Is Gordon a Moron? (24th
April 2002)
When checking out the budget results, Max Jones’ gaze automatically
strays towards the booze and tobacco duties. Here he is with a budget
(alco)vox(pop)
This year the vice tax was not too tragic, with beer, wine and spirits
remaining at the same price for the second year running.
Real Ale drinkers are happy, with 14p being knocked off a pint of
beer from independent brewers, “just in time for the world
cup” as the chancellor was keen to tell us.
Those with a penchant for Bacardi Breezers and WKD are out of luck,
for ‘style drinks’ (alcopops to you or I) are going up
11p a bottle.
Scott James and Kelly Chesterton work in Oddbins in town. As they
do not sell anything as crass as alcopops,(“every drink here
is stylish” said Scott) the main thing that will hit their
shop is the 6p on a packet on cigarettes.
Scott mentioned that the budget would not affect him personally.
Both he and Kelly agreed with perhaps the most radical move in this
years budget. National Insurance, currently at 10%, is to go up
1% with all the proceds going to the NHS.
All this smacks a bit of Socialism for our New Labour, but we have
been promised that it will lead to hundreds of new hospitals and
thousands of new staff.
The Royal Hampshire County Hospital is understandably delighted
about this move, but a spokeswoman for Winchester’s biggest
employer, the County Council, was not so sure. “When we worked
it out it will cost us 3 million, which will have to be paid for
in extra charges or higher council tax.”
However, she agreed that if it leads to better hospitals it is obviously
a good thing. Nick Davis manages the Market Inn in town.
“The first thing I knew about the budget was when they came
around to change the price on the cigarette machine,” said
Nick, who will not be putting up the price on alcopops until his
supplier does the same to him. Although the wage bill will go up,
Nick’s staff were in agreement that if the money is to go to
the NHS it is a good thing.
Tom Bonito owns a newsagent on George Street, and he has put the
price of his cigarettes up and also agrees that if it takes 1% in
stealth taxes to make the NHS better then that is a small price
to pay. Vicki Patterson, who works at the County Museum, agrees,
and is “very happy that wine did not go up or it may have cost
me a fortune!”
Paul and Laura Krumbock have moved here from Capetown in South Africa,
and find Britain quite expensive. “"We try not to think
in rands,” said Paul, “but when you are paying 15 times
as much for a packet of cigarettes an extra 6p does not make much
difference!” They agree that more taxation to pay for the NHS
is a good thing, saying that 1% is not that drastic.
Pete Montgomery goes along with that, making the point that it is
only a good thing if the money does go straight to the NHS. Well,
its up to Gordon Brown himself now.
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Grafitti Bridge (24th
April 2002)
Alicia Colson, a former Symonds’ student, returned to
the college recently to talk to students and staff about the research
she is undertaking at McGill University in Canada on ‘The
Rock Art of the Canadian Shield’.
Alicia studied archaeology at University College London, going
to Canada in 1991 to do fieldwork as part of her degree course.
Alicia furthered her studies at Southampton University before
moving out to McGill University, Canada in 1997, to start her
research fellowship for a PhD in Anthropology.
Alicia’s research is on the Rock Art of the Canadian Shield
in an area the size of Wales with 65,000 miles of shoreline around
its many lakes and islands. Her fieldwork is carried out by boat
and is restricted to the summer season, June – September,
when all the sites are accessible, as most of the ‘art’
is found by or near to the water.
“In Canada an archaeologist is a very influential person,”
says Alicia. “You have huge amounts of power and with this
come other responsibilities. You have to be able to write detailed
reports and give presentations. You can also be called upon to
appear in court giving evidence on areas in which you are involved.”
“The topic I am covering is very interesting, but also culturally
sensitive. There is a great deal of history attached to it, but
because of the links with the native people’s ancestors and
their current day lives and livelihoods, it has to be handled
with extreme care, to ensure that my contacts and their trust
are not undermined.”
