Summer Solstice in Wiltshire; it’s a crowd-puller, but even forty years after the Battle of the Beanfield and decades of attempted commercialisation, it remains a tourism the authorities clearly don’t appreciate…..
Wiltshire Police and English Heritage have ganged up on social media to warn revellers not to drive to Stonehenge or Avebury for this year’s summer solstice. Cue frustration, possible conflict, pedestrians on narrow roads, and chaos in neighbouring towns. All of which, I hasten to add, helps to maintain the tradition of division and bad blood between attendees and residents.
“We are pleased to welcome visitors from all over the world to these special sites,” Wiltshire Police expressed in a Facebook post. “However, we urge everyone to plan ahead to ensure they can mark the occasion safely and responsibly.”
It matters not how nicely they dress it up. Do as we say, not as we do; forty years isn’t so long ago for something described by ITN journalist Kim Sabido as “the worst police treatment of people that I’ve witnessed in my entire career as a journalist,” there’s never been a formal inquest, and police were cleared of wrongful arrest at a 1991 civil trial.
Even patronising overuse of emojis isn’t disguising that what followed was a stark warning; ‘we’re going to make this as awkward as we possibly can for you.’
“English Heritage strongly advises people not to travel to Stonehenge by car,” they continued. “Parking is limited and must be pre-booked via their website, and long queues are expected for those who do drive.”
Begging the questions, why is parking so limited? Because Stonehenge is so walled-in with surrounding urbanisation it’s impossible to supply adequate parking there?! Because folk have only been pilgrimaging to Stonehenge for the last 5,000 years, therefore a ‘sudden interest’ in the event took English Heritage by surprise?! If only there was a field nearby folk could park in….
179.2 million quid could be found to spend on surveys, legal fees, and archaeological mitigation for a failed £2 billion Tory project to carve up the sacred landscape with a concrete monstrosity, the lights of which would’ve deliberately been angled to block the sunrise, but there’s no magic money tree to pay a local farmer for use of a nearby field for folk to park in.
Nope, the onus is on the attendees; pay Salisbury city centre’s extortionate parking fees, and cram onto the “regular” bus service, they suggested, if reading between the lines. Come on you Reds! Extra late evening Salisbury Reds buses will be put on, apparently, but note, cash is typically not accepted for Solstice journeys, so you must pay via contactless. No bank account, travelling folk, no going on bus.
And here’s the ‘don’t outstay your welcome’ punchline: “Vehicles that are abandoned or parked on the A303 or nearby roads are likely to be towed away.”
Sunrise is at 4:52am on Sunday the 21st June; unless you fancy feeling the full force of the Road Traffic Act, those wishing to celebrate at Stonehenge should note the average human travels at the approximate speed of 3mph, so I’d start walking now!
Just think, our Neolithic ancestors dragged the bluestones 140 miles from Wales, and the Altar Stone came from Scotland. English Heritage’s selling point is to, “walk in the footsteps of your Neolithic ancestors at Stonehenge” yet fails to mention you might have to walk just as far as them to get there for solstice!
Yeah! That’s how we treat tourists on heathen pilgrimages around here, mate!
“One of the wonders of the world and the best-known prehistoric monument in Europe,” they call it, which kinda makes you feel somewhat patriotic. Where’s the support from flagshaggers when you need them most?! You might have to wait for Wetherspoons to build a branch on the byway.
Yet, for the residents of the county who know the kerfuffle at Stonehenge is such, a nicer time can be had at Avebury, and Police have installed some similar rules there too.
“If you’re heading to Avebury,” they warn, “the National Trust also advises that the car park cannot accommodate everyone and where possible, to use public transport, walk, or arrange to be dropped off.”
And I get this, because Avebury is a village with residents, whereas Stonehenge isn’t, and no one is to blame for this except Saxons. Bloody Germanic tribes, coming over here building villages on are English Neolithic monuments, nicking all are blacksmith jobs, and raping all are neanderthals. Get the 49 bus, neanderthals do!
But I did chat with Arch Druid of Avebury, Jim Saunders, who blessingly explained this year’s Avebury Summer Solstice celebrations in a more positive light. They include the God and Goddess Walk and Awen Ceremony at midday, the Ladies Circle at 1pm, and the Free and Open Gorsedd of Caer Abiri at 1:30pm.
“We’d also appreciate people helping us care for the site by using the bins provided, taking litter home where possible, and avoiding leaving offerings or tying objects to trees and stones,” he furthered, which is a much more hospitable attitude and therefore likely to be received welcomingly.
Grianstad Sona, Happy Solstice, because the bottom line is, if you go to either at solstice you’ll realise the troublesome narrative is mostly codswallop, and if even there was a little, it’d likely be caused by tensions the authorities created themselves, by not compromising for one day of the year, at least until it’s a commercial enterprise.
“It’s not all that glitter is gold,” Bob Marley sung, “half the story has never been told.” Okay, he was referring to 400 years of institutionalised slave trading on an international and industrial scale, whereas we’re on about a Trowbridge multistorey carpark…..
And anyway, the story is there for all to see; Wiltshire Council meetings are videoed and published on YouTube. If you’ve not the time to lodge two matchsticks into your eyes and strain for an epic four hours, you might rely on wonky social media opinion, where I’d favour it’s not really about a carpark, rather political point-scoring from some still bitter that they lost their control of County Hall.
If we were positively peddling towards fresh notions from a LibDem headed Wiltshire Council, a full council meeting on Tuesday 7th January jabbed a stick into the spokes. Despite both Conservatives and Reform nationally criticising each other, when they locally gang up they can sway the vote. The meeting took on two major issues, the first was increasing council tax on second homes, where Conservative and Reform councillors voted against, and, in his oversized suit, ex-Wiltshire Council leader Richard Clewer contemptuously scoffed at the poor on a Marie Antoinette level.
Using the analogy, “if you’ve got one car, and you buy another, should you pay extra tax because you’ve got two cars?” Councillor Clewer arrogantly justified voting it down. Not in a financially stable economy, no, but our reality differs, and who’s fault is that?!
If you want a car analogy, Richard, try this sucker for size; “if I buy a car from a mate I thought was trustworthy, and it broke down three miles down the road, should he pay for the repair?!” Fourteen years of Conservative austerity focussed entirely on the working class; they did this, they caused the deficit, and refuse to contribute to fix it.
Taylor Wright, Wiltshire Councillor for Devizes East called the meeting “a deeply disappointing moment for Wiltshire.” I love this guy- not like that, you filthy sort; he’s a young family man with fresh ideas of equality! In voting it down, Taylor stated, “they chose to prioritise, in their own words, ‘the 0.5% of households’ in Wiltshire who can afford a second property over the needs of the remaining 99.5% of residents.”
Taylor mentioned struggling families, the cost of living, “young people locked out of the housing market,” and “communities crying out for investment in services,” hailing the decision swayed by this Conservative and Reform swarming “a missed opportunity to make a small but meaningful step towards fairness.” Tempting me to originally concentrate on this issue rather than the second major issue raised, the future of a dilapidating Trowbridge carpark, because that felt like a storm in a teacup, I needed a bath, and what’s that got do with Devizes anyway?!
Cue Devizes town councillor and ex-Wiltshire one, Iain Wallis, who posted on his dubiously bias Facebook group Devizes Issues that “Lib Dem administration plan to gift a developer and carpark and £2.5m of our money defeated,” in glorious jubilation. In it he stated “this overturns the cabinet’s wishes which were largely discussed in secret and once again prioritises us in the rest of Wiltshire rather than subsiding Trowbridge.”
While deliberately newspeak, it’s not entirely false, save it being far from a “gift,” and I don’t get how it was all secret if videos are published, but again, Taylor Wright explained “plainly” why he voted in favour of disposing of the asset, even though, he said, “I know the headline figure of £2.5 million sounds shocking at first glance.” Through this source we see how misleading Mr Wallis’s post is; bearing in mind he lost his county council seat, it’s a shame there’s a bitterness projected in his tone, persuading him to miss half the story.
“The car park itself is in serious disrepair. Independent assessments show that within the next ten years it is highly likely to require full demolition and rebuild. The estimated cost of that work is up to £8 million,” Taylor fills in the gaps. “If Wiltshire Council keeps the car park, that £8 million bill will fall on all Wiltshire taxpayers – including residents in Devizes, who gain no benefit from free parking in Trowbridge.”
