InterviewsJohn ColeClare VinerJeremy CooperAngie SageToni DaveyNatalie McGrathJeremy HarveyMark Bruce

Calendar of EventsTaunton Literary FestivalShort StoryPoets’ Corner Gallery 41New Cookery Book My Favourite....Without the WooWooTake the Art Train

May & June 2012

Shining a light on literature, art, music and performance in Taunton & West Somerset

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A powerful message from her grandfather in a dream awakens a long lost desire to tell stories. It reads...well ...like a story, though this one is entirely true.

Ever since she could remember Clare’s grandfather told stories to her, magical stories about fairy folk. Unfortunately, he died when she was eight and, though she could not re-member many of the details of the stories he told her, she remembered the experience and the idea of the magical world he created which he would often relate to the physical world around him; such as a picture on the wall or a tree in the garden. For many years her grandfather’s stories were a fond memory. Clare studied English literature and drama at university and trained to become a drama teacher at Goldsmiths Col-lege, London. She taught business English in Prague and Northern Spain for several years and then took a drama teaching job in the UK. Feel-

ing a little disillusioned, she took a break from teaching in her mid twen-ties and took a job in a cafe in Ox-ford, undecided at this point in which direction she would take her career. Then one night she had a dream. Her grandfather spoke to her and told her to tell his stories for her. ‘ It was such a powerful dream,’ she said, ‘I felt I had been given a message. I did not really know what it meant. I tried writing stories down but that did not seem to work.’ Then she met someone in the cafe where she worked who belonged to a storytelling group. He invited her along. ‘I discovered an enchanted world that I did not know existed where people told stories to each oth-er,’ she comments. She told a story of her own. As with her grandfather the story came from her head rather than from one she had written down. ‘People seemed to really enjoy it and were surprised that it was my first public telling,’ she recalls. Encouraged by this experience, she went to a number of storytelling festi-vals and discovered a course, which she attended, called The Craft of The Storyteller, which was based in Sus-sex, the county where she had lived in as a child. The course lasted three months and was very intensive. She felt that it gave her a good grounding for the launch of a storytelling career and with this in mind, and a desire to be near the sea again as she had been in her childhood, she moved to Devon in 2001, staying in a variety of places before settling in her cur-rent home in Sidmouth. Her first significant storytelling venture was when she set up a show telling sea stories entitled The Call of the Sea at the Phoenix Arts Centre in Exeter. The show proved popular and led to involvement with storytell-ing within the local library services. Further commissions followed. She

found work with The Magic Carpet Charity (for those that cannot easily access the arts), for Scrapstore and provided a number of workshops to schools in the area. When her daughter was born Clare had a short break from storytelling. On her return to it, it took a new direc-tion. Working with the AONBs (Are-as of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in The Blackdowns and The Quantocks and for the Forestry Commission, lo-cal museums and The Crown Estate. She won a commission from Beaford Arts which involved collecting and telling local tales from North Devon. Clare’s storytelling began drawing its inspiration primarily from folklore and the natural world – much as her grandfather’s stories had - and this is where she feels her passion is now. She has also recently become a trained kinesiologist. In her mind there is a natural link here with the current direction of her storytelling; through finding ways of understand-ing the world using a more natural or holistic approach. ‘There is an aspect of the detective in both my approach to storytelling and healing. I work very intuitively and creatively in my quest for stories, both in the landscape and people’s lives. I believe that as we discover, make whole and fall in love with sto-ries, we can create more harmonious ways of being!’ There was one particular story, The

Clare Viner:Storyteller

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Emerald Dragon, that she developed from a folk tale that she could not leave alone. Though she liked the story as it was told to her, she found it was very stark and lacked detail and complexity. As she often does when she hears a new story or is developing one of her own, Clare began drawing pictures of scenes from the story and then would walk into the landscape, telling the story to herself, adding to it and embellishing it, some-times recounting it to herself in her house while banging her drum (her daughter is used to such apparent crazy behaviour!). She realised after reworking the story that it had become something quite dif-ferent from the original. She developed it further through many tellings in schools and festivals until she thought she had a story that she could at last write down. She feels that the story is particularly im-portant as it concerns how the Quantock landscape has developed and how it was that it became an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Other stories have followed which she feels deserve to be written down. Though many are based on folklore there are others that come from her own im-agination ‘The Lords and Ladies’ , for example, is a story written by Clare that is inspired by place names on the Ord-nance Survey map of the Quantock Hills and the ‘The Wolves’ story is based on evidence of packs of wolves roaming the Blackdown Hills in earlier times. Now she has produced a collection of stories, the title of which is taken from the ‘Em-erald Dragon’ story that was the original inspiration when she first wrote her sto-ries down. She believes that producing a book is a way of sharing the stories more widely. The book is split roughly half-and-half between those stories based on the Blackdowns and those based on the Quantock hills and is aimed at older children, families and anyone else with an interest in folklore. The book is illustrated throughout by Georgie Grant who is the author’s sister. ‘One of the great joys of working on this book has been the opportunity to work with Georgie. She is trained in illustration and studied art history at The Courtauld Institute. Georgie’s pictures are just like