As for the future Alicia says, “I still have a further 18
months of my research programme to do. There are currently such
radical changes happening in technology that it is very hard to
see where things are going or where they could be when I have
finished this project.”
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HdV
declares a new vintage (24th April
2002)
From James Martin to the best of the new breed, Hotel du Vin
have a habit of finding future stars.
Richard Williams pulls up a bed of rocket and tucks in.
With the UK finally coming round to the idea that eating-out doesn’t
have to mean a bag of chips on the Buttercross, Winchester should
be proud of the fact that on it’s doorstep is one of the best
hotel and restaurants anywhere in the country.
The Hotel Du Vin in Southgate Street has been dishing up fine food
and clean sheets for some years now and it’s reputation for
‘getting what you pay for’ is second to none. Now with
hotels in Bristol, Birmingham and Tunbridge Wells, the Hotel Du
Vin chain are now almost as famous for their past and present staff
as they are for the service they offer. Their latest star in the
making is a certain Xavier Roussett, who recently won the Champagne
Ruinart UK Sommelier of the Year competition at London’s Mayfair
Continental.
From over 200 initial entries to the competition, only 15 sommeliers
graduated from the six regional finals to the national semi-finals.
Rousset, who’s based in Bristol, along with HdV Winchester
cohort Eric Zwiebel were chosen by the judges to go through to the
final, where they were tested on matching food and wine, a blind
tasting of spirits and liqueurs, errors on a wine list, cigar service
and the opening and pouring of a magnum of champagne.
Rousset has had a few hard acts to follow, as the Hotel du Vin’s
past pedigree of trophy laden wine-buffs include co-founder Gerard
Bassett MW and the ever-youthful Vincent Gasnier, who at one time
seemed to be winning more competitions than Manchester United.
As well as the winner’s crystal trophy and a selection of Ruinart
Champagnes, Rousset and his guest will visit the Champagne region
of France to watch the final of the European Trophée Ruinart
2002.
So for those of us who still go teary eyed at the memories of Megan
and Christophe waltzing round the bistro, it’s good to think
the Hotel du Vin is still churning them out in spectacular style.
For most average-sized wallets it may not be the place to eat every
week, but if you only go out once this year, then the Hotel du Vin
is a sure fire bet.
Value for money? Absolutely. It’s a lot of money but it’s
a lot of value, and with the likes of Xavier Roussett filling your
glass it would be foolish to resist.
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Faith Hope & Clarity
(17th April 2002)
Max Jones joined Hundreds of people of all faiths who attended the
United Church in Jewry Street on Saturday (13/04). They were there
to listen to a host of speakers talking about understanding Islam.
Iqbal Asaria was representing the Muslim council of Great Britain,
and he talked about the history of the religion, as well as discussing
the current problems in Israel and Palestine. He told us how Islam
is essentially a peaceful religion. The word Islam means submission
and peace, and Muslims believe that only by submitting to the word
of God can a person and society achieve contentment.. He said that
with Islam so in the news both with the current situation and since
the events of September 11, it is important for people to make an
effort to understand the faith. Local MP, Mark Oaten opened the
meeting, and he too stressed the importance of inter faith understanding
and interaction. “There is a lot of misunderstanding of Islam
and hostility toward Muslims,” said Mark, who went on to talk
about the current conflict in the Middle East. “Traditionally
America has been behind the Israelis and perhaps Europe more behind
the Arabs. So, it is important that the US and the EU put on a united
front in trying to resolve the conflict.”
After the keynote speakers there were workshops on Israel/Palestine,
Faith Issues, Terrorism ( how to prevent it, not how to do it!)
and Women and Islam. This last workshop was hosted by Reefat Drabu,
who runs a drop in centre in Southampton to support women in the
community, particularly refugees.
This is situated in the Marti School. Reefat also reiterated the
need for interfaith dialogue since September 11. Reefat and her
friends had been hard at work preparing a mouth watering array of
samosas, bhajis and cakes, which, unfortunately were still being
finished as I left, so I did not have a chance to try any.