So yeah, the price tag to solve this might be £2.5m, but the option suggested by the Cons and Reform would be significantly higher, something Mr Wallis omitted from his post. I think a chat with Taylor is as overdue as my bath……
Our chat didn’t dwell on Mr Wallis’s post, it only serves to illustrate how bending the truth to suit a narrative is misleading. I wanted to discover the options presented to the councillors, and why some favoured dishing out £8million of taxpayer’s dosh to save a dysfunctional and dilapidated carpark. “I cannot believe it’s as controversial as it is,” Taylor agreed, and with a heavy sigh explained how Iain had posted again, accusing him of lying.
I put this concept to Taylor, that rather than it being about a carpark, it was bitterness or even a punishment for the change in control of the council. “Yeah, there’s a lot of that,” he concurred. You may recall a day when St Stephen’s free carpark fed into a busy shopping centre, but that era is sadly all gone. “Because of a legal covenant tied to the shopping centre, parking must remain free. That means the site cannot generate any income, now or in the future, no matter who owns it,” Taylor explained.
“it’s dilapidated,” he said, “so the benefits of having free parking for it are slim. I think people are frustrated, in Trowbridge specifically, of the ability to park free, but that doesn’t benefit anyone in Devizes, unless you occasionally visit Trowbridge, but it shouldn’t come from our council tax. Calne has free parking, but the town council pay that, as do other town’s councils pay for their parking, so if Trowbridge are willing to pay to continue that is beside the point. It’s Trowbridge paying for Trowbridge, and I don’t have a problem with that.”
“But my logic on paying the £2.5 million to dispose of that asset, I understand the headline ‘Councillors Giving half a million and a carpark to a developer’ sounds horrendous, but when look into the detail, which I don’t believe some of my Conservative colleagues have, they’ve heard Lib Dems are proposing something, let’s oppose it; the building is coming down, it’s crumbling, we’re doing patchwork jobs, including one for half a million recently to try to keep it going for a few more years and for safety concerns, but we need to get rid of this asset, because it’s not an asset, it’s a major liability. Commercial properties can have a negative value, in this case it’s been assessed independently, and it has negative value because of the liability. The only value it has to anyone would be the owner of the other half of the covenant, which is the shop centre owner.”
“There are other options,” Taylor expressed, “but not good ones. The other would be to fully develop the site at a cost, estimated to be in the region of £8 million. I’m not suggesting the Conservatives are pushing for that, but if the building gets to a point where it’s so dilapidated we’re instructed to rebuild it, which we could be, that will be the cost. The other option is to find another developer to take on the site and pay us, but they’d be paying us for a site which is falling apart and in need of a rebuild, and by law cannot make any money. So, why anyone would buy it from us…commercially it makes no sense.”
On the idea of the council buying the site despite it’s negative value , Taylor explained, “we did explore the possibility of changeling the convent in court, but were given a 60% chance of success and a highly placed judge in this field recommended we don’t do this, because if we lose the shopping centre owner could counteract us, claiming because it’s in such a shoddy state, we do need to completely rebuild it. So, whilst the initial cost for the legal action might be low, what follows from it could be extremely expensive, and us being immediately forced to demolish and rebuild the carpark, hence we saw that option as too high risk.”
So, once the free parking scheme was an asset, and we all thought we were parking for free, now whimpering it’s unfair for one town to have free parking when others don’t seems superfluous; it’s a burden or curse, we’re paying for in the end. The issue only remaining is how to solve it cost effectively; an issue not caused by the new council, but one they inherited. Leaving me confused still as to the opposition to demolish it.
“It was their business to pursue the other two options,” Taylor explained, “they wanted to seek other developers who might be interested in purchasing the property, but as I said, they’re going to come with the same caveats, the covenant prevents it making money, and it needs to be rebuilt, so the idea of another developer paying us for something which is a liability is laughable from a commercial sense. They might find a another developer who will take it for the £2.5 million contribution to redevelopment, but again, they’ll still be subject to the covenant so we’d be paying for it to be redeveloped for a developer who’s not going to make any money from it. So, again, it doesn’t make commercial sense, but the large proportion of conservative councillors were looking at challenging it in court, and yes, it’s possible it could win, but is unlikely. And also, if we lose we face our costs and the other side’s too, and, potentially, accountancy on the basis of dilapidation and having to rebuild the whole thing immediately. All options are risky. As much as £2.5 million is a huge amount, and I take no pleasure in signing off on spending it, for this purpose I think it’s a terrible way to spend money, but, at least to my mind, we don’t have any other sensible option.”
Not to end this on a sour note, I did joke the Reform councillors probably wanted to keep it to hang flags off of, and Taylor expressed the opinion of one, Chris Brautigam, who has been “really pushing to hold onto the site, as he’s a Trowbridge councillor, and I can understand his reasoning. It’s based on wanting to keep the carpark free for the residents of Trowbridge, which is a valid objective, and one of the most respectable reasons to want to hold onto it; he’s doing it for his residents, and has campaigned hard and respectfully for that, and I congratulate him, but I don’t think it’s the right move, for my residents.”
How what seemed like an open and shut case became such a major issue is concerning evidence petty bitterness and political point-scoring is consuming the council, where time could be better spent on solving issues. “We were floored when this became controversial,” Taylor said, “we’d a pre-meeting, where this was one where we said this will be fine, it’s obvious this is right path, and there was no way to disagree with it. There might be a couple of Trowbridge councillors who might disagree, but all in, it’s probably go through quite easily. And then, all of a sudden, Armageddon kicked off! It took us all by surprise.”
It all left me pondering more generally, on if the objections was driven by traditionalism, that there was hope high street shopping would return in a trend rebelling from internet shopping. “There was an option to buy the shopping centre,” Taylor revealed, “which as we’ve seen with other councils up and down the country,” and he exampled his hometown of Woking, who’s council purchased the shopping centre and “are now in a billion pounds worth of debt over the building costs and lack of revenue it generates. I don’t think councils have an business owning shopping centres.”
The biting reality is that all towns are unfortunately losing shops, but if you visit a town like Devizes, where many will complain we’re losing shops, it’s still relatively busy because the trend has changed and we adopt now a café culture where visiting town is a treat; you buy a light lunch or coffee, and browse, less everyday functionally for goods, but more ascetically, and a crumbling seventies Bauhaus carpark, once functional, is not ascetically pleasing, perhaps more an eyesore, and discouraging people to visit.
I thank Taylor Wright for his time, and enlightening us. It’s best to take social media posts with a pinch of salt, especially when they come with political bias; it’s been reported comments with opinions differing from that given by the admin on the aforementioned Devizes Issues one, have been deleted and persons have faced being banned from the group. We always must dig a little deeper to find the truth.
Celebrations of Daphne Oram have been building in London since the beginning of December, for those in the sphere of electronic music and music technology. On the first Thursday of the month The Barbican held a concert commemorating Daphne’s centenary, where sound and music fair access partner, Nonclassical, in partnership with The Oram Trust and Oram Awards played commissioned reimagined works from various contemporary electronic artists, inspired from tapes in Daphne’s archive. This has been released as the album, Vari/ations: An Ode To Oram.
London university Goldsmiths acquired Daphne’s archive in 2006, bringing her work into the wider public domain, after decades of relative obscurity. In the male dominated realm of electronic music, this has presented a better understanding of Daphne as a visionary in the early development of the genre, and in turn inspired female musicians and producers.
But our story begins rather differently, in the late nineteen-twenties, at Belle Vue House, Devizes, where a much younger Daphne is caught trying to climb inside the family piano! Daphne’s niece Carolyn Scales explained, “she was asked ‘why are you doing that?’ and Daphne replied, she wanted the piano to make a sound between the notes on the keyboard.”
Daphne with brother John
I’m grateful to Carolyn for providing some fascinating background into Daphne’s family and childhood in Devizes, something overlooked by the insurmountable information available regarding her work.
