PONTEFRACT to visit Alan and Cath Mace.

Arriving from the Northern Line at Kings Cross with St Pancras in the background.

On Saturday 1^st September at 9.30am, I emerged from the Northern Line  into the concourse between Kings Cross and St Pancras stations. The sun was shining and it was warm. I had the tickets for Alan Parry and myself to Wakefield Kirkgate printed off from my laptop, in my pocket.Alan was coming up from Byfleet and should arrive at Kings Cross just after 10am. We were travelling to Pontefract to stay with Alan and Cath Mace for the night. Alan had invited us up to give us a guided tour of Pontefract and visit some of its pubs.

Half of a supermarket trolley sticking out of a brick wall?????

 I had a wander around Kings Cross Station concourse looking for a coffee shop. Next to platform 9  is the Harry Potter supermarket trolley, suitcases and bird cage, apparently disappearing into a brick wall onto ,"Platform 9 and three quarters," from where the, Hogwarts Express, in the novels, travelled north. There was a crowd of Harry Potter enthusiasts gathering near this spot. Many were dressed as characters from the stories.  There were film cameras and photographers hanging around. Some of the fans dressed as Potter characters were being interviewed.  There were a number of security guards. I asked one what was going on. September 1^st is the day the pupils of Hogwarts returned to school in 
 Rowling's novels. The fans were celebrating the event. 

Potter fans gathering at Kings Cross.

 Alan arrived and we both stood in the crowd who were obviously waiting for something to happen. Alan asked another security guard about the event. He told us that some of the stars from the latest Potter film, The Crimes of Grindwald, were going to make an appearance. Jude Law and Eddie Redmain appeared at the entrance of the Harry Potter shop. They posed with the trolley and had pictures taken with some of the fans and smiled for the cameras. 

Fans filming Eddie Redmain and Jude Law at ,"platform 9 and three quarters."

Witnessing an event like that makes you wonder how people get so involved and become so passionate about a fantasy like Harry Potter.  Some people need that sort of thing to get through life I suppose. 

It was time for Alan and myself to board our train north from platform 5 going to Doncaster and Wakefield.We boarded the,” Shakespeare Express."

Alan getting ready to board The Shakespeare Express.

We pulled out of Kings Cross and began our journey north. We passed the The Emirates stadium  on our right. The train sped along smoothly at 125 miles per hour.It felt like gliding over a sheet of ice. The sun shone. The buffet carriage was next to our carriage so we got coffee and tea during the journey. Two ladies sitting opposite us offered us biscuits. We arrived in Wakefield Kirkgate at 1.38pm. Nobody was about. Wakefield seemed empty.

Wakefield Kirkgate.

 We asked a man sweeping the platform when the train from Wakefield to Pontefract was expected. He thought the train to ,”Ponty,” might be cancelled because of the unofficial strikes that were going on.   We decided to get a taxi to Alan Maces house. It was a journey of about eight miles. The taxi driver was a sociable sort, "F," ing and ,"blinding," amiably as he drove us along telling us about his great invention for keeping the sun off his SATNAV screen. It appeared to be a piece of card cut out of a Wheetabix box, but it obviously worked for him. 

Alan and Cath's house in Pontefract.

Alan and Cath live in a detached house on a new estate on the edge of Pontefract, in Cavendish Avenue. Very ,”Surrey.”  Alan, after showing us our rooms, placed a bottle of Black Sheep Ale  on his coffee table, in front of us, to get  the afternoon off to a liquid start.

From Alan's house we walked into Pontefract centre. Along the way we passed through an area of cultural diversity. We walked past Tokies pizza restaurant and the Pearl Dragon Chinese takeaway.

 A large open piece of land that was covered in grass had all sorts of ridges and rectangular raised bits pushing up from underneath the surface. 

The site of St Johns Priory, Pontefract.

An information board explained how this was the site of an old priory dating from between 1090 and 1536. It had been called St Johns.