her; full of fun, joy and humour. They are beautiful in a slightly quirky way. I feel privileged to have her as my sister!’ However, if you are lucky enough to hear Clare telling her stories don’t ex-pect her to repeat them word for word as they are in the book. When she is tell-ing a story she adapts them to her mood and the mood of her audience. Part of the challenge of the storyteller is to keep the story fresh, she observes: ‘If you feel the story is becoming a little stale or bor-ing the audience may think the same way too.’ It is not something she would have contemplated in her early storytell-ing days but with experience has come confidence and the feeling that this is

part of her role. ‘The story will actually change in the moment I am telling it, ’she reveals. If she can tell that the audience is particularly enjoying a part of the story she will add to it, if it is not receiving the response she would like she will shorten it - though listening to the enthusiasm and passion with which she talks of her storytelling craft one feels it is much more often likely to be the former than the latter. Please NoteThe Emerald Dragon received support from The Sustainable Development Fund, Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty and DEFRA.

Hear Clare TalkThursday 17 May, 7.00pm @

Brendon Books, Taunton

Clare will be talking about her book The Emerald Dragon & Other Magical Tales of The Quantocks and Blackdown Hills. Tickets are £4.00 including light refreshments and and are available from Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER: Tel. 01823 337742 email: brendonbooks@gmail.com or by per-sonal visit. Book also available from here, price £4.99

Clare telling stories in the Quantocks

ContentsInterviewsJohn ColeA very fortunate manClare VinerStorytellerJeremy CooperTwo Important Books on artAngie SageAuthor of Septimus Heap booksToni DaveyThe art of paper sculptingNatalie McGrathInspired international premierJeremy HarveyArtist & recorder of Taunton’s pastMark BruceMade in Heaven

The views expressed in Lamp are not necessarily those of the editorial team. Copywright, unless otherwise stated, is that of the magazine or the individual authors. We do not accept liability for the content or accuracy of the magazine including that of the advertisers.

Editor: Lionel WardCopy Editor: Jo WardAdvertising: Clair BennettEvents Compiler: Julie Munckton

All enquiries:lampmagazine1@gmail.com01823 337742c/o Brendon Books,Bath Place, Taunton

Running my own bookshop in Taunton, organising a number of talks and Taunton’s first literary festival has helped me realise what a wealth of talent and artistic endeavour there is in our community.

I hope in this magazine, by reporting on those engaged in the artistic com-munity and making their activities better known, it will help in some small way to bring the arts to a wider audience.

I hope you enjoy this first issue of the magazine.

OtherCalendar of EventsListings of Literature, art, music and performance eventsTaunton Literary FestivalDates announcedShort Story with Lawrence LathamThree Great Aunts and a Garden RollerPoet’s Corner with John StuartWord of MouthGallery 41New art gallery opens in WatchetNew Cookery BookTamasin Day-LewisMy Favourite...John Newton Shares his favourite piece of art, literature, music and per-formanceWithout the WooWooA new straightforward self-help bookTake the Art TrainArt events along the West Somerset Railway

Extract from:Three Great Aunts and a Garden Roller by Law-rence Latham

Indoors, on the far side of the house, Henry’s mother had already been aware of an occasional rumble and had looked up more than once to check it was not clouding over. On hearing renewed and more sub-stantial evidence of an approaching storm, she quietly left the dozing relatives to investigate from a dif-ferent window. If she were lucky, she would just catch the end of the International Roller Stopping Com-petition currently being held out-side. Had she been luckier still, she would have been in time to call it off... The sweating Henry reached the end of his second run-up in the sen-ior event, but as he swung into brak-ing mode, the handle of the roller slipped from his grasp. “Oh, no!” he moaned, instantly realizing the gravity of the situa-tion. He desperately tried to reunite with the handle, but it was swinging wildly back and forth under the in-fluence of the counterweight inside the moving drum, and Henry was running out of level ground. His mother, still searching for an elusive storm, was greeted by the sight of the garden roller passing the drawing-room window with Henry, posturing a remarkably good stance

for one unacquainted with water-skiing, sliding in its wake, with dust and possibly even smoke billowing from his plimsolls... For the snoozing household, the af-ternoon’s peace was about to be shat-tered along with the driveway gates...On the other side of the road, the Evans’ house stood at a slightly lower elevation, so their front window did not afford a clear view of garden and drive where Henry had been hold-ing his one-man athletics meeting.Megan Evans, like Henry’s moth-er, had also been wondering about the rumbles she had been hear-ing but had declined to rise from her knitting, preferring to delegate any storm chasing to her husband. “It’s coming from over that way!” he announced. He was standing at the window and waving in the gen-eral direction of the great outdoors.“I can see over that way. There are no clouds!” insisted Mrs Evans, consenting to perform a thirty degree rotation in her chair. “I tell you it’s over there!” Mr Evans lifted his walking stick and pointed it emphatically at the house opposite. “Will you mind that stick? You’ll break something!” His wife rose and moved towards her husband who was defiantly maintaining his dramatic pose. “For pity’s sake, you look like Moses by the Red Sea!” Mrs Evans had remained regular at Chapel, even after moving to England.Her next exclamation was uttered in

shock and was not quite so suitable for Chapel. With a terrible rending crash, the wooden gates parted with a speed which might have taken even Moses by surprise. The unstop-pable mass of the garden roller burst through to career across the road and smash into the stone wall which formed the boundary to the Evans’ front lawn. Their cat, which had been sleeping on the grass just be-hind the top of the wall, woke with a startled cry and jumped up so quick-ly that it rose four feet into the air.“Looks like the Egyptians made it through first this time,” ob-served Gwyn Evans dryly as he watched the iron chariot trundle back to the middle of the road.