“All the siblings enjoyed listening to classical music but only Daphne had the ability to create music,” she told me. “Ida’s sisters often joined her to play trios and quartets at Belle Vue House while James did learn to play the cello but was happy to stand aside for more competent players. In his defence James’s father’s diaries only mention one musical instrument at their home, a piano declared by a piano tuner as not worthy of tuning. Maybe we underestimate the strength of our Oram artistic genes.”
Daphne at five months, with mother, Ida, brothers Arthur and John
Daphne Blake Oram was born on the 31st December 1925, to James Oram (1890-1964) and Ida nee Talbot (1887-1972.) “Ida ,” Carolyn explained, “who at heart seems to have been a natural party goer, was plagued by ill health. Daphne was born in Ivy House Nursing Home not because of a fear of losing Daphne but because of Ida’s problems with her legs. In the first photograph of Daphne she is being held by Ida who is sitting in a wicker bath chair with Arthur and John in front of their new home of Belle Vue House.”
“Ida was born in Braintree, Essex into a family of drapers,” Carolyn said, “who soon moved to a shop on Maryport Street, Devizes, opposite the top of The Brittox, which they ran from 1888 until 1914. Unfortunately Ida’s father Alfred died in 1896 leaving her mother Alice nee Blake to run the business.” She continued to describe Alice’s six children helping at the shop, and its failure, though Ida was in charge of the millinery department, and how later there was a room in Belle Vue House devoted to her hats. Carolyn told of Ida’s painting hobby, in watercolours, oils and other mediums.
Talbot family with parents. Ida on swing with her twin
Daphne’s father, James, was known in Devizes as “Jim” or “Jimmy.” He was not Irish but proud of his upbringing off the coast of County Mayo, and “never lost his soft Irish brogue.” His father Arthur Oram was a farmer and land agent in one of the most deprived parts of rural Ireland, hit hard by the famines of the early 1800s, and as such it was a natural breeding ground for agrarian discontent, later producing some prominent members of the IRA. This caused James to be keenly aware of local injustices.
“In 1961, when James took us to see where he was born,” Carolyn expressed, “he told us he was upset that he was not allowed to go to school with his friends. They were Catholic and he was a Protestant and to highlight the differences James and his siblings had to travel to school in Newport by pony and trap, rather than walk to the local school.”
“I feel sure that our father John was correct in saying that if James had stayed in Ireland he would have become a renowned barrister. Unfortunately, just as James left school there was a change in the family’s fortunes as The Congested Districts Board on behalf of the British Government were, quite rightly buying estates and redistributing the land among farmers living on tenanted, uneconomic smallholdings.”
Therefore, instead of attending university at sixteen James travelled to Devizes, to help his uncle (by marriage,) Alfred Hinxman, the manager of the Devizes branch of a Salisbury coal merchant. James lived in Devizes for the rest his life, managing the coal merchant until his retirement. Overseeing the distribution of coal in the southwest during the Second World War, James was so horrified by the profiteering he didn’t take a penny for his efforts and received a MBE.
James Oram, Devizes Mayor
“James soon became a trusted member of the community,” Carolyn said, “active in its civic life, as a magistrate and a school governor. This included being Mayor of Devizes during The Abdication and coronation of George VI.”
“James also successfully became involved in many businesses including The Devizes Brick and Tile Co. Somehow James also found time for his interest in local history and was a member of various local societies. He could have become wealthy but instead gave away his excess income after ensuring that his family lived in a comfortable style. Every Sunday dinner during the depression of the 1930s they would discuss the families that the brickworks supported, carefully working out if they would have the money to feed their children. The discussion would end by choosing someone who was struggling to hire to cut the Belle Vue House lawn during the following week.”
The Devizes Brick and Tile Co. Photograph by HR Edmonds
James’ generous nature rubbed off on his children. Daphne actively supported composers’ rights to royalties while she was a Trustee of The Performing Rights Society in the 1970s. “In particular,” Carolyn noted, “Daphne helped to set up the PRS Members’ Fund that continues to support those registered with the PRS and their families when they are in need of financial help. During the 1980s Daphne arranged Christmas hampers for these families.”
Before Daphne was born the family lived in rooms above the coal merchant’s office at 7 High Street, Devizes. James wanted Belle Vue House, empty at the time but out of his price range, until the state of dilapidation dropped far enough, which was just as Daphne was being born. The house would have been at the end of Belle Vue Road, now replaced by Waiblingen Way housing estate.
Retired designer Paul Bryant, who still resides locally told me he grew up close to Belle Vue House, and recalled her returning to the family home and, “the excitement that was generated when she was awarded grants from the Gulbenkian Foundation.” Paul expressed “it is heartening to see the ancient horse chestnut tree, then at the end of the Oram’s garden, still surviving in Waiblingen Way.” Meanwhile, local musician Peter Easton has written in request for a blue plaque to be erected in Daphne’s honour.
Daphne, with the grass roller at Belle Vue House, Devizes
Carolyn explained how the sibling’s engineering abilities can also be traced to the Oram side of the family. “Their great uncle John had designed machinery to make barrels for Rockefeller’s oil, and their uncle Arthur oversaw many civil engineering projects in the Indus Valley, now in Pakistan.”
“Arthur, aged 9 and John, aged 5 were to share a bedroom with an adjoining dressing room that James agreed they would turn into a workshop,” Carolyn said. “They had already started their own tool kits and Arthur was delighted when James added a foot controlled fret saw.”
In a letter to John dated April 2003, Arthur wrote it would be the 77th anniversary of their move from the High Street to Belle Vue House: “Every 20th April was the day of an annual fair on the Green, and Hitler’s birthday. That one in 1926 was a very special wet Tuesday for us. Our mother was taken the half-mile in a big closed Bath Chair drawn by a man holding the long handle in front, because of her illness with a bad knee. She was helped into their old oak bed in the drawing room, on the right of the door towards the fireplace. In that room there was placed, near the door, the old radio that our mother had bought some years before from proceeds of her Barbola work, with its two bright emitter valves and six volt battery, from which we had news through the general strike of 1926.”
“Later the workshop became home to John’s lathe and of great interest to Daphne. John told me that he was sometimes very mean to Daphne when she came to the workshop. At first she had to stay outside the open door and be silent, if she passed that test she was allowed to stand just inside the door for a while before coming closer to John and even helping when possible. John taught Daphne to use a lathe and she had one of his old lathes at Tower Folly, albeit by then worn and no longer a precision tool. John also admitted to teasing Daphne over his Meccano set that she wanted to play with. Daphne had to watch John make, say a crane ,then he would tighten all the nuts and bolts before walking away leaving Daphne to dismantle his work.”
Daphne visits her parents in Devizes
Carolyn said, “there were three main early influences on Arthur, John and Daphne namely their father James, mother Ida and their home which gave them space to both work together and follow their own particular interests.”
I’m eternally grateful to Carolyn Scales, Daphne’s niece, for a fascinating insight into Daphne’s early years and family life, and for the photographs too. It seems her curious childhood nature was focused on what makes music, and her engineering skills were honed early, enhanced by her intrigue and not being allowed to assist by her elder brothers. This led her to create the Oramics Machine, her early synthesiser, built in the 1960s, but lost after her death. We should concentrate our efforts on Daphne’s work in the third part, and how it shaped modern music……
This afternoon I find myself contemplating what the future holds for historical discovery and learning for all ages, fun and educational exhibits and events in Wiltshire; and it looks positive! Devizes is blessed to have Wiltshire Museum already, but the future looks even better, the future is…. Assizes!
Wiltshire Museum announced today, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded £8.5 million towards the £14.8 million Assizes for Devizes project to transform the derelict Assize Court building into a spectacular new home for the Museum. Derelict for decades, the once huge court house of architectural distinction, on the Heritage At Risk register, The Assize Court has been a sour issue for too long, and in its current condition is sadly an eyesore. The project will restore its historic features, and breathe new life into the building; Wiltshire Museum and in turn, Devizes will thrive.
Since 1874 The Wiltshire Museum has been delighting visitors at Long Street in Devizes, and is home to nationally important designated collections, including stunning treasures from the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site landscape. It also hosts many exhibits, educational events and lectures for all ages, children’s craft workshops and so much more.
