. Friendster used a degree of separation concept similar to that of the now-defunct SixDegrees.com, refined it into a routine dubbed the “Circle of Friends,” and promoted the idea that a rich online community can exist only between people who truly have common bonds. And it ensured there were plenty of ways to discover those bonds. An interface that shared many of the same traits one would find at an online dating site certainly didn’t seem to hurt. Friendster CEO Jonathan Abrams even once referred to his creation as a dating site that isn’t about dating. Within a year after its launch, Friendster boasted more than three million registered users and a ton of investment interest.
referred to as “connections.” Today, LinkedIn boasts more than 297 million members. MySpace also launched in 2003. Though it no longer resides upon the social networking throne in many English-speaking countries – that honour now belongs to Facebook just about everywhere – MySpace was once the perennial favourite. It did so by tempting the key young adult demographic with music, music videos, and a funky, feature-filled environment. It looked and felt hipper than major competitor Friendster right from the start, and it conducted a campaign of sorts in the early days to show alienated Friendster users just what they were missing. Over the years however, the number of casual Myspace users declined, and today the site exists now as a social networking site targeted to bands and musicians.
“Yahoo had just set up shop, Amazon had just begun selling books, and the race to get a PC in every household was on” Unfortunately, the service has since seen more than its fair share of technical difficulties, questionable management decisions, and a resulting drop in its North American fortunes. Although briefly enjoying success in Indonesia and in the Philippines, Friendster has since abandoned social networking and now exists solely as an online gaming site. Introduced just a year later in 2003, LinkedIn took a decidedly more serious, sober approach to the social networking phenomenon. Rather than being a mere playground for former classmates, teenagers, and cyberspace Don Juans, LinkedIn was, and still is, a networking resource for business people who want to connect with other professionals. In fact, LinkedIn contacts are
As expected, the ubiquitous Facebook now leads the global social networking pack. Founded, like many social networking sites, by university students who initially peddled their product to other university students, Facebook launched in 2004 as a Harvardonly exercise and remained a campus-oriented site for two full years before finally opening to the general public in 2006. Yet, even by that time, Facebook was considered big business. So much so that, by 2009, Silicon Valley bigwigs such as Paypal co-founder and billionaire Peter Thiel invested tens of millions of dollars just to see it flourish. How Facebook and Twitter won the Web Facebook is king for a reason. It wasn’t just through luck that founder Mark Zuckerberg’s 2015 January | 11
darling came to reign supreme over the social media kingdom. It was, in fact, a series of smart moves and innovative features that set the platform apart from the rest of the social media pack. First and foremost, the 2007 launch of the Facebook Platform was key to site’s success. The open API made it possible for third-party developers to create applications that work within Facebook itself. Almost immediately after being released, the platform gained a massive amount of attention. At one point in time, Facebook had hundreds of thousands of apps built on the platform, so many that Facebook launched the Facebook App Store to organize and display them all. Twitter, meanwhile, created its own API and enjoyed similar success as a result. The other key to success was Facebook’s ubiquitous ‘Like’ button, which broke free from the bounds of the site and began appearing all over the Internet. Now you can ‘like’ or “tweet’ just about everything even when you’re not on Facebook or Twitter. Realizing the power of social networking, Google decided to launch their own social network (Google+) in 2007. It differed from Facebook and Twitter in that it wasn’t necessarily a full-featured networking site, but rather a social “layer” of the overall Google experience. Initially, Google generated a lot of buzz with the service’s Hangouts feature, which allowed users to enter live video chats with other online friends. At the time of launch, Facebook was scrambling to keep up by integrating a video chat feature of their own. Within just four weeks, Google+ had garnered 25 million unique visitors, with as much as 540 million active monthly users as of June 2014. Regardless, the service definitely didn’t dethrone Zuckerberg’s behemoth, especially considering more than half of Google+ users have never even visited the service’s official site. It still arguably showed the world that there was still room for innovation and competition in the realm of social networking, though. ❏ 12 | January 2015
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20 Top Twitter Tips for Business Users Twitter is a remarkable social media platform for businesses. It’s a way to connect with new people, keep in touch with those you know, find out what’s going on in your world and get your message out there. And all in 140 characters!
#1
Fill in your Twitter profile completely. You’d be amazed at the amount of people who don’t put any effort into this. You have about three seconds when people check you out so make sure you write it well.
#2
Have a good icon or image. Photos work best for a personal feed. Professional shots are best of all.
#3
I nclude a link to your website or blog. This is VITAL if you want to be trusted on Twitter.
#4
Find people to follow. Connect with others who you find interesting, people you know, clients, organisations you rate, authors, commentators in your field or journalists you admire. What type of Tweets do you respond to best?
#5
Follow back. If people follow you and they look interesting, follow them back and see what they’ve got to say.
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#6
Be polite. Thank your new followers, acknowledge those who mention you or ‘retweet’ your posts.
#7
RT, @, #, DM? Get up to speed with Twitter lingo. Learn from Twitter’s glossary.
#8
#11
Make sure it’s not all about you. Me, me, me is seriously off-putting.
#12
Use shortened links rather than full blown URLs. Bit.ly is good for this.
#13
Stay on message, most of the time. What do you want to be known for? Put thought into what you want to talk about. What’s the “red line” that runs through all that you do? Have an opinion. A strong theme to your Tweets really helps.
Don’t sell. This is not the place for a stream of high-pressure sales messages. Think of it as an online networking event, if you like that sort of thing. Promote your services occasionally but this should not be the main event. Far too many people get this wrong.
#9
#14
rite for your particular W clients and customers. What do they want to know? What do they ask you? Educate, inform and entertain them. That’s the point.
#10
Share valuable content. Post information you think they’d find useful or interesting – links to articles or video, share quotes, relevant news, books you’ve read, opinions, tips.
“Curate” good content. Share posts and articles by others that you think your readers will find valuable or back up your approach.
#15
Engage. Talk to people directly by using @theirname. You’ll be surprised by the depth of relationships you can create here.
#16
sk questions. You can learn A a lot from your followers (we’ve learned loads!). It’s incredible how supportive and useful this platform can be.
#17
Tell them a bit about you. What are you up to? What’s news? Your choice about how much personal information you feel comfortable to share. You’ve got to find a voice that feels right for you.
#18
Recommend others you rate and say why. Twitter is a trusted referral engine. Recommend suppliers, clients, commentators, friends, other Tweeters.
#19 Organise your connections into lists. This will make it much easier for you as your Twitter connections build, and enables you to check into conversation on a particular subject.
#20
Show up regularly. It doesn’t have to be every day (although that helps). Consistency is all. Check what people are saying about you often and reply promptly.
2015 January | 13
A Brush with the Broads A Brush with the Broads started with one artist looking for a convenient outdoor painting festival, and finished with her organising a festival that she couldn’t take part in Internationally recognised plein air artists, many of whom had never visited Norfolk previously painted around the Broads area over four days in September, They were entertained with evening demonstrations by Devonshire artist Louise Bougourd, Lincolnshire’s Haidee-Jo Summers and Surrey based Melanie Cambridge, there were also watercolour and brush making demonstrations from Caldercolours and Rosemary and Co Brushes! Thirty five artists over all painted out during Friday and Saturday and 17 took part in a timed 2 hour Quick Draw in the centre of Norwich on Sunday 28 September.
With the support of award winning Clippesby Hall for accommodation, demonstration and social facilities and the Boathouse on Ormesby Broad for the final exhibition and sale of work, the event showed off some of the Broads best facilities. The quality of work in the final exhibition was outstanding only work produced over the weekend could be exhibited. Twenty seven of seventy three paintings were sold and four artists earned commission raising £430 for Norfolk Children’s Charity Nelson’s Journey The competition was open to professional and amateur Plein Air
A BRUSH WITH THE BROADS Year two of the UK’s original four day ‘open’ plein air painting festival 24-28 September
Artists, with no selection process. Prizes were awarded as follows: • The Broad Skies Gallery Painting Award £1000 cash. Bath based, Belgium Artist Valerie Pirot “Boats on Hickling Broad, Late Evening” Oil •T he Boathouse Painting Prize £300 cash Shropshire Artist Vicki Norman Watercolours Oil
1st Prize 2014: Valerie Pirlot “Boats at Hickling Late Afternoon” Oil
abrushwiththebroads.co.uk 14 | January 2015
•C hroma Atelier Prize £1000 Chroma Artist Quality Materials Grand Canaria Artist Oliver Hatton “ Boat Tractor” • Rosemary Brushes Award £200 Rosemary & Co Brushes • Norwich Quick Draw Prizes Ocaldo Oils Presentation Set Valerie Pirot “Norwich University of the Arts St George’s Street” Oil • Cambridge Oil Set Cornish Artist Jenny Shaw-
Browne “ Market View Norwich” Oil More than half of 2014 participants have rebooked for the 2015 event, new artists may register from 1 January 2015 The Sunday Quick Draw for 2015 will be the Sea Front at Great Yarmouth supported by Great Yarmouth Business Investment Area -Tourism A Brush with the Broads has created Artistic Ambassadors going home to return with even more artists ready to be inspired by the Broads! Contact: Linda H Matthews Twitter: @paintthebroads E-mail: linda@ broadskiesgallery.co.uk Phone: 01692 630485 www.abrushwiththebroads.co.uk Date: 24-28 September 2015 Broad Skies Gallery Ludham Bridge Great Yarmouth Norfolk NR29 5NX www.finecity.co.uk
Make The Most Of Your Retirement We are all living longer and planning to do more with our free time... ...But a changing economic climate and pension provisions mean many people don’t often have the money to realise their retirement dreams. Equity release is beginning to play an important role for home owners aged over 55 and in my experience the most important factors for people seeking advice is to demonstrate and be able to guarantee the following: • T here must be a ‘no negative equity guarantee’ to safeguard your beneficiaries • Y ou have the right to sell your home at any time to down-size or move into other accommodation, the amount owed is then repaid with any balance transferred to your bank account
• N o monthly payments are made, as interest is rolled up on a lifetime mortgage. If a Home Reversion plan is more suitable you would sell a proportion of your property and remain in your home for life with no roll up of interest on the percentage of the value retained. • Y ou are able to remain in your own home for as long as you wish • M oney borrowed will be at a fixed rate of interest for life, is tax-free, and can be used for any purpose There are many reasons why people raise money using Equity Release: to repay an existing mortgage, home improvements, buy a motor home, travel abroad, help their children with house
purchase or to enhance their own lifestyle. Before making any decisions you are advised to seek independent professional advice from a person qualified and approved by the FCA. This can be checked on the FCA Register: www.fca.org.uk/register or telephone 0800 111 6768. Before deciding whether Equity Release is suitable for you, your questions should be answered to your total satisfaction, be prepared to take time over this, never be rushed into something if you are in any doubt. If you are single or living on your own, consider inviting a friend or a family member to be with you. This will enable you to discuss and reflect on the advice given. In my opinion you should not make any decision at the first meeting. This should be to establish whether the person giving you the advice is acceptable
to you or not before asking him or her to obtain further information specific to your own needs. It is an FCA requirement that Keyfacts are given to you and thoroughly explained, this may be from two or three providers to assess the most suitable before making your decision to apply for either a lump sum of money, income or to secure a facility that will allow you to draw down sums as and when required. There are many options available to you hence the reason why it is necessary to be fully informed. For further information please call me on 01508 483983 or visit my website: www. businessmattersifa.co.uk My FCA number is 301141 Michael Boon Cert PFS CeMAP CeRER - member of the Equity Release Council.
Make the most of your retirement Michael Boon is your local Equity Release Council member for professional independent advice. If you are interested in releasing a tax-free lump sum from your home then Michael will be delighted to guide you through the different types of equity release schemes available to find the best plan for your needs.
To find out more call Michael on 01508 483983 or visit www.businessmattersifa.co.uk
with equity release
Equity release schemes allow you to release tax-free cash from your home to boost your finances in later life • Many clients use this money to repay an existing mortgage, make home improvements, buy a new car and even go on a holiday of a life time, while others may wish to offer financial assistance to their children or to improve their own quality of life in retirement. • Business Matters is qualified and registered through the Financial Conduct Authority to offer a valuable equity release service for homeowners aged 55 or over. • Business Matters only recommend approved schemes from The Equity Release Council.
BusinessMatters
This is a lifetime mortgage, to understand the features and risks ask for a personalised illustration. Business Matters is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority No. 301141.
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2015 January | 15
Tenerife Doubling Capacity in 2015 Thomson and First Choice are doubling capacity at Norwich International airport throughout the 2015 winter season with the addition of a second weekly flight to Tenerife. The move to introduce the extra flight is part of the UK’s largest tour operator’s strategy to ensure customers across the UK can fly from their local airport and stay at the best hotels in some of the most exciting destinations. This follows on from the recent announcement of the introduction of a weekly service to Menorca every Saturday for summer 2015. This second weekly flight to Tenerife means local holiday makers will have the opportunity to choose varying durations including 3, 4, 10 and 11 night stays in addition to the traditional 7, 14, 21 and 28 nights which have been available for many years. Tenerife is home to some of Thomson and First Choice’s most highly scoring flagship hotels
including; the five star Thomson Sensatori Resort Tenerife, which gives customers a luxury holiday experience, featuring world class spas and gourmet dining and the First Choice Holiday Village Tenerife which delivers everything a family could want in one place – great entertainment, food, kids clubs and lots of activities to keep the whole family occupied. Andrew Bell, the airport’s Chief Executive, said “We are thrilled that Thomson and First Choice have announced the additional flight to Tenerife next winter. This decision further demonstrates their commitment to the airport and reflects the high level of demand from customers wishing to fly from Norwich.” Karen Switzer, Director
of Aviation Planning said of the move: “Increasing our capacity from Norwich Airport demonstrates our commitment to the region. Following the success of the introduction of the Menorca route from Norwich this summer and similar routes across a number of regional airports, we know that the demand is there. “Expanding access to our portfolio of destinations and hotels as well as offering more frequent flights and flexible durations is a
key part of our overall strategy. We hope that by adding an extra weekly flight to Tenerife it will enhance the holiday experience for our customers who will now have greater access to some of our key properties.” Other key destinations from Norwich International Airport for Thomson and First Choice include Corfu, Dalaman (Turkey), Ibiza, Tunisia, Palma (Majorca) and Tenerife (which operates year round).
free and commission is only taken on successful bookings. Theatre Digs Booker burst onto the scene in 2010 to provide digs to theatre cast and crew across the UK when they are on tour. With 470 theatre companies in the UK, Theatre Digs Booker is the easy way to make more money from your spare room. The Government’s Rent A Room Scheme - you can earn up to £4,250 a year tax free
from renting out a room in your main home. As long as you aren’t charging more than £354 a month, you do not have to complete a tax form.
Theatre Digs Booker Surge in ‘granlords’ renting out their spare rooms to thespians Theatre Digs Booker, a website offering theatre professionals with lodgings in spare rooms, has seen a 70% increase in bookings as people look to make money out of their home, with 65% of customers over the age of 50. Under the Government’s Rent A Room Scheme, property owners can earn up to £4,250 a year tax-free from renting out a room in their main home. And more people are earning extra income this way with a survey by More Than home insurance earlier this year reporting one in seven pensioners are considering renting out rooms to make ends meet. Theatre Digs Booker estimates it has 65% of granlords (over 50’s) on its books, helping cast and crew from theatre companies to find friendly digs in homes across the UK - within 20 miles of a theatre. Phil Barley, an actor who has spent seven years touring with 16 | January 2015
theatre productions, found he struggled to find decent digs from theatre’s own lists so set up the site whilst recuperating from an injury. Seeing the potential to take the service online as well as making the process easier, Phil says: “We have been blown away with the popularity of the website. I think it’s because people see it as a great way to make some money from interesting, temporary lodgers. All guests are required to register so we know if they are members of a theatre company’s cast or crew and hosts can decline a booking if it’s not convenient for them.” “Most of our hosts enjoy the experience as they like meeting people, from engineers to stars of the stage and they are especially pleased to open the door to a famous actor!” www.theatredigsbooker.com is available to all homeowners across the UK. Signing up is
For further information please contact Suzy Pettican on 01603 219191, 07888 735460, suzy@reflectionpr. co.uk or Amanda Bunn 01603 219191, 07595 768277 amanda@reflectionpr.co.uk www.finecity.co.uk
THE TRAVEL SHOW 2015
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A PERFECT FIVE WORDS: STEVE BROWNING PHOTOGRAPHY: DANIEL TINK
Photographer DANIEL TINK and writer STEVE BROWNING recently set out all over Norfolk for a new book, ‘Norfolk’ in the Halsgrove Discover series. When they tried to select their five favourite spots for FineCity they found the task very hard indeed, as there are just so many beautiful and historic places to visit.