Short Story

The conclusion to the above story can be found in the short story collection, In the Absence of Bats, which can be obtained from Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton, TA1 4ER Tel. 01823 337742.Or order online at www.brendonbooksonline.co.uk

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Angie Sage’s stories have sold three and a half mil-lion copies worldwide, yet her early ambition was to be a doctor and she did not envisage that she would write a novel.

Angie Sage always loved books as far back as she can remember. She was a voracious reader, so much so that her mother would complain about her ‘al-ways having her head in a book’. Her father was responsible for book pro-duction at Eyre & Spottiswood and later at Rainbird and Maclean and was an important influence in her develop-ing an early love for books. His job involved visits to buy paper behind the iron curtain in the 1960’s from which he returned with numerous sto-ries which made an impression on the young Angie, setting her against the idea of tyrannical regimes which, she says, sometimes appear at the edge of her older children’s fiction. Found struggling with Crime & Punishment at the age of 10 or so, he told her, ‘I know what you want to read,’ and gave her a copy of Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch. Despite Angie’s love of books she did not envisage that she would ever write one and had quite a different career choice in mind as a teenager. Though she was more academically successful at art rather than science subjects she believed that she would make a good doctor. Undeterred by the fact that she did not have the requisite science qual-ifications she became a radiographer and then took ‘O’ levels in physics and chemistry. Finally, she was granted a place in medical school. However, the tragic death of her fa-ther in a car crash at that time meant she was unable to take up her place

that year and there was no place avail-able the following year. Her career was blown off course. Instead Angie went to art school and,when she graduated, began illustrating children’s books, first for others and then, benefiting from the experience of having her own children (two daughters), she began to write them herself. Her first picture book, she remembers, was Monkeys in the Jungle published by Methuen. A number of others followed. Then came some chapter books including the first two in the series of popular Araminta Spook stories. This was her training ground for the longer form of the children’s novel, which became her metier and where she discovered that her writing was character led, the story emerging from the characters rather than from an elaborate plot. While she continued to write and il-lustrate for younger readers, an idea was growing for something on a larger scale, something about a whole new world. It began with a couple of pic-ture book stories – never published – and grew until at last it seemed to work as a longer novel. Angie wrote the first eight chapters of what she thought of as her ‘Septimus book’ and sent it off for her agent to read. There was not an immediate response and Angie feared the worst. This was not an easy time for Angie. Although by objective standards she was already a successful author and illustrator, illustration work was disap-pearing fast and like all but a few au-

thors she could not earn a living solely from her books. She made a very re-luctant decision to sell her house and return to radiography if Septimus did not ‘work’ and waited anxiously over Christmas for her agent’s verdict. However, ‘Christmas,’ said Angie, ‘was a good time for an agent to read the first part of Septimus, which is snowy and stuffed full of atmosphere.’ Her agent came back saying that she loved it. A three-book contract fol-lowed with HarperCollins in the USA followed by a flurry of foreign rights sales, with the UK rights being sold to Bloomsbury. By the time Magyk, the first volume, was published, Angie was well into writing the second one: Flyte. Magyk went straight to the top of the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for three weeks. The three book contract became a five book con-tract and finally a seven book contract

and the Septimus Heap series has now been translated into thirty-three lan-guages. Every one of the six volumes has reached the top ten in the New York Times bestseller list – no mean feat. Septimus Heap is a story of many lives in a different land, a different time from ours. But although because of this, it has attracted the label of fantasy, Angie feels that it is primarily a story about people, especially about people grow-ing up and discovering their true place in the world. The characters that fill the

Magykal Story

Septimus Heap

books are both adults and children, and each one has developed a passionate group of fans, all of whom have opin-ions and hopes about what should hap-pen to ‘their’ characters. Angie keeps in touch with fans regularly online through septimusheapblog.com and loves this unexpected part of being an author. Like others that have been in this situ-ation, Angie is not finding finishing the final volume in the series a straightfor-ward task. She is taking care with her characters, explaining the world they live in a little more, and also planning what to do next. She hopes to continue writing about the Septimus Heap world, focusing on some new characters but revisiting the old and much loved ones too. The Septimus Heap series has given An-gie security and fulfilment and enabled her to move to a fine old house in Somer-set. Dating back to the 1500’s the house