 Looking out over the countryside later from Pontefract Castle, which is on a hill, we saw in the distance the  water towers of the old coal fired power station at Ferrybridge. Near it and much smaller, glinted the shining steel chimneys of the new Ferrybridge Renewable Energy, Multi Fuel power station.  Those in authority, are thinking of demolishing the old cooling towers. The towers are part of the scenery and have been part of the lives of people in Wakefield and Pontefract for generations. What can be done with disused cooling towers? They look like works of art.

Ferrybridge Power Station in the distance.

As we walked along we came across Alan’s favourite shop, "A.B. J. Wood." They are a DIY and hardware emporium.  There were pieces of architectural salvage at the back of the premises, a red telephone box, railings, fencing,stone cherubs and old rusty railings. A large  polythene bag full of soil pipe parts dangled over the front entrance. Alan reckoned Mr Wood sold everything. I like shops like that. 

A.B.J. WOOD hardware shop, Pontefract.

A Shell garage across the road had a line of cars at each pump perfectly in line, like the starting grid of a formula 1 race.

Ready for the chequered flag.

Pontefract is old and we came across examples of its ancient past at every turn. Set in amongst a grove of lofty beech and horse chestnuts stood the ruins of All Saints church. It dates from the 14^th century but it was destroyed and left a ruin during the siege of the castle further up the hill during the English Civil War. In 1837 a new church was built inside the ruins of the old church. It looks strange, a church  within an old ruin. 

All Saints Church, Pontefract.

On a street corner with Victorian terraced houses and a few ramshackle shops surrounding it is a worn grassy area with a rectangle of stones, no more than ten feet wide and fifteen feet in length . This was the stone foundations of Kirkebi Anglo Saxon Church built in about 700AD and mentioned in the Domesday Book. Here  King Eadred accepted the allegiance of the Northumbrians and Archbishop Wolfston of York. The church was no larger than a cupboard. They were either very small people or they got very friendly in there.

Kirkebi Anglo Saxon Church.

Further up the hill is Pontefract Castle. It has a dark history. It was one of the great northern castles and it was thought whoever controlled the castle controlled the north. It became a magnet for trouble. Built in 1070 by Ilbert de Lacy it was described in the Domesday Book of 1086. Henry 1^st confiscated it from John de Lacy because he failed to support the King. Roger, John’s son and heir, later paid Richard 1^st 3000 marks for it back but the King still kept the castle.  Later King John, returned the castle to the de Lacys and they lived there until the early 14^th century.In 1311 it was taken over by the House of Lancaster. The Earl of Lancaster was beheaded there because of treason and became a local martyr  and revered by the population. John of Gaunt took it over but he was banished by Richard II. Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunts son, who had been banished with his father from the country returned when Richard was away, probably waging some war or other, took back his estates and became Henry IV. In 1536 Thomas Darcy gave it over to the Pilgrimage of Grace, a northern Catholic uprising against Henry VIII. He was beheaded for his troubles. In 1541 Catherine Howard, Henrys fifth wife, was accused of adultery with Thomas Culpeper. The act of adultery taking place in the castle. She was beheaded. Mary Queen of Scots stayed there. It became a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War and was besieged three times. At the end of the Civil War the castle was demolished. The local population was thankful. They were fed up with all the trouble the castle had brought them. 

Some of the ruins of Pontefract Castle.

"Ponty," is a picturesque town with Georgian, Tudor and Medieval buildings. It has blue plaques everywhere. One plaque remembers Peter and Fred Asquith who founded ASDA supermarkets.It is also home to the Tangerine Confectionary Company. They make Sherbet Fountains, Black Jacks, Fruit Salad, Liquorice All Sorts and Refreshers. The ancient, "Buttercross," is a  Medieval Market. 

The Buttercross.

Pontefract has a covered market off the High Street. It was being closed up for the night when we got there but we were able to have a  walk around it. The first shop we came across in the market sold Yorkshire cheeses. Liquorice Cheese, sounded good.

Pontefract indoor market.

