Mast-erpiece
(29th May 2002)
Councillors, members of the public and lecturers packed into
King Alfred’s College’s Herbert Jarman building on Saturday
May 25. They were there to watch a short film about mobile telephone
masts.
This contentious issue was chosen by Lisa Fry, Emma Hill and Becky
Knight as the subject for their end of year project. The three girls
are studying drama, theatre and TV studies as a three year degree
course. Their brief was to feature a subject that is contentious
in Winchester.
There is no denying that the subject of phone masts gets people’s
blood up. Emma lives on Byron Avenue, and she has seen the furore
locally since Orange applied to put a phone mast up in the road.
After 18 months the application is still at the appeal stage. Councillor
Ray Love was there to see the film and then afterwards to join in
the mast debate. “I like what the students have been doing,
and I think anything that gets the cause into the limelight is a
good thing,” he said. Councillor Love has been against the
mast since he first heard about it. “I can honestly say that
I am one of the only people I know who doesn’t have a mobile,
and I have no intention of getting one,” he said. Steve Bee,
the head of planning for the county council, was also there.
After half an hour of drinking coffee and meeting the other guests,
it was time for the film to begin. The opening sequence of the film
had, as its soundtrack, the screech that people living near one
of the masts say they can hear.
Images of Winchester flashed up on the screen with staccato speed,
and then it cut to interviews with people concerned about masts,
all of whom were in the audience.
Mark Oaten, the local MP, told us how he did not approve of the
masts, and some schoolchildren poignantly said how they did not
want to be taken out of their schools and away from their friends.
One was the son of protester Rachel Reeve, who said she would take
him away from school if there was a mast built near it.
This then cut into footage of Kings School boarders, who are very
near the Sarum Road telephone mast. Many of these have complained
of sleepless nights, nosebleeds and headaches.
Another interviewee pointed out that if they could build a mast
in Sarum Road, by a school, a hospital and a boarding house, they
could effectively build one anywhere! The film finished by thanking
all those who had helped. Karen Barratt is a protester who lives
in Byron Avenue, and she has been involved in the protests since
the beginning.
“It is very wearing on me and my family. If the mast was approved
I would not have my grandchildren here to stay,” said Karen.
As I was talking to Karen my phone rather embarassingly went off,
but Karen relented and said that her and the other members of AABAM
(Action Against Byron Avenue Masts) are not against phones per se.
They are more anti the third generation phones which these mast
are for.
“I cannot see anyone using theses new internet phones, and
it could well end up all being for nothing,” said Karen.
After the film there was a debate covering the amenity issues, the
health issues and the strategy issues involved in the mast saga.
Apologies were heard at the beginning from Mark Oaten, who could
not make it, and also from representatives of the main mobile phone
networks, who, perhaps unsurprisingly, could not make it either.
The girl’s tutors, Gregory Naughton and John Pett seemed very
happy with the event, telling me how the girls had thrown themselves
into it wholeheartedly.
Other short films to come include ones on date rape, drugs and new
age travellers. Watch this space.
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Tiger Ragging (29th May 2002)
Thousands
of protestors up and down the country were joined by their compatriots
in Romsey in lobbying Esso garages last week.
Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and People and planet liased with
one another to stage a protest at Esso’s Greatbridge station.
The idea is to get people not to fill up with Esso fuel, as they
do not feel the oil giant have done enough to help stop global warming.
Many of the protestors were dressed up as grim reapers, in Scream
masks, and they also leafleted a number of houses in town. Apparently
Esso are lagging behind the other oil companies in helping to stop
environmental damage, with BP and Shell taking action against global
warming. 400 garages across the country were lobbied, and a spokeswoman
for Friends of the Earth said it was a great success, although she
did not attend the one at her local garage because it was too far
away to walk there and she did not think it would be appropriate
to arrive by car! The press officer for Esso in London said that
sales were dramatically affected that day, with the Romsey garage
losing up to 50% of its custom. However, he denied that there was
any reason why Esso were doing less to combat environmental damage
than other companies. “It is always at the forefront of our
agenda,” he said.
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Good Will Bunting (29th
May 2002)
The
stunning coloured flags which flutter in Winchester City centre
during Hat Fair are under threat.
