I think this must have been the weekend that Janie and I stayed at Wild Thyme (which was lovely) – I think Tony joined us for dinner on the Friday evening – then the next day we took poor Phillie from the Katharine House Hospice to Stratford-Upon-Avon for the afternoon for the last time.
Author: Ian Louis Harris
Scottish Ensemble, Wigmore Hall Coffee Concert, 17 October 2010
We fancied this concert, which melded Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Piazolla’s Four Seasons Of Buenos Aires.
So despite its scheduling in the Sunday coffee morning slot, which throws our tennis plans awry, we gave it a try.
A different, wrinkly audience on a Sunday morning. Some perhaps as keen on the gratis coffee (or a glass of sherry if you prefer) as the music.
The music was performed serviceably (I think we’ve heard the Piazolla Seasons done with more flare since) and we were glad to have experienced the Wiggy Coffee morning thing…but it isn’t really our type of gig.
The Company Man by Torben Betts, Orange Tree Theatre, 9 October 2010
I don’t remember a great deal about this one.
Here is the Orange Tree stub on the play/production.
I think it might have been a bit much for us at that time, with Phillie so poorly by then, so perhaps we didn’t even stick it out to the second half.
This search term suggests that the few reviews it got were quite good ones.
Meeting Up With Folks While On A Business Trip To Manchester, 6 to 8 October 2010
My arrangements for these meet-ups are mostly lost in the mists of time. Back then, I think we still sometimes made social arrangements by picking up the telephone and talking to people – an archaic practice to say the least – certainly not Ogblog-friendly.
But a combination of the physical diary, some e-mails, travel records and some slightly surreal correspondence on the King Cricket website with King Cricket’s mum have helped me to piece the trip together.
My main day of meetings, for/with UNISON, was 7 October. But I saw some benefit in going up the night before and staying over that night to catch up with some other folk and have some leeway for the UNISON meetings too.
I booked into an apart-hotel on the edge of the Northern Quarter – well located for Arena Point and “Central Manchester proper”, relatively inexpensive and you get enough space to really be able to work as well as relax. I think it was this one; The Light Aparthotel. I remember being given a two-bedroom apartment rather than the one-bedroom place I had paid for, so I really was able to spread out and enjoy plenty of space.
I arranged to meet my cousin Mark Briegal (second cousin once removed, actually, since you ask) after work 6 October for a quick drink before he returned to the bosom of his family in Warrington. We met up in Sam’s Chop House, which was a very suitable venue. It was really nice to catch up, albeit briefly.
I then went on to meet Ashley Fletcher (a good friend from Keele) for dinner at Bem Brasil on Lever Street, quite near my hotel. I’m used to Manchester portions being big, but this was one huge meal, with people coming round with cuts of meat regularly. Good fun and ridiculously inexpensive by London standards. I had sent Ashley a copy of my draft play, Ranter, which he had discussed with a few friends who are familiar with the 17th century history involved. No issues with the history elements but Ashley had a very bright idea for a twist in the denouement. I still want to write one more new play before I give Ranter the edit/rewrite it deserves. Might be quite a wait.
After my swathe of business meetings on the Thursday, I met up with Alex Bowden, aka King Cricket, at Sam’s Chop House. I had assumed Alex was based in Manchester, as he supports Lancashire and had talked about Manchester a fair bit on his website. But it turned out he lives in Macclesfield, which made me feel bad that I had dragged him up to Manchester just to meet me! He didn’t seem to mind too much. It was a very pleasant evening. I do recall Alex telling me the time of the train he needed to catch back to Macclesfield and then having to gently remind him of the time, not to get rid of him, but to avoid the need for him to run or (worse) miss the train. I was, coincidentally, reminded of my evening with Alex quite recently when I had a very pleasant but slightly surreal dinner with Ant Clifford that ended similarly – click here – I remember thinking “what is it with people who live on the edge of the Peak District almost missing trains”?
What I cannot remember is who suggested Sam’s Chop House in the first place; Mark or Alex. Because my main arrangements with Alex are preserved on e-mail and are silent about the venue, whereas those with Mark must have all been phone/SMS, I am guessing that the original idea came from Mark and that I then suggested same to Alex by SMS on the day we met. It had several benefits; I knew where to find the place (as presumably did Alex), I liked the place, I knew it offered decent beer as well as decent wine and I quite fancied trying the food at Sam’s on the second night. So Alex and I ate as well as drank at Sam’s and jolly good it was too.
I did some work on the Friday – I think I might even have fitted in a follow-up meeting at Arena Point that morning, before (according to my travel records) taking the train to Banbury.