provided its own kind of magic when she and her husband, Rhodri, discovered a wall painting dating back to that period hidden behind some plaster. The paint-ing was no less than a representation of Henry VIII, described by Prof. Michael Liversidge of Bristol University as be-ing ‘of national importance’. The house had been the summer residence of the archdeacons of Taunton, who included Thomas Cranmer and other movers and shakers from Henry VIII’s court. The mural is an imposing presence though Angie is as comfortable with ‘her Henry’ as she is with the village that they have moved to - they are very much involved in the local community in Milverton. ‘We were immediately made to feel wel-come,’ she says. ‘We feel very much at home here.’ The discovery of the Henry mural has enabled Angie to explore her third great passion, history (in addition to that of

literature and art). In the autumn of 2011 she produced a play based on Henry and his first two wives performed with the mural as backdrop, which, required a good deal of historical research. The play has a narrator and all the words spoken by the actors were either said by the characters in real life or reported as being said from contemporary sources. Using entirely local actors, the play was such a hit that it was repeated a further four times over the winter. This reveals another ambition of Angie’s, to write drama for the radio, and screenplays. Given the quiet determination that has brought her this far, who is to say that she will not do it? But there is plenty to do before then. She has a book (a very important book) to finish, a film (Magyk) which has been contracted with Warner Brother and is waiting for them to find a big star, then there is the pantomime to write for the local drama group ...

The Septimus Heap series:1. Magyk 2. Flyte3. Physik4. Queste5. Syren6. Darke

Araminta Spook series1. My Haunted House2.The Sword in the Grotto 3. Frognapped4. Vampire Bat5. Ghostsitters

Companion to Septimus Heap Series:The Magykal Papers

Meet Angie SageThursday 28 June, 4.30pm @Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER

Angie will be talking about and readiing from Darke which will be newly available in paperback pre-publication especially for this event. This is a free event but please R.S.V.P. to reserve your place. Copies of all of the series are also available from Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton, TA1 4ER. 01823 337742 www.brendonbooksonline.co.uk

Wall painting of Henry VIII at Angies Sages’s home

Minehead artist Toni Davey is having an exciting year. Her art-work, made from burnt or sculpted paper has grown in recognition and this year she has two major shows in London; in May at Wim-bledon Fine Art Gallery and in November at the Beardsmore Gallery.

Toni’s success comes after a long break from producing and exhibiting art, a period when she was looking af-ter a young family and then teaching art full time. The style of work unique to her can be tracked back to a previ-ous time, as a student at art college and even to childhood. Toni, the daughter of an Austrian mother who came to Yorkshire after the war to marry an English soldier spent an isolated childhood away from other children. However, she found di-version in colouring books. When she had finished with them she coloured in the football coupons [delivered

weekly to most households] filling in the regular squares. Visitors to the house were mainly other immigrants, Poles, Czechs and Austrians, who came to the house to share company with her mother – and to knit, crochet and embroider. Consequently, Toni learned these skills from a very young age and became fascinated by the pat-tern books, their grids, sequences and measured imagery. This was an escape from the surrounding chaos of early life into an ordered world. At primary school her form teacher, who was also an artist, encouraged her to draw and paint and she continued her art at grammar school and, though she got good ‘O’ level results did not go on to the sixth form but instead took a two year foundation course at Bradford College of Art (whose recent alumni included David Hockney). There she came under the wing of the sculptor Michael Werner who suggested she study at Hornsey College of Art in London. ‘That was where my life real-ly began,’ she says. She met a number of interesting artists there and this was also the time of great student unrest. A number of her fellow artists were po-litically involved and for many it put their degrees in jeopardy. In fact, such was the disruption, the college closed for much of her final year. Toni man-aged to continue working and gained a first class honours degree. She worked mainly in wood making large geomet-ric constructions. Despite the relative bulk of some of these pieces there is a lightness about them that prefigures her later work. ‘Though I think of my-self as a sculptor,’ she explains, ‘I do not think of myself as a sculptor in the manner of Henry Moore, producing big heavy pieces that sit on a pedes-tal.’ She worked in the evening as a tech-nician at Hornsey College to fund her MA at Chelsea School of Art and then used this experience and the contact and involvement it gave her with stu-dents to gain a position as a visiting lecturer at various colleges.

In 1972 following a whirlwind ro-mance she married a fellow student, Andy Davey, whom she had first met at Hornsey. They did not tell anyone, not even their parents. Forty years later they are still married. They got a house together she says, ‘Thanks to Ken Livingstone; the GLC was offer-ing 100% mortgages on unmortgage-able properties.’ When the children arrived she turned away from her art projects which, she explains, required her total absorption. ‘It was either my children or my art and of course I chose my children,’ she says with feel-ing. Happy years were spent renovat-ing houses and caring for the family. However, there were two impor-tant respects in which she stayed in touch with her art. Firstly, between the demands of looking after her three children she would make numerous sketches and drawings, experimenting with ideas which she would use later. Secondly, Michael Werner put her in touch with Derek Sugden (main en-gineer for the Sydney Opera House) and the architectural partnership of Ove Arup. She worked in their archi-tectural model shop between 1974 and 1983, mostly on a part-time basis dur-ing the school holidays when Andy, who had become a teacher could be at home. ‘I was with a team of the most