Top artist Silvia Jahnsons was commissioned to create last year’s
spectacular hand-painted bunting, each triangle expertly re-created
an image from the stained glass windows in the Cathedral.
This year’s bunting is under threat as funds are not available
to repair old and make new flags to envelope even more of the High
Street. Over 2,000 triangles need to be made for this year’s
event and this will cost over £3,000.
EPL Access in Winnall have agreed to heavily subsidise the cost
of erecting the bunting and Ian Rowan, manager of Winchester City
Tourism has offered to match all funds raised. This means that Hat
Fair needs to raise £1,500 by the 14th of June.
“Silvia is an incredible talent,” says Hat Fair Director
of Celebrations, Caterina Loriggio “the people of Winchester
are really lucky to have her colouring in their City”.
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The
find of a lifetime (22nd May 2002)
Winchester archaeologists Dave Norcott and Niels Daglass unearthed
the find of a lifetime last week. Whilst excavating a number of
Roman graves near Salisbury the pair, joined by Doug Murphy of
Southampton, came across the grave of a 'beaker person' unparalleled
in its richness.
Dating back to 2300 BC, the skeleton was surrounded by wealth
including gold earrings, copper knives and arrowheads. The gold
earrings are particularly exciting as they have only ever been
found on six occasions before. These goodies were thought to be
to stand the deceased in good stead for the afterlife. Dave, who
has been an archaeologist since graduating from King Alfred’s
College in 1999, said “the tools and weapons are from the
Bronze Age, which is the first time metal was used by man.”
The find is the most important of its kind ever.It has ten times
the wealth of the second biggest find, which was in Chilbolton.
Although the trio initially thought the 5ft 9 corpse was that
of a great warrior, evidence of a crippled leg discounted this
theory. “Whoever he was he was very important indeed,”
said Dave, although he shied away from saying he may be a king.
Winchester used to be the capital of the ancient kingdom of Wessex,
an area famed for its archeological heritage. Wessex has yielded
up Stonehenge, Avesbury stone circle and many more finds.
The ancient race are known as the beaker people because they were
buried in mug shaped tombs. This one was lined with wood and had
rush matting on the floor. In areas renowned for their wealth
of artefacts, teams of archaeologists will be called in to excavate
the site of any new developments. This site, in Amesbury, was
to be for 550 new homes. Whether these plans will now be shelved
remains to be seen. Dave says “it looks as though the artefacts
will go on display in Salisbury museum, which is good, as they
can be seen by local people.”
This will not be for a while though, as they need to first be
cleaned and then carbon dated by experts.
As the site contained gold it could not be left unattended. “We
were working until 2am, but it was well worth it,” said Dave.
“It really is the find of a lifetime.”
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Development
appeal threatens flora and fauna (22nd May 2002)
Whether you know it as The Ridge or The Triangle, an area of beauty
just to the North of Romsey is under threat.
In the Romsey Extra parish, the Ridge, situated on Lord Mountbatten’s
land, is used solely for gravel extraction at the moment. The
lake created plays host to many different examples of flora and
fauna, which are not upset by the present use of the area.
This natural treasure trove includes rare butterflies, moths,
newts and frogs, as well as many flowers and plants.
Waste disposal giants Virador have other plans for the site however.
They want to dig it out and turn it into a massive landfill site
to dump rubble in. This would disturb the harmony of the place
now, causing water to drain down into adjacent properties and
damaging many of the plants and animals found there. Although
these plans have already been rejected, the company have put them
in for an appeal, the date for which has not been set yet. Carol
Millard lives near to the site. “It is great round here.
My children are grown up and gone now, but they used to be forever
up there looking for creatures and getting excited by what they
found there,” said Carol.”
Everyone knows that once the water is disturbed it will start
draining down and causing damage to what is a very sensitive area.
Virador are based in Taunton in Devon, yet they have sites all
around Romsey. After phoning telephone numbers from Eccles in
East Anglia to Devon, I was finally told that Virador were unavailable
for comment.
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Lovely
Jub’lee
(22nd May 2002)
Cheers! The Hampshire Brewery in Romsey, celebrates the Queen’s
Golden Jubilee and the arrival of the Winchester & Mid Hampshire
Observer with a glass of ‘Luv’ly Jub’lee’
Luv’ly Jub’lee has been specially brewed for the Queen’s
Golden Jubilee, “Everything about this beer is golden”
said Head Brewer Dan Thomasson “from the golden colour to
the traditional ‘first gold’ hops”.