A display in the hall gave those interested a potted history of
Islam and had photos of places important to the faith. There were
also some fascinating accounts of pilgrimages and adventures. As
part of their drive for people to understand their faith, the Southampton
Muslim society are asking if any local Muslims would be prepared
to donate a bit of their time to going around local schools talking
to the children. Anyone interested is asked to contact Dylan Theodore
on 02380 702 72. Also, the Winchester Muslim Cultural Association
is on 01962 883399.
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Swing
For Your Supper (17th
April 2002)
Four Freeloading Freddies from the Winchester & Bishop’s
Waltham Observer descended upon the Westgate Hotel, 2 Romsey Road,
Winchester on Monday night.
We had been invited by the gentle landspeople Helen and Guy to sample
their fare and dig their Monday night jazz session.
The Andy Dickens band have been in residence on and off at the Westgate
since 1974. Trumpet player Andy set the gig up while studying English
at King Alfred’s College.
At some point Andy put aside his books and picked up his horn. Literature’s
loss was clearly jazz’s gain as Andy has toured and gigged
with artists that include Americans Slim Gaillard, Franz Jackson,
Joe Darensbourg (clarinet with Louis Armstrong All Stars), New Orleans
Gospel singer Pearly Tyler and UK stars Peter King, Clark Tracey,
Annie Ross, Bruce Turner, Dick Morrisey, Humphrey Littleton and
John Barnes.
“My band is a ‘who’s who’ of the local and national
jazz scene” said Andy “everyone here earns their living
from music and audiences are astounded by the high level of musicianship
on display here on a Monday.”
The audience on Monday was attentive and appreciative. A veteran
BBC jazz producer and his wife nodded their heads in armchairs directly
infront of the band while jazz buffs in the dining area spontaneously
applauded striking solos. The boys and girls in the bar were all
swinging too.
“You’ll find the people here are mostly from Andover,
Alton, Basingstoke and Southampton” said Andy. Where were the
Winchester jazz heads? “sometimes people need to be told what’s
good and what’s bad.”
Well, we’re here to tell you to get hep to the swinging jazz
cats up at the Westgate. It’s so square that the local guys
and dolls aren’t hip to their solid gone jive.
Food at the Westgate has a great reputation, they serve restaurant
quality food in a no fuss pub atmosphere. The freeloaders variously
tucked into ‘Jazz suppers’ of juicy sirloin steaks with
potato wedges, chilli con carne with rice and chicken and brocolli
lasagne with a side salad. The verdict of ‘nice’ was quickly
delivered unanimously. We washed the lot down with Fosters, white
wine and Alfred’s Ale, that’s the food review done now
back to the ‘music of mass destruction’.
The rhythm section on Monday was made up of John Bell (drums) and
Rick Foot (double bass). John’s sticks rattled elegantly off
the metal work while Rick demonstrated that he is as deft around
the bridge as Omar Sharif.
Dark-eyed Pete Effamy astounded the assembly with his Sonny Rollins’
saxophone stylings. The brass trio was completed by the trombonist
Michael Blakesley’s delightful slidesmanship. Fast fingered
John Coverdale, a master of harmonic substitution, filled the post-bop
sandwich with his Joe Pass chord flurries. Andy Dickens switched
effortlessly from exciting trumpet histrionics to moody mellifluous
flugel. He also sang a couple of numbers, eloquently conveying the
lyric without recourse to crass impersonation. The band play “an
eclectic mix from early Armstrong to Miles and Wayne Shorter”
said Andy “The fact that the music is free here might devalue
it in some people’s minds” he cautioned “but it is
a great way to incite young players and give them a platform”.