The Art of Paper Sculpting

Toni Davey with her work

TREAD

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creative people. They were not just model makers but artists, poets, writ-ers and musicians’. Her experience as an architectural model maker had a de-cisive influence on her thinking about sculpture. Andy worked in various London schools and in the summers they would take their growing family to Combe Martin in Devon and they came to love the area. There were tears when they had to return home and it seemed time for a life change. Andy applied for a job at West Somerset Communi-ty College in Minehead as head of Art and was successful. A few years later as their children became older Toni also worked in the art department. ‘We work very differently,’ she explains, ‘but our goals are the same.’ Their teaching partnership lasted 12 years and was a fruitful one. When Andy started teaching at the college the Art sixth form consisted of 5 students. By the time they had both finished teach-ing it had increased to 40. She loved her job but, as she had predicted, she was unable to find the time to commit to her art projects. All three Davey children have stud-ied art at university level Fay at Gold-smiths [Art and Art History], Leo at Falmouth [illustration],Rose at Edin-burgh [Art and Art History] and the Slade [MA painting] and have careers in the art world. When the youngest, Rose, asked Toni to exhibit with her at a new cafe in Minehead she said that she felt she could only do so if it was new work. ‘Go on then,’ said her daughter. She was given two weeks. This was a criti-cal moment. She worked day and night to produce a collection of work using cut and manipulated paper. Though the origins of her designs can be seen in her early work the more recent prec-edent which led her to work with pa-per was a project she had conducted with her ‘A’ level art students based around an interest she had developed in Japanese design. For a little while she had been interested in noshi; paper folded into shapes and given as a gift. She had noticed how her Japanese stu-dents had a particular understanding for materials and their use in design,

particularly paper. She gave her sixth form a project where they were given a piece of card each into which they were allowed to score and fold but then had to be able to fold back flat: This experience influenced the ideas for her pieces for the exhibition at the cafe with her daughter. The cafe exhibition was the kick-start she needed. An exhibition followed at the Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton. She produced 26 pieces of A1 work in 6 months, teaching in the day and working all night. Gordon Young, who was responsible for the remarkable Comedy Carpet in Blackpool, noticed her work and as a result she received a commission with the architects Stanton Williams to work on the new council offices in Salisbury producing a 12 metre long drawing etched onto glass. The building achieved civic building of the year 2011. Ever since she has been working full time on her art, all the while develop-ing and refining it in all its subtlety, and is now reaping the rewards of her art-istry and industry with an impressive amount of representation and sales in gallery spaces. When asked to explain the reason for the interest in her work she says, ‘ I think I am working in a different way to anyone else.’ However, she is always looking for new ways of expressing her ideas. Recently she has been producing her measured marks on paper with the aid of a blowtorch. ‘I have to get just to the point before it catches fire – and sometimes it does,’ she says. When she describes the necessity for this I feel we approach something of her vi-

sion of her own art. ‘The marks have to be in the paper not just on the sur-face. I have to show its fragility and the fact that I am trying to control what may be thought uncontrollable. I am always interested in going fromtwo dimensions to three dimensions, from planes that move outwards and

interconnect. It is understanding and interpreting those connections that are at the heart of my work.’ Recently, following a visit to the Al-hambra, she has developed a fascina-tion with Islamic architecture and is very excited about a forthcoming trip to India and China which will have an undoubted influence on what she does next. Now that Toni is free to work ex-clusively on her art, and with the con-fidence of her recent successes, you feel that there is much more to come.

See Toni Davey’s workForthcoming Exhibitions:Wimbledon Fine Art Gallery, 6-16 May41 Church Road, Wimbledon Village, London, SW19 5QZ Tel. 0208 944 6593Beardsmore Gallery, November (Dates to be confirmed)22-24 Prince Of Wales Road, Kentish Town, London NW5 3LGTel. 020 7485 0923Brendon Books: A few examples of her works are on dis-play here from the beginning of June.Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER Tel. 01823 337742

EVO

Summer Holiday

HOT GREEK FILOS

This is a 5-minute wonder to prepare, followed by 20 minutes in a hot oven. I had the idea of wrapping up all those lovely flavours you find in a Greek salad and parcelling them into buttery-crisp filo leaves. I worried that the olives might overwhelm, but they didn’t. I made two different styles, an envelope and a purse, and they both turned out equally gor-geous. Do not attempt to eat straight from the oven – they seem to retain heat like nothing on earth. Makes 4.

10 leaves of filo (from a 250g packet feuilles de filo)30g unsalted butter, melted, for brushing1 tbsp sesame seeds1 tbsp kalonji (nigella) seeds

for the filling1 small courgette 10–12 cherry tomatoes, halved100g (½ standard packet) Greek feta cheese2 tsp chopped oregano leaves 12 small olives (optional), pitted and halved1 heaped tbsp organic Greek bio yoghurt1 heaped tsp tahini1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed2 tsp chopped mint leavesblack pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4. For the filling, using a swivel vegetable peeler, cut the courgette lengthways into long ribbons and place in a bowl with the halved tomatoes. Crumble in the feta in bite-sized pieces and add the oregano and olives, if using. Toss to mix.For the dressing, stir the yoghurt, tahini, garlic and mint together in a small bowl. Tip the dressing onto the salad and scrunch over some pep-per (no salt, the feta has it all). Turn to mix gently with a spoon.Cut the filo sheets in half, to give 20 squares. To make envelope parcels, brush each filo square with butter and layer in 4 piles. Divide the fill-ing between them, placing it in the centre and brush the surrounding filo with butter. Fold one side over, brush with butter, then fold the other side over. Fold the ends in to fashion an envelope and brush all over with butter.To make purses, brush the filo squares with butter and assemble in 4 piles, but stagger the squares, to make star-pointed piles. Plonk a large spoonful of the filling in the centre of each pile, gather up the surrounding filo and scrunch into a purse. Brush with melted butter. Place the filo packages on a baking sheet and sprinkle with the sesame and kalonji seeds. Bake for 20 minutes or until browned and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack and leave for 10 minutes before eating.