On the other side of town is ,Haribos, who make Pontefract Cakes. Alan and Cath placed three bags of Pontefract Cakes on our respective beds, as welcoming gifts. 

HARIBOs where they make and sell Pontefract Cakes.

The three of us spent the evening touring the pubs in Pontefract. For a small country town it has a lot of pubs and we went into a few of them. We started in the The Broken Bridge which is the local Wetherspoons. We ate there. I had a good steak and chips.A few of the other pubs included, Horse Vaults, The Malt Shovel, The Ponty Tavern, The Red Lion, Liquorice Bush, and the Golden Ball.

We had a drink in here.

 In one pub I asked the barman about slag heaps. When I first travelled north , in the 1960s, when I was 13 years old, I remember seeing slag heaps everywhere. I have travelled north often over the years and slag heaps seem to have disappeared. The barman told me to look out of the back of the pub and pointed out a low hill that appeared to fit into the landscape. He told that was a slag heap. Its top had been removed and it was grassed over. 

The remains of a slag heap.

On the Sunday, the day Alan and I were to return to London, Alan made us breakfast of baked beans, mushrooms, eggs, sausages and bacon. He did an amazing job. Alan and Cath’s two dogs, Monty and Rory, two  black Labradors,  sat patiently and slavered at the sight of the food. Cath suggested, that as we had time before our 12.50 train from Wakefield to Kings Cross,we might visit the National Trust Park at Nostell Priory, an 18^th century country mansion built in 1733 for the Winn family. 

Nostell Priory.

The house designed by James Paine with a wing and stables designed by John Adam is set within 3000 acres of beautiful parkland. The Winn family financed all this, first through the textile industry, then coal mining and also mining iron ore for the Industrial Revolution An extensive lake surrounded by trees and paths has large patches of lily  pads  and at this time of year is blooming with yellow flowers. The sun shining on the lake amid the shadows cast by the trees presented a lovely sight.

A walk in the park with Monty and Rory.

We walked around the estate while Monty and Rory ran for their yellow ball. We all got lots of throwing practice. We arrived at the impressive obelisk lodge gate at the far extremity of the estate. A herd of heifers gathered at the gates to the lodge house. The expansive grass areas all around were splattered with thousands of ,”cow pats.” Some of those ,”cow pats,” were big, very big. The heifers are well fed.

The Obelisk Lodge.

You have got to admire the Winn family who owned the estate. They were nothing if not persistent. One generation ran out of money in building the house. The next generation took on the project. Expenses had to be cut. Eventually they achieved what the family had set out to do at the park. 

Us three and the dogs.

There was no time before our train to see inside the house. It has collections of Chippendale furniture, and  Brueghel and Hogarth paintings We had a cup of coffee in the stable block and then it was time to drive to Wakefield Kirkgate Station. Alan and I said our goodbyes and thanked Alan and Cath for a fantastic time and then the two of us were off back to London.

TOOTING FOLK AND BLUES FESTIVAL 4th August 2018

Ellen and Gabriel, the founders and organisers of the Tooting Folk and Blues Festival.

The Tooting Folk and Blues festival took place on Saturday the 4^th August between 12pm and 7 pm. It has been held for the last four years on that piece of Tooting Common situated by the corner of Dr Johnson Avenue and Tooting Bec Road opposite the Streatham estate. Saturdays event went some way to relieve the wilting qualities of our never ending heatwave this summer with some great music, numerous food outlets and, three beer tents. The crowd was enlivened.

A definition of anthropology in the Oxford dictionary states that anthropology is “ the study of human societies and cultures and their development.” Anthropology covers subjects such as evolution, behaviour, adapting to environments, communication and socialisation. The Tooting Folk and Blues Festival has it all.

The festival is organized by my friend Gabriel Mesh, his daughter Ellen and his wonderful wife Isobel. I wrote a blog post about the first Tooting Festival held on  Saturday the 8^th August 2015 and looking back at what I wrote then I predicted that the festival was such a special community event for the people of Tooting and South London that it would definitely continue annually. I have felt inspired to write once again about this, the fourth festival.