18 | January 2015
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FINEPLACES
THE BEACH AT HUNSTANTON
NO1
HUNSTANTON OR SUNNY HUNNY
the Crown Jewels somewhere in the Wash Let’s build a new town due to a storm of unprecedented ferocity, so Quite a few places on the North Norfolk somewhere out there may be riches beyond Coast received a huge boost from imagination - though some historians think being ‘discovered’ in the 19th century: this may have been an early insurance Hunstanton ( pronounced ‘Hunstan’ just scam, King John having secured the jewels to catch out unsuspecting visitors) goes somewhere else … Again, legend has it that one step further as it was actually built when St Felix was sailing in the Wash on his from scratch at this time. True, there had way to bring Christianity to East Anglia in been an ‘old’ Hunstanton since at least 630 AD, his boat became tossed in a storm. AD 500: Edmund, son of the King of The resident beavers came to his rescue Saxony, is said to have landed here at the and, in gratitude, he granted the chief beaver age of 14 in 855 before being crowned Episcopal status before landing at nearby King of East Anglia the following year. Babingley: this is why the first Bishop of Subsequently defeated and taken prisoner Norfolk is reputed to have been a beaver. It is by the invading Vikings, he was offered his hardly surprising that PG Woodhouse found life provided he gave up Christianity. He refused and was executed, later becoming much inspiration here as have other writers. the first patron saint of England. One of the most celebrated novelists It was in 1846, however, that Henry associated with Hunstan is L.P. Hartley. Styleman Le Strange persuaded a In 1944 he published The Shrimp and the wealthy group Anemone which of investors to drew upon build a ‘new’ his childhood Hunstanton experiences a little way playing among along the cliffs, the rock pools together with a below the railway to Kings famous cliffs. Lynn. First, a His most lonely Royal famous work, Hotel was built however, is THE GO-BETWEEN, L.P. HARTLEY but thereafter probably ‘The a whole town Go-Between’ in shades of golden ‘Honeystone’. It was which has been made into a classic film and is beautiful, and the whole project a starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates. fantastic success. To do Nature’s unpredictable moods – You can walk along the top of the cliffs the benign… past St Edmunds Church and the And what a place to build a new resort! lighthouse or along the beach which is From the top of the town, the green slopes better to see the red chalk limestone and towards the massive Norfolk ocean over white chalk layers, as well as enjoying the which the sun sets in spectacular fashion fresh water pools and tiny crabs all around – Hunstanton is rare in facing west and the you. The Wash as a whole is famous for sun actually sets over the sea. For up to five shrimps, cockles and mussels. or six hours a silver and golden, at times also pink and red, even greenish, ‘roadway’ To watch – some locals call it the ‘pathway to heaven’ This area is also a favourite spot for - stretches to infinity over the waves. When migrating geese, ducks and wading birds. the tide recedes and it is peaceful, scores A recent report suggests that two million of seals bask on the sandbanks. birds - I wonder how they count them? ‘…39, 40,41, stay still will you, you …and the ferocious… swirling roost! Oh, I’ve lost count again!’ - use the area for roosting and feeding: If there is a reasonable wind, there is no better place for windsurfing. Yet, when a gale some are partial to shellfish. There are also Curlews, Redshanks, Lapwings and blows and the sea roars, it is best to take Grey and Golden Plovers to name but cover – the pier was completely swept away some - a visual feast for the bird-lover. in 1978. King John is reputed to have lost
‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there’
FEATURE BY:
Steve Browning WRITER @RETURNINGPERSON
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2015 January | 19
FINEPLACES NO2
CLEY NEXT THE SEA
Cley is not ‘next the Sea’ at all and has not been for several hundred years, but it once was a very important English port, trading with the Low Countries in agricultural products, fish, coal and cloth. Nowadays, it earns a living from tourism. Apart from the famous windmill and church, it truly deserves the designation ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. It has special connections with the poet Rupert Brooke who was staying here when he heard of the outbreak of the First World
20 | January 2015
War. He signed up without delay but died from blood poisoning in April 1915. He will always be remembered for the lines:
village. There are many fine restaurants along the coast serving local produce.
‘If I should die, Think only this of me There is some corner of a foreign field That is forever England.’
To watch Cley next the Sea is a bird watching site of international importance, all the year round. Here you can see Grey Plovers, Black-tailed Godwits, Spoonbills and several types of Waders.
To eat Cley is famous for smoked herrings, salmon and other delights which are prepared in the
To walk Cley is a walkers’ paradise, from the unambitious to the most determined.
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FINEPLACES
CLEY WINDMILL
CROMER PIER
NO3
CROMER The Hound of the Cromer Hills In 1901, recovering from enteric fever, Arthur Conan Doyle came to Cromer to recuperate and was told of the legend of Black Shuck, a gigantic hound with eyes that glowed like coals and rumoured to be partial to the throats of local folk who ventured outside after dark. Transferring the action to the chilling loneliness of Dartmoor, possibly the greatest of the Sherlock Holmes adventures was born: The Hound of the Baskervilles was published to universal acclaim a year later. Healthy air and servants Cromer is a pretty town with fine shops, museums and restaurants – ideal for an interesting break. One cannot help but see and feel, though, the almost seismic shift that took place in this hitherto gentle settlement of fishermen - called Shipden, the original village now under the sea some small way beyond the Pier - in the 19th century. It suddenly got ‘discovered’: the railways came in 1877, as did the future King Edward VII and writers such as Elizabeth Gaskell wrote about the healthy air. ‘Healthy air’ to the Brits at this time meant cold, salty and hopefully stingy – enough at least to go home and feel good about having a sumptuous meal in the warm. One of the places you could have this was in the Hotel de Paris, originally built as the holiday home of Lord Suffield and converted into a hotel in 1830. For dramatic impact, standing as it does on the top of the cliffs overlooking the wildest sea in the world with the biggest sunsets, it knocks spots off Edward Boardman’s Royal Hotel in the county town of Norwich, a rival for wellwww.finecity.co.uk
heeled gentry. Oscar Wilde wrote ‘A Woman of No Importance’ here in 1902. Saving lives at sea One of the town’s most illustrious sons is Coxswain Henry George Blogg who served on the Cromer lifeboat for 53 years. During this time, the lifeboat saved 873 people and Henry Blogg was awarded an incredible 3 Gold and four Silver Medals, as well as the George Cross and the British Empire medal. He died in 1954. He is, naturally, omnipresent in the town. To eat No doubt, when he was here, Sir Arthur relished the food for which Cromer is now famous – the Cromer Crab. According to the local fishermen, the crab tastes better than any other because the seabeds it feeds from are rich with food. To do If you like to walk, there are no-end of choices. Taking a walk on the Pier is possibly the gentlest option. There has been a pier or jetty here since the end of the 14th century. Also easy is a walk along the prom and back. For a slightly more energetic walk, it is lovely to walk the couple of miles to Overstrand along the beach, admiring the cliffs and checking out the rockpools, but do be careful to check the tide times at the Information Bureau beforehand. This is, of course, the entry point to Poppyland, so many delights await the walker or cyclist a little farther inland. Don’t do what The Reverend Benjamin J Armstrong did on April 25th 1878 and take your guests out for a sightseeing stroll when the easterly wind is at its height or you will find them ‘filled with grievances’ (A Norfolk Diary, George G. Harrap and Co Ltd, 1849). 2015 January | 21
FINEPLACES
NO4
SANDRINGHAM
This royal estate was bought in 1861 for the Prince of Wales by his mother, Queen Victoria. The church of St Mary Magdalene is the home church of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal Family. To see The House - most of the ground floor rooms used by the Royal Family are open to the public. To walk around There are sixty acres of utterly gorgeous gardens to explore, as beautiful in Autumn as in Spring and Summer. You will never see more fabulous rhododendrons in hues of magenta, lemon, snowy white, pink and lavender.
22 | January 2015
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FINEPLACES NO5
WEST RUNTON BY DANIEL TINK
VIEW TOWARDS BEESTON BUMP
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As the photographer for this article, I thought it would be nice to write a few words on a place that holds many special memories for me from my childhood summer holidays. The Runtons, East and West, are quaint villages on the North Norfolk Coast between Cromer and Sheringham. West Runton has become a family favourite throughout the summer months, with long stretches of unspoilt beaches. Sandy in a few places, regular visitors will notice an occasional change in the way the shoreline appears, thanks to where the tide decides to position the numerous collections of stones and seaweed patches, which will sometimes lead to a slightly further walk to find that perfect bump-free spot for your picnic blanket. A common scenario that makes me smile is watching families pack onto the hard sands that appear when the tide is out, to then have to dash back to the drier but stonier sands when the inevitable happens. Most will make it, but some only realise at the last minute and end up taking home slightly salty and damp possessions. The more sensible - and no doubt West Runton regulars - will have sourced the best sandy positions safe from the tide earlier in the day. West Runton has been our family holiday destination for many years, always timing it to coincide with Cromer Carnival week in August. I recall great numbers of the family creating a huge arc of windbreaks. It was indeed behind the windbreaks where I used to get up to great mischief. I remember quietly positioning myself behind my poor Dad and attempting to dig under the windbreak and his deck chair in hope of a sudden tip backwards! Another fun game was digging a hole where somebody had been sitting on their towel, placing the towel back over the top and waiting for my next victim. Now I’m a Dad myself I look back and realise how much of a tease I was! (But it was fun all the same) During low tide, the sea will slowly reveal a hidden landscape that starts with exposure of a few rock pools and extends into crabbing heaven for some – brave beginners beware of sharp pinchers! On an exceptionally low scouring tide you are treated to an ancient foreshore of chalk, clay and rock formations. On closer inspection you will find an abundance
of sea creatures, both live and fossilised dating back to Jurassic and Cretaceous periods – Belemnites are a common find -these are shaped like a bullet . Fossils can also be found in exposed areas of the cliff known as the Cromer Forest Bed which dates back some 500,000-700,000 years. Indeed, it was the discovery of a very special find in the early 1990’s that put West Runton high on the geological map. After a particularly stormy winter night, fossilised remains of a large pelvic bone were discovered. Over the next few years as more bones were uncovered it became clear that a major find may be on the cards. An excavation soon revealed the largest and most complete elephant skeleton to date. Now known famously as the ‘West Runton Elephant’ the species was a ten ton Steppe Mammoth that dated back some 700,000 years. The popularity of the Runtons has grown over the years and it’s easy to see why - safe and fun family beaches, pretty villages and a convenient place to stay whilst exploring the North Norfolk coast; whilst for me, as a landscape photographer, there is nowhere more beautiful. To do Walk to Sheringham along the cliff top, paus ing for a time at the top of Beeston Bump for a welcome rest with some stunning views of West Runton and Sheringham – particularly special at sunset. Alternatively walk the other direction to East Runton and eventually Cromer - approximately 2 miles. On the beach, try crabbing in the rock pools or hunt for fossils. If you have a sweet tooth I can highly recommend the flapjack from the Beach Café. To see Visit the beach during Cromer Carnival Week during August, usually on a Wednesday, and you will be treated to the spectacular Red Arrows as they perform amazing stunts and tricks and swoop low over the sea. ❏ Norfolk in the Halsgrove Discover Series by Daniel Tink and Stephen Browning is available in all good bookshops and online at Amazon etc. It is priced at £16.99. 2015 January | 23
Advertise in Diss, Attleborough, Wymondham, Dereham, Watton, Bury St Edmunds & online
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FINEPLACES GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL’S MONUMENTAL STATUE IN HALLE MARKET-PLACE
Leipzig & Halle Baroque music aficionado, TONY COOPER, travels to Leipzig and Halle in search of Bach and Handel
L
eipzig enjoys a rich musical history inasmuch as Richard Wagner was born here, Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn died here and Johann Sebastian Bach spent the best part of three decades here from 1723 until his death in 1750 employed as Kapellmeister at the Thomaskirche. Robert Schumann also lived here, Georg Philipp Telemann worked here and just up the road in Halle, George Frideric Handel was born. That’s just for starters! And Leipzig’s St Thomas’ Boys Choir is almost as old as the city itself as this world-famous choir was founded in the early 13th century. While Leipzig has an annual festival centred round their most-famous son, JS Bach, Halle follows in their wake with a festival devoted to their most famous son, GF Handel. Surprisingly, Bach during his lifetime was not recognised as the great composer he is today until a revival of interest in his music was led in the first half of the 19th century by the young Felix Mendelssohn. He conducted at the age of 20 in 1829 the St Matthew Passion, the first performance since the composer’s death. That started the Bach ball rolling and, thankfully, it hasn’t stopped. And Leipzig plays its role to the full promoting the music of this Grand Baroque Master as the BachFest is nothing but brilliant and now under the artistic direction of English-born baroque master John Eliot Gardiner.