Director of Wiltshire Museum David Dawson said, “we are delighted that the Heritage Fund has demonstrated its confidence in our plans to transform the former Devizes Assize Court into the new home for a reimagined Wiltshire Museum. At last we will be able to give the museum’s internationally significant collections a fitting home, while rescuing an important at-risk listed building and providing a focal point for town centre renewal. We are grateful to National Lottery players, our loyal members and our other funders, existing and future, for their commitment and support.”
Peter Troughton, CVO CBE, Chair of Devizes Assize Court Trust, which initially saved the building by purchasing it in 2018 with the support of generous donors, said, “the National Lottery Heritage Fund award to the Wiltshire Museum is fantastic news! It will transform the museum, save the historic Assize Court building and give the people of Devizes a community hub like no other. It will be an enormous help to the campaign to achieve the vision for the award-winning museum, already supported by the town, Wiltshire County Council and leading charitable foundations.”
Self-appointed “Morose” Mark Harrison was once again on totally top form at Komedia last Sunday entertaining us with his style of stunning blues music, engaging history lessons and highly amusing cynical views on society. Lest I appear to be painting Mark in a poor light you may rest assured his easy delivery is gentle on the ears, but delivered with killer punch lines. A thoroughly winning combination. Albeit lacking hotpants which was the sole difference between Mark and Elton John back in the day it seems …
Amongst the recipients of his wit and repartee, and his sublime ex Eric Bibb 1934 National Trojan resonator delivered music, were Ralph McTell, I.T. Analysts (I hid at that juncture!), Eric Clapton, prodigal sons and daughters, a heckler, the services’ economy ( a bunch of flats in London…), schmaltzy songs and twats’ anthems, “My Way”, and his cousin Colin. We were regaled with the history of the two artists formerly known as “Sonny Boy Williamson” – the original aka John Lee Curtis Williamson whose successes in the 30s and 40s were piggy backed by Rice Miller who appropriated the same performance name to hoodwink audiences and record labels. And of Howling Wolf who was years before his time in offering his band members what we would now regard as standard employment benefits such as health insurance.
But in case this sounds like Mark is just a Jack Dee wannabe, it should be emphasised we were here for his music and he was there to deliver it – with style and panache and not without a bit… well a lot… of dry humour. A cover or two, but predominantly – naturally – his own stuff… haunting, engaging, even breath-taking.
The afternoon rushed past – two hours with a twenty minute break; just one Midlander and a 1934 National Trojan resonator, in a bar in Bath. And thankfully no hotpants.
Perfection.
Mark Harrison’s gig list is here, and his merch is available here.
The Wiltshire Music Awards are delighted to confirm a new headline partnership with Stone Circle Music Events, who will sponsor the Awards for 2025 and into 2026.
As part of this agreement, the event will be rebranded as: Stone Circle Music Events – Wiltshire Music Awards.
This collaboration reflects Stone Circle Music Events’ ongoing commitment to supporting music in Wiltshire, and across the wider UK and Ireland. Their involvement will provide significant opportunities to raise the profile of the Awards, enhance the experience for participants, and strengthen engagement with the wider music community.
Benefits of this partnership include:
• Brand Visibility: Prominent placement of the Stone Circle Music Events name across all event materials, press releases, and social media campaigns.
• Audience Reach: Direct engagement with a diverse audience of musicians, industry professionals, and the public.
• Prestige & Influence: Recognition as the headline supporter of one of Wiltshire’s most anticipated music events.
• Networking Opportunities: Closer ties with event partners, sponsors, and stakeholders.
• Catalyst for Growth: The presence of a strong lead sponsor encouraging further sponsorship and increased scale for the Awards.
Eddie Prestige of Wiltshire Music Awards said, “we are thrilled to welcome Stone Circle Music Events as our headline sponsor. Their passion for supporting music and culture perfectly aligns with our mission to celebrate and elevate the incredible talent across Wiltshire. This partnership will allow us to grow the Awards and create an even more impactful event in 2025 and beyond.”
Darren Worrow of Wiltshire Music Awards added, “This is great news, and we hope it secures a future for the awards.”
Managing Director of Stone Circle Music Events, Patrick O’Sullivan said, “Stone Circle Music Events are proud to support the Wiltshire Music Awards as headline sponsor. Music is at the heart of what we do, and this partnership reflects our commitment to nurturing local talent and strengthening the live music community in Wiltshire, the UK, and Ireland. We are excited to be part of such a vibrant celebration of creativity.”
This partnership represents an exciting step forward for the Wiltshire Music Awards, helping to secure its long-term success and cement its place as a key celebration of musical talent in the region.
Family run premier auctioneers of antiques and collector’s items, Henry Aldridge and Son announced a move into The Old Town Hall on Wine Street, Devizes; a move which will see them return to their roots…..
Alan Aldridge started Henry Aldridge and Son from the first floor of The Old Town Hall thirty-five years ago. They’re delighted to be coming home having completed the freehold purchase of the property. “It means so much to us as a family,” Chrissie Aldridge told us.
“The Old Town Hall, a stunning Grade II* neoclassical property will serve as the principal location for the collation of our Titanic, Liner and iconic memorabilia auctions. We will also host weekly free valuation days on Thursday market days.”
“The first stage of our move will take place next month with our main operation relocating to the Old Emporium in October.”
Henry Aldridge and Son host free valuations in Devizes every Friday with their Head of Valuations, TV’s Paul Martin. Paul, who hosted BBC’s Flog It for nearly twenty years is available to cast his expert eye over your prize possessions.
The Old Town Hall dates to 1752, first commissioned as a market hall, the ground floor was the town’s cheese market. By 1785 the first floor was an arsenal for the Royal Wiltshire Militia, and has also been the mess hall of the Devizes Loyal Volunteers, and a Sunday school.
Why is it called Wine Street? By 1836 the building was leased for commercial use, acquired by wine merchants, Messrs Cunnington, who used the basement and the vaults below for storage. The building has also been the museum, library and reading rooms of the literary and scientific institution. But many will remember its use by TSB, Hen House and the Wine Street Gallery.
Who was paying attention in history at school when they covered the Tudors? Hmmm? Anyone? Yes – you at the back – you did? Swot! I have a vague recollection of a thirteen-year-old me, pre O-Level options, quasi snoozing through something about lots of people with the same name – Mary this, and Mary that, and Mary Queen of Scots who was at least more memorable, if only because she had her noggin removed. I dropped history when it came to O-Level options, so my knowledge of the Tudors stopped there and then, although I did manage to understand when an American, I was playing “Trivial Pursuit” with back in the late 80s read from the card “What two door battleship sank in the Solent”; the answer of course being the Mary Rose. My how we chortled.
Fast forward some fifty years almost and thanks to the wonderful people that are Devizes Art Festival, I was able to improve my knowledge significantly on a small part of the Tudor dynasty – though in fairness the bar was very low to start with. “Play on Words Theatre” visited the Wharf Theatre as part of D.A.F. with the phenomenal Miriam Cooper, to portray the lives and relationships of two queens from that family – Queen Elizabeth the First of England, and Mary, Queen of Scots. The two queens were first cousins, once removed with a shared ancestor of Henry VII, but despite this close familial relationship, and reasonably close distance between London and Edinburgh, the two never actually met until Mary fled Scotland following a revolt, where Elizabeth basically imprisoned her for nineteen years before finally having her head cut off.
The one woman, seventy minute play delves into these lives as Miriam portrays not only the cousins but also a handful of other characters to flesh the story out. A chessboard stone floor and basic set of chair, shrine and tables with some excellent lighting and sound from the tech team provides a more than adequate setting for the tale of desperation, hope, chicanery and power struggles between reigns and imprisonment for them both. The political chicanery of the period was complex, and no doubt the truth rather depends on whose side one takes, but the play rattles along attempting to be fair to both women, neither praising nor condemning their actions, words and deeds.
The actual history one can find in a plethora of places online, in books, films, TV documentaries and so on, so I’ll leave you to educate yourselves if that is your wont. But if you caught this show, or can do so as it continues to tour, you’ll get a good head start into it all.
Oh – and what of prostitutes? And marriage? In May? Mary utters the line towards the end of the play to describe the entangled complications of her, and Elizabeth’s lives apart but together. So, apologies for anybody that was hoping for some spicy extracurricular activity …
Stuffed my dinner, scanned the brief, headlonged out the door, forgot about the road diversion into the Market Place, made a u-turn, arrived at Wiltshire Museum only two minutes late for the preview evening to their latest exhibition, convincing myself it’s often more interesting to go in blind to what the show is all about anyway!