The crowd gathers and some of the food outlets in the distance.

 I arrived at the south end of the festival site. The municipal toilets  and wash rooms were open and a whole array of blue portable toilets lined the shrubbery on my left. The natural arena lay before me, an open area of grass bordered by trees and bushes creating a large ovoid shaped expanse. The edges of this space were, for the festival, lined by numerous food outlets. “The Parsons Nose,” made delicious burgers in buns and hot dogs. Delicious aromas came from the, “Home Cooked Thai Flavours,” stall. “The Mansfield Farm,” van sold real dairy ice creams. Two young lads, “Made in Chelsea,” types, enticed customers with espresso martinis created magically from a shiny chrome contraption at the back of their pale blue Morris Minor. Sambrooks Brewery sold craft beers from two stalls. I can recommend the ,”Wandle,” beer. I had a few pints of the Wandle, a lovely light tasting beer made with maris otter pale malt, fuggles, goldings and Boadicea hops, so the sign next to the large barrel of “Wandle,” positioned under the cool shade of the Sambrooks awning informed me. The beer takes its name from the local river Wandle. “Field and Flower,” provided food made from natural organic sources. Other outlets included, “ Lovely Bunch of Coconuts,” “Burritos,” “Sticky Beaky,” that provides slow cooked fast foods, “Slush Candy Floss Sweets, “and, a blast from the past, a “Mr Whippy,” ice cream van was situated near the entrance to the festival. From the anthropological point of view there was on this one site a variety of foods from different cultures and parts of the world. A rich cosmopolitan range of incredible flavours and smells assaulting the noses, taste buds and imaginations of us all. If evolution is nothing else, it comes about by the coming together of disparate parts to create new wholes.

Wood fired pizza. Delicious!!!!!!

 This year Gabriel and Ellen had a stall to sell the CDs that many of the bands have made. New this year, they also sold a Tooting Folk and Blues T shirt.

Families and  friends gather in one great mass of people.

From a societal viewpoint this festival had all the elements of a rich, creative and evolving society. Families and friends spread out  square blankets claiming their territory. The demographics of the festival had a diverse number of groups, people in their twenties gathered together and families with mums, dads and children and also individuals such as older men and women.One elderly lady wearing a long blue dress threw down her walking stick and danced to a reggae beat. Many people sought shelter amongst the trees, a primeval response, protecting themselves from the hot rays of the sun. The ,”hunter gatherers,” amongst us queued with hard earned money to buy the delicious offerings at the food stalls. “Carers,” sat with children and the elderly in protective groups on their blankets. Some groups interacted with other groups talking and laughing. The various groupings, each within their demarcated areas, were located within the mass of the festival crowd. A whole society existed here on this piece of grass on Tooting Common. There were those there to protect us, the police. A first aid tent to help those with physical problems. An information tent  provided information about the things we needed to know.  The bands provided art, imagination and creativity combining language, sound, sights and movement.  It seemed to me this large group of people  had enough  talents,  cross cultural experiences and age ranges to populate a new world . What sort of new world?

Stunflower, a mix of reggae, folk rock and punk.

The food stalls were one area where different cultural experiences came together creating synergies that produced new evolving culinary delights. The music and the bands were the other culturally diverse and creative element. The Vooduu People, an electric soul band from Brixton, sang a song called, Dynamite. “ Chemistry, whatever they want to call it, me and you’ve got it.” A great line describing succinctly the cultural symbiosis going on at the Tooting Festival. Stunflower, sang one number that combined reggae, electric blues and  punk sounding elements.

The ,"Sherriff of Tooting," Gabriel Mesh and The Gas. Great guitar playing from all participants.

Gabriel Mesh with The Gas, were our Tooting Sherriff and his deputies. Gabriel was, “keeping his eyes wide open.” Tommy McCardle provided some forceful driving rock numbers that had a gentility and emotional side. His memories of San Francisco and other life experiences showed how the singer songwriters are the diarists and poets of our time. 