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2015 January | 25
FINEPLACES Mendelssohn - a frequent visitor to the British Isles was outstanding becoming conductor of the famous Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in his mid-Twenties and going on to found the Leipzig Conservatoire while only in his early- Thirties. One of Mendelssohn’s great triumphs in England came by way of the Birmingham Triennial Festival who commissioned that momentous and inspiring oratorio Elijah composed in the spirit of Mendelssohn’s baroque predecessors, Bach and Handel. The work (his final composition) received its première at Birmingham Town Hall on 26th August 1846, conducted by the composer. It proved to be one of the high points of his illustrious career. He died a year later. Soon afterwards Elijah was heard in Norwich at a Norfolk & Norwich Triennial Festival meeting in St Andrew’s Hall. Mendelssohn agreed to write a new oratorio for the 1848
at Goldschmidtstraße - now a museum devoted to his life and work. He lived here for his last 12 years. Looking here, there and everywhere, I soon clasped my eyes on the original score of Elijah and an exquisite typographicallydesigned concert programme (priced at one shilling) printed by Josiah Allen & Son of 3 Colmore Row, Birmingham. I discovered, too, that Mendelssohn was a very accomplished artist. At the early age of 15 on a three-month family trip to Switzerland in 1822 he stayed at the Interlaken Hotel, the oldest hotel in this delightful Swiss town. And on a recent visit to Interlaken I actually stayed in its shadow at Hotel Royal St Georges. On his various trips to Switzerland, Mendelssohn completed more than 40 landscapes rendered in ink-over-pencil. In Mendelssohn’s correspondence it reveals that drawing and painting proved an ideal respite from his compositional
HANDEL’S ORGAN IN THE MARKTKIRCHE
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL’S BIRTHPLACE & MUSEUM
“The creativity coming from this ‘work-desk’ is still alive today, being enjoyed by thousands” Triennial but death robbed him and Norwich of the commission. There’s a rather touching letter from Mendelssohn to the festival committee dated 27/9/1846 in which he says: ‘... but if I live and in good health, I’m almost sure that I will have something new by that time.’ He wrote once more in October 1847, just one month before his death. There’s an interesting (and historic) musical link between Birmingham and Norwich (and Leeds, too!) which has become hidden over the years. Just as the Three Choirs’ Festival rotates between the cities of Gloucester, Hereford and Worcester, Birmingham shared their early festivals with Norwich and Leeds. On my baroque fact-finding trip to Leipzig I doubly made sure that I visited Mendelssohn’s house 26 | January 2015
duties. On another trip he made to Switzerland in 1838, he wrote to his friend Karl Klingemann, with whom he travelled to Scotland in 1829: ‘I composed not even a bit of music, but rather drew entire days, until my fingers and eyes ached.’ Drawing provided a creative outlet for Mendelssohn on those occasions when he found musical composition impossible such as during the grief-stricken months following his beloved sister Fanny’s unexpected death in May 1847 when he was 38. Seeking refuge from his grief Mendelssohn took off once more to Switzerland a few months preceding his own untimely death in November 1847 and created a series of watercolour landscapes. In the Mendelssohn museum one can view a small
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL’S MONUMENTAL STATUE LOOKING TOWARDS THE MARKTKIRCHE
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FINEPLACES TONY COOPER SITTING AT THE CONSOLE OF HANDEL’S ORGAN IN THE MARKTKIRCHE
JS BACH’S MONUMENTAL STATUE GREETING VISITORS TO ST THOMAS’ CHURCH
selection of these lovely and inviting landscapes including a charming one of Lucerne, one of his last creative spurts! Another thing that grabbed my attention was Mendelssohn’s piano. I just stared and stared at it and I wondered and thought that the creativity coming from this ‘work-desk’ is still alive today being enjoyed by thousands and thousands of concertgoers the world over. And talking of keyboards I visited Halle’s Marktkirche where Handel learned to master the organ and I was invited by the organist to follow in his footsteps. Carefully, I climbed the narrow steep stairs to the organ loft. It was a tight squeeze getting to the console and immediately I wondered how Handel fared as he had rather a big frame. I actually played on Handel’s instrument. Only a few chords, though! Handel struggled to become a musician as his father objected to such a career on the grounds that music was not a realistic source of income. In fact, his father would not even permit him www.finecity.co.uk
to own a musical instrument. It was his mother who was supportive and encouraged him to develop his musical talent. However, Handel reluctantly agreed to study law at his father’s insistence but, not surprisingly, he gave it up as his passion for music could not be suppressed. At the age of seven Handel had the opportunity to play the organ for the duke’s court in Weissenfels, about 50km from Halle. It was here that he met the composer/organist Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow who was impressed with the boy’s potential and invited him to become his pupil. Under Zachow’s tutelage, Handel mastered composing for organ, oboe and violin by the age of ten. When he reached 18 in 1703 he decided to pursue music as a career and accepted a violinist’s position at Hamburg Opera’s Goosemarket Theatre. He made his début as an opera composer with Almira in 1704 and then went on to produce a host of operas in association with London’s Royal Academy 2015 January | 27
FINEPLACES JS BACH’S GRAVE AT ST THOMAS’ CHURCH
THE BUST OF MENDELSSOHN IN THE GARDEN OF HIS HOUSE ON GOLDSCHMIDTSTRAßE, LEIPZIG
MENDELSSOHN’S HOUSE ON GOLDSCHMIDTSTRAßE, LEIPZIG
ST THOMAS’ CHURCH
of Music before forming the New Royal Academy of Music in 1727. When Italian opera fell out of fashion, he started composing oratorios which included his most renowned composition The Messiah, written in 1741 and first performed in Dublin the following year. A great work it equates to Bach’s most-famous work - the B minor mass. But unlike Bach, Handel who was born in 1685, a vintage year for baroque composers it seems - travelled. He lived in Italy for a few years before coming to London to make his home. Here he rented a house at 25 Brook Street in the capital’s select Mayfair district where he resided from 1723 to 1759. He died in his sleep at the age of 74 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The house 28 | January 2015
is now occupied by a museum devoted to his legendary life and works. And the former residence and birthplace of Handel in Halle is also a museum. There’s a lot to see and take in including a permanent exhibition chronicling Handel and the Europeans as well as an extensive exhibition of historical instruments. An annual festival in Halle devoted to Handel was inaugurated 1922 but the main objective of the festival since 1952 has been to perform the complete works of Handel according to latest research. It consistently offers its international audience new pieces, rediscoveries and a variety of interpretative styles, most of them in historical Handel venues such as the Marktkirche, Handel House
or the historical Goethe-Theatre in near-by Bad Lauchstädt. Without a shadow of doubt Handel was a creative genius and during his lifetime he composed nearly 30 oratorios and close to 50 operas. At least 30 of those operas were written for the Royal Academy of Music. He was also a prolific writer of orchestral pieces and concerti grossi. I found Halle a charming town and I caught on camera Handel’s monumental statue standing proud in the marketplace (JS Bach’s statue has pride of place in front of St Thomas’) showing him looking towards the Marktkirche, the inspiration and start of his musical fame and fortune. The legal profession, thankfully, was second best! What more can I say apart from Auf wiedersehen! ❏
Tony Cooper travelled to Stansted via London by train from Norwich Thorpe Station with Abellio Greater Anglia (abelliogreateranglia.com) to board a Ryanair flight to Leipzig (ryanair.com) and stayed at the Park Hotel conveniently situated opposite Leipzig railway station on Richard-WagnerStraße (parkhotelleipzig.de). A well-appointed hotel it possessed a good kitchen plus their breakfast table boasted everything that you could possibly want to set you up for the day. HandelFest 2015 runs from May 30th to June 14th www.handel-festival.com BachFest 2015 runs from June 12th to June 21st www.bach-festival-leipzig.de www.finecity.co.uk
The Five Problems 1. Future Re-marriage Say a husband dies rst and leaves everything to the wife. The wife then remarries and dies before the second husband. Her estate transfers to the second husband. He means to make a Will to put things right but does not get round to it and accordingly on his death the whole estate devolves to his children and the children of the original couple are disinherited. 2. Large Probate Fees Probate costs are often much higher than people expect. With fees from some solicitors often in tens of thousands of pounds, with a modest estate of £350,000 at a 3% charge the fees would be £10,500. Not only that, there is the inconvenience and normally substantial delay in administering someone’s estate especially on the second death. 3. Unreliable Children Unfortunately there are many clients who have children with problems, whether they be drug, alcohol or gambling problems or indeed children with unstable marriages. When the parent dies, it is therefore not advisable that a large proportion of the estate devolves to such children but, of course, that is what usually happens. 4. Incapacity If you nd yourself in the position of incapacity due to injury or illness and have not nominated an attorney to take over your affairs, the only way forward is to apply to the Office of the Public Guardian, which can be costly and difficult for family to deal with. 5. Care Costs You may never have thought about long term care costs before or you may already know of someone who has been forced to sell the family home in order to pay for care fees. It may also be something you don’t want to think about, especially if you are in good health, but the statistics regarding long-term care make for sombre reading.
Changes at Heritage
Life is always changing and moving on and we are no different, since our move as a company from Yarmouth Rd in Norwich to 13 Hellesdon Park Road, Drayton High Road, Norwich 4 years ago, we have reened our procedures and employed only the best trained staff to continue our second to none customer service and ongoing support and advice to our tens of thousands of existing clients and the thousands of new clients we are adding every year. The company has two directors, Kathy Long and Stuart Burrell, with 35 experienced staff to cover Probate, Estate Planning Consultants, Will Drafting Team, Admin and Marketing. We are determined and passionate to continue educating the public on an area of the law many people shy away from until circumstances arise. With dramatic changes to family and social trends we are faced with more complex issues with how and what we will leave our loved ones. For the last 18 years we have simpliied these procedures along with the transition of assets for clients at the most difficult of times. We visit you in the comfort of your own home daytime or evening or you are welcome to visit our office for an appointment. We promise to continue to be there as and when we are needed whether it's next year or in another 18 years. Please call 01603 894500 for a Free Guide to Wills.
How does a Family Asset Protection Trust work?
Consider the Trust as a safety deposit box in which you place your house. Your trustees hold the keys but they only take their instructions from you, the settlor. No one else can access the deposit box without your authority.
setting up a Family Asset Protection Trust, Calll Heritage on 01603 894500 or Complete this reply slip To obtain your guide to the “Family Asset Protection Trust”, simply complete your details IN FULL, tear off the reply slip and post it to: Heritage Legal & Financial Ltd - 13 Hellesdon Park Road, Drayton High Road Norwich NR6 5DR
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We guarantee your details will never be used by third parties or sold on to any other organisations; we respect your right to privacy.
Michelle Jarrold MICHELLE JARROLD has an awesome responsibility. She has to map out the future of one of our city’s most loved retail institutions, without losing sight of its past. Talking with her is an enlightening experience.
30 | January 2015
Interview: Pete Goodrum www.finecity.co.uk
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e meet in Michelle Jarrold’s office, on a Friday in late November. She’s just back from an important board meeting, it’s perilously close to Christmas, which is a vital time for a major retailer, and I know for a fact that the rest of her day is busy. But, it’s calm here. Her modest, functional, office is organised and uncluttered. Dressed in toning blacks and greys she is unruffled, and exudes the sort of understated elegance that comes with natural poise rather than having to try. Seated at either side of her desk, we talk. I’m not surprised to learn that Michelle Jarrold was born in Norwich. From the age of four she was educated here, at Norwich High School. She credits the teaching staff, and one teacher in particular, as being supportive and encouraging. They were, she says, instrumental in her to going to university, which she did at eighteen. She we went up to Cambridge to read Geography at Queens’ College. We’ll return to some of these points later, but in talking about her degree course she suddenly begins to paint on a broader canvas, setting the seminal moment of beginning her studies into the bigger context of her life and career. ‘I’ve always loved travel, and the world around us’, she says. ‘But the geography degree course suited me not just because of that, but because it was such a broad course. It covered, for example, physical geography and the detailed study of river beds, as well as tourism in UK seaside towns. It suited me because I am a person who’s interested in many things’, she says. And then adds, ‘A bit like my relationship with my job now’. Coming from some people this link between temperament, university and career might sound contrived. It’s not so with Michelle Jarrold. Quite simply, she is very self-aware. She knows herself well. To return to Cambridge. It was she says a time of hard work, but ‘there were a lot of parties too’. Sport featured highly. She rowed. She played squash, and a lot of tennis at which she represented both the college and the university. Being the only geography student in her year meant that she met people from other disciplines, which again suited her very well. In short, she loved it there. As life after graduation began to come into focus one thing became clear. ‘I wasn’t, at that stage, particularly driven by the idea of a career in retail’ she says. ‘I’d worked in Jarrolds during my holidays and gap year, but I needed to explore other avenues.’ She went to London, to begin a career in publishing. A lifelong love of books is something else that we’ll return to, but for the moment we talk about that first job, at Orbis Publishing. In fact she doesn’t go into too much detail about it, but becomes reflective when commenting on the changes of ownership at the company and her beginning to get ‘itchy feet’. It’s that self-knowledge again. ‘I knew I wanted to travel. I was 24, and these were the days when you could get the working holiday visas. I set off via South East Asia, and ended up spending a year in Australia and New Zealand’. When she came home she worked in publishing again, but this time in Norwich. ‘I worked for Parke Sutton, where we packaged books for all sorts of clients, including Jarrolds’. The name arrives in the narrative as naturally as possible. But in fact it’s a tipping point. In the next few minutes we will cover a lot of ground. We will accelerate Michelle Jarrold’s biography, and www.finecity.co.uk
FINEPEOPLE increase the intensity of the content. It’s during this part of our conversation that I realise several things at once. Firstly, Michelle Jarrold is very good at eye contact. If she’s talking with you, she’s looking at you. It’s not intimidating. It’s a courteous demonstration that you have her attention. Secondly, her opinions are well thought through and sincerely expressed. And thirdly, I know there’s something about how she speaks that’s appealing and welcome, but I can’t put my finger on it. And then it clicks. She never uses the upward inflexion at the end of her sentences. That invisible question mark that defines a way of speech for so many nowadays does not figure in her conversation. Michelle Jarrold does not say ‘I wanted to travel?’ She says, ‘I wanted to travel’. We’ve arrived then at her FEATURE BY: late twenties and there is a Pete Goodrum decision to be made. Furthering WRITER, BROADCASTER @PETEGOODRUM a career in publishing frankly meant considering a return to London. And if London didn’t appeal, what was her future in Norwich? On a personal level things were taking shape in that she had by now met her future husband, Richard. Professionally however it was still uncertain. Her father told her thought that she would be great in retail. ‘Well, he would say that wouldn’t he?’ is her comment. The fact was though that she had liked working in the store. Her eyes light up at the memories of working in the record department especially. (In truth, my heart quickens at the memory of that department too. If you’re of a certain age, then the mezzanine floor and pegboard listening booths of Jarrolds will always be a special memory for you!) ‘It was attractive, of course it was, but joining the family firm is not a decision to be taken lightly’. There’s a moment’s hesitation before she carries on to say, ‘My father helped me. He gave me advice which I found really constructive. He told me to give it two years, and if it didn’t work out, do something else’. It’s an even shorter pause before she says, ‘I’m still here’. She is indeed still here, but she’s not where she started. She was 28, and a member of the family but this was no ‘shoo-in’ to the boardroom. Assistant Merchandise Manager was the title she began with. There was a lot to learn. Jarrolds being part of the Independent Store Group meant that she had the opportunity to visit, and spend time with, stores in Cardiff, Boston and Koblenz. We will return to Koblenz. She learned quickly, and made it to Merchandise Director, in charge of virtually all that the store bought and sold. Life is seldom a straightforward and uninterrupted path however and by the late 1990s her father’s retirement had coincided with her starting a family. ‘I carried on as Merchandising Director, working part time’ she explains. ‘After my second child was born, in 2002, I took on a more strategic role. 2015 January | 31
FINEPEOPLE
“WE WANT A MOTHER, DAUGHTER AND GRANDMOTHER TO FEEL EQUALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE STORE’S OFFERING”
32 | January 2015
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FINEPEOPLE That role has grown and developed to an operational level. She now has responsibility for fashion, menswear, accessories, beauty and books. We digress slightly to spend a few minutes talking about the book department. Michelle Jarrold loves books. ‘Books are in the Jarrold DNA. And mine’. However, redesigning the long established and much loved Jarrold book department, and then moving it downstairs, was as she says herself, with a wince, ‘A risk’. It’s paid off. In every sense. ‘And it was fun’ she adds. Her revamping of the ground floor departments was equally heart stopping in its potential for disaster, but just as rewarding in its public reception. These are real retail success stories and she is always quick to point out that it’s a team effort. Her conversation is dotted with references to the strength, talent and commitment of her team. Working with them, her strategic role is very much about establishing the Jarrold brand portfolio. ‘What we offer customers defines who we are, and who they are. We have to address key questions such as are we about fashion or functionality, what’s the age range of our customers and what do they expect of us?’ she explains. We expand on these issues, and her knowledge and enthusiasm are instantly apparent. ‘In terms of age, we look to satisfy a wide audience. Ideally, and talking about our female customers for example, we want a mother, daughter and grandmother to feel equally comfortable, and equally excited, about the store’s offering’, she says. And be quite clear, this is not esoteric, nor wishful thinking. This is sophisticated marketing strategy and it’s driven by the careful management of that brand portfolio. ‘Jo Malone, which came into the store in 2013, is typical of the key brands we now carry. Mac Cosmetics, which we’ve offered since 2004, was a massive game changer for us. And our menswear ranges are more on trend, and offer more choice than ever before’. What you learn is that the brands on sale in the store are not only hard fought for, but they’re carefully chosen to build on, and enhance the overall Jarrold experience. ‘It’s about customers enjoying their visit to the store. It’s about choice, and inspiration. Younger people recognising quality, and the more mature shopper picking up ideas to excite them’. She returns again to the team. ‘There is a tremendous amount of work done to identify and source the best brands, but ultimately it’s down to the front line, the people who interact with the customers. And they do that brilliantly, because they care. They offer advice, they get involved’. Caring is a key word in the Jarrold philosophy. Michelle Jarrold is quick to point out that they are a caring employer, and that there is a ‘family’ feel to working there. She hesitates briefly, wondering if ‘family’ is the right word. Is it too much of a cliché? It isn’t. In fact, when pushed by me to sum up the store the two words that come to the surface more than any others are caring, and elegant. We’ve talked for some time and something else now occurs to me. For such a plainly busy woman Michelle Jarrold is an extraordinarily generous interviewee. She has remained totally focussed on our conversation. The eye contact aside, never once in our meeting has she checked her mobile, looked at her e mail or taken a call. Obviously she is, and has to be, highly organised, but I sense that, more than that, she cares about what she’s doing. So, does she actually have time to do anything outside the business? ‘I still love to play, tennis. I swim, ski and take robust and often muddy walks with our dogs. And I do love to travel’. The travel. The seeing the world. It’s still there. There’s a moment of totally unnecessary guilt as she adds, ‘I do love our holidays, and I feel I work hard to justify them’. And then comes another interest, which opens a door into a different, and in truth slightly unexpected, area. ‘I sing in the Norwich Philharmonic Choir’. She talks, with real enthusiasm about singing and how she can immerse herself in it, almost therapeutically taking her mind away from commerce. But she also mentions singing in Koblenz, and two fascinating strands emerge. She’d sung Britten’s War Requiem, with the choir, in Koblenz, and this was clearly an www.finecity.co.uk
2015 January | 33
FINEPEOPLE
intellectual pleasure, and an emotional experience. The resonance of singing such a piece in Koblenz is heightened by the fact that she is half German. ‘My mother is German. She comes from Winningen, a village near Koblenz, and she was instrumental in the twinning of the town with Norwich. We love going there’. So, this is the travel and exploring the world again, but it’s a bigger issue than that, and it reveals a lot. ‘I always aspire to a 360 degree vision of life. If I have intolerance of anything it’s of people who do not see the bigger picture and succumb to stereotypes’. It’s heartfelt and speaks volumes about her attitude to both her professional and personal lives. Talking more about her personal life she reveals a lively interest in art. ‘I love the history of art, but have to say that my passions are relatively modern; from the Impressionists onwards I guess’. She lives locally. Her husband is a successful landscape designer and, she insists, is ‘constantly supportive of her demanding and flexible lifestyle’. Their two children, Elliott who is 15, and Alice, 12, are at the Norwich School, of which she is a governor. She’s also a trustee of the Theatre Royal. As we draw to a close I ask her about the future. ‘We’ve changed as a company. We are now a retail and property organisation. Expansion in East Anglia is very much on the cards. In retail terms we have to look ever more closely at online. We already have the most comprehensive online offering of any independent store of our kind. The immediate future is about a period of growth, across the whole business, to make it ready to pass on the baton’. Ah, yes, ‘pass on the baton’. She must, I suggest, be conscious of the heritage of the Jarrold brand. She answers with a typical mixture of wit and gravitas. ‘Oh yes! I’m seventh generation Jarrold, and we really don’t want to be the ones who mess it up!’ She goes on to explain that Jarrolds has always sought talent from outside ‘the family’ and that the business and the board is wider than that. 34 | January 2015
“WITHOUT THIS ‘FINE CITY’ WE SIMPLY WOULDN’T BE WHO WE ARE” She closes by putting the Jarrold story into a context. ‘None of this would have happened without Norwich as a city. We’re the largest independent department store in the country, but without this ‘fine city’ we simply wouldn’t be who we are’. Earlier, we’d touched on the fact that, following its expansion, the store now occupies the premises that were once the offices of legendary local architect George Skipper, and it was with obvious pleasure that she’d told me that his personal office was still intact. Learning of my interest in him she kindly shows me the room. To see it is an exciting bonus to a fascinating morning. I was in Exchange Street, having left the store, when I realised that I still had my visitor pass. I went back in to return it. I’ve known the shop all my life but walking back through it now, having been ‘behind the scenes’, I was I suppose more aware of what was going on. All the way through I saw customers looking at stylish merchandise, and being helped by attentive staff. It’s right. Those two words do sum it up. Elegant, and caring. They’re two words that pretty much sum up Michelle Jarrold too. ❏ www.finecity.co.uk
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From Tragedy to Comedy Writer MARGARET K JOHNSON takes a daring leap into the world of stand up comedy.