There’s graffitied skateboards in the exhibition, embroideries, an abstract canvas, a jester’s uniform, old ledgers, ships in bottles, straw sculptures, a video of Stonehenge at summer solstice, and many other fascinating items you’d be excused for misunderstanding how they all relate if the rooms was stripped of the information boards and the exhibition’s title, Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex.
The exhibition opens at Wiltshire Museum from today, Saturday 5th April and runs until Saturday 6th September 2025; plenty of time to pay it a visit, and I recommend you do.
Fortunately for my ignorance, external curator Mellany Robinson of The Museum of British Folklore was on hand to provide a brief speech explaining the reasoning behind it. All the items on show here are bonded by one concept, that they “tell local, political, expected and entirely unexpected stories to reframe the rich heritage and vibrant present day folk cultures for modern audiences.” And as being folk culture, all the items are created by folk without the disciplines of their craft via official training or education.
Now I can relate! Although I don’t wish to discuss my short-lived art college days, my creative labours are all self-taught, save some advice from cartoonists and writers in my younger days. One piece in the exhibit in particular caught my fascination, as a punk-paste zine-maker of yesteryear; an amateurishly hand-drawn flyer for the 1979 Stonehenge Festival. I strongly suspect, whatever angle you come at this from, whether historian, antique dealer, or folk musician, counterculture artist, or possibly more simply, you hold a passing interest in the origins of local folklore, you will find many objects here on display to fascinate you.
I left feeling enlightened, and perhaps a smidgen abashed by the many things I didn’t know. A Hob-Nob is not biscuit, rather a horse-like costumed fellow in the Salisbury Giant, a midsummer procession first recorded in 1572, for example! I now understand why Great Wishford has Oak Apple Day, and what it means to proclaim, “Grovely, Grovely and all Grovely!”
A handcrafted Wiltshire sweetheart pin cushion made by a World War I veteran, a rare ship crafted entirely from straw linking to Poole’s maritime heritage, and a poignant portrait by a Nigerian artist created while seeking asylum in Swindon, are items the Museum hail are the highlights, but depending on your personal interests, I believe what will constitute the highlight will be open to interpretation, being such a timeless mixed bag of tricks held together only by this theme of folk art; I have plenty of musician friends of whom, I guess, would be fascinated by the instruments, artists who would love the artwork from a community project, and others who would cherish this Wessex folk calendar feel to the whole exhibit, from the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge to the May Day celebrations in Cerne Abbas.
Now I’m concerned by my overuse of the word “fascinating,” but the boot fits, that’s what it surprisingly is!
Curator Mellany Robinson told how the The Museum of British Folklore doesn’t have a fixed venue, and it started because founder Simon Costin was, “passionate about what museums call intangible cultural heritage, the heritage of folklore which has historically been suppressed, and overlooked. So, when people die, their works get chucked, because it isn’t considered financial value, but it is of huge personal and historic value.”
Simon Costin founded the The Museum of British Folklore by “buying an old caravan on Ebay in 2008, and travelled around the country for six months turning it into a museum, to test the response. And we need a Museum of British Folklore because we are one of the very few countries which doesn’t have one.”
This project, a collaboration with the Wessex Museum’s collections and the Museum of British Folklore, is more anti-museum than museum in the traditional sense. With many items by unknown creators and certainly all of them unprofessional, it’s more of a hobbit-hole of hidden treasures and curiosities.
“We had to share what we thought of as folk culture because lots of people think certain things of folk culture,” Mellany explained, “but our definition is; something creative not necessarily tangible, produced by someone who doesn’t have formal training in that medium.”
Again, we find Wiltshire Museum bucking the preconceived stereotypes of what constitutes traditional aspects of a museum exhibition, and we should consider ourselves lucky to have them on our doorstep here in Devizes, putting the “muse” in “museum!”
Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex opens today, and runs until Saturday 6th September. Summer Opening Times are from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday. Entry to the exhibition is included in the admission ticket. Tickets cost from £8.50 (concessions available,) and it’s free for under 18s. Director of Wiltshire Museum David Dawson has an online talk introducing the new exhibition on the 8th April.
Do check the Museum’s website for there are many great events upcoming, including the Curious Kids workshops for ages 3-11 and the Museum Explorers Club for 5-7 year olds, lectures, walks and stone carving courses.
Featured Image: Gail Foster. Features extracts from reviews by Andy Fawthrop, Ian Diddams and Madelaine Blake. Does it ever stop?! The weekend is upon us…
Get ready for an unforgettable family day out as Circus Cortex BizZzar brings its award-winning Big Top spectacular to Devizes from 9–12 July 2026….. Performing…
CrownFest at The Crown in Bishops Cannings is making a fantastic comeback this July with a stellar lineup, particularly supporting local acts, begging the question,…
If I’m considering reviewing worldwide music again, why stop with this planet?! Though I’ve reasoned two tenacious links to mention this madcap Scottish interstellar outfit; one, their tour lands them at Frome’s Cheese and Grain on Saturday April 19th, and two, they’re called Henge, and as Wiltshire houses the most famous one of them, that’ll do!
Why am I so keen to mention them? It’s the challenge of summing up something completely unique. It requires a gaping pigeonhole, comical jazzy post-rave space-rock probably best suits; bonkers, in a word. Someone shared a video of them headlining the Shambala Festival and I was abducted, though while I’ve not listened to their previous three albums, we’ll launch off with their forthcoming album Journey to Voltus B, set for release on January 31st, exactly ten years to the day from when the band gave their first live performance on planet Earth.
This is truly out of this world fantastic, and what should’ve been playing at the Cantina in Star Wars. It’s like Scott Joplin came after Eat Static, or Miles Davis was a member of Hawkwind. If Funki Porcini met Altern 8, or Philip K Dick was a guest on Yo Gabba Gabba, it’s the sum of all these parts yet it’s none of them, because it’s alien, pinching Jeff Wayne’s stash for testing purposes and stranding him on an uninhabited Plutoid!
Over seven certifiably insane but glorious tunes you travel to Voltus B with the half-druid mutant electronic spacerockers, the planet of an advanced civilisation with a looming atomic future, and you get to decide their fate!
Side B of the vinyl version of the album has been innovatively cut in ‘parallel groove’ with two tracks, both called Power of the Atom, pressed concentrically to each other on the same side of the record. While one track tells the bleak fate of Voltus B after its inhabitants use their newfound knowledge of atomic power to make weapons, with the planet annihilated in war and entering a nuclear winter; the other tells the story of the planet’s future after the aliens decide to use their scientific discovery to create limitless clean energy through Nuclear Fusion.
But you are supplied with the mission brief enroute. Ascending is the opening tune and first single, which is out now and available on all platforms. It blasts off without waiting for you to lock into position. Then it’s a Slingshot around Mars to get us on our way, a post-punky robotic vocal track with equal pace, which falls dramatically by the third tune as we enter Hypersleep. As it suggests, this is the dreamy ambience of the Orb, and you await for landing, in audio bliss. Descending next, and we’re off again with the crazy uptempo nut-filled jazzy explosion of synths. You’re welcomed to Voltus B like it was a nineties free party, then comes the concluding narrative, like Edward Packard’s Choose Your Own Adventure book series, on acid!
Of the new single, Henge frontman and crew captain, Zpor, explains, “with this new single Ascending we are setting the scene for our latest adventure into space. As we blast off from Earth, it becomes clear that YOU, the listener, are among our crew for this high-stakes voyage, where the fate of an entire planet is literally in your hands.”
This is, without doubt, mind-blowingly progressive, and highly entertaining, especially for stoners, Trekkies and kids of all ages alike, and I tick all those boxes. It’s child-friendly psychedelic vaudeville, the Jetsons meet the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, in Lego.
This new favourite thing made me think about the end of ET, and why Elliot couldn’t go with him, because if music is like this elsewhere in the universe and I was Elliot, I’d have packed glow sticks into my backpack and not looked back at Earth once!