My physical diary says Hil and Chris for the weekend, but clearly we ended up cancelling that and going to see Phillie and Tony instead. Another story, I suppose.
But returning to the surreal correspondence on the King Cricket site with King Cricket’s mum regarding Sam’s Chop House, I think I realise what must have been going on. KC’s Mum writes kindly on the King Cricket website…
As KC hasn’t answered your question yet maybe I can Ged. I believe you met in Sam’s Chop House. Meeting you was obviously of sufficient import that KC mentioned it to me.
…but I think that KC was following that well-known protocol when meeting for the first time with people you know only through the internet, “make sure that at least one of your loved ones, e.g. your mum, knows exactly where you are going and why”. Very wise, although in my case I assure you not necessary, merely wise as a standard precaution.
Several Work-Life Balance Testing Events: The Second Long Finance Conference, Beyond Crisis, History Of Nearly Everything & Payroll Giving Awards, 20 September, 28 September, 30 September & 5 October 2010
20 September 2010: Second Long Finance Conference, Guildhall
Not content with being berated by the Evening Standard and mobbed by a groupie after singing at the inaugural Long Finance Conference…
…I agreed to write another singalong for the second Long Finance conference. Another high-falutin’ bunch, including Neal Stephenson and Faisal Islam graced our event. Here is the rubric on the event.
I thought I took great care to choose a suitably reverent but not religious tune for this event and explained such on the lyric sheet:
Interlude
WHO WOULD REAL COMMERCE SEE
(Song to the Tune of “He Who Would Valiant Be” *)Who would real commerce see,
Let us come hither;
Market stability,
Come wind, come weather;
There’s no discouragement, shall make us once relent;
Our first avowed intent, to see long finance.Growth came so thick and fast,
For many seasons;
Few thought it wouldn’t last,
Despite the reasons;
Up graphs and surging charts, disguised the trend in part;
Still we can make a start, to be long finance.No goblin nor foul gnome,
Can much restrain us;
We know that in the end,
Truth will sustain us;
Stale thinking go away, we’ll find a better way;
And labour night and day, strictly long finance.Who would real commerce see,
Let us come hither;
Market stability,
Come wind, come weather;
There’s no discouragement, shall make us once relent;
Our first avowed intent, to see long finance.We would like to thank Steve Cunliffe for kindly providing the soundtrack.
* This traditional folk melody is also known as “Our Captain Cried All Hands”, “Monksgate”, “Blacksmith” and probably several other names. With acknowledgement to John Bunyan’s poem “Who Would True Valour See” and to Ralph Vaughan Williams who spotted this lovely folk tune’s anthem quality.
Nevertheless, one battleaxe attendee accosted me and complained bitterly that my use of that tune was sacrilege. No amount of explaining satisfied her; sacrilege was sacrilege. I thought at the time that I got off lightly with just a verbal handbagging – she looked ready to let rip.
I discussed this with Brian Eno some days later, who suggested that, across two gigs, a total of one rubbishing by the press, one flattering groupie and one nutcase hater was about par for the course.
Anyway, the speakers and we organisers had a dinner with Dudley Edmunds at The Farmers Club that evening, which was an interesting and pleasant way to end the day.
28 September: Beyond Crisis, Gill Ringland, Gresham College, Museum Of London
I was to give a lecture in the same series a few weeks later…
…so felt it was only polite to turn up to the other lectures in the series. In any case, Gill Ringland is always good value and this Gresham Lecture was no exception.
The Gresham site says that the lecture was at 12:00 midnight but believe me it was early evening:
30 September: An Even Shorter History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson, Gresham College, Guildhall
Two days later I was in the Gresham fold again and also back at The Guildhall; the scene of the “crime” that was my Long Finance song.
Bill Bryson‘s lecture was excellent.
The Gresham site says that the lecture was at 12:00 midnight but believe me it was early evening:
For some reason, Bill’s is embeddable whereas Gill’s is not:
I seem to recall a pleasant reception afterwards too and a brief opprtunity to meet the great man.
5 October: Payroll Giving Awards, Scheduled For No 11 Downing Street But Actually At the Treasury That Year
I was still chairing the panel of judges at that time.
I recall some amusing business with regard to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, who didn’t want to commit to travel to the event unless they had won, but we were of course sworn to secrecy over the matter.
I managed to find a way to encourage them to come without actually telling them that they had won. i think I used language along the lines of:
The last thing I’d want is some angry policemen from Northern Ireland in the room at the end of that evening, but I would very much like you to come along if you possibly can.