‘Luv’ly Jub’lee’ is already a tremendous success
and can be sampled at many local hostelries including: The Queen’s
Head Hotel, The Bevois Castle, Watership Down and The Plough.
The Hampshire Brewery have generously put together a twelve bottle
‘Celebration Case’ for Winchester and Mid Hampshire
Observer readers. Observer readers will receive a ten percent
discount on such classic Hampshire Brewery ales as ‘Desperate
Dan’ and ‘Not Tonight Josephine’.
The Hampshire Brewery can be found at 6-8 Romsey Industrial Estate,
Greatbridge Road, Romsey or telephone 01794 830529.
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of page
Paris,
Nevada (15th May 2002)
Rich Williams reports exclusively from Vegas for the Winchester
& Bishop’s Waltham Observer.. Yeah... Vegas baby!
We left LA just after midday. Down on Venice Beach the sun was beginning
to take hold and in the hills it was ten degrees further up the
scale. Under these circumstances there’s only one possible
course of action - and that’s to head for Paris.
Back home we all know how easy that is, stroll up to the station,
get yourself to Waterloo and grab a ticket for the Eurostar. But
LA to Paris? That’s got to be more than a short hop. A good
few thousand miles, some serious jet-lag, a lot of bad airline food
and a four inch cinema screen.
But that’s Paris, France we’re talking about, not Paris,
Nevada – and certainly not Paris, Las Vegas.
Flying over the the 300 miles from LA you start to realise what
an insane and brilliant idea Las Vegas is. As the endless desert
slowly sweeps away a bright shining beacon appears out of nowhere,
a city where anything is possible and where everyone is one throw
away from a house in the Hamptons. It's easy for us Europeans to
be sniffy about Las Vegas, the first time I was here I thought I’d
enjoy it in a kind of ‘post-ironic’ way – laughing
at the kitsch with my superior English sensibilities – but
within 24 hours I just loved it. And the second time is turning
out to be even better, thanks mainly to the place where I’m
sitting now, the 2,916 bedroomed Paris Hotel and Casino. This, my
friends, is quite a place.
Outside our bedroom window is a 50 story half-scale Eiffel Tower,
the paths to and from the 85,000 square-foot Casino are cobbled,
there’s an Arc de Triomphe outside, a roof-top pool, a buffet
serving crab claws and lobster, about ten world class restaurants
and all the staff speak at least twenty words of French. Hey, don’t
laugh, that’s about seventeen more than me.
A lot of Vegas resorts seem to be ‘almost there’, whereas
the Paris has definitely arrived. It’s a feast for the senses,
almost an assault of the senses, but not one you’d want to
hide from. It sucks you in and everyone you encounter just seems
so damn nice, everywhere you turn there’s a ‘Bonjour’
being thrown your way, and if you’re still feeling cynical
about this place, well too bad, maybe you were never breathing in
the first place.
Connected to the Paris is Bally’s Hotel and Resort, nowhere
near as grand as the Paris but worth checking out for the history
– this is the place that used to be the old MGM Grand, where
Dino held court at a higher ticket price than Francis Albert, and
across the road is the legendary Caesars Palace, which under one
roof houses more shops than West Quay and The Brooks put together.
So if you’re planning a trip to the West Coast don’t get
all precious and miss this place out. Las Vegas is anything you
want it to be, it’s a microcosm of American Society, a temple
of excess, a stately pleasure dome, a 24 hour heads-down no-nonsense
party town, it’s the best and the worst of everything, let’s
face it, it’s life.
And take my advice – stay in this place – for us nervous
Northern Hemisphere types, the Paris is the perfect base for the
madness outside. You want single deck Blackjack? They got it. You
want shopping? They got it. You want to stay in the only place in
Vegas with a Strip-side restaurant? They’ve got that too. And
as for the bedrooms, well… I could go on.
So, Paris with a twist – and a BIG twist at that – but
this is a wonderful place and don’t let anyone tell you any
different. It’s where all your dreams can come true. Don’t
believe me? I got here sixteen hours ago, won 150 bucks and saw
Tony Bennett live in concert. Oh yeah, and I was sitting next to
Denzel Washington. Life, as they say, is good.