In support of their latest campaign, HENGE are embarking on an extensive run of UK shows planned for 2025. Join the band at the following locations and venues:
If Phil Cooper’s 2018 “Thoughts and Observations,” was one of the first albums we ever reviewed here on Devizine, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to say “a new single from Phil Cooper,” but here we are, and it’s a great place to be…..
As the name suggested “Thoughts and Observations,” as Phil’s songwriting template, in general, is relatable personal reflection which often provides pointers for his audience, it was brimful of such, and while the new single Still Holding My Breath does likewise, it offers a matured side to Phil’s convictions. Plus, it rides that cool acoustic value we know and love him for, remarkably well.
There’s a definite and poignant message of perseverance here, opening with the line “look out world, I’m here to stay,” and a measure of success whereby the creative mind must continue nonetheless. As is Luke 6:38, the song’s indispensable line, “I still believe the more you put in the more you will get in return,” rewards any labour of love for the hard worker with the notion to keep at it.
Phil is one such hard worker who I see setting himself high goals, and in embarking on many projects, some formulated, others more experimental, has had varied success with them. Perhaps none more than his grouping with Jamie R Hawkins and Tamsin Quin as The Lost Trades. If this modern folk harmony trio has achieved more than the sum of all their parts as individuals, it is with hard work they’ve achieved so and with an “a little help from my friends,” sentiment evident in the depths of this song, and more visually with the excellent accompanying video made by Jamie. The song is, besides the labour applied to The Lost Trades, something wholeheartedly solitary, an introverted savoury sentiment. It’s nice to see them take a short break from the trio in order to align themselves once again with their separate identities, as they were before the dawn of The Lost Trades all remarkable within their own rights.
I believe the hard work has paid off for Phil, relatively, making me wonder what his expectations or goals are, what he dreams to achieve, being Still Holding My Breath suggests quintessentially he still has “barriers” to overcome, but a single this good is surely proof of his worth; it is a valuable song. And in that, this is more an outward facing concept, delivering a message to us.
To the artist personally, do take a deep breath, it’s an outstanding song, Phil; inspiringly evolved from everything which has gone before it. To everyone else, decide for yourself by taking a listen!
Summer Solstice in Wiltshire; it’s a crowd-puller, but even forty years after the Battle of the Beanfield and decades of attempted commercialisation, it remains a…
Wiltshire Music Events UK has hosted tons of memorable events locally, from CrownFest and The Marley Experience at Devizes Corn Exchange, to more everyday gigs at many pubs and venues across the county. Sunday 27th October sees them on their home-turf for a FREE one-day festival in Salisbury Market Place, fundraising for MNDA…..
Salisbury may be a shady area for Devizine’s coverage, we’re still exploring its many circuits and venues and working on expanding our event guide there, but one thing is for sure, this will be well worth trekking across the Plains for. An unforgettable Sunday of music and community in the Market Square, Salisbury, is promised and Wiltshire Music Events haven’t failed us yet!
This eight-hour charity extravaganza is kicked off by the Little Big Band from 1pm. It’s suitable for all ages, and features the celebrated Bob Marley & The Wailers tribute The Marley Experience, which believe me as a lifelong fan of The Wailers, you must see this for yourself, as they are fantastic.
DJ Mark Anthony is on the wheels of steel between acts. Locally renowned vintage blues ensemble, Junkyard Dogs will be there, with the equally amazing The Leon Daye Band. Accompanying multi-musician and technician Jolyon Dixon, who you may know as one half of Illingworth, with Rachel Sinnetta, a singer with a penchant for delivering the magic of Kate Bush, who I’ve been tipped off more than once to tick off must-see list. The Tipsy Gypsies, a new one on me but I love the name, and Rosie Jay, an amazing young upcoming singer-songwriter we’ve featured but yet to see live too.
The event will host a licensed bar, craft stalls, and food vendors, providing a variety of refreshments and shopping opportunities. Roaming performers will also entertain the crowd throughout the day.
This event is dedicated to supporting the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association. MND is a devastating disease that rapidly progresses, affecting the brain and spinal cord. It currently impacts up to 5,000 adults in the UK, with no known cure. The MND Association works tirelessly to improve care, fund research, and campaign for those affected. 100% of all funds raised will be donated to this vital cause.
It starts at 1pm, continuing until 10pm at the Market Square, Salisbury on Sunday, 27 October 2024.
by Mick Brian images by Nic Proud and Wharf Theatre Giovanni Boccaccio in the 1330s wrote a poem, “Teseida”, principally about two knights, Arcite and…
Holidaymakers from across Swindon & Wiltshire are being invited to attend one of the region’s newest travel events this summer as Swindon Travel Hub hosts…
by Ian Diddams images courtesy of Devizes Arts Festival, Ian Diddams and Graham Lloyd When one considers cricketing controversies, one maybe thinks of World Series…
My Show Of The Festival Andy Fawthrop Another headliner from the Devizes Arts Festival hit town last night…. Robert Vincent came to the Corn Exchange,…
Today Devizes Arts Festival presentation took on a more serious and talkative tone with another marquee signing taking to the stage. And it was another good audience with plenty of trade at the bar and at the merch desk.
Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, author and broadcaster who frequently appears on science programmes on both radio and TV. He presents Radio 4’s flagship programme Start the Week and was the host of Inside Science for eight years. His popular series The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry has been on air for a decade. He’s written extensively on race, genetics, evolution and trust in science. As an honorary senior research associate at University College London, he teaches courses on genetics and communication. A self-confessed “science nerd” he’s a Professor of Evolutionary Genetics.
It’s a long time since I last attended a formal lecture, with a full Powerpoint deck to get through, but that’s what we got. Taking station behind a pulpit-like lectern, Adam quickly went into professor mode and quickly taught us all a LOT about genetics, DNA, descent and the various trees of life. It sounds slightly dry and boring, but it was very far from that, as he casually dropped in one amazing fact after another, along with amusing anecdotes, and debunked many myths about the whole business of human evolution and descent.
We were fed some lovely gobbets along the way, such as: it’s believed that 97% of all species that have ever existed on Earth are now extinct, that 2% of the DNA of all modern humans is Neanderthal and that Danny Dyer is not alone in being able to claim direct descent from Edward III, since the mathematical probability of anyone/ everyone being descended from that same monarch is 100%.
We learned that there’s a lot that we don’t know. Ignorance begets (misplaced) confidence, and confidence begets a lot of (incorrect) speculation and theorising. “Popular science” has a lot to answer for, including the use of inappropriate comparisons, metaphors and illustrations. There’s no such thing as genetic “progress” (in the sense of improvement), only continuing change. Using a series of “trees” (tree of life, tree of human life, the family tree of Charles II of Spain, the tree of Charlemagne and the Who Do You Think You Are? tree), Adam progressively illustrated how many of our ideas and assumptions are often some way from the truth or scientific evidence.
There was plenty of amusement too. The more complex theories and illustrations were summarised as “clusterfucks”. The act of sexual congress became “a gene flow event”. And multi-generational in-breeding was “sub-optimal”.
The takeaways from all this were that this whole genetics and human descent issue is a lot more complex than we think it is, that racism and eugenics are concepts that defy any logic or evidence you apply to them, and that mathematics can teach us a lot about what’s really happening. We learned about the “isopoint”, where the entire population at a certain point/ date is the ancestor of the entire population of today.
It was half time and, boy, did everybody need a drink to think about all that lot. It must have been inspiring, as the book-signing desk was overwhelmed with willing customers, and the second half (which consisted of a prolonged Q&A session) was fully engaged by fascinated punters.
Adam fielded a range of questions, despite some mic problems, including those on DNA Testing kits (largely a waste of time and money, and a rip-off monetisation of the world’s most valuable datafile), Artificial Intelligence (useful for data mining), and our African origins (we’re all African and 100% similar at the DNA level).
Like I said earlier, it sounds dry. But it really wasn’t. Despite the serious subject matter, it was informative and absolutely fascinating. Adam is no comedian, but he does have a light touch, and just like on the radio, he was able to bring science very much to life, to engage his audience, and to leave everyone a little richer in understanding. His passionate dismissal of racism and eugenics owes little to morality or emotion (although I was sure that was there too), but to simple cold-hearted scientific data, evidence and analysis. That gets my vote every single time.
Another great night at the Arts Festival, and thanks (once again) to DAF for having the vision to bring these types of entertainment to our little town.