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hen I moved to Norwich in September 2000, my heart was in tatters following a broken relationship. It certainly never crossed my mind during those first bleak days that thirteen years later I would be making people laugh on stage. I never even imagined that I would want to do such a thing. Laughter of any kind was very far from my mind. But gradually, the city began to work its magic on me – I came to love its buildings and its people, and felt at home here. I went on a course called Rebuilding When Your Relationship Ends, and here I met people in the same situation as me. Without realising it at the time, I was also storing up material that I would later use to write my novel The Dare Club. On the Rebuilding course, our broken hearts were what bonded us as a group – in some cases it was all we had in common. For a while, at least, that was enough. Some years later, with my own heart mended again, I decided to put my experience to good use. I would write a novel about a group of very different broken hearted people attending a Lift Up course for the newly divorced or separated. But the twist with the mismatched group of friends in my book, would be that one of them would have the bright idea of starting a dare club, in the hope that taking part in scary challenges, would drive their problems from their minds. We’ve all heard about method actors going to extreme lengths to get into character for their roles. Daniel Day-Lewis, for example, refusing to leave his wheelchair for the duration of the filming of My Left Foot, or Robert de Niro becoming a taxi driver for his role in the film of the same name. It’s also common for actors to gain or lose weight for their roles – Christian Bale
36 | January 2015
weighed only 122 pounds for his role in The Machinist, and Ann Hathaway lost 25 pounds and cut off all her hair for her role in Les Miserables. These days we almost take such behavior by actors for granted. But is it necessary for writers to go to these lengths? Authors of detective stories are hardly likely to kill people to find out what it feels like to be a murderer. At least, I hope not. But they are likely to draw on their experience of grief when writing about the victims of such crimes. I have always drawn on my own life-experience for my books. But sometimes I’ve also felt the need to create life experience in order to write about it. This is what happened with The Dare Club. I decided that one of my characters – Colette – would challenge herself to perform stand-up comedy, and I knew that if I were going to write authentically about her experience, then I would need to experience it myself. How else would I find out how to come up with material, to prepare for a performance, or to deal with the sheer, blinding terror of actually performing? At this point, you probably need to know that I used to have a long-term phobia about speaking out in public. It began when I was eleven years old, and I had to give a talk about Joan of Arc at school. Since I was quite a shy girl, this was a fairly big deal for me, but I gamely went to the front of the class when it was my turn to speak. Then I opened my mouth, and the trouble started. “Joan of Arc was brought up as a pheasant,” I confidently asserted, and was momentarily disconcerted when the whole class fell about laughing. Seconds later, with flaming red cheeks, I attempted to correct myself. “I mean, a peasant….” I stumbled, but it was too late.
The damage was done, and nobody listened to anything else I had to say. And so, my phobia began. I chipped away at it over the years, and even became an adult education tutor. But standup comedy? No way! A part of me must have wanted to do it though, because I invented the character of Colette, and she was telling me very strongly that this challenge must appear in the book. So – gulp – eventually I booked myself onto a weekend stand-up comedy course at The London Theatre. On the course we learnt the basics of writing and performing stand-up. There were also plenty of opportunities to speak into a microphone in front of a group of people – something I hadn’t done before. Gradually, as I was encouraged to spout rubbish on such topics as Why the Welsh have banned Scots men from Wales, I lost some of my inhibitions. By the end of Sunday, I had somehow managed to write and rehearse three-minutes worth of material – material I could return to perform to an invited audience, provided I found the necessary courage to do so. To be honest, I never really intended to go back to do the performance, figuring that the weekend course would give me enough of an insight for my book. But somehow I felt strangely compelled to
complete the challenge. After all, Colette was going to do it. So, on 21st May 2013, I returned to London and made my way to the Up The Creek comedy club in Greenwich. Up The Creek seats around 200 people, and when I arrived, it was nerve-wracking to see the stage and all those rows and rows of empty seats. When we took turns to have a go on stage before the audience arrived, it was a shock. The lights were so bright; you couldn’t see anything at all! How was I supposed to choose someone to deliver my punch lines to the way I’d rehearsed? Feeling daunted, me and the other rookie comedians went upstairs for a period of tense waiting and feverish practise. Finally it was time for us to go back down. The club was completely packed out. The audience were all friends and family, and some people had invited 30-40 guests. Mad! I’d only invited one friend. I could see her right at the front, her video camera at the ready. While I waited to go on, I couldn’t sit down; I was too pumped up with adrenalin. Just before the MC announced my name, I did a few jumps and arm swings, limbering up. I expect I looked like a fool, but that was the least of my concerns at that moment. www.finecity.co.uk
FINEPEOPLE Then it was time. And amazingly, a feeling of calm settled over me as I went up the steps to the stage. We’d been told to take the microphone out of the stand and to put the stand behind us. I did so – it seemed to take an age. But then I looked out at the invisible audience, said ‘hello’ and dived in. Watching my performance back now, I can find fault with it. But I loved doing it! People laughed and that felt amazing. I didn’t want it to end. And when total strangers congratulated me later, I just felt so proud of myself. All the next day, I couldn’t stop smiling. And on the train home, I was already writing the scenes with Colette’s experience of stand-up in my head. I could never have made them so vivid if I hadn’t actually experienced it. Even now, if I’ve got to do something brave, I only need to watch myself on You Tube to gain some courage. Since then, I’ve performed twice more – most recently last week,
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in Norwich, auditioning at the BBC to be part of a new comedy radio show on Radio Norfolk. The nerves don’t get any easier, and every time it’s different, because the audience is different. I’ve changed my material in response to how many laughs different parts of my act have got, or how difficult they are to remember under the glare of the lights. But one thing hasn’t changed – the incredible feeling I get when people laugh and when I walk off stage with the audience’s applause ringing in my ears. So, a big thank you to the long forgotten ex boyfriend who dumped me, triggering my move to beautiful Norwich. Without him, I would never have needed to go along to the Rebuilding course, and I would never have had the idea for The Dare Club. I wouldn’t have experienced all the emotions I was able to put into the book either. And I definitely would never have stood in front of a microphone at a Greenwich comedy club. ❏
Biography Margaret K Johnson was born in Hertfordshire, England. She writes women’s fiction and readers for people learning to speak English. Margaret’s novel The Goddess Workshop is a roller-coaster comedy about a mismatched group of women with a common aim - becoming confident, sensual beings. Her second women’s fiction novel, The Dare Club, is about a group of people who meet on a Divorced and Separated course. They decide to challenge each other to do daring things as part of their discovery process. But is saying how you really feel the most daring thing of all? Margaret’s readers for people learning to speak English are published by Cambridge English Readers, Cambridge Discovery Readers and Cengage Learning. They are in lots of different genres including Fantasy, Romance, Human Interest, Thriller, Fact Book and Adapted Short Stories. As well as fiction, Margaret has written plays and screen plays. Her comedy Goddess was performed at Cambridge Drama Centre to rave reviews. Margaret has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia.
2015 January | 37
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FINEPEOPLE
The Man Who Coined
‘A FINE CITY’ Everyone now accepts that Norwich is ‘A Fine City’, but that was not always so. Why and how did it come to be accepted as the city’s slogan? STEPHEN BROWNING has been finding out. Other City slogans ‘A Fine City’ was coined by the writer George Borrow in 1851. Actually what he wrote in ‘Lavengro’ was ‘ A fine old city, truly is that...’ but the word ‘old’ was later omitted. It did not catch on straight away. As late as the First World War many referred to Norwich as ‘No Mean City’ which was taken from St Paul’s description of Tarsus. Even later the City council had the idea of calling Norwich ‘England’s Other City’ which caused offence to every other city in the land barring London and was mercifully dropped. Recently I have noticed references in the press to ‘Norwich, England’s only UNESCO City of Literature’ but, as this is a bit of a mouthful and anyway may one day cease to be the case, I think it is safe to say that the present slogan will survive for a very long time. Who was George Borrow? George Borrow was born in 1803 and died in 1881. He went as a ‘free boy’ to Norwich Grammar School, a humiliation some say he never got over, as the ‘free boys’ were looked down on by
FEATURE BY:
Steve Browning WRITER @RETURNINGPERSON
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the boarders who tended to be the sons of middling gentlefolk like clergy and solicitors. Four books He is famous for four books. The first, and best by far, is ‘The Bible in Spain’ which I first came across in Camden Market when I was working in the great capital. I knew nothing about it or the author at the time but just felt intrigued as to what it might be. I remember opening it when I returned home from work and I was still reading it at 3 in the morning. It is the best travel book I have ever seen and recounts George Borrow’s adventures distributing bibles in Spain, a land of incredible hardship and beauty at the time. The book suffers very slightly from the hero’s ( i.e. George Borrow’s ) description of what a fine chap he is but this is readily forgiven. Here is a taste of it: “It was near sunset... and we were crossing the bay of Gibraltar. Bay! It seemed no bay, but an inland sea, surrounded on all sides by enchanted barriers, so strange, so wonderful, was the aspects of its coasts. Before us lay an impregnable hill; on our right, the African continent, with its grey Gibil Muza and the crag of Ceuta to which a solitary bark seemed steering its way; behind us the town we had just quitted, with its mountain wall; on our left the coast of Spain... There, at the base of the mountain, and covering a small portion of its side, lay the city, with its ramparts garnished with black guns pointing significantly at its moles and harbours...” Fame comes knocking This book was immediately incredibly successful, ‘The
RIGHT: WRITER GEORGE BARROW 1803-1881
“Never has a book more legibly impressed us with the unmistakeable mark of genius” Examiner’ saying ‘Never has a book more legibly impressed with the unmistakeable mark of genius’. George Borrow became a society sensation, attending all manner of parties until everything became too much and he ran away. He found instant fame of this magnitude almost impossible to take. But eight years later, egged on by his publisher, he produced another, probably his most famous – ‘Lavengro’ and followed this with ‘The Romany Rye’. The books are loosely autobiographical and strange in several ways. Firstly, ‘Lavengro’ covers several years but ‘The Romany Rye’ (the title means ‘the Gypsy Gentleman’ which refers to how the author was often unkindly seen by the sons of the gentry at at Norwich Grammar School) only several weeks. Then there are many unconvincing coincidences. But perhaps the most disconcerting aspect is the use of ‘I’ – some critics have unkindly said that the main function of the books is to prove how learned and talented
George Borrow is. I think this is wrong and sometimes the writing is brilliant and reminiscent of Charles Dickens. The following, for example, could almost be from ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’. It is describing the start of an argument between two groups of people below Edinburgh Castle: ‘It was a beautiful Sunday evening, the rays of the descending sun were reflected redly from the grey walls of the Castle, and from the black rocks on which it was founded. The bicker had long since commenced. Stones from sling and hand were flying; but the callants of the New Town were now carrying everything before them.’ Oh Dear! Fame goes away Unfortunately, the reviews for the two new books were appalling which caused a man of George Borrow’s temperament great pain. One critic said that the ‘books are, in short, clogged with material that is not good enough or not good at all’. 2015 January | 39
FINEPEOPLE PLAQUE TO GEORGE BORROW IN NORWICH
NORWICH GRAMMAR SCHOOL AND ERPINGHAM GATE
His method of writing is largely to blame for an almost total lack of structure. He wrote incidents down on thousands of scraps of paper and then plonked them into the book, one after another. Some of his characters are only introduced to say things and have no other point. His final known book was reluctantly published by Murray, his publisher, in 1862 – the firm was not at all convinced that it would sell after the slating given to the previous two. It was a description of a trip taken by Borrow and his wife and called ‘Wild Wales’. It did very well, making over £500 profit. Alas, however, reviews were not good and this was far more important to George Borrow than money. One magazine called it ‘extremely defective’ and ‘intensely prosaic’. Many critics laughed out loud at what they saw as unpardonable self-glorification by the author. 40 | January 2015
Norwich and Great Yarmouth He spent a good part of his later life in Great Yarmouth and Norwich. He was often to be seen walking for hours on Mousehold Heath which produced his other famous saying : ‘There’s a wind on the Heath, brother; if I could only feel that, I would gladly live for ever’. As it was, he died aged 79, taking regular exercise and swimming to the last. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery in London. You are never very far away from George Borrow in the centre of town. He is known to have stayed at a lodging house on the site of the present Forum; he attended entertainments at the Assembly House; one of his characters in ‘Lavengro’ lived where the present MacDonalds stands on Hay Hill; an early publisher had premises where Primark is; and, unsurprisingly as he attended Norwich School, the Erpingham Gate is mentioned in ‘Lavengro’.