Tommy Mccardle, an emotional intensity and  sensitivity.

Robin Bibi provided  nuanced and powerful acoustic guitar playing and encouraged us to,” Let The Good Times Roll.” His voice carried emphasise and meaning as he lived the songs he sang. 

Robin Bibi, performing wonderful nuanced guitar playing.

Jack Harris, with his dry, laconic style of humour entertained us to his different take on life but his honest singing and guitar playing, dredging the depths of his emotions engaged his audience and created a powerful response to a great set. 

Jack Harris, with the hat, giving a performance of depth and meaning.

Other wonderful performances were provide by the ,”Robin Booth band,” and also the great ,”Conrad Vingoe.” “Whom by Fire,” were a mainstay of the Festival once again. They are regulars at the “Breathing Room,” nights at the Antelope in Tooting Broadway. The Nunhead Folk Circle, another "Breathing Room," regular, performed a great set belying the Hawaiian shirts and straw hats. They performed some great folk rock numbers.

Food and drink in abundance.

The festival was an incredibly successful social, emotional, creative and musical experience. Gabriel, Ellen  and Isobel,  put so much hard work , passion and love into producing it for us once again. The festival is going from strength to strength.

A LITERARY PUZZLE (just for fun!!!)

This particular person is one of the most famous writers the world has known.

OK I am not the famous writer but I am standing in a tunnel this writer had dug.It passes under the road situated at the front of the last house this writer lived in, to a small plot of land on the opposite side. There a Swiss Cottage was constructed. The top room of the Swiss Cottage was used for writing in. There were views out towards the sea and an estuary nearby. I think the act of entering the tunnel and emerging the other side was an emotional and psychological act, passing from their domestic home life and coming out into the world in which they wrote.They had a telescope set up on the top floor to view the shipping and life on the estuary.

The Swiss Cottage, not in its original location but now in the garden of a museum in a nearby town.

A cathedral features in this writer's last novel . A dark, sinister, mysterious tale as far as it goes. The writer was writing it on the morning of their death and so the novel remains unfinished. 

This house , which features in one of the writers most famous novels , was the home to an unfortunate female character. When you read the novel, in many ways you want to sympathise and empathise with her but she is somewhat repellent and has become the stuff of nightmares!!!

The letter box has been refurbished but it is the original. It is located in a wall on the left of the entrance to this writers house. It was one of the first of its kind and the writer in question asked for it to be installed. This famous writer and their family all used this letter box to post  letters.

In at least three of this writers novels, characters walk along this high street.

The last house this writer lived in. They died here. The location has Shakespearean connections.

WHO DO YOU THINK THE WRITER WAS? If you can get the names of the novels alluded to and the locations portrayed in the photographs , you are amazing!!!!

Jane Austen Today: JANE AUSTEN'S WORLD CUP TEAM!!!!!!!!!

Mr Darcy (Fitzwilliam). 

Centre forward. 

Star striker, goalscorer supreme and team super star. 

Just imagine the crowd chanting. "Darcy ! Darcy ! Darcy!

Jane Austen Today: JANE AUSTEN'S WORLD CUP TEAM!!!!!!!!!: I wrote this eight years ago when England were playing in the The World Cup in South Africa. I put together a Jane Austen Team to beat the USA. I would choose the same team today. It was a bit of fun!!

JANE AUSTEN'S WORLD CUP TEAM!!!!!!!!!

You might have noticed that there is a small football competition happening in South Africa, starting this Friday. England are playing the USA on Saturday.

I was wondering who Jane might put into her football team. She has got some very likely characters to choose from.

Football was played in the 18th century. In fact it goes back long, long before then.