The Devizes Arts Festival continues until Sunday 16th June at various venues around the town. Tickets can be booked at Devizes Books or online at www.devizesartsfestival.org.uk
A talented local performer from Devizes is set to share the stage with international star Jason Donovan this summer as part of Fulltone Festival ’26. …. Grace Sheridan,…
Pride month finds me wondering if Pride events are actually needed more in our smaller market towns where awareness and acceptance is perhaps lesser than…
It’s just as unlikely Jimmy Page, who, it is said, designed the cover of Led Zeppelin 4, could’ve imagined Long Lot, the thatcher in a Victorian postcard discarded in an antique shop near his house in Pangbourne and used in the design, would be the central attraction in an exhibition some fifty-two years after the album was released, as the Thatcher himself would have imagined he would be the subject of a groundbreaking prog-rock album cover! I popped into the official opening of A Wiltshire Thatcher – a Photographic Journey through Victorian Wessex at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, to sepia-tone my nose….
Researcher from the Regional History Centre at the University of the West of England, Brian Edwards discovered the photograph in November and became something of an overnight sensation with the national press, and a hero to prog-rock fanatics. Now news has moved on, the fable of the uncovering the image has come home to roost, accompanied once again by the collection of its photographer, Ernest Farmer intended it to.
The photograph came from an album titled ‘Reminiscences of a visit to Shaftesbury. Whitsuntide 1892,’ the remaining Victorian photographs from it are of Wiltshire, Dorset and Somerset scenes and some interesting portraits of farm workers, the customary Stonehenge images, and most poignant, the aftermath of a thatch fire in Sixpenny Handley.
They are displayed in the exhibit, alongside information boards about what little we know of Farmer, the rural life he depicted in his works, and information on thatching. The latter particulars might seem odd, being few images here depict thatchers, if it wasn’t for the selling point of the show, Long Lot, who is displayed throughout the exhibit, in interesting ways, such as a model of him, a selfie opportunity, and the merch of a rock legend in the museum shop!
Despite being a leading figure in the development of photography as an art form, which clearly shows through this celebration of his works, little is known about Ernest Farmer.
Ergo, it’s a mixed bag, hinging on Long Lot but far outreaching a monoculture display. One supposes rather than modern day photographers aiming for a particular style, genre or theme, a Victorian photographer was a rarer thing therefore he captured whatever random subjects inspired him. To turn a negative into a positive, it certainly makes the exhibit diverse, and the photographs are fascinating, nonetheless.
It is, then, an exhibit of perchance, or luck, more than anything, and I guess that’s what makes it heterogeneous. Brian told me he’s working two projects down the line from this, in fact, it was never really a project at all, more chance discovery. The exhibition runs until the 1st September, at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes and would delight a number of groups, be they photographers, local historians, farmers or thatchers, anyone interested in West Country history or landscape, and of course, Led Zeppelin fans!
Wiltshire Music Centre is launching the Make Music This Summer programme, a vibrant 19-day programme of musical activities for children, young people and families….. Designed…
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Renowned professor and historian, David Olusoga will be heading to Frome’s Cheese & Grain on 12 January 2024 to speak on ‘the state of the British Union and why black history matters’….
History is now front-page news, and is contested as never before. Statues have fallen and the reputations of great men have been called into question. In the upcoming talk David Olusoga will examine why history matters, delve into the causes of the ‘history wars’ and question where they might lead us.
David Olusoga is an historian, writer and broadcaster. He is the author of ‘Black and British: A Forgotten History’, which was long-listed for the Orwell Prize, shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize and won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize. As Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester, he is an expert at examining what history reveals about contemporary society and has regularly contributed to the Observer, The Voice, and BBC History Magazine. A BAFTA-winning filmmaker, he is also a contributor to the Oxford Companion to Black British History. In 2019 was awarded an OBE for services to history and community integration.
He is known for presenting the BBC show ‘A House Through Time’ and has recently launched a new BBC series ‘Union’ which explores national identity, social class and inequality. Shining a light on our fractured modern society through the lens of the past, the series exposes the fault lines that still divide the UK.
Fans can catch David speaking at Frome’s Cheese and Grain this January, and he will also be signing books at the event. Full details below and tickets available now HERE.
Wet play project, can’t be bothered to go out. I’ve complied the best-loved videos documenting our crazy lil’ town, yet it can be updated if you know of a better one? And not one of your barbeque party where cousin Billy lost it on the trampoline; I’m not Harry flipping Hill and you won’t get two-hundred and fifty quid out of me, lucky to blag 10p. Let the arguments commence, but I’ve tried to top twenty the best, based on historical fact, entertainment value, general nostalgia and quantity of eighties short-shorts.
1- I was fascinated to watch this near on half-hour 1956 silent film, A Small Town Devizes. Made by cameraman David Prosser, from a series of similar Small-Town shorts. It features the lives of people in Devizes during Carnival Week August 1956. In the YouTube notes there’s an extensive list of people and companies which featured in the film. If it brings any notable points of interest it must surely be lobbying DOCA to reintroduce the drag-your-wife-along-in-a-pram-attached-to-a-motorbike race, methinks.
2 – Lion in the Hall! Courtesy of BBC Points West, the day in 1980 when escaped circus lions paid Devizes School a visit during the lunch hour goes down in history. Were you there, are you showing your age, and did you try feed the lion your mate’s school tie? What about today’s pupils, do you think Mr Bevan should reinstate this lion, maybe give him a TA job? Would your teacher benefit from fighting a lion, it might help to maintain the pupil’s interest in the lesson?
3 – Boto-X clip 1986. See, my Devizes born and bred better half told me about this strict health & safety regulated event and, if it hadn’t been Devizes, I’d probably have branded her a liar. Delighted to see Caen Hill Locks dig up a clip of this incredibly brilliant Boto-X from 1986. Stop! Win a Colour Telly!
4 – Oh get off my back, I’ve read Tess of the d’Urbervilles, just not any other of ol’ Tom Hardy’s books, it’s not like he’s going to hassle me about it. Far From The Maddening Crowd was his first major novel, and had four film adaptations. John Schlesinger’s 1967 MGM version was part filmed in Devizes, and Bill Huntly of Devizes Television loses his shit about it like it was Casablanca or Star Wars; bless. There are some great clips of the film in this interview, of people drunkenly singing and dancing in the Market Place; something you don’t see every day, eh? Yeah, I know, right, not that far from the maddening crowd at all really, wait for the bin to kick out.
5- Out of all Simon Folkard’s gorgeous aerial shot films, last year’s snow-covered town and canal was undoubtedly the most breath-taking. Oh, that Beast from the East, looks beautiful from above, but just to think, I was wheel-spinning a milk-float down there somewhere, holding on to me gold-tops for dear life.
6- While we’re on the subject of the milkman, here’s Madness disciple Mark’s moment in the spotlight as BBC Wiltshire focus on Plank’s Dairy. It has to be nine below zero before he puts his long trousers on, no one needs to see those knees, Mark. Ask him to whistle a Thin Lizzy tune on his round, I double-dare you.
7- 19 36- Last Train From Devizes. Post-punk poets, Browfort, ingeniously fuse synth-pop and local history in this video about The Beeching Axe and the last train from Devizes in 1966. There’s some great railway footage, mixed with their performance at The Bell on the Green. There’s no evidence to suggest the band will reform as Julia’s House to pay tribute to the first train from Devizes Parkway, when…. erm, if it happens.
8 – If you’re considering shoplifting for camera film in town, watch this early-eighties adaptation of the story of Ruth Pierce by Devizes Cine Club, and you’ll quickly be bored into submission. It really is so bad it’s good. I need not mock it, the acting, production and deviation of facts does it for me. Just to say though, is it me, or does the lead role sound a little like Claire Perry?!
9- We love our whacky historian John Girvan, the only man to enter the Town Hall lock up and live to tell the tale, save for feasting food festival fanatics who failed to note there’s the far comfier Peppermill across the road. But did you know, rather than most men whose interests lie more on what’s inside them, John confesses a love for brassieres? So, if your bra goes missing from the washing line, you know who to point the finger at.