Photo: Simon Wheeler

Somerset author Tamasin Day-Lewis is an inspirational food writer who, in her own words, writes ‘for people who appreciate good food, for people of all skills’. Tamasin contributes regularly for English and American Vogue, Saveur, Stella (The Telegraph Magazine), Sainsbury’s Magazine, Waitrose Food Illustrated and Reader’s Digest. She has also written a host of successful cookbooks, including Supper for a Song (Quadrille, 2009). She has also produced and directed many television documentaries and appeared in two television series entitles Tamasin’s Weekends and Great British Dishes.Her latest book is full of recipes you just can’t say ‘no’ to. There is a sample quick recipe below. If you are further tempted there is a reader offer of £15.00, £5.00 off the recommended price, when you bring a copy of this magazine or article to Brendon, Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER (while stocks last). Tel. 01823 337742 email:brendonbooks@gmail.com

You Can’t Say No

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Local author Jeremy Cooper has recently brought out two important books on the art world.

Following a degree in art history at Cam-bridge, Jeremy Cooper pursued a career in the art and antiques world; as a Sothe-by’s auctioneer, an Antiques Roadshow expert and an owner of his own antiques business in Bloomsbury. He also wrote an important book on Victorian and Ed-wardian furniture (which is still in print). It may have seemed that his career was settled and as he moved into his middle years he would become a doyen of the antique collecting world. However, this was not to be. Sometime in the 80’s he began taking an interest in contemporary music and architecture and this soon began to extend to the

visual arts. He started writing and has had published several works of fiction, and this April has seen the publica-tion of an important non-fiction book on contemporary artists: Growing Up: the Young British Artists at 50. It ex-plores their collective legacy when they transformed the art world in the 1990’s, staging dramatic exhibitions, typically in disused warehouse or factory spaces rather than commercial galleries, while focusing in detail on five of the their number: Anya Gallaccio, Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Michael Landy and Sarah Lucas. It is their history told by some-one who was there at the time, is familiar with their work and knew several of the artists personally. So what was the appeal to him of these young British artists (YBAs), which, he observes, are no longer young (most of them now in their fifties)? ‘It is their en-ergy, openness and classlessness, I like,’ he comments and points out that though they may each be financially secure now, their original motivation was not to make money, an accusation which has some-times been particularly directed towards

D a m i e n Hirst, for ‘If you want to m a k e m o n e y you are not go-ing to go to art school.’ His in-v o l v e -m e n t with the Y B A s goes back to his time in

Shoreditch where he had his antiques business, much patronised by Gilbert and George. Joshua Compton, a Cour-tauld art history graduate and curator, was a tenant from 1991-1996 and played a central role in the YBA movement. After his untimely death, Jeremy wrote a book, No fun Without You, anxious that his life and his place in the YBAs story should be properly recorded. (Ellipsis Books, 2000). It was following this that he became good friends with Gavin Turk and Gary Hume. Acquainted with some artist friends in Somerset and, following an extended stay with local farmer and author Janet White, in the year of the publication of No Fun Without You, he decided to move to West Somerset and the secluded Cothelstone Estate where he now lives. Here he finds the solitude he needs to write his books while at the same time he maintains a lifeline with London and his artist friends, which has proved par-ticularly important for the research into his books. There has been much written about the

Growing up withthe yBas

Jeremy visited in his kitchen by Noah and Moses

20

The cover for yBas

YBAs so why is it that he felt another book was necessary? ‘I wanted to de-scribe the human process of being an artist, he explains, ‘their relationship to each other, how they support each other and its influence on the creative proc-ess. I don’t believe this has been done before.’ Jeremy’s personal knowledge has been supplemented with a series of interviews to produce a book rich in an-ecdote and observations. It also includes a number of illustrations and photos pro-vided by the artists themselves, many of them published for the first time. If early reviews are anything to go by, he appears to have succeeded in his aim. Art critic