I think the gentleman got the hint because they came and were thrilled with their win, which was much deserved that year. Here is a link to results.
Nick Hurd did the presentations that year (as he did again two years later) – he came across as somewhat tired and emotional at the 2010 event – unimpressively so.
We had been scheduled for No 11 that year, but something went awry with those plans. We did land No 11 the following year, thouygh, to make up for it.
Still, we had a very good evening at the Treasury in 2010.
Or You Could Kiss Me by Neil Bartlett, Cottesloe Theatre, 2 October 2010
Having missed out on War Horse (didn’t fancy it even after the rave reviews) we thought the subject matter of this one might interest us more and is very much up Neil Bartlett’s street.
This interview with Neil Bartlett explains his side of it:
To some extent it worked; the story across the decades was engaging. But the puppets didn’t really work for us. While we can recognise the incredible skill involved, it seemed, to us, to detract from the drama.
This link takes you to a short film that shows some of the major puppet scenes, to give you an idea.
Wanderlust by Nick Payne, Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, 25 September 2010
I’m pretty sure this is the first Nick Payne play we saw. I remember little about it, other than the fact that the play was pretty full on about sex and that, despite its unsubtleties, we came away with the impression that we wanted to see more of this writer, which indeed we did.
Here is a link to the Royal Court resource on the play/production.
The usual praise for the Royal Court’s production qualities whether upstairs or downstairs. Super cast too.
Here is a search term that will find you the reviews and stuff if you want a deeper dive.
William Carter, Theorbist Extraordinaire’s Mystery Punter Outed, 24 September 2010
Is that William Carter on the theorbo or a Naxi Musician in Lijiang on the pipa?
I was most amused, when I tracked down the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM’s) blog piece about the concert we attended on 24 September 2010 – click here for the whole piece – to read this snippet:
The mood’s lively tonight. William Carter (theorbo) comes in to the dressing room in the interval telling us that a punter has accosted him and enquired whether his instrument is Chinese. “No”, replies Bill. “It looks very much like an instrument I saw in China”, insists the punter mysteriously.
I can now solve the mystery – Janie (Daisy) is the mystery punter.
We had been to China a few months earlier and had seen a concert of ancient Chinese music performed by Naxi musicians in Lijiang, Yunnan province – pictures 97 to 107 on the following album:
I remember Janie asking me whether that big lute thing…
…”theorbo,” I said…
…was the same as the Chinese instrument we saw in Lijiang.
“No”, I said.
“That’s what he said”, she said, confessing that she had asked William Carter that question as we were leaving the hall for the interval.
I explained that there was a fair bit of cross-fertilisation of musical instruments between east and west in the Renaissance period, but that instrument is a close relative of the lute and that family of instruments is more of a middle-east to west cross-fertilisation than a far-east to west influence. I also explained that the Chinese instruments of that kind might be far more ancient than any in the west, so technically, there might be a dim and distant connection.
“So, basically yes, then?” suggested Janie.
“Basically no,” I dared to disagree.
It is most amusing to find, so many years later (writing in December 2017) Janie’s exchange with William Carter preserved on the AAM blog.
We have since seen pipa concerts and I think Janie could now distinguish theorbo-type and pipa-type instruments with some skill.
I have one other anecdote about William Carter, from a few months later. By that time, my mum was in Nightingale House, her dementia worsening. I was at that time often visiting her and then jumping on the tube to go to the city.
Walking along Nightingale Lane towards Clapham South, I saw a young man just ahead of me carrying a large musical instrument case that looked to me as though it could only contain a theorbo.
I hurried my step, caught up with the young man and said, “excuse me, but is that instrument of yours a theorbo?” He beamed a smile at me and said, “yes it is. I have been lugging this theorbo around London for years now and have had the daftest questions asked about it…you are the first person who has actually recognised it and enquired after it by name!”
It turned out that the young man was one of William Carter’s students at Guildhall and was on the way to see him. We had a most pleasant chat about early music on the tube into the city together.
The Bach Dynasty: JS Bach’s Forebears, Academy of Ancient Music, Wigmore Hall, 24 September 2010
A very interesting concert, this. We had heard a fair amount of music by JS Bach’s many composer/descendents, but I don’t think we’d heard any music by his forebears before.
In some ways, it felt more like a lesson than a concert. The programme notes are/were fascinating. A summary note is available on page 9 of the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM’s) season’s brochure – click here – that includes the programme for the evening too. (Also scraped to here in extremis).
In truth, this isn’t the most wonderful music we have ever heard; it is of its (mostly early to mid) baroque period. Unexceptional, other than the fact that it must have been an influence on JS Bach and all that followed.