The Andy Dickens Band are at the Westgate every Monday. They can
also be seen in concert at the Central Studio, Basingstoke on Saturday
night (20th April).-
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Downs
Your Way (17th
April 2002)
Just on our doorstep is one of the most famous walks in the world,
but as the hangover of Foot and Mouth still lingers, can the South
Downs survive?
Observer Countryside correspondent Max ‘Jack Hargreaves’
Jones finds out..
The South Downs stretch from Winchester all the way over to Eastbourne.
Beautiful rolling countryside, farms and quaint little villages
tempt walkers from all over the world.
I did the first (or last depending upon which direction you do the
walk in ) section of the route, from Winchester to a lovely village
called Exton. The villages along the route rely on the South Downs
Way for much of their livelihood, particularly the pubs.
The Shoe in Exton is one such hostelry, and so, a year on from the
Foot and Mouth crisis, I asked the landlady how her business had
been affected. "With no walkers, cyclists or horseriders along
the way I was in big trouble," said Heather Seymour, who has
been running the pub for 18 months. "I have had a great year
and a half," she said wryly. "I have had foot and mouth,
the fuel crisis and then of course the village was flooded for weeks.
Great." Trade still has not picked up totally along the South
Downs Way in Hampshire, as a great deal of tourists still believe
that Foot and Mouth is laying waste to our green and pleasant land.
Ken Harstock was an Australian walker I met, and he had hoped to
do the route last year but pulled out because of Foot and Mouth
fears. "I was a bit nervous even now," he admitted, "but
it has been a beautiful walk." Ken had come all the way from
Eastbourne and had given himself a week to do the walk. He cheered
me up when I asked him how far away Exton and the pub was and he
answered in a jaunty Antipodean way "about bugger all mate!"
Chris Mason and Darren Spencer had also taken a week to walk from
Eastbourne and were very happy to be heading into Winchester. "I’ve
heard the city is lovely," said Darren, who was looking forward
to a lengthy evening in the pub.
There are controversial plans afoot to turn the South Downs into
a national park. While this would mean that the beauty of the area
would be preserved, farmers are worried that they would lose a great
deal of their autonomy. After taking such a battering last year
from the Foot and Mouth crisis, farmers are understandably keen
to get their way. One farmer I spoke to, who asked not to be named,
said " walkers come here once in their lifetime, and we farm
for all of ours. F**k them."
Whatever the politics, though, I would encourage everyone to get
out and see the South Downs, which are right on our doorstep. Simply
walk through Highcliffe at the bottom of the city and you are there.
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Artists
Hoping to Light Up City (10th April
2002)
A giant steel mirror on St Giles Hill or a multi-coloured Westgate
controlled by text messages?
Gone are the days of bonfires across The Downs, these days, artists
want the moon (almost literally) on a stick.
The Mayor, Cllr. Therese Evans, dropped by the Art College to view
the possibilities.
The
third year of the Winchester Light Art Project got underway last
Wednesday as proposals for the 2002 exhibit went on show at the
Winchester Gallery.
The Light Art Project is a three-year public art programme based
in Winchester using light as the main medium. This final year of
the project will involve an artist exploring the pathways and approaches
to the city centre.
The three short-listed artists are Peter Freeman from Cornwall,
Lulu Quinn from Bath and partners Anna Heinrich and Leon Palmer
based in Portsmouth. Each has spent the last month researching Winchester’s
roads and footpaths and the journeys made by those who live in,
work in or visit the city.
The artists have developed a number of proposals for a public art
sculpture using light and will demonstrate these using digital technology,
illustrations and models. One of the proposals will be selected
to appear on the city’s streets in November. Peter Freeman's
proposals can be previewed on his lovely new website at www.peterfreeman.co.uk/winchester/light.htm.
Tony Langridge, one of the project managers, said; “We are
very keen to have people’s views on this latest phase of the
Winchester Light Art Project so we hope as many people as possible
will pop in and share their thoughts with us.”