Louisa Buck has described his book as ‘Fresh, beautifully written....the last word on the subject.’and cultural historian Ma-rina Warner has commented: ‘The book is riveting, filled with a sense of a spe-

cial world, a particular atmosphere and spirit, and many remarkable characters who synergised together. I find the treat-ment of the YBA as a group - a commu-nity like a colony of worker bees or ants - very fruitful and convincing, and the melancholy stories of the burnouts sig-nificant as symptoms of that community too. The archive stuff is amazing and the whole book admirably laid out.’ In his other new book, Artists’ Post-cards, Jeremy covers a subject never tackled before; postcard images by art-ists themselves, either original work or additions or alterations to existing post-cards. This has become an increasing widespread phenomenon in the last 20 years or so and this is reflected by the fact that the majority of the images are from contemporary artists. However, Jeremy also explores its origins and there are examples from the early 1900’s onwards. Artists include George Grosz, David Hockney, Susan Hiller, Ben Vau-tier, Gordon Matta-Clark, Gilbert and George, Gavin Turk, and Tacia Dean. There are over 400 images in this beauti-fully produced book taken from his own

collection, most of which are currently on show at Spike Island.The solitude that Jeremy has found in Somerset does not equate with a relaxed lifestyle. When at his home he spends most off his day working, typically from eight in the morning until ten at night. The YBAs book, for example, has been four years in the making. He has few dai-ly contacts save for the sheep which he looks after with a neighbouring friend. He is ambitious for his writing, both fiction and non fiction, commenting ‘There is not much time and much to do.’

Bibliography:Growing Up: The Young British Artists at 50. Prestel.Artists’ Postcards. Reaktion Books Kath Trevelyan. Serpent’s Tale.Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors. Thames & Hudson .Ruth, The Folded Lie and No Fun With-out You are currently unavailable as new. The Folded Lie won the Guardian Book of the Year in 1998.

Jeremy Cooper Talk

Jeremy Cooper will be talking about both his new books at Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taun-ton on Tuesday 29 May at 7.00 pm R.S.V.P. Brendon Books Tel: 01823 337742 Email:brendon-books@gmail.com. Tickets are £4.00 refundable against the purchase of either book.

You can also see over 200 artists postcards as represented in the book at the following exhibition until 17 June 2012: Spike Island Exhibition: The Artists’ Postcard Show, 133 Cumberland Road Bristol, Avon BS1 6UX0117 929 2266

The cover for Artists’ Postcards

Portrait of Jeremy Cooper by Tracy Emin

The most important thing for me was to stay true to my vision,’ he explains. When he left art school he was already determined to follow the life of the artist as much as much as he was able. He saw many of his friends leave art school and become art teachers claiming that they would remain artists and still produce works of art but this almost never happened. ‘It is easy to become compromised and distracted. Art

is a consuming pas-sion.’ Gordon describes his art as modern representational art. However, before he

went to art school his inspirat ion

came from more traditional artists such as Van Dyke. Bath Academy of Art and then a degree course at Lancaster University opened up new exciting areas for him. Seeing the abstract art of Frank Stella was a

semi-n a l m o -ment. ‘ I s u d -denly g o t w h a t mod-e r n a r t w a s

about.’ But his influences were not only other artists. ‘I began to read widely and was a great admirer of films like Bergman’s Seventh Seal.’ His art took a new direction follow-ing the minimalist school. After leaving art school he was lucky enough to meet the artist and stained glass specialist, Brian Clarke, who showed him that it was

possible to make a liv-ing from your art. (Brian Clarke’s stained glass can now be found in locations all over the world). His part-ner, Alex Leadbeat-er, was se-lected by the painter and poet A d r i a n Henri for the Sere-p e n t i n e G a l l e r y . A n o t h e r example to him that it was possible to make it as an art-ist. They moved to Milton Key-nes to be nearer to the art scene in London. While Gordon was producing art at this time he was not successful enough to make a living from it. However, he put his creative eye to another en-deavour, selecting good quality and stylish second hand clothes– what we would now term vin-tage clothes – and selling them on Portobello market. Then came a move to a gallery in Notting Hill. Exciting times. However, the gallery did not last. The closure of the gal-lery also marked the end of his long relationship with Alex. He found his way to Shoreditch and rented out an artists studio of which many were available at a reasonable rent at that time. Here he found him-self part of a vibrant artistic com-

m u n i t y w h e r e many of

the current crop of Young British Art-

ists such as Sarah Lucas and Tracy Emin were making their mark.They were chosen for the British Art Show which had made a radical shift in di-rection. However, though he was mix-ing with YBA’s Gordon was finding the primary influence for his own art elsewhere, in particular,exhibitions by Julian Schnabel and Lucian Freud in Whitechapel. Gordon turned to-wards portraiture. There followed a number of exhibitions which were well received though there were not too many sales. He turned towards

Gordon Faulds feels Gordon Fauld’s art can be found on display at present at The Crescent Gallery in Taunton which he runs with his partner, Liz.

Gallery Opening TimesMonday - Saturday11.00am - 5.00pmOther times by appointment, call: Telephone 01823 321302Email art@crescentcontemporary.co.uk

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Regular ClassesCheddon Fitzpaine Memorial Hall, TauntonWed evenings 6.15 - 7.15 : Continu-ers Yoga ClassWed evenings: 7.45 - 9.00: Beginners Yoga ClassWiveliscombe Community Hall: Tues morning 10.00-11.30: Continu-ers ClassSomerset Sight, Staplegrove Rd, TauntonWed mornings 10.30-11.30: A gentle Class for people with visual impair-ment and their carers

Whether you want to learn to stand on your head, gain relief from a bad back, learn something of yoga philosophy or simply feel the need to stretch and relax, yoga tailored to your needs will help achieve your goals. There is no right time to start yoga; there is no person for whom yoga is not relevant or possible. You don’t have to be flexible or fit; what you need is an interest and a willingness to have a go and prac-tice this beautiful art.