SIR THOMAS ERPINGHAM ABOVE THE GATE BEARING HIS NAME, THANKING GOD FOR HAVING SAVED HIS LIFE AT THE BATTLE OF AGINCOURT. THIS GATE IS MENTIONED IN ‘LAVENGRO’.
To sum up? He was a strange individual. He undoubtedly had talent but could be shrewish and jealous. He dismissed some of his famous contemporaries such as Browning and Wordsworth and even was known to consider that John Keats was not up to much. He granted that Shakespeare had talent, though, and Dickens was OK. I don’t know what he would think of being well-remembered
by the city’s slogan ‘A Fine City’. I don’t think he would be completely happy about that, preferring to be remembered as a writer of genius. Personally, I think it high time that ‘A Bible in Spain’ is re-issued which, to my mind, is certainly the most exciting travel book I have ever read. ❏ There is a George Borrow society: georgeborrow.org. Fans call themselves ‘Borrovians’. www.finecity.co.uk
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2015 January | 41
FINEPEOPLE
Writers in Education Learning how to write and teach fiction (without the fuss) by LUCY MCCARRAHER
A
s a writer and author I have worked in many genres and formats over the years. I’ve been a journalist and reviewer; I’ve written TV scripts and outlines; business and research reports and manuals; self-development books and novels. I’m also an editor and publisher who has worked on manuscripts and articles, and with authors, of all kinds. There’s no genre of writing I don’t enjoy, but for me fiction, and the novel especially – to both read and write – is the ultimate art form, educational tool, emotional resource, entertainment medium and guilty pleasure. My first attempt at a novel was a thinly disguised telling of part of my own life. I sent it to an agent I knew who told me it was (a) boring and (b) unbelievable. It was too contrived, she said, for a novel about families to have a central character who was a family researcher, whose mother was the director of a children’s charity and whose father was a genealogist. ‘But it can’t be unbelievable,’ I whined. ‘It’s true!’ ‘Truth and fiction are not the same thing,’ she snapped. It felt like a slap in the face – but it was also a moment of revelation. I was a lifelong professional writer, I knew how to structure reports, one-off and episodes of TV dramas, reviews and articles; somehow, though, I’d failed to notice that all the great novels I had read – even those that were clearly based on fact, in stream of consciousness style, or that flowed so naturally it seemed that the author had just poured their thoughts onto paper – were tightly and even classically structured. I had made a naive mistake in assuming that life provides stories ready made for fiction. It doesn’t. I read more, processed the information and learned my lesson. My next attempt at fiction was put together around this new knowledge: I conceived a “realistic” story and an interwoven historical subplot with shared themes, and developed my characters; I wrote an overview, synopsis, detailed chapter breakdowns and the first three chapters in full, which I showed to a few friends. One of them suggested an eminent editor she knew could give me some useful feedback. The editor worked on the opening chapter, but when she sent it back I felt my narrator’s voice had been eradicated. I put the novel in a bottom drawer and got on with other projects. My day job was a work-life balance expert (consultant, trainer, researcher); a colleague and I were commissioned to write a personal self-help book on the subject, so I took charge and wrote most of The Book of Balanced Living. The publishers had decided in advance on the content and chapter headings, so I didn’t have much chance to apply my own new theories of structure (for fiction or other writing) to BoBL, as it became known, but it was my first published book and gave me the useful experience of writing a sustained piece. Several years later, Richard and Judy, bless them, had started their book club and, in association with the publishers Macmillan, ran a How To Be Published competition for new novelists. The single prize was a publishing contract. A friend who had read my early chapters nagged me to enter the competition – and, after initially dismissing the idea, I decided I had nothing to lose. But a house move and a couple of computer crashes meant I could find neither a paper nor electronic version of Blood And
42 | January 2015
Water. Another friend found and mailed a printed-out copy minus the eminent editor’s changes, by which time the deadline was 24 hours away. The competition entry rules demanded a synopsis and one chapter; I retyped the last and first pages of the chapters, turning my three into one, rewrote a synopsis and submitted this messy document. The announcement date came and went – I saw nothing about a winner, realised that whoever it was, it wasn’t me and forgot about it. Four months later I received a letter from Macmillan. They apologised for the delay in judging the competition, but they’d had to sift through an unanticipated 47,000 entries. I hadn’t won, but my entry was one of nine others they had short-listed and would like to publish under their new imprint, Macmillan New Writing. Could they see the full manuscript as soon as possible? When they discovered there was, as yet, no more than they had seen, Macmillan were very laidback about a submission or publication date. I, however, was going to take no chances with this opportunity of a lifetime, so I took a break from my work-life balance commitments, completely ignored my own balanced living advice and wrote furiously, night and day, for four months. I benefited enormously from coaching with Jackee Holder; and the beta-reading of an ex-publisher friend who was less eminent but more insightful than my previous editor. I submitted Blood And Water, Macmillan liked it and published it a year later. Then they turned down the second novel I had written in the meantime. Macmillan New Writing was a great idea – an imprint for first-time novelists, one new work published every month. But there was no followthrough plan for the second- and third-time novelists we then turned into. MNW published a couple of second books among the first novels; Pan Macmillan – the established Macmillan fiction publisher – refused to
“It felt like a slap in the face – but it was also a moment of revelation” take on graduates of the new imprint and, after a few years of raising the hopes of 40-odd fiction writers, MNW quietly closed its doors. I wasn’t going to give up on my fiction writing after coming so far in such a short and unexpected time. I published my second, more ambitiously written and plotted novel, Kindred Spirits, and third, Mr Mikey’s Ladies, through an Arts Council funded publishing scheme. A fourth novel, about women using self-help books to change their lives, went through the research stage then metamorphosed into an actual self-help book. I wrote The Real Secret with social psychologist Annabel Shaw, got signed up by an agent and gained the interest of several publishers, but no contract. None of my books, individually or collectively, was bringing in enough through sales or talks to pay my way, not even combined with coaching and editing some other writers. The advent of the economic crisis meant I couldn’t afford the luxury of any more under-paid personal development; work-life balance had had its day and I needed a new career – ideally one where I could use my writing skills. City College Norwich was offering a full-time, one-year post-graduate Diploma in Learning in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS). At the last minute, I got a place on the course, but the teaching placement in the Creative Arts Department had already been taken, so I was offered Adult Literacy. I took it. At the start of the course, our tutors made it clear that they expected to be offering employment at City College to all ten of us mature students in the subjects of our teaching practice; there would surely be plenty of work in Adult Literacy, I reasoned, while Creative Writing might be more over-subscribed. www.finecity.co.uk
I discovered there was both need and demand for Adult Literacy classes. I was allocated a variety of courses to teach on – including one in Adult Numeracy, not my strong suit, but considered useful for someone likely to be teaching Functional Skills. It turned out to be easier than teaching Literacy. I had thought myself a more than competent writer, editor and grammarian. I found that teaching literacy to diverse groups of incredibly mixed knowledge and ability students, at the college, in Sure Start and community centres, challenged my assumptions of how well I knew the English language. Teaching the basics, as well as more sophisticated aspects, to people with dyslexia, impaired hearing, speech and other learning, mental and physical challenges, as well as those of high ability but poor education experiences, forced me to sharpen up my knowledge and communication skills considerably. I needed to take an extra course on the Literacy Curriculum itself, which covered areas of language I hadn’t thought about in a long time – homonyms and homophones; descriptive/instructional/ informative/persuasive writing styles; simple, compound and complex sentences… I chose randomly to give my 10-minute micro-teach to colleagues on “Uses of the Semi-Colon” – and found I didn’t actually know the precise rules of this delicate punctuation mark, let alone how to present them for the VARK learning styles of the group. If I’d thought novel-writing punctured the delicate skein of my work-life balance, teaching, learning, writing essays, preparing schemes of learning, lesson plans and creating resources tore it to shreds. Half way through the DTLLS course, an Ofsted Inspector insisted my fiction background be put to better use and I take on a Creative Writing class. This was both a huge pleasure, and added work, learning and stress. Much of the pleasure and learning (and none of the stress) came through working with Amanda Addison, tutor on, and co-author of the UK’s first Access to HE in Creative Writing course, and – at that point – about-to-be-published novelist. Her students were also of mixed ability, including some who dreamed of being writers but lacked www.finecity.co.uk
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ability and application, and others with incredible talent but personal issues which militated against their potential success. I’ve always admired the work of teachers, but the DTLLS course sent my appreciation into the stratosphere. My experience as a trainer and coach did not help me get “outstanding” grades in my teaching observations (though I always got high marks for content, relationship with students and planning). As an inveterate individualist I found it hard to integrate all the Ofsted requirements throughout every lesson. It might have been a question of old dogs and new tricks: I was by far the oldest on the DTLLS course, and some of my younger colleagues took to androgogical teaching like ducks to water. I realised before the end of the course that I didn’t want to teach, even Creative Writing, full time in an educational institution, if I could possibly help it. As it turned out, the changing financial and political situation meant I wouldn’t have that option anyway. In early 2010, we heard of plans for redundancies among college teaching staff; 2015 January | 43
“I now found myself climbing another steep learning curve in relation to book design” a few weeks later our own tutors started disappearing; and before the end of the course, with even more stringent cuts planned for the next academic year, we realised there would be no jobs for DTLLS graduates to walk into at City College Norwich. I was shocked to hear that internal Adult Literacy courses would be slashed, and all those based outside the college scrapped completely. Functional Skills was becoming dysfunctional. When the course, and teaching practice, ended, we divided neatly into two groups. About half applied for (and achieved) teaching jobs in other colleges or schools (psychology, art and design, and hair and beauty were still popular subjects); the rest found work in other sectors where their DTLLS skills were usefully employed in a less directed way. One colleague became the sales manager of a corporate training company, and offered me freelance work as a trainer in Business Writing, Minute Taking and Time Management, which I still continue to do. City College did employ me – as a freelance trainer in Work-Life Balance and Well-being for staff personal development days over the next academic year. I found it strange and sometimes uncomfortable to be training my erstwhile tutors. I did apply for the few local teaching jobs I could conceivably have carried out – there were none in Adult Literacy – and was more or less relieved not to get any of them. I joined a supply teaching agency, was contacted once at 7.30am to see if I could get to a sixth form the other side of Norfolk by 8.45; with a slight twinge of guilt I said I couldn’t. I wasn’t called again. 44 | January 2015
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Just before we graduated, though, The Real Secret had found a publisher: Bookshaker, a niche publisher of business and self-help books turned out to be based in Norfolk, and also in need of freelance editors. After working as an author and editor with Joe Gregory for a few months, I could see a wider role for myself in the company and offered my services. A couple of tense weeks after I submitted a self-generated job application, Joe responded, creating the position of Commissioning Editor of Bookshaker for me. I don’t think my DTLLS qualification swung it, but it certainly gave me a more solid base for editing and working with writers, for training and communication, and also, through all those SOLs and lesson plans, for planning and project management. I now found myself climbing another steep learning curve in relation to contemporary book design, production and print-on-demand technology and administration. A couple of years later, having worked with a variety of authors, editors, designers and publicists, and absorbed much of the experience and business sense of Joe Gregory, I was pretty well versed in the publication of non-fiction ‘platform’ publishing. I was also having to turn down good books that didn’t fit the Bookshaker imprint or were too much of a risk to take on, and was missing a connection with fiction and creative writing. I started to think about how we could move into publishing fiction without compromising the lean, low risk business model of Bookshaker, and came up with Rethink Press. The concept evolved over months and many discussions with Joe – who had taken a principled stand against paid-for publishing when he first started Bookshaker. The publishing industry, though, had changed over that decade: far more writers were circumventing traditional publishers (those that take the financial risk on publishing a book and pay the author a low royalty) and had learned to self-publish. Many others were seeking a more comfortable route to publication to which they were happy to make a financial contribution in return for speed, greater control over the process and a more favourable royalty structure. Unfortunately, a number of large, predatory publishing companies were already out there offering poor but expensive author services and print-on-demand publication, giving ‘paid-for’ or ‘supported’ publishing a bad name. www.finecity.co.uk
FINEPEOPLE With the support of some Bookshaker and other authors who were keen to give our new service a try, we decided that an independent, curated press where good authors could contribute to the publication of their niche non-fiction books and new fiction works, in return for high royalties on sales, would be a viable business model. Run with integrity and offering quality service, Rethink Press could then also provide discretionary traditional publishing for books we loved or were convinced of making a return on, and competitions and bursaries to support new talent. We launched Rethink Press in 2012 with a New Novels Competition, which received entries from around the UK, but also the USA and other English-speaking territories. The standard was high and it was genuine coincidence that the three winners were all local to us. One of the reasons for this may be that East Anglia has some phenomenal organisations supporting writers, notably Writers Centre Norwich – and not for nothing was Norwich made UNESCO City of Literature the same year. Our winning novelists had won other awards and assessments and two had just missed out on commercial publication previously. It was a delight that they were all so thrilled to have won and to be published; and a pleasure to edit their diverse works. The more I worked with authors (on appraisals, coaching and editing as well as publication), the more I realised that teaching the Adult Literacy curriculum and the Access to HE Creative Writing course had given me insight into what many creative writers lacked in terms of both a grammar and a plot framework for their work. It had also shown me how to communicate these concepts in ways sometimes at odds with what they had been taught in school or on creative writing courses. When writers got to grips with sentence structure, basic punctuation rules (no, the rule about comma placement is not
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that it indicates where a pause in speech would fall) fell into place; from there it was easier to clarify the use of individual punctuation marks (especially my obsession with the semi-colon). Injecting the rules of classic plot structure could rescue well-written but flaccidly constructed stories by even experienced fiction authors who came to me for coaching. These HE teaching methodologies have proved revelatory to many creative writers, and a contrast to what they had encountered elsewhere. At the end of 2012, Suzan St Maur asked me to write an online course for her popular writing website, howtowritebetter.net. From January 2013 I wrote approximately 1,000 words weekly, over seven months, covering a focused approach to the technical aspects of fiction writing, from preparation and development through to editing and formatting a manuscript for publication. Unlike most other writers on this subject, I could combine the perspectives of author, editor, teacher and publisher. The course gained the highest number of hits the website had ever had, and formed the basis of the book, published by Rethink Press in October 2013, How To Write Fiction Without The Fuss. My only regret at the moment is that I’m currently too busy working with other authors to get their work honed and published – with Rethink or any other press – to take my own advice. As well as technique, you need headspace to create good fiction. But with everything I’ve learned over the last few years – in terms of writing and coaching, publishing and being published, learning to teach and teaching – I have every intention of having another shot at novel writing. I’ll take Mary Wesley and Penelope Fitzgerald as my late flowering, fiction role models and see, in a few years’ time, if I can once again practise what I preach. ❏
2015 January | 45
NORWICH PLAYHOUSE 2015 Norwich Playhouse’s new season offers a host of great comedy, jazz, drama and family shows
RICHARD HERRING, WHO WILL BE PERFORMING AT THE PLAYHOUSE ON SATURDAY 21ST MARCH
46 | January 2015
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MACMILLLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS
The Nimmo Twins - Norwich’s celebrated comic duo who sold out Norwich Theatre Royal and Norwich Playhouse last summer - return to the Playhouse in St George’s Street for a New Year comedy top-up with their hilarious show Normal for Norfolk 12: Fritton’s Got Talent previewing on Tues Jan 20th with performances from Wed 21st to Fri 23rd and from Mon 26th to Sat 31st. They’re always a hot ticket, so it’s another case of returns only. Keep close to the box office! And Karl Minns (one half of the famed Nimmos) turns up at the Playhouse with his new solo show Raining Diamonds (Thurs-Sat Apr 16th-18th) which tells the story of Miles, a boy born with a rare condition that stops him from loving. Funny, tender and surreal, the show’s a positive and negatively-charged ride from Africa to Berlin through a wet field just outside of Keswick. The reputation the Playhouse has for stand-up comedy is rated second to none and raising the curtain on the first ‘laugh’ of the new season (running to May) will be none other than Mark Watson (Wed-Sat Jan 14th17th). Other comedy acts include: Count Arthur Strong (Thurs/ Fri Feb 5/6); Paul Foot (Fri Feb 14th); Josie Long (Fri Feb 20th); Stephen K Amos (Fri Mar 6th); Jeremy Hardy (Tues Mar 10th & Wed Mar 18th); Richard Herring (Sat Mar 21st); Tom Stade (Fri Mar 27th); Lee Nelson