The exhibition can be viewed from the 3 to 10 April at the Winchester
Galley in Park Avenue (off North Walls). The gallery, situated on
the ground floor through the first entrance on the left of the School
of Art buildings, is open to the public between 3pm and 6.30pm Tuesdays
to Fridays with no admission charge. A comments book is available
for all to share their thoughts. So get down there and have your
say!
The project is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts
Council of England who have provided an award of almost £100,000.
Winchester City Council and local traders acting through Winchester
City Centre Management Limited have provided matching funding and
the project has been managed by Artpoint.
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Mum's The Word (10th
April 2002)
What did the death of the Queen Mother mean to the people of Winchester?
Were they upset, happy or simply unconcerned?
Max Jones took to the streets on a sunny Wednesday afternoon to
find out.
The first person I came across was Hugh Corry, an environmental
consultant from Southampton. “I was shocked, but not madly
upset,” said Hugh, who went on to tell me that his mother had
been more or less a contemporary of the Queen Mother, although he
would not tell me in what context. “My mother did not like
her,” he said, “but I thought she got nicer as she got
older. At least people did have an opinion on her, whether they
liked her or not.”
Matthew Sergison Main thought it was a shame that she died. “She
was a link with the past, and a symbol of our country,” he
said. “She was archetypally English and very graceful.”
Rory Martin is from Ireland and he collects money for the charity
sense, who collect money for the deaf and blind. “Being Irish
I hate the Royal Family, but I do think that the Queen Mother lived
a very full life and she was certainly not the worst of the lot.”
Paul Freeman had come down to Winchester from London for a bit of
peace and quiet, and he had just been to sign the book of condolences
in the cathedral. “I am not a royalist but she was wonderful,
and she epitomised an earlier age. I do feel sorry for the Queen
to lose a sister and a daughter in such a short amount of time.”
Sarah Gammie lives in Winchesster, and she said she was saddened
when she heard of the death of the Queen Mother. “When I say
saddened, though, it did not affect me that much. I certainly did
not stop painting the wall I was doing at the time! I do think she
was quite a character, and it must have been amazing for her to
have seen the whole of the 20th century.”
Lee Bryal, who works in the Eclipse pub was very upset and burst
out crying when he heard the news. “I am not happy that we
do not have a day off to mourn,” said Lee. Hear hear!
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From The Cobb to The Tower
(10th April 2002)
Born in 1907, in Tomaszow, Poland, Zdzislaw Ruszkowski was a man
with a mission. And that mission was to paint. Richard Williams
describes the man behind the exhibition currently on display at
the Tower Arts Centre.
From the time of his first exhibition in 1933, until his death
in 1991, Ruszkowski producd over 800 oil paintings and many other
watercolours, sketches and sculptures.
With deep-rooted principles and the reference points of Van Gogh,
Cezanne, Bonnard and Monet to draw on, he charted an individual
course regardless of the ever changing fads and fashions of contemporary
art.
In the immediate pre-war years he was based in Paris and the South
of France where his paintings were exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants
and the Salon des Tuileries amongst others. In 1939 he joined the
Polish Army, and after the occupation escaped from France and was
based in Scotland until the end of the war. From 1945 onwards he
lived and worked in London and also in Lyme Regis. It was on the
Dorset coast that he found the peace and tranquility that enabled
him to produce such an outstanding body of work. Working in a converted
garage during the summer months before heading back to London for
the winters, Ruszkowski was a virtual recluse and was little known
in Lyme, he hardly ever socialised beyond ending up in The Standard
for a quick half-pint after taking the dog for a walk.
The study and capture of light is of prime importance to Ruszkowski’s
work and his ability to catch the haze of a English summer is without
equal. The exhibition of his work currently on display at The Tower
has been put together by Anna Peebles, a resident of Winchester
and Ruszkowski’s daughter. It features a range of self-portraits
and many others works that capture the vibrancy and timelesness
of this great artists work.
For more information contact The Tower Arts Centre on 01962 867986.
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