10- Proof that either the legendary ghost of Room 4, or stranger still, the Black Swan’s window cleaner has five fingers. In 2014 the Visual Paranormal Investigations team trucked their mystery machine into our town and, without the great Dane and giant sandwiches, set up an experiment to find out if the ghost broadcasts on FM, like Ken Bruce.
11- More actual evidence in this charmingly narrated clip, this time of the Muppetry of the new traffic light system on London Road. Evidence the road planning department of Wiltshire Council are, and I quote, “retarded!” Classic, don’t hold back Truthseeker. I don’t know who you are pal, but you’re defo not Philip Whitehead.
12- There’s countless musical performers I could include here, but perhaps the widest known and appreciated is blues legend Jon Amor. Here he is, at the International Street Festival 2015 with a lengthy but worthy song, Even After That.
13- Talented Arthur Plumb, the Juggling Unicyclist at Sidmouth Street Festival 2015. While there’s a vast amount of street acts posted to YouTube, from our street festivals and carnivals, if I could only pick one it’s this entertaining Devizes TV presentation of a rather youthful Arthur Plumb. Three years ago, Shambles trader Bill Huntly was fast becoming our town’s TV host, where did he go, someone nick his cravat? Seriously though, hope you are well Mr Huntly and wishing you all the best; we loved your short films.
14- Usually reserved for the still camera, Nick Padmore is a man loved by our local music scene, for capturing the essence of its performers. Here though he videos the man, Vince Bell at Sheer Music in the Fold. Not intending to post too many music-related videos here, this 2017 performance is a must, if not just for Ship of Fools, but his amusing ditty about Devizes, Nobody Gets Out of Here Alive, right at the end of this film.
15- If you ever wondered why Tesco shut its Devizes metro branch, this may go some way to explain why. Yep, never had a lick of paint applied to it since the release of Michael Jackson’s album Thriller. The staff were friendly though!
16- Set the captives free! No really, I think they’d have moved convicts before blowing Devizes prison to the ground to make way for housing in 1927, wouldn’t they? Or did they move into the houses? Might explain a few things. British Pathe have millions of videos on their website, search Devizes and you’ll find a carnival parade of the 1920s and an Army Football Cup final from 1955, to name a couple.
17- There’s nothing sarcastic I can comment here, even I wanted to, which I wouldn’t, cos I’m not like that; a gorgeously edited film of Devizes at Christmas by Chris Watkins, accompanied by a song written and performed by the equally wonderful Kirsty Clinch, makes my bells go all jingly…I said my bells!
18- Well done Paige Hanchant, for the only Harry Hill style clip I’m going to allow; capturing this amusing moment on the canal, just when it was going so well too; who ordered the chubster? Awl, bless.
19- No one interrupted the march to nip into Greggs for a sausage and bean melt in 1983, not in this pleasant three-minute video of the parade at least.
20 – Moonrakers Fable. Vintage poem narrator Alan Doel puts on his best Wiltshire accent to recite Edward Slow’s 1881 telling of the Moonrakers fable, and illustrated with postcards and emblems, makes a fair job of it. Yet the tale is known only too well in Devizes, it be rioght gurt lush to ‘ear it read in ye olde Wiltshire dialect, ewe.
That’s all folks, well, I’m sure there’s many others, but these were my favs. Not to blow my own trumpet, but Devizine does have its own YouTube channel, mostly I create wobbly musical performance clips, with a cider in the other hand and standing far too close to the speaker to do the band or musician justice, but they seem like a good idea at the time. So, subscribe at your own risk. I set it up primarily to capture this meeting with local street magician Raj Bhanot in Café Nero last summer, and here he is for a bonus vid.
Perhaps, if we get another rainy day, which is doubtful, I’ll find another set of videos based in Devizes. If you know of any which should be included then do send the link. Saucy ones to my personal email though, please.
My satirical rant, No Surprises Living in Devizes, once popular Sunday reading, now lies dormant. I’ve deliberated writing a conclusion, but that would be the final nail in the coffin I’m not ready to hammer in. The issue; I loved trudging my week, hunting a subject to bombast about the town I live in, and receiving the relative responses, be they positive laughs or death threats.
The reason for its gradual demise is simple; there’s finite topics to explore, and while at first the obvious flooded me, as time progressed I struggled. Methods to keep it running when subjects wore thin were many fold; more positive episodes transpired into what we now have, Devizine. The negative I’ve abandoned under the premise life is too short to be whinging, even if some thought it amusing. One of my earliest methods of trapping a good rant when nothing in Devizes sprung to mind though was to take the column to other towns, as a kind of “unwanted roadshow.”
Chippenham took the brunt of these outings, but one Sunday, when the subject centred on Swindon, I predicted many would assume it’d be the icing on the cake, as it’s a common joke that Swindon has a lot to rant about. However, for this episode I twisted the cliché, determine not to follow sheep and waffle how cultureless and uninspiring our nearest metropolis is, rather share my opinion that while, as any large town does, Swindon has its social issues, it is far from the negative stereotype it’s frequently perceived as.
This turned the head of a fellow writer at Index:Wiltshire, Angela Atkinson. Angela was brought up in a Derbyshire mining village and moved to West Swindon in the 1990s. It’s fair to say she has fallen head-over-heels for Swindon, and alongside her proofreading business, AA Editorial Services, scribes a popular local blog called Born Again Swindonian. The original blog entries were the exploration of her new surroundings; a guidebook to the Magic Roundabout or a piece on the West Swindon sculpture trail, and, akin to the direction I took my article the aforementioned week, it now centres around her conviction that Swindon is actually a great place with more than first meets the eye.
Her argument is convincing and thorough, to the point where she was approached by Gloucestershire publisher, Amberley Books, to pen a title on Swindon in its ‘Secret’ series. This week sees the book “Secret Swindon” released, and its launch is at Swindon Central Library, between 11am and 1pm; July 28th. Angela will be there to sign copies, and it’ll be available in the library shop afterwards.
Intrigued to know what “secrets” Angela could uncover to challenge my assumption everything that may be of historical or contemporary interest in the town I’m already fully aware of. That then, some topics did not spring surprise, Angela commences with a brief general history, from it’s namesake “pig hill” origins to the birth of its industrial revolution; the GWR. But it’s the depth Angela goes which is informative, and in the loose, blog-style, she writes which entertains.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, gaining knowledge of many aspects and artistic properties of Swindon I could’ve driven past and only causally pondered their history. From the wonderful mural on the side of the house near Lion Bridge, which I pass, like, but seldom aspire to seek any knowledge of its artist or background, to the thought process of the contemporary architecture which Swindon holds, with all its 1970s futurism; the Meccano-fashioned “Renault” building, or the curvaceous landmark David John Murray tower. All of these popular sites of Swindon are featured and detailed, with fascinating facts you never thought to ask about. And yeah, the Magic Roundabout is covered too!
There’s quantity and a vast array to subjects, meandering off the concept Swindon has a magic roundabout and that’s about it. One would be forgiven for assuming “Secret Swindon” is going to be a mammoth read and ponder why they’d want to take up so much time reading about Swindon. But while it’s arranged with copious facts, it remains brief enough not to grow tiresome of, and with informal speech style of writing, doesn’t aim to baffle.
Angela covers art, sculpture, architecture, literature, music, industry, war eras, and many notable Swindonians. In one neat, ephemeral but enlightening package Angela challenges Swindon’s negative stereotype, steps in the ring and knocks it for six in the first round. It’s a perfect natural progression and extension of Born Again Swindonian.
It also highlights areas I was totally unware of, agreed I’d heard of Spitfire Way, having worked on South Marston Industrial Estate, but confess I was ignorant as to why it was named thus. So aside the fascinating facts about the more renowned landmarks of Swindon, and people, such as a captivating insight about Edith New, there are some completely new things I learned, awarding the book’s apt title.
Here is a book which will inform and entertain the proudest Swindonian, the curious history hobbyist, and any mere window-shopper of local history. A perusal for students, or general passing interest, I tick none of the above, but still adored this. I only apologise to Angela for waffling on about my own little column at the beginning of this review, but it was necessary to elucidate my personal relevance to it!
If you ever pause while shopping, look around for a brief second, in any town you’ll note something you may not have ever noticed but bears heavy importance to the history of the area; “Secret Swindon” proves Swindon is far from the exception.
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