But the AAM folk did their best to keep the concert lively and engaging. Richard Egarr is an engaging master of ceremonies, Pavlo Beznosiuk always looks as though he is about to wink at the audience and even William Carter smiled a bit during the riper anecdotes of introduction.
I especially like the AAM’s own blog piece – click here, which shows them to be a far more human, fun-loving lot than their somewhat scholastic veneer sometimes infers. However, there is a reference to a “mysterious punter” in the AAM blog piece which could be no-one other than our very own Daisy. Click here or the picture below to find out more.
Several Seasonal September Soirees, 1, 8, 9, 14 & 18 September 2010
1 September: Dinner With Mum At the French Cafe
Mum was especially keen on this Balham eatery towards the end of her time at Woodfield Avenue. It was conveniently close to the house too, so I would sometimes pick her up and take her to The French Cafe for dinner. This was one of those occasions.
8 September: Middlesex CCC Kit Sponsors Party
Daisy came along this time around – a rare visit to one of these parties by her. I seem to recall that the event had been especially good the year before and my report had triggered a “may I come to one of those?” question to which the answer was, “of course you may!”
I think this one was in the press bat of the old Warner Stand, if my memory serves me well.
I think this was the evening we spent quite a lot of time chatting with the late, lamented Derek “The Diamond” Britain and some members of his family. We also chatted with some of the players, nibbled at food and drank wine.
9 September: Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinner
Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinners had been going for just over 10 years by then. In fact, I missed the 10th anniversary one, in June. I am writing this soon after the 20th anniversary one was wiped out by the Covid lockdown in the spring of 2020.
The headline photo was circulated by John Random ahead of that June 2010 get together, which I missed. So I never discovered the context of the regal look. Perhaps John, feeling a little insecure, wanted to assert his authority with regard to our gathering.
Anyway. he was certainly in charge in September and circulated some more pictures and bants:
Many thanks to all those who came out to the Cafe Rouge on Thursday. If you weren’t there you were either sorely missed or we all slagged you off behind your back. No, seriously. We had a good turn-out, including – may I say – the Three Graces in the form of the lovely Harriet, the lovely Victoria and the lovely Jasmine, who is not only lovely but can show you all how to save up to 10% on Travelodge. Harriet came in her pyjamas. OK, with some pyjamas. In a bag. From La Senza. Anyway, it’s not often we have so many women come to the Ivan Shakespeares and I hope this trend continues.
Personal highlight of the evening, though was Keith Wickham reading out the scores to the quiz in the voice of James Mason.
Finally, Where Are They Now No. 127: Mark Flitton spotted on location in legal drama Silk playing the owner of a dangerous dog. Many of you will have fond memories of Mark in Noel’s wonderful Smoking Doctors sketch. He also went to Edinburgh for us and performed in both the Newsrevue show and Whoops Vicar.
I do recall Keith Wickham’s James Mason impression that evening. I have always liked his James Mason, but there was something about Keith reading out the quiz scores in the style of James Mason that especially tickled me and I do remember giggling a lot. Perhaps it was the fourth glass of vino wot dunnit.
Anyway, as always a fun evening with the NewsRevue alums.
14 September: Middlesex CCC Forum & Party & The Robert Browning
I must be honest and admit that I remember very little about this particular forum and party, other than ending up at the Robert Browning Pub with Barmy Kev and others, where we continued the libations and played bar billiards until chucking out time.
Mercifully, I don’t need to remember much, as Barmy Kev documented the forum, party and even the bar billiards in a ball-by-ball report – click here to read it in all its gory…I mean, glory.
Coincidentally, the Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinners were, for a while, held at the Robert Browning, until the inhospitable nature of the place (last orders for food were taken ridiculously early) drove us across the way to Cafe Rouge.
Writing 10 years on, I note that the Robert Browning is under new management and has been rebranded as The Eagle. Bar billiards is still listed. Might be worth giving it another try once lockdown is over.
18 September: Pickled Herring Of the Year “Fast Breaking” At Jacquie Briegal’s Place
The family gathering which includes the Pickled Herring Of The Year awards has been described at length in other years, e.g.
In 2010, mum would have been there, as would Michael and Dorothy, me, Janie, Hils and possibly some special guest stars, such as Jacquie’s grandson Josh. Mum might even have had a sleepover at Jacquie’s that year; I think she did that once or twice after dad and Len had died.
The 2010 spread would have looked much like the 2016 spread depicted. But the winner of the award that year has been lost in the mists of time.