BE ROOM ON THE BROOM WILL UARY PERFORMED 12TH TO 15TH FEBR
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MARK WATSON, PERFORMING 14TH TO 17TH JANUARY
(Tues Mar 31st); Andy Parsons (Mon-Wed Apr 13th-15th). The Pasadena Roof Orchestra make their annual stomp to the Playhouse (Fri Jan 9th) offering a potpourri of hit numbers from the great American songbook penned by the likes of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and George Gershwin while Kenny Ball Junior and His Jazzmen (Sat Feb 21st) led by Keith Ball make their first visit to the Playhouse carrying on the jazz legacy left by Keith’s trumpet-playing father. The Playhouse always employs a good mix of children and family shows and during this season there are some good ones to pick from. David Wood’s Gingerbread Man (Sat Jan 17th), for instance, is a fantastic
PROPELLER PERFORMING ‘POCKET COMEDY’
story and will be told with magic and music while offering lots of audience participation to keep the show rolling while Room on the Broom (Thurs-Sun Feb 12th15th) focuses on a helpful dog, a bird and a frog in helping to find the witch’s lost things and in doing so manage to hitch a ride on her broom. And more magic springs to life in Cinder-Ella (Sat Feb 21st) which ushers kids into a world of fantasy with inventive puppetry and imaginative silliness in what promises a warm-hearted show in a signed performance set against a sparkling and tuneful score written by Italianborn composer, Rossini. London Contemporary Theatre return to the Playhouse in David
Wood’s adaptation of one of Roald Dahl’s best-loved stories Danny the Champion of the World (Wed-Fri Apr 1st-3rd) while Stick Man based on the book by Julia Donaldson (MonSun Apr 20th-26th) offers a blend of acting, puppetry and music to fire any youngsters’ imagination. Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, his shortest play, has been made even shorter in Propeller’s cut-down and stylish version entitled Pocket Comedy (condensed to just sixty minutes) playing for one night only on Wednesday March 4th. The production offers young audience members a good introduction to one of The Bard’s most farcical comedies which 2015 January | 47
FINEARTS focuses on two sets of estranged twins separated at birth who find themselves in the same city 25 years later with hilarious consequences. A double-bill of Wilde Without The Boy (Thurs Mar 12th) dramatises the letter Oscar wrote to his lover from his prison cell and The Ballad of Reading Gaol written after his release and containing perhaps one of his most beautiful and best remembered lines: ‘Yet each man kills the thing he loves.’ The show - offering a glimpse into the bruised loving soul of Wilde’s genius - promises an amazing evening in the company of a chastened but still brilliant and hilarious Wilde portrayed by Olivier Award nominated and The Stage Best Solo Performer Award winner plus RSC actor, Gerard Logan. And to close the season the award-winning English-based folk-band The Demon Barbers - which fuses traditional folk instruments with drums and electric bass guitar - will fiddle and dance the night away in what promises a lively and energetic gig on Saturday May 2nd featuring some stunning dancing comprising clog, sword and hip-hop - and, maybe, more! The band’s a winner all the way and won the Best Live Act at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2009 and was nominated for the same award in 2011. Caroline Richardson, director of Norwich Playhouse, said: ‘The Playhouse is a very exciting place to be and we are immensely proud and happy to be able to offer such an exciting and varied new season. One show I’m particularly looking forward to revisiting is Grounded, an Edinburgh Fringe First Winner in 2013 when I first saw it. A gripping play, it’s about the feelings of a woman, once a hot-rod F16 fighter pilot and then grounded because pregnant. Now she can only sit in an airconditioned trailer in Las Vegas flying remote-controlled drones over the Middle East, hunting terrorists by day and being a wife and mother by night. The play’s one of the best from the Fringe and comes to us on Wednesday February 11th.’ ❏ 48 | January 2015
THE DEMON BARBERS WILL BE AT THE PLAYHOUSE ON SATURDAY 2ND MAY
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FINEARTS A taste of the new season! But, of course, there’s more! There always is at the Playhouse. To obtain the full info about the season check out the Playhouse’s website at www.norwichplayhouse. co.uk or pick up a programme brochure from the Playhouse box office situated at Norwich Theatre Royal (01603 598598) or from the Playhouse itself as well as sites in and around the city and county.
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2015 January | 49
Stunning, responsive websites from the creators of
www.spidercreativemedia.co.uk
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EDWARD SCISSORHANDS
HUGO GLENDINNING
New Adventures, Martin McCallum and Marc Platt are delighted to announce that Edward Scissorhands, devised, directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne will be on stage at the Theatre Royal Tuesday 3 – Saturday 7 February
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2015 January | 51
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N
ew Adventures magical production of Edward Scissorhands has carved a place in the hearts of thousands across the world since its premiere in 2005. After sell out performances in Europe, America and Australia this spectacular modern fairy tale returns to the UK in its first major revival. The iconic title role will be played by two popular New Adventures stars, Dominic North and Liam Mower. Dominic has played leading roles in most New Adventures productions including Nutcracker!, The Car Man, Early Adventures and Swan Lake. He recently created the role of Leo in Sleeping Beauty and will soon appear as Ralph in Lord of the Flies, a role he created in 2011. He returns to Edward Scissorhands having made his debut in the role at the Sydney Opera House in 2007. He went on to be nominated for a National Dance Award as Outstanding Male Dancer for this performance. Liam Mower is the Olivier award-winning original star of the West End hit, Billy Elliot. This will be his fifth show for New Adventures having most recently been seen as Count Lilac in Sleeping Beauty and The Prince in Swan Lake, receiving rave reviews for his performance on the current UK tour. His other credits include Nutcracker! and Play Without Words. Full casting will be announced shortly. Matthew Bourne said “In 2005 I achieved a long-time ambition to bring Edward Scissorhands to the stage, and I am proud that New Adventures remains the only company globally to present this contemporary fairy tale classic. I remain supremely grateful to the original creators of the beloved movie, Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, and Caroline Thompson for their continued trust, support and openness in allowing us to develop this wonderful cinematic classic for another medium. The enthusiastic reaction of audiences throughout the world seems to have justified that trust and we are delighted to be bringing this magical production back for a new generation of dance lovers and theatregoers to enjoy” Based on the classic Tim Burton film and featuring the beautiful and unforgettable music by Danny Elfman and Terry Davies, this touching love story tells the bittersweet story of a boy created by a lonely inventor who dies leaving him alone and unfinished. Left with only scissors for hands, Edward must find his place in a strange suburban world where the well meaning community struggle to see past his appearance to the innocence and gentleness within. Edward Scissorhands is devised, directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, with music and arrangements by Terry Davies including themes from the motion picture by Danny Elfman. Based on the original motion picture by arrangement with 20th Century Fox, original story and motion picture directed by Tim Burton, original screenplay, story and co-adaptation by Caroline Thompson. Set and Costumes designed by Lez Brotherston, lighting designed by Howard Harrison and sound design by Paul Groothuis. Matthew Bourne Matthew Bourne is widely hailed as the UK’s most popular and successful choreographer/ director. He is the creator of the world’s longest running ballet production (Swan Lake), a five-time Olivier Award winner, and the only British director to have won Tony Awards for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical. Matthew Bourne has been the Artistic Director of New Adventures (formally Adventures in Motion Pictures) since 1987. During those 25 years he has created new audiences for dance with groundbreaking work both at home and internationally, including Nutcracker!, Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Car Man, Play Without Words, Edward Scissorhands, Dorian Gray and Sleeping Beauty. Bourne has also choreographed several major revivals of classic musicals, including Cameron Mackintosh’s productions of Oliver! (1994 and 2009) and My Fair Lady (2002). In 2004 Bourne 52 | January 2015
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“IN 2005 I ACHIEVED A LONG-TIME AMBITION TO BRING EDWARD SCISSORHANDS TO THE STAGE” MATTHEW BOURNE, DIRECTOR AND CHOREOGRAPER
RICHARD WINSOR, MAMI TOMOTANI AND ETTA MURFITT
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co-directed (with Richard Eyre) and choreographed (with Stephen Mear) the West End and Broadway hit, Mary Poppins. Matthew Bourne has twice been nominated as Best Director at the Olivier Awards and his achievements in choreography have been recognized with over 50 international awards including The Evening Standard Award, South Bank Show Award, Time Out Award and the Astaire Award for Dance on Broadway. In the 2001 New Years Honours, Matthew was awarded an OBE for Services to Dance from HM The Queen and in 2003 he was the recipient of the prestigious Hamburg Shakespeare Prize for the Arts. In 2010 he was the first recipient of The British Inspiration Award and this year received the De Valois Award at the National Dance Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Dance. Bourne is a Resident Artist at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, where New Adventures was invited to be Resident Company in 2006. New Adventures New Adventures is the UK’s most in demand contemporary Dance/ Theatre touring company. Under the inspired leadership of Artistic Director, Matthew Bourne, it has, over the last 25 years, changed the landscape of British dance with an award-winning repertory of works that have brought unprecedented new audiences to theatres throughout the UK and internationally. Matthew Bourne and his team of world-class collaborators have consistently produced some of the most successful dance productions ever staged. Since its formation in 2002, New Adventures has created an enviable repertory of acclaimed new works (Play Without Words, Edward Scissorhands, Dorian Gray, Lord Of The Flies and Sleeping Beauty) as well as new productions of popular favourites from Matthew Bourne’s former company, Adventures In Motion Pictures (1987-2002) - Nutcracker!, Swan www.finecity.co.uk
Lake, Highland Fling, The Car Man, Cinderella and the mixed programme Early Adventures. The Company regularly employs over 60 dancers annually, and they are widely recognised as the finest group of actor/dancers working in the UK today. New Adventures is proud to be Resident Company at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London where it regularly performs record-breaking extended seasons. The company annually undertakes extensive country-wide touring, appearing at more venues and giving more performances each year than any other UK dance company. British dance’s biggest export for over 10 years, New Adventures has performed seasons at the world’s most iconic venues (Sydney Opera House, New York City Center, The Chatalet in Paris, The Kennedy Center, Washington and The Moscow Arts Theatre) the most prestigious Festivals (Edinburgh, Ravenna and Chekhov International Festivals) and regularly tours to Japan, the USA, Australia, Europe and Russia. Mixing popular appeal with a groundbreaking and unique theatrical language, New Adventures is one of the great success stories of British Theatre. The Company has notched up a staggering ten Olivier nominations for its productions, has won the Manchester Evening News Dance Award five times and was given a Special TMA award for its commitment to national touring. 2012’s 25th Anniversary celebration saw the company performing six diverse works at 32 UK venues. This culminated in the World Premiere of Matthew Bourne’s latest hit production of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty in October 2012. Sleeping Beauty recently completed a sell-out tour of the U.S. ❏ Norwich, Theatre Royal Tuesday 3 – Saturday 7 February 2015 www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk 2015 January | 55
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The New Season at Maddermarket Upcoming events in 2015 as well as news of the recent refurbishment
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he Maddermarket Theatre Norwich are Re Launching as never before. There will be lots of photographic evidence available as well as a number of key events celebrating all the areas of refurbishment as well as those areas still undergoing change. The endless stories of how it’s all be taking place over the summer and autumn of 2014 are now almost ready to share, and we invite you to come and visit the theatre, so we can take you on a tour and share with you the many truly inspiring upgrading/uplifting that is so apparent throughout. Examples of the New Year – New Maddermarket Theatre are: 1. A complete refurbished and rebuilt theatre bar & art gallery. We have gone into partnership with Redwell Brewery of Trouse, who collectively with us have shared the costs of transforming the actual bar into something to be proud of. Features include bespoke wine rack shelving and real oak bar tops and back walls. Modernisation of all our work areas behind the bar, unique copper lighting and timeless herring bone style black & white tiling on the front of the bar. Another bespoke aspect is our new glass display units on the top of the bar, with many of the theatre’s plays under glass from over 100 years of performances on display. 2. The new Visual Arts Gallery has been re designed from scratch, perhaps in better shape than when it was first opened in the late 1960s. Mike King has become the visual arts coordinator, and already we have a very impressive line up of Norfolk artists exhibiting throughout 2015. Artists will pay £200 per month to hang their work, once their work has 56 | January 2015
been accepted, they will receive strong support including having their exhibition featured in our 3 x yearly Maddermarket Theatre brochure going out to 26,000 people. A Private Viewing launch night will also take place for each artist, with a 65/35 split in favour of the artist on sales. 3. New carpet has just been laid throughout the public areas of the theatre, including in our newly refurbished Corporate/members Balcony. This rather tired area of the theatre has at last been lifted up to its full potential, and is about to play host to our new 12 Production Sponsors, another first for the theatre. 4. A Vast Picture Montage has just been hung on our main feature wall in the Bar/Gallery, featuring production photos from the last 100 years of the Norwich Players productions at the Maddermarket Theatre. This would have cost well over £3,500 and has been sponsored by two of our 12 sponsors, GGS Photography & Anglia Print Ltd. Our Mad Red Youth Theatre Company is also celebrated on the landing to the balcony, a blast of colour and energy. 5. About our new sponsors: Importantly, as with any good plan, we knew we had to spend and save and bring in money, all at the same time. And to this end we have reached out and secured a completely new partnership with no less than 12 new businesses and individuals, all of whom, like us, share a long term passion of this beautifully situated theatre space in the centre of Norwich. They are: Hansells Solicitors, our new Principal Sponsors, whose generous financial support helped to
realise our ambitions, all within our first year of running the theatre. Redwell Brewery, in partnership with us for the new bar, with a commitment from both parties to develop and work together for 3 years. GGS Photography & Anglia Print Ltd, sponsors of our stunning picture montages. Sonkai Jewellers, who have sponsored our beautiful Yamaha C3 black Grand Piano. Their generosity means all bar events will be associated with this bespoke jewellery shop in Pottergate. Newmakers PR, their connections in public relations throughout Norfolk and beyond has already proved enormously valuable to us and there are many new promotional plans with them in 2015. Maddermaket Theatre Friends, this everlasting group of supporters will be helping to pay for many of the items in our refurbishment programme, including the all new men & ladies toilets, due to be fully modernised in the early part of 2015. The Friends are also contributing to the new carpet throughout, as well as the much anticipated refurbishment of our newly named Emmerson Studio Theatre space, to be named after our famous Artistic Director here, who helped make the theatre what it is today; the official opening to be announced soon. Head In The Clouds’ sponsorship is enabling us to forge ahead with refurbishment at a colossal speed, and their support can been seen in the new state of the art lighting in the bar/gallery. Wensum Point Carpets have generously fitted our new carpet at a cost far less than would normally be the case, and this has meant we have been able to secure quality and long lasting quality at that. Thorns of Pottergate,
have supplied us with endless amounts of Deluxe Paint, all of which has been lovingly painted by our army of volunteers, without whom we would not be able to achieve this highly ambitious program. (Many wonderful case studies/profiles with our volunteers) Arnolds Keys estate agents have also showed their generosity by sponsoring the theatre and their support will help towards our new merchandise area of the foyer. RD Guest Plumbing, have installed our historic courtyard www.finecity.co.uk
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The Jive Aces cottage with central heating for the first time, this means we will have a number of businesses operating in partnership with us from the start of 2015, Joint Creative directors office, Mad Red Theatre School office as well as it being the new offices for the Hostry Festival, Total Ensemble Theatre Company, Chamber Orchestra Anglia and The Norfolk Arts Awards, another example of connecting with Norfolk based projects, all now operating and developing from the Maddermarket Theatre, Norwich. ❏ www.finecity.co.uk
Saturday 10th January 7.30pm All seats £15.00 The Jive Aces are the UK’s No.1 Jive & Swing band and are renowned worldwide for their high-energy swinging music, spectacular live show and being the first live band to reach the final rounds of “Britain’s Got Talent”. The band’s live set includes songs from their latest album “King of the Swingers” featuring such classics as: “Bare Necessities”; “Mack The Knife”; “Sing, Sing, Sing” and their hit version of Morcambe & Wise’s “Bring Me Sunshine”. This extremely in-demand sextet have
worked with Van Morrison and Status Quo as well as performing for HM The Queen. The Jive Aces have bought down the house at thousands of festivals, theatres, dancehalls and major events in over 30 countries, including Buckingham Palace for the Coronation Festival and Trafalgar Square for the Olympics. “The Jive Aces have to be one of the most entertaining and multi-talented acts around. Brilliant musicianship combined with a madcap sense of fun on stage” – The Stage. Go to www.jiveaces.com for more information. 2015 January | 57
FINEARTS The Jongleurs Comedy Club Friday 9th January 8.00pm (bar open from 6.30pm) The UK’s number one comedy company is coming to the Maddermarket Theatre. Come along with your friends and enjoy two hours of top stand-up from Jongleurs, with the biggest and brightest stars on the comedy circuit. Book your tickets now and get ready for one of the funniest nights you’ll have this year! (Suitable for over 18’s only).
Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti. Translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans 22nd – 31st January 7.30pm (2.30pm matinee on Saturday 31st January) Tickets £12 / £10 / £8 Student prices available by request at the box office A Classic farce of the sixties, Boeing Boeing revolves around Bernard, an American architect residing in Paris and having the time of his life. He is engaged to three stewardesses from three different airlines, and none of them are aware of the others existence. When Robert, an old school chum comes to stay and the new, faster, Boeing aircraft is introduced to the routes causing schedule and roster changes for the fiancées, Bernard’s life takes a serious change for the chaotic. In 1991 the Guinness Book of Records had this play listed as the most performed French play throughout the world and in a recent revival in London Boeing Boeing proved to be a big hit with critics and audiences alike, receiving two Olivier award nominations.
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Words & Images: Studiocanal
The origins of a 21st Century Paddington
addington Bear was first introduced to children in Michael Bond’s 1958 book, A Bear Called Paddington and the subsequent Paddington Bear series has sold over 35 million copies and been translated into 40 languages. The antics of the little bear from Darkest Peru, whose perfect manners and good intentions frequently lead to comical mishaps and moments of high chaos, have captured hearts the world over and the stories are now internationally recognised as modern children’s classics. It’s perhaps surprising that it has taken so long for Paddington Bear to be made into a film. Following several incarnations for the small screen -including a hugely successful 56-episode British television series which began in 1975, designed and directed by Ivor Wood for FilmFair with the distinctive narration of Michael Hordern -this particular Paddington marks the very first time that author Michael Bond has given his blessing for his beloved characters to be brought to the big screen. Certainly, as David Heyman (producer of all 8 record-breaking Harry Potter films) explains, these are stories that have a modern- day relevance which is ready to be shared: “When I revisited the Paddington Bear stories -over 9 years ago now -I was immediately struck by how funny they were. They made me laugh, but equally, they moved me. Paddington is, in essence, a universal story -about an outsider in search of a home – one that we all can relate to.” Executive Producer Rosie Alison who instigated the idea of bringing Paddington to the cinema, has her own take on the appeal of the original stories to a 21st century audience: “Like David, I had read the stories of Paddington Bear as a child and I always loved the idea that you have London -the ‘big city’- and this polite, hat-raising, English-speaking bear just walking around, travelling on the underground, using the buses… That ‘fish-out-of-water’ aspect had always delighted me as a child and we felt it was ripe for modern cinema and a new generation.”
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Then came the task of finding the right filmmaker to bring Paddington to life. David Heyman says, “I had always been an admirer of Paul King’s work: his comic sensibility, his vivid imagination and his work with actors. I was watching his first film Bunny And The Bull and was struck by one sequence in which the sets were essentially line drawings in the style of Ivor Wood’s Paddington TV series. Paul came in for a meeting and I discovered not only was he passionate about Paddington but he knew the stories and the various TV series better than I did! Those first conversations were so exciting 4 and inspiring and so he joined us on the journey, developing the project, first working with Hamish McColl on a draft and then writing his own script.” Heyman continues, “Paul King is one of the most exciting talents to emerge from the UK in recent years. He is like Paddington is so many ways—charming, polite, principled, full of heart, with a sense of wonder and yes, he also has a bit of a belly.”
Please Look After This Bear. Thank You Paul King explains how he adapted the Paddington stories into a feature film: “Like most people of my generation, I have very fond memories of Paddington from childhood. I grew up with the FilmFair animations and his teddy bear took pride of place in my bedroom, but it wasn’t until I revisited the stories as an adult that I asked why this particular character had so entranced me. There’s no shortage of talking animals in children’s literature, but few have the enduring appeal of Paddington. For me, the secret lies in his label: “Please Look After This Bear. Thank you”. Despite this little bear’s outward calm and self-assurance, it tells us that inside, he is vulnerable and in need of help in a frightening new world. At some point in their lives, everyone has felt like an outsider. You don’t need to have been one of the evacuees who inspired the image of the lost soul sitting on a platform with a label around his neck, or to have escaped danger like Paddington’s friend
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Mr. Gruber, or to have crossed oceans like the Windrush immigrants who were settling in Notting Hill around the time Michael Bond wrote the first stories (and whose music fills our soundtrack). You only need to have had your first day at school or spent a night away from home to empathise with the little bear, lost and alone – and to me it is this that has made generations of readers’ hearts go out to him. Michael Bond and I were both keen that the narrative of the film didn’t interfere with the enjoyment of the stories in the books, which are familiar to so many. All the famous set pieces from the opening of the first book are in there, from his discovery at the railway station wearing nothing but a hat and label to a messy visit to the tearoom, his disastrous first encounter with a bathroom and trip into the underground. And while we meet Paddington earlier in the film than we do in the first book, our Paddington’s history is faithful to the background Michael Bond developed in later stories. But the fifth chapter of A Bear Called Paddington begins ‘Paddington soon settled down and became one of the family’ and I felt here there was space for a longer narrative. After this point, the Paddington stories are much shorter and more self-contained and it felt Paddington’s unexplored transition from calamitous outsider to one of the family was the perfect space for a film story, one that chimed with the heart of what makes Paddington such a special character. Like Oliver Twist before him, Paddington arrives in London as an orphan in search of a home. But while it takes Oliver a long time to find Mr. Brownlow, Paddington stumbles across the Browns almost straight away. However, getting a roof over one’s head and feeling at home are two very different things, and this is the journey he embarks upon in our film. The flip side of Paddington’s story is, of course, the transition the (initially reluctant) Browns make from spotting Paddington to welcoming him into their family. When we first met, I asked Michael Bond about Mr and Mrs Brown and he told me that they were inspired by his own parents. I asked him what their reaction would have been 62 | January 2015
to seeing a scruffy young bear and he said “My mother would have wanted to give him a bath and my father would have worried about the paperwork.” These conflicting attitudes felt like a great source of drama, and Henry’s reluctance to get involved with the scruffy young cub reminded me of one of my favourite films, The Kid. The Little Tramp starts out as a very reluctant father. His first instinct is to unload the child (down the drain if need be). Like him, our Mr. Brown feels that Paddington isn’t their responsibility. He’s quite happy to leave the little bear sleeping in a bin if need be. He’s not a bad man – he just wants to get his family home safely – but this protective instinct has interfered with his better instincts towards strangers. By the end of The Kid, the Little Tramp would do anything for his adoptive child, and the rooftop chase at the end of the film is all the more heart-breaking because of the journey he has been on. Taking inspiration from this, I felt that Mr Brown could go on a journey every bit as transformative as Paddington, and that it would make the film much richer for it”.
A Bear is Born Paddington Bear is a character instantly recognisable by his battered red hat, his blue duffle coat and his quirky smile -and this iconic look was preserved by the filmmakers. As Rosie Alison confirms, “The original Peggy Fortnum illustrations from the late 1950s were definitely our key inspiration. We looked to combine these beautiful line drawings with references to real bear cubs. Our wonderful team at Framestore was then able to bridge the gap between the two, imaginatively and sympathetically. But there were a great many drawings and concepts along the way!” Paul King continues, “Peggy Fortnum’s Paddington looks much more like a real bear cub than later versions and is, to my mind, all the more appealing for it. Her Paddington has much more of a bear’s snout, he’s more slender (than later versions) and to me felt much www.finecity.co.uk
FINEARTS “MY MOTHER WOULD HAVE WANTED TO GIVE HIM A BATH AND MY FATHER WOULD HAVE WORRIED ABOUT THE PAPERWORK” more like a bear cub than a teddy bear -in fact, like a slightly scruffy urchin.” As Paul has admitted, Oliver Twist was a strong influence when developing the script and this reference point continued to be a visual inspiration for the overall ‘look’ of the bear. The process of ‘creating’ Paddington was, as one might expect, tremendously collaborative. This computer-generated and wholly animated bear -standing at 3’6” without his hat and 3’9” with it on -needed to exist in a real world, alongside real people and places and this involved the vision and skills of many. The director, the producers, a team of 500 animators, compositors and VFX crew, as well as the more ‘traditional’ departments of Costume, Set and Lighting Design all played a significant part in bringing the bear to life. Every detail of the way Paddington looks, speaks and moves is of paramount importance if an audience is to successfully engage with him. Andy Kind (VFX and CG Supervisor) and Pablo Grillo, (Animation Director), along with the huge VFX team at Framestore, have been responsible for creating such fantastical characters as Dobby the
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House Elf and the Hippogriffs in the Harry Potter series. Andy found working on Paddington more challenging than anything he had every worked on. “Designing a wholly computer-generated character is always very tricky -Paddington is entirely CGI and a very physical character, and how he interacts with the ‘real world’ is incredibly important in helping us believe in him -getting it right, down to the little details of the wind ruffling 12 his fur, or his tummy wobbling as he walks, is crucial to making him entirely realistic within his environment.” King cannot praise the huge team of collaborators highly enough; “There’s a sense that because this kind of work is all done on computers, there’s no artistry involved -but on the contrary, it’s created by extraordinarily talented artists, who hand-finish every single frame. The precise angle of an eyebrow or the way the light glints off his eye at a certain moment can make or break a shot, and each of them go through literally hundreds and hundreds of revisions before we are all satisfied. It’s enormously labour-intensive work which cannot be undertaken without a huge amount of love and dedication -I think the results have been quite extraordinary.” Naturally, a great many elements came in to play in creating a 21st century Paddington, which would be loyal to Bond’s imagination and also to Fortnum’s earliest drawings, though at the same time contemporary and infinitely more ‘real’. Animation Director Pablo Grillo and his team at Framestore found the simplicity of Paddington’s original style -a battered hat and a duffle coat - a great help in building on the origins of the character. 64 | January 2015
Input from the film’s costume designer -the Oscar-winning Lindy Hemming -was also key, particularly if she had any plans to play with this iconic look. Says Lindy, “From the beginning I tried to approach it as if Paddington was a real character, because he is of course -and as a known character, he came with obvious demands and some pressure to get him just right. But I have to say, the same questions come in to play as for any character -for example, where has that hat come from? How well does it fit him and how does he wear it when he walks?” Interestingly, the decision was made by the filmmakers not to give Paddington Wellington boots – perhaps one of the most recognisable elements of his look over the years. The boots were actually introduced for the purposes of allowing the Paddington teddy bears to stand on their own two feet! It’s worth noting however that the obligatory marmalade sandwich -on hand for emergencies -does remain firmly under Paddington’s hat. As with Gary Williamson’s production design, Hemming’s costumes continued to explore the thematic use of colour, helping to anchor characters and their choices. “From the very beginning we knew Paddington’s primary colours were to be ‘blue’ (for the duffle coat) and ‘red’ (for the hat) and this is then linked to those he meets and the influence he has on them -particularly Mr. and Mrs. Brown. You start to weave these colours into their stories and into the children’s, too, to illustrate aspects and traits of their parents within them.” Paddington’s influence on those he meets and the impact he has on the Brown family in particular is fascinating when explored via www.finecity.co.uk
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“OUR PADDINGTON IS STRONGLY IN THE SPIRIT OF WHAT HAS COME BEFORE” this use of colour and clothing. For example, uptight Mr Brown, who we initially meet in a very formal grey suit and blue tie, begins to wear a little more red and a more relaxed structure to his clothing as he warms to Paddington and re-kindles his relationship with his wife. With Paddington’s distinctive look in place, King and Grillo worked extensively in pre-production as well as on set to begin to establish the way that Paddington would move. 13 Working with the wonderful physical theatre performer, Javier Marzan, and with Cal McCrystal, the acclaimed theatre and comedy director -they filmed references for each scene that would be used by the animators to help define Paddington’s movement. To most effectively place this living, breathing, tumbling Paddington within his environment, a ‘stuffed bear’ model was created by Nick Dudman, which was used as a lighting reference for the VFX team, capturing the way Paddington’s fur caught the light as he interacted with ‘real’ performers and his tangible surroundings. As Grillo explains, “This film is an opportunity to generate a great www.finecity.co.uk
comedy character -in the vein of Jacques Tati or Buster Keaton” and the VFX team had great fun marrying the character’s inherent comedic charm with something childlike, not to mention bear-like. Agrees Paul King -“There’s something completely ageless about Paddington -it seems to me he is part eight year old and part eighty -that’s what’s so charming about him: that he has the manners of a grown up, slightly out of his time and the enthusiasm of a rambunctious young boy!” The intention is that with Paddington, the classic touches of humour and the display of good manners which define this Peruvian hero for so many readers, will be fully realised for a new generation. As Heyman is keen to point out, “It’s a contemporary story, using the most contemporary technology and we are creating our very own Paddington Bear, but our Paddington is strongly in the spirit of what has come before”. Indeed, there are reassuringly familiar touches throughout the film and several of the comic mishaps will be instantly recognisable to those generations that devoured Bond’s stories as children -with a few modern twists thrown in for a new generation. At the heart of the film however is a story that’s entirely ageless. As Rosie Alison points out, “Paddington is really the quintessential refugee and Paul has woven in all sorts of other echoes of the immigrant story. So we’ve very much got a portrait of London as this tolerant city where people are welcomed and can be different and still fit in and it’s a journey we take with Paddington. It’s a story about compassion, tolerance, empathy…and Paddington Bear sits very much in that tradition because it’s about the kindness of strangers and being open to understanding others”. Perhaps Paul King best sums up the message of the film, as we see a somewhat disconnected family take in a stranger and have their lives upturned, then altered for the better: “Bad for their plumbing, good for their hearts -that’s our tag line!” And what of Michael Bond’s thoughts on this big screen debut for his little bear? On the enduring appeal of Paddington for new generations and a modern audience, he explains “Over the years the world has speeded up, but Paddington still does everything at his own pace and people are envious of that -they love his optimism and enjoy his own peculiar logic.” He continues, “Paddington has been an important part of our family for almost sixty years now, and although he is well able to take care of himself, he is a very small bear and it’s a big world out there…” Having been fully involved in the process of making Paddington over the last few years, the author is thrilled with the results. “Ben Whishaw’s voice marries extremely well with the character of Paddington. Bears are said to fall on their feet and it is certainly true in Paddington’s very first film. The expertise of the Producers and Director, coupled with the warmth of the welcome he has 14 received from all around, cast and technicians alike, has been so real and unsparing... it is infectious!” ❏ 2015 January | 65
Searching Locally for your Norfolk Ancestry Professional gaeneologist GILL BLANCHARD tells us where to find the best local resources for tracing our family tree.