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Voices
of the future (15th May 2002)
It’s not just businesses looking to make a profit that
benefit from the independent advice and guidance and management
expertise and training offered by Business Link Wessex. Take St
Catherine’s School on the Isle of Wight…
As a school, St Catherine’s is not in business to turn a
profit for shareholders, owners or partners. What it has to do
is deliver the best education it can and make the most of its
resources, and that requires good management.
Principal Grenville Shipley, who doubles up as Head Teacher and
Business Director, shoulders both academic and corporate roles
for this 74-pupil Special Needs School. Founded in the 1870’s,
it’s a ‘non-maintained special school’, which means
that while fee-paying, the vast majority of its residential pupils
are funded by their local authority. There are 82 staff, some
of whom are part-time (there are 74 full-time equivalents on the
strength). As a special needs school the teacher: pupil ratio
is low at 9:1, with a near £2 million annual budget.
As a mixture of teaching and non-teaching personnel, the St Catherine’s
staff form a team that is not that different to the management
structure of a commercial business. So it comes as no surprise
that Business Link Wessex’s expertise and training programmes
should benefit the education sector.
Grenville said: “We had heard of Business Link through our
involvement in the ‘Investors in People’ Standard, a
path we started with the IoW Training and Enterprise Council.
In 1999 we started working with Nick Drake-Knight, initially on
several general management and skills courses. Nick spent many
sessions with myself and my key staff to formulate an action plan
that would deliver tangible results.”
After investigating the benefits with Nick, an early priority
was to work toward the European Foundation of Quality Management
Excellence Model as a framework for performance measurement and
further improvement and the Rural Development Commission stepped
in with funding. Grenville and his team made a commitment to a
rigorous programme of identifying strengths and weaknesses, drivers
and enablers, organising what steps need to be taken to exploit
the good and remedy the not so good, and implemented an agreed
plan to achieve this.
Grenville said: “One of the great things about Business Link’s
approach was the way that, faced with this pretty big challenge,
they married imparting business expertise with fostering our confidence
in the outcome. Making the model fit the school was essential
and by developing our own skills we have been able to do it.”
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Stepped
On (15th May 2002)
Walking through North Walls park the other day, imagine Mak
Jones’ surprise when he saw a woman stepping back and repulsing
a monkey. It was only when he spotted the man next to her shooting
a tiger with a bow alongside a crane spreading its wings that
he realised it was only Eleanor Thomas and her Tai Chi class.
Eleanor used to run a Tai Chi class in the leisure centre at North
Walls. However, a couple of weeks ago the plug was pulled on her
to make way for the more lucrative step aerobics.
The previous management had given Eleanor the relatively unpopular
time slot of 9 until 10.30 on a Wednesday to teach her class.
They said that this gave the timetable at the centre more variety.
However, the people running the centre at the moment do not agree.
Eleanor was determined not to let her class down, so she resolved
to move outside. The group now practice their Tai Chi on the playing
field at North Walls.
“We are going to keep going outside in the summer, but will
more than likely move inside somewhere for the winter,” said
Eleanor, who has been doing Tai Chi for 6 years.
Eleanor’s class have followed her outside. Two class members
have handed in their executive membership of the River Park Leisure
Centre as they are so annoyed at how they have been treated. One
of these is Penny Ferguson, who has been doing Tai Chi for two
and a half years. “This is the only time of the week that
I can do it, and I am disgusted that they cancelled the class.
I handed in my membership of the centre I was so annoyed,”
she said. “It is a shame that we were shoved out, but it
is actually quite nice out here at the end of the day.”
Hungarian Au Pair Victoria Toth agrees, saying that she is annoyed
that they have to go outside when it is cold. “However, it
can be quite nice really at times as well,” she said. Tai
Chi is a form of contemplative martial art that originated in
the Orient, although in the west it is largely practiced for exercise.
It is good for balance, circulation and arthritis, and is also
apparently very good for the mind. It involves training the body
to be tricked into unfamiliar positions, using all the energy
available to you. In a martial sense it is used to turn your opponents
energy against themselves. Therefore it would be a bad idea to
start a brawl with a master in the art, because they will simply
turn your own punch back on you and send you flying!