William Fitzstephen writing in 1170 noted that every trade had it’s own football team and often played after dinner in the local fields.These trades were found in the towns and cities. The trades were gathered together under guilds. The guilds trained apprentices, provided tests for people to become craftsmen and finally master craftsmen. and provided quality control. The Guilds covered many skills, stonemasons, armourers, cutlers, dyers, goldsmiths , needlemakers and the list was endless.It was the apprentices that would have played football. According to William Fitzstephen, the elders sat on their horses to the side of the game getting all hot and bothered cheering on their teams. Sounds familiar.

In 1280 in one manor’s record it states that Henry, son of William de Ellington at Ulkham on Trinity Sunday was accidentally stabbed by David le Ken and died during a game

In Edward II time, about 1314, people complained about the tumult and the evils that arose from the game of football.

Edward IV in 1477 was an opponent of football. It was a violent dangerous sport in those days apparently.

By 1581 Richard Mulcaster, the headmaster of The Merchant Tailors School thought it was a healthy and strength providing activity for his pupils.

However by the end of the Civil war in 1649, Oliver Cromwell was opposed to it and even enforced laws against the playing of football along side most other things that were fun, it must be said.

The sort of football that was played in Jane’s time was usually played between the inhabitants of country villages on Shrove Tuesday each year, or on other religious holidays. It often numbered hundreds of people on each side. All the occupants of a village would be invited to take part. The ball used would be a pigs bladder pumped up. The game would cover the countryside between the two villages. It might be arranged that the church door of each village would be the goal.


In 1772 in the village of Hitchin, they had a problem. The ball was lost in the priory pond. They must have got it out though because eventually a goal was scored in the porch of St Mary’s Church.

By the 18th century most of Britain’s public school played football. Winchester College, where Jane’s two nephews, by her brother Edward, Edward junior and George, attended, had taken up football by 1750. Jane must have heard stories from the two boys about playing, “the beautiful game.”

We can imagine a game of football being played between Chawton and Farringdon each Shrove Tuesday across Edward’s fields. That’s about two miles. They might have used the church porches in Chawton and Farringdon for goals.

So, who could Jane have in her World Cup football team?

I think Edmund Bertram would have to be the goalkeeper. Steady, honest, idealistic. A safe pair of hands.

Jonny Lee Miller as Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park

In defence I think she would have had Captain Harville at right back,

Ciaran Hinds as Captain Wentworth, Persuasion

Captain Wentworth at centre back, no good in goal , tends to drop people, but a reliable defender of Britains shores. Mr Martin would be alongside him, strong, honest, trustworthy. A man to have with you in a tight spot.

Jefferson Hall as Robert Martin, Emma

Then at left back position Captain Benwick another player experienced in defending Britain’s shores.

Captain Harville (l) and Captain Benwick (r), Persuasion

Now for the midfield, the engine room of the team. Jane would need some creative players there. I think two players are needed here. Mr Knightley on the right of the midfield, wise, intelligent, great vision.

Jeremy Northam as Mr. Knightley, Emma

And, a real creative superstar on his left in midfield, the one and only Henry Tilney. He would tease the opposition, but with a sharp intelligence. He would make a great creative midfielder pumping visionary balls forward to the attacking players.

J.J. Feild as Henry Tilney, Northanger Abbey

Finally the forward line. The attackers, the prima uomos of the team, those Jane can rely on to score. On the right wing she could have John Willoughby, unreliable at times but with undoubted flashes of smartness, brilliance and he’s guaranteed to score. from any position. A real wow with the female fans.

Dominic Cooper as Mr. Willoughby, Sense and Sensibility

On the left wing Jane could have Frank Churchill. An attractive prospect and a smooth player. An experienced scorer.

Raymond Coulthard as Frank Churchill, Emma

So who is going to be the star of Jane’s team? The centre forward, the superstar. Yes you’ve guessed right it’s Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy himself, goalscorer supreme. He never puts a foot wrong. The crowd will roar his name, “ DARCY! DARCY! DARCY!”

Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice

And so we have it. Jane’s team, strong, talented, unbeatable? OH YES!!!!

By my next blog England will have beaten the USA by the way.

Posted by Tony Grant, London Calling

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