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any people these days start tracing their family history by using one or more of the major commercial websites such as Ancestry, findmypast or The Genealogists, but these are only the start. There is so much more that can be discovered in local archives and via less well known local online resources. Norfolk is an exciting place to live and conduct research, with the county motto of ‘Do Different’ summing up its character perfectly. It was one of the wealthiest and most populated counties before the Industrial Revolution with thriving trade links across the world. As a result it has a diverse and fascinating history which is reflected in the documentary records that can be found. It is perhaps no
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coincidence then that the county has what is believed to be the largest and most complete collections of archives outside of The National Archives. Norfolk Archives, Heritage Centres and Museums We are fortunate when researching Norfolk Ancestors in that there is one central archive centre where the majority of records can be accessed. The Norfolk Record Office can be found in the Archive Centre next to County Hall on the edge of the city. It shares its space with a Sound Archive of oral histories and the East Anglian Film Archive; a moving image archive for the region operated by the University of East Anglia. The archive centre has a long gallery which features fascinating displays of local archive material. In addition to
which the education and outreach department holds a regular programme of events, talks and behind the scenes tours. Some archives are held at a small satellite office in King’s Lynn, which is open once a week. There is also a Norfolk Heritage Centre housed in the millennium library in the city centre, which is responsible for local history material as part of the library service. Both organisations have microfilm or fiche copies of many of the key resources for family history research held by each other such as parish registers, wills, census returns and electoral registers. However, there are some collections which are not duplicated. Newspapers and Ordnance Survey Maps for instance can only be found at the heritage centre, whilst you will have to go to the record office for
certain items such as most other maps, deeds, estate records and any documents not on film. The record office is open from 9-5pm, Mondays to Fridays and 7pm on Thursdays, whilst the heritage centre stays open until 8pm on weekdays and 5pm on Saturdays. Some records relating to parishes in the west of the county where it joins Cambridgeshire are kept at the Wisbech and Fenland Museum www.wisbechmuseum.org.uk. This is because historically they came under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ely and not the Bishop of Norwich. In addition to which, Cambridgeshire Record Office holds the parish registers and records for the west Norfolk parish of Welney and probate records for the Ely diocese, including those for Emneth in Norfolk. However, www.finecity.co.uk
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film copies of many of these can still be accessed at Norfolk Record Office. The record office has access to all the main records for tracing Norfolk ancestors. Whilst there is no overall index to every document within every collection at the record office their card indexes and online catalogue will help you narrow down useful references to follow up on. Sources include the most well known such as census returns; parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials; poor law records from circa 1600 to the 1830s; cemetery records; nonconformist registers of Baptists, Methodists and Quakers and so on; wills; workhouse, prison and asylum records and maps from the 1500s to present day. Less known collections that are just as useful include apprenticeship and freemen’s records from Norwich, King’s Lynn and Great Yarmouth dating from the thirteenth century. These can provide genealogical information as well as insights into the world of work in the past, as do the large collection of diaries and letters written by people from all walks of life. Norfolk also has a huge number of manorial records dating from www.finecity.co.uk
the 1300s to the early 1900s which can be used to trace the buying, selling, leasing and inheritance of land. Another example is estate records which can contain deeds recording land ownership; details of tenancies and farm improvement schemes; diaries; maps; marriage contracts; disputes between neighbours; local and national events as well as information on who worked for the families who owned them. The Lee-Warner Estate collection from Little Walsingham in North Norfolk is one such treasure trove. One of my favourite finds is their servants’ wages book, 1832-1885. This lists the amount of wages paid to indoor servants with some entries including details of previous employers, where servants lived, reasons for leaving or dismissal and comments on personal character. Amongst the few men listed was Robert Tooke, who was taken on as a potman “with an excellent character from Mrs. Cubitt” in August 1836. Robert was to receive £30 per year, or £20 if two suits of livery were provided, with a price list for the suits included. When Maria Land entered service as a cook in 1839 her travel expenses from Tacolneston where her
OPPOSITE: THE NORFOLK RECORD OFFICE ABOVE LEFT: THE FORUM IN NORWICH, WHICH HOUSES THE NORFOLK HERITAGE CENTRE ABOVE RIGHT: ENTRY FOR ROBERT TOOKE IN THE LEEWARNER ESTATE SERVANT’S WAGES BOOK, 1832-1885 (NRO, LEEW BOX 2 NO 2)
Useful Addresses Norfolk Record Office The Archive Centre, Martineau Lane, Norwich NR1 2DQ Email: norfrec@norfolk.gov.uk www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk Norfolk Heritage Centre Second Floor, Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library, The Forum, Millennium Plain, Norwich NR2 1AW libraries@norfolk.go.uk www.norfolk.gov.uk/heritagecentre Norfolk Family History Society Kirby Hall, 70 Saint Giles Street, Norwich NR2 1LS www.norfolkfhs.org.uk Mid Norfolk Family History Society Meetings held at 7.30pm on the third Wednesday of each month at the Trinity Methodist Church Hall, Theatre Street, East Dereham. www.tsites.co.uk/sites/mnfhs Gressenhall Rural Life Museum Gressenhall, Dereham NR20 4DT Email: gressenhall.museum@norfolk.gov.uk www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk True’s Yard King’s Lynn North Street, King’s Lynn PE30 1QW Email: trues.yard@virgin.net www.welcome.to/truesyard
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FINELIVING and resources relating to the workhouse and Norfolk generally. Family History Societies Again, we are very fortunate in Norfolk in having a family history society based in its own building at Kirby Hall, St Giles Street, Norwich. The Norfolk Family History Society (NFHS) has a large library of local and family history publications, film copies of records, and thousands of indexes and transcripts to parish registers, memorial inscriptions and other sources. Members are encouraged to deposit a copy of their family trees for others to consult and the society has a
friends lived were paid and she was given £16 a year wages without tea and sugar “having lived with good character at Mrs. Tuck’s of Wortham near Eye”. However, she was given notice the following year for not being economical enough, but retained following an apology. Although her wages were increased to £18 a year in January 1841, by April they were reduced to £17 as “having been discovered giving meat for supper”. Despite these setbacks she was still working for the family in 1858. The Norfolk Heritage Centre evolved out of the former local studies library and concentrates on collecting published material. It has a huge collection of local newspapers, which include the earliest regional newspaper in England. Published extracts from the Norfolk Chronicle from 1800 to 1900 can be found on the shelves of both the heritage centre and record office. Their collection of news cuttings date from the late nineteenth century 68 | January 2015
regular programme of speakers. Regional meetings are held in Diss and London. The Mid Norfolk Family History Society covers a 10-mile radius around East Dereham. Its members have produced numerous transcripts to records as well as recording gravestones for most, if not all of the parishes in that area. Meeting are held monthly. ❏ LEFT: NEWSCUTTING ABOUT THE DEATH OF PERCY HOWLETT FROM THE CARROW WORKS MAGAZINE, 1918 (NHC: SELECTIVE NEWSCUTTINGS COLLECTION) BELOW: THE NORFOLK FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY BOTTOM: ANDREW MACNAIR’S DIGITAL REDRAWING OF FADEN’S MAP
and includes birth, marriage and death notices, obituaries and items of local interest. I have found many articles relating to people serving in the First World War, often accompanied by photographs, which would be hard to find otherwise. Their shelves also hold numerous local histories and publications, many out of print or published privately, for example, poll books, biographies of the Mayors of Norwich and trade directories from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Family history resources can be found at a number of other places in Norfolk. True’s Yard Fishing Heritage Museum in King’s Lynn has a large amount of family and local history resources. These include photographs, indexes and transcripts. Another interesting museum is the Gressenhall Rural Life Museum based in a former workhouse near East Dereham. As well as being a working farm it contains a number of artefacts www.finecity.co.uk
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Online Resources Norfolk Record Office www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk. There are several local websites that are fantastically useful (and often free). There are a couple of essential websites that provide access to a range of references and images from the record office, heritage centre and museums. The first of these is the Norfolk Record Office website which includes an online catalogue called NROCAT. Whilst it is does not yet include references to every document held there it is rapidly growing. As well as being able to find out what parish registers exist for a particular place, it has several searchable indexes and transcripts to particular collections of documents. These include every will and administration granted by a Norfolk church court before 1858 and some poor law records such as removal orders, settlement certificates and examinations. The indexes to removal orders and settlement certificates include the main details from the original records whilst those to settlement examinations just have people’s names, ages, occupations and parishes involved. Indexes to the fascinating and sometimes macabre Norwich City Coroner’s records which date from around 1660 to the early 1800s can also be searched via NROCAT. When searching for the surname Holmes for example I found several inquest references such as the one held at The White Hart in St Michael Coslany on 66-year old Elizabeth Holmes in 1809 which described how: ‘whilst at work filling yarn she was suddenly seized with an apoplectic fit and died instantly in the kitchen of her dwelling house’ (NRO, NCR Case 6a/17/46). Some of the other indexes gradually being added or compiled include marriage licences, sales particulars and other parish chest material. Whilst it is not the most user friendly of catalogues it is worth persevering with. www.finecity.co.uk
Norfolk Sources www.norfolksources. norfolk.gov.uk Norfolk Sources is a collection of online images of archive material from the record office and heritage centre that includes broadsides, some wills and administrations, trade directories and some local history publications that can be searched by name and subject. Whilst it is wonderful to be able to access some original records this way, it is not an easy site to use. A major omission with the probate records is the lack of document reference number. Norfolk Historic Map Explorer www.historic-maps. norfolk.gov.uk. Norfolk Historic Map Explorer can be used to view historical maps such as the tithe and enclosure as well as a wide range of aerial photographs completely free. Norfolk Library and Museums Service www.library.norfolk.gov.uk The Norfolk library and museums service has a number of linked websites that provide access and references to thousands of museum objects, photographs, newspaper articles and records. For example, Picture Norfolk has over 16,000 images of Norfolk life from the last 150 years which has images of villages, towns and other people across the county. One collection of great interest is the photographs from the Norfolk Regimental Museum of soldiers who served in Norfolk regiments – many from the Boer War and First World. A search for the surname Seaman for example brings up one of Lance Corporal Ernest Seaman of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers who was born at number 9 Derby Street, Norwich in 1893. The catalogue entry tells us he was educated at Scole and awarded the Victoria Cross. These images can be accessed via the main library site by searching for Picture Norfolk.
Poppyland Publishing www.poppyland.co.uk Other photographic and audio collections can found in local museums such as Gressenhall Workhouse and Rural Life Museum and True’s Yard in King’s Lynn (see website list at the end). Trailers to many of the local history publications, including videos and DVDs produced by Poppyland publishing www. poppyland.co.uk along with extracts from many of their books can be viewed on their site for free. Their sources and resources section includes an interactive plan to Gressenhall Workhouse (now a rural life museum) and indexes to the surviving workhouse minute books. GENUKI www.genuki.org.uk. GENUKI is a massive umbrella site with links to resources across the country arranged by county. The individual county page for Norfolk and Suffolk has many links to indexes and transcripts that may not be found elsewhere. Norfolk for example has a set of indexes to local census returns, including some compiled prior to 1841. One such parish census comes from the parish of Sedgeford, dated 1829 and includes details of where many parishioners lived, what rents they paid, whether they owned property, their occupations, where they worked, health problems and some personal comments about their characters, some less than flattering. The parish constable, William Potter of Washpit Houses for example, is described as a regular drunkard who rented from his father. One of his children was ‘blind and a shanny’, whereas Anne Crisp aged 20, ‘works with her needle 6d a day’ (Sedgeford Census of the poor, 1829. NRO, MC 741: Transcript on GENUKI courtesy of Mike Bristow). Norfolk Family History Society www.norfolkfhs.org.uk Norfolk Family History Society has online access to a growing number of their transcripts to parish registers, nonconformist records, memorial inscriptions and other sources for members only. This now Includes the Norfolk
memorials previously hosted on the National Archive of Memorial Inscriptions (NAOMI) website. Family Search www.familysearch.org Family Search has added large number of digitised images of Norfolk parish registers and other records to its website. Faden’s Map of Norfolk www.fadensmapof norfolk.co.uk See Norfolk as your ancestors saw it with Faden’s Map of Norfolk. Published in 1797, it was the first wide-scale map of the county. Original copies of the map are extremely rare, but a local cartographer, Andrew Mcnair has placed a digitised copy free online plus his digital redrawing of it. Norfolk Transcriptions www.genealogy.doun.org/ transcriptions A little known website is Norfolk Transcriptions which host a free index and thousands of transcripts from many parish registers and other sources.
About Gill Blanchard Gill Blanchard has worked as a professional genealogist and house historian since 1997 and is author of Tracing Your East Anglian Ancestors, Tracing Your House History and Writing Your Family History (Pen & Sword Books). She has appeared on the BCC Who Do You Think You Are? television series and runs courses and workshops and gives talks, nationally, locally and online, including at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show. See www.pastsearch.co.uk.
2015 January | 69
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ash Window Preservation are a sash window company based in Norwich who work across the whole of East Anglia carrying out sash window repairs and double glazing in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex. Also, we now cover some areas of London and Kent. If your sash windows suffer from draughts, rattles or are in need of repair, Sash Window Preservation can address all of your requirements. We pride ourselves on our very friendly and courteous approach with the main priority of meeting the needs and expectations of our clients. Our specialist team are able to double glaze your existing sash window frames with slimlite
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beauty and aesthetics of the sash window remain the same. English Heritage released findings that air inflitration can be reduced by as much as 86% by adding draught proofing. This results in vast improvements for the thermal efficiency of the window. When choosing our draught proof system, sash cords are renewed and windows are balanced to ensure perfectly weighted windows. Added benefits also include that the functionality, fluidity and performance of the window is dramatically improved and the annoying rattles are eliminated due to the brush being installed. Looking for draughty window solutions then this service is will
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70 | January 2015
Draught Proofing Our draught excluder system is a very effective service. By using a brush system, draughts are virtually eliminated whilst the
Double Glazing Sash Window Preservation can double glaze your existing timber windows without the costly expense and disruption of replacing the whole sash box and frames. Using a slimlite double glazed unit we are able to fit this into the existing frame which means the original look of the window is retained. By doing so the home owner gains all the thermal and sound benefits without compromising the charm, character or value of your property. Replacing the entire sash window can often lead to new
windows that are not entirely in keeping with the period property. Below is a property we double glazed in Cambridge. The left hand sash window has been double glazed using slimlite glass. The right hand window is original. The difference is virtually undetectable. Cord Renewal A common problem with sash windows is that cords often break. We replace the cord with a waxed cotton sash cord with a polyester core to add extra strength. This service comes as standard when choosing to draught proof and overhauling your windows. Window Rebalancing If you are experiencing your sash windows dropping this is due to the sash weight not being heavy enough for the window. We will add extra weight to ensure the windows are properly balanced. Again, this is something which comes as standard when
choosing to draught proof overhauling your windows. Rot Repair and Rebuild If your sash windows, frames or sills are suffering from rot we can offer varying techniques to solve these problems. If the rot is minor then we would cut back any rotten timber, treat and then apply a durable, hard wearing two part epoxy resin treatment. Where necessary we will splice in timbers using traditional carpentry techniques. However, there will be cases where the rot is too excessive and replacement is the only option. We will replicate any sills and windows bespoke to the original features. Security New latches and different options of security can be fitted to your windows. Contact Sash Window Preservation on 01603 908 252 or visit sashwindow preservation.co.uk
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