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Red
Air Dare (8th May 2002)
The first time I rode in a helicopter was last November making
the crossing from Malta to Gozo. I was struck at the time by the
unusual quality of rotor based flight. After the ungainly twenty
seater had struggled into the air we ambled forward at a leisurely
pace and you could open the window if you liked!
Helicopters generally travel much slower than aeroplanes and the
passenger can really appreciate the unique sensation of flight.
When Max Radford of Red Aviation contacted us to offer a review
flight I jumped at the chance. They are based at Aviation Park West
at the Bournemouth International Airport. Red Aviation offer everything
from helicopter flying lessons through joy-rides to heli-lunches
at restaurants like the inimitable Chewton Glen.
I wanted to use the free flight to film a sequence for my short
film ‘Born with a Tail’, Max happily removed the side
doors of the American made Robertson R44 so that we wouldn’t
have to shoot through glass. When flying without doors you have
to be extremely careful that nothing can fly out of the cabin. Any
object that flies out will be slipstreamed back into the rear rotor,
and a hit on the rear rotor will as Max explained turn your helicopter
“into a lawn dart”, you definitely don’t want that.
With everything gaffa taped securely and the storage bins filled
with loose bits we prepared for take-off. Each of the passengers
in the four-seater wears headphones and an intercom microphone for
in-flight communication. An added bonus was a mobile phone hook
up that meant we could communicate with actors on the ground through
our headsets without wind and rotor-noise interference.
Max suggested that I filmed the helicopter shadow as we lifted off
“It’s what the skydivers do” he said. Sure enough,
the whirling rotor shadow suddenly raced away and turned into a
speeding translucent helicopter a thousand feet below us.
The morning was bright and the sky nearly cloudless as we tore towards
Bournemouth beach. Doorless helicopter flight, no, just helicopter
flight is an absolute rush. The Observer boys were grinning like
Cheshire cats as Max banked the chopper over the sparkling sea and
made the first approach on the Pier. I had cleared the fly-by with
the Bournemouth beach manager (thanks again Mr. Paterson) and at
10am there were only a few people around to wonder at the four-seater
thropping round and round the pier. Our cameras were thoroughly
spent after three or four passes and we flew off up the coast over
Poole Harbour, buzzing Brownsea Island and getting a tremendous
view of the needles.
Red Aviation will fly you anywhere you like, they can land anywhere
that the landowner will give you permission. The flight over the
sea and out to Old Harry’s rock, Sandbanks the Purbecks et
al makes an unforgettable birthday or anniversary present.
On a corporate tip the helicopter can take you: motor racing, horse
racing, to a wedding, on a charter, you name it.
Max is particularly advertising the ‘Heli-lunch’ at the
moment, a glamorous meal with the most unusual appetiser in the
business!
It goes without saying that the camera platform use that we put
the flight to is excellent too. The helicopter travels at a sedate
120mph, which gives you plenty of time to think about what you’re
shooting. It was a little bit shaky but if you’re using a video
camera with a stabilise function or an S.L.R with a fast-ish film
you’ll be fine.
Our hosts Max learned his craft in California and has been flying
helicopters commercially for a decade. He and his business partner
Michael Georgiou were exceptionally laid-back and courteous. Every
aspect of safety is meticulously taken care of without putting ‘the
fear’ into you. The twenty-odd minute flight was over in seconds,
and was a total joy. I can’t recommend the Red Aviation experience
highly enough, contact them on 01202 580 588.
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Are
Orange having a laugh? (8th May 2002)
Sheila Wilson of Byron Avenue, Winchester nearly had a heart
attack when she looked out of her bedroom window on Tuesday 30
April. There, before her eyes, was a thirty-nine foot phone mast
– painted in bright Orange (what a giveaway) - and surrounded
by men and vehicles.
It’s only a month or so since Councillors voted against the
proposal by phone giant Orange to put a mast in Byron Avenue,
and protesters have been maintaining their pressure on the phone
company to try and find out if an appeal was in the offing. Orange
has been extremely evasive about this – with a series of
“we’ll get back shortly” letters.
The mast outside Sheila Wilson’s house was a real mast emitting
real signals and was in place to help Orange map the coverage
of this, and other, masts in the local area. Although discussions
between Orange and the local council had been going on for some
weeks, no-one had thought to advise local residents.
Over 400 people wrote letters protesting against the original
application and objections were raised by local schools, doctors,
teachers and community groups – so the council were in no
doubt that this was a high-profile situation. Residents are angry
that the council, once again, have ignored their fears and their
need for consultation.
Local resident Rachel Reeve said “If we’d have known
about this in advance we could have hired a COM meter from PowerWatch
and made our own set of signal strength measurements. The figures
submitted by Orange in the past were very suspect and we’d
have welcomed the opportunity to do an independent test.”
Councillor Neil Baxter, when alerted by residents, was on the
site very quickly and was outraged that neither the council nor
Orange had discussed plans with residents – and even more
ominously - they hadn’t told planning councillors. Councillor
Baxter said “This is a very high profile site and we’ve
spent hundreds of hours discussing it. To be caught out like this
is unforgivable in the week of local elections.”
Neither Lorna Hutchings or John Hearn were available for comment
when the council was contacted by residents.
Also on site, was David Holmes of Adams Holmes Associates, Orange’s
consultant. When pressed about the likelihood of an appeal he
declined to comment. When asked about the new application by Orange
for a 150-foot mast at Crab Wood he said he knew nothing about
it “but it probably wouldn’t affect any mast application
in this area”
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Wizard
from Oz (8th May 2002)
Australian born Louise Morgan has landed the job of Hat Fair
Festival Assistant which she saw advertised in the soaraway Winchester
& Bishop’s Waltham Observer!
Louise graduated in Sports and Leisure Marketing and promoted recreation
for the Australian government in the mid 80s before travelling to
New York in ‘88 where she worked for the Australian Tourist
Commission. “It was around the time of Crocodile Dundee so
America was really Australian friendly” said Louise. Ms. Morgan
headed for Britain after the states “Australia seemed too small
after America” she explained. The heady world of investment
banking in London came next followed by leisure management and marketing
for Champneys (health resorts) and Colchester Leisure Park.
Romance brought Louise to Winchester in ‘97 and she has spent
the last few years bringing up her daughter Lilly and working as
a personal trainer.
A real Hat Fair fan Louise is delighted to be working alongside
Director of Celebrations Caterina Loriggio who said “It’s
excellent to have someone of Louise’s calibre on board, I’m
sure she’ll help to make this year’s Hat Fair even better
than ever!”
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Teenage
Kicks (1st May 2002)
500 girls competed in the Winchester and District Girl’s
Six-a-side football tournament last weekend. Pete Harvey was there...
Over 50 teams from around the country competed in the competition
which was held on the Garrison ground at Bar End.
Mark Brown from the organisational team, explained that sponsorship
from local company Denplan had facilitated the tournament which
is the largest that Winchester has hosted. “Thanks also go
to Nigel Trowel and his team from Winchester City Parks and Gardens
who came up trumps with the essential pitch alterations”
said Mark.
Winchester MP Mark Oaten was on hand to present trophies to the
winners and runners up of the Under 14’s and Under 17’s
competitions on Saturday (27/4). The under 14’s cup was won
by the Riverside Strikers who beat Winchester Girls. The under
17’s cup winners were the stylish Winchester Flyers who could
not break the spirited defence of Winchester Girls but grabbed
the silverware in a penalty shoot out.
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Homelands
Money Goes to Westgate (1st May 2002)
Pupils from The Westgate Secondary School, Winchester have
been awarded music equipment worth £2000 by the organisers
of the Homelands dance festival.
Local MP Mark Oaten attended the presentation which took place
at the school on Friday (26/4).
The Mean Fiddler organisation which puts on the popular dance
festival was represented by Peveril and Minna Bruce who are farmers
on the Matterley Estate where the event takes place.
Westgate music teacher Mr. Eaves explained that students are encouraged
by hearing their efforts reproduced on high quality recording
equipment.
The music department has used the Homelands money to buy a 12
channel mixing desk, a digital multi-track recorder, an effects
rack, some studio monitors, and a bunch of workmanlike microphones.
Once the analogue signal from a singing, strumming, blowing, beating,
bowing or plucking student has been captured digitally on mini
disk it can be burnt to CD, converted to MP3 or wav formats or
simply dumped on cassette for their listening pleasure.
Mark Oaten asked if the students would be able to use the equipment
to record themselves and Mr. Eaves agreed in principle.
The Homelands School Music Award has been running 3 years. It
was set up by Mark Oaten MP and Melvin Benn, Managing Director
of the Mean Fiddler - the company that runs the annual summer
Homelands dance festival the Devils punchbowl near Winchester.
The five secondary schools in Mark’s constituency can bid
for the money and last year the Perrins School spent their two
grand on a computerised keyboard set-up.
“I am delighted that for the third year running the Mean
Fiddler have supported local schools in this way. It is a struggle
for schools to provide up to date music equipment, so the money
from the Homelands Award is a fantastic bonus” said Mark.
Melvin Benn said: “An annual award of this nature is something
we have done elsewhere so when Mark approached me about it I was
delighted to respond. Music of many forms brings enjoyment to
so many people and I hope this will encourage local school children
to develop their own music skills.”
This year the Homelands Festival will take place from Saturday
June 1st until Sunday 2nd.
Tickets for the Homelands Festival can be purchased from The Winchester
& Bishops Waltham Observer at 37 Southgate Street, Winchester.
They cost £54.50, cash transactions only please.
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Soldier
Raises Funds for World Trade Victim (1st May 2002)
A soldier from Hampshire has just completed the incredible
feat of running two marathons in 3 days (in 2 different countries)
to raise money for the child of a colleague killed in the World
Trade Centre attack.
Members of the Honourable Artillery Company ran a marathon in
Pirbright, UK towing a 2000lb field gun on Saturday and then quickly
followed that with the Boston Marathon on Monday. Trooper Ian
Gallifant, 32, from Bishops Waltham, was one of the 15 members
of the HAC who took part in this amazing feat of endurance.
The double marathon Challenge was organised to raise money for
William Turner, who was born on 14th September last year, just
three days after his father Simon was killed in New York. Simon
himself had been a member of the HAC for 16 years and was on his
last business trip to New York before the birth of his son.
The HAC decided to run the Boston Marathon on the Patriot's Day
holiday, to demonstrate British-US solidarity.
The response the soldiers got as they ran through Boston was incredible,
both Flight 11 and Flight 175 (the two flights that were crashed
into the Twin Towers) had set off from Boston, lending the event
a special poignancy
As Ian said, “You train hard for this kind of event, but
it never really prepares you mentally for the pain. So when we
really got tired the crowd would scream their support... ‘Come
on the Brits!’. Lots of people knew why we were running which
lifted our spirits when we couldn't lift our feet! When things
got tough, we all just remembered who we were doing it for and
there was never any way we were going to give up”.
In fact. everyone that started the race with the team finished,
ably demonstrating the grit and determination the unit prides
itself on.
With typical modesty Ian said, “We hope that our small endeavour
helps secure a future for a little boy that never got to see his
dad.”
For contribution to the Simon Turner Memorial fund please find
details on www.hacgunrun.com
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Executive
of Celebration (1st May 2002)
Hat Fair’s Director of Celebrations, Caterina Loriggio,
has been elected on to the Executive Committee of the British
Arts Festivals Association (BAFA).
“I am really delighted and surprised to have been elected.
It’s a real honour for me and so nice to have my work and
the Hat Fair recognised in this way” says Caterina who has
been managing Winchester’s famous street theatre festival
since 1999.
BAFA was founded in 1970, primarily as a consortium to promote
festivals to audiences in Great Britain and overseas. There are
110 festival members including the major international festivals
of Edinburgh and Belfast; the flagship festivals of Aldeburgh,
Cheltenham and Harrogate (who nominated Caterina); free festivals
like the Hat Fair and WOW on Tyneside; literature festivals like
Bristol Poetry Festival, Ilkley Literature Festival; jazz festivals
like Borders Festival of Jazz and Blues, and contemporary festivals
like Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. And the association
has recently been joined by another local event, The Bishop Waltham’s
Festival.
“I am hoping to use my time on the committee to raise the
profile of arts festivals; all too often festivals are ignored
by funding bodies or looked down upon by other arts organisations
yet they attract huge audiences as well as boosting numerous local
economies.” says Caterina “And I’ll certainly be
doing my best to ensure that Hat Fair is firmly on the map”.
This year’s Hat Fair runs from July 5–7th. More information
on 01962 849841.
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