I teach a form of yoga based on mindful movement, with a strong em-phasis on precise breath work. I have taught a whole range of people from teenagers to those in their nineties. Locally, I offer individual sessions, a gentle class for the over 60s in Wiveliscombe, as well as general classes both in Taunton and Wiveliscombe.

www.yogamala.co.uk ranju@yogamala.co.uk 01823 275766

Excercise your body Free your breath Still your mind

18

A self develop-ment book that keeps things simple, but how did one of the authors develop a passion for simplicity?

As a young electronic engineer working for EMI in the 1970’s, Aus-tin Wyse encountered highly complicated and technical problems on a daily basis. Every day a multitude of faulty ma-chines would land on his workbench and it was his job to repair them, frequently without any guidance at all. In fact Austin even remembers attending a training lecture about the latest piece of machinery he would be working on only to find out that the teacher of the seminar didn’t even un-derstand how it operated! Through hours of painstaking repairs, often only getting results through a process of trial and error, Austin soon began to realise that the best approach to take with any piece of equipment in need of repair was a simple one. While his colleagues wrestled with diagrams of circuit boards that resembled spa-ghetti junction, Austin would take a step back and ask obvious, straight-for-ward questions before he jumped in and caused even more confusion. After leaving EMI and running his own successful businesses, Austin went on to train in various complementary therapies and developed remarkable skills for reconnecting energy circuits

in people. The important part of this story is, although Austin was now dealing with human beings and not pieces of electronic equipment, he never lost sight of that fun-damental principle he had taught himself as an engineer; to keep things simple. No matter how complicated the problem might first appear.

Many years later, Austin moved from Lon-don to Taunton and teamed up with Dawn Bailey, a Kinesiologist from Bristol who also shared an immense passion for deliv-ering messages of health and wellbeing in a clear and concise way. However the biggest problem the pair faced was recommending mind, body spirit books to their clients. Whenever a sugges-tion was made the feedback was the same; ‘it’s too complicated,’ ‘it’s too long wind-ed,’ or ‘it’s too technical/spiritual.’ So they decided to compile their own

book of new and ancient self-develop-ment insights (at this critical time in human evolution) but their book would be different as it would follow Aus-tin’s fundamental principle of keeping things simple. Their book wouldn’t try and baffle readers with technical jargon or heavy handed religiosity, it would teach complex concepts about human behaviour and consciousness in a sim-ple, straight forward way ... without the woo woo!

N. B. Woo woo is the term used by skeptics to dismiss anything they see as ‘out there’ or too new age.

Without the WooWoo

Hear Austin & Dawn Tuesday 12 June 7.00pm

@Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER

Austin Wyse and Dawn Bailey will be talking about their new book, answering questions and signing copies.Tickets are £4.00 and in-clude light refreshments.Available from Brendon Books: Tel. 01823 337742 email: brendonbooks@gmail.com or by personal visit. Books also available from Brendon Books @ £9.99.

19

His influence on music in Taunton and West Som-erset has been profound. Over the last 50 years John Cole has, as much as any other single per-son, been responsible for bringing live performanc-es of high quality classi-cal music to the area.

In deciding to move from London to Somerset in 1960 John Cole was return-ing to the county of his birth. Born in 1935 he attended North Town Primary School. At 11 he gained a scholarship to Taunton School. ‘In retrospect this completely altered my whole life and expanded my horizons,’ he muses. He became passionate about sport, studied scholarship level science and took piano lessons with Herbert Knott, the Organist at St Mary’s Church. He did, however, suffer from the com-mon prejudice against boys studying pi-ano and was labelled a sissy by some of the other boys. He began to cut lessons. His parents intervened and insisted that he continue lessons until the end of term. His mother accompanied him to make sure he turned up. ‘By the end of term they may have regretted it,’ he explains. For now he had become obsessive about his music, rising early to practise the pi-ano before he went to school and putting in extra time wherever he could. The result was that at 17 he was studying for a performing diploma on piano. How-

ever, this conflicted with his advanced science studies. There were just not enough hours in the day for both. It was his father, an employee of the tax office, who made the decision. ‘Uncharacteris-tically,’ said John,’ ‘he metaphorically thumped the table and explained that there was only one way to go: he told me that you would have to be truly brilliant to make a living out of music whereas you would be much more likely to make a reasonable living out of decent science qualifications.’ He believes his father’s attitude was in part due to his experience of the depression of the thirties. For the moment music was put on the back burner and John went to study medicine at St. Thomas’s Hospital, Lon-don where he found he actually enjoyed his medical studies. Music, though was not to take a back seat for too long for St. Thomas’s was, in John’s words, ‘a very musical hospital.’ It had an excellent choral society and performed stunning Christmas shows involving a number of people from the Cambridge Footlights who made up a good part of the intake. John became involved with the choir and writing revues. He was taken on by John Birch as a Gentleman Chorister at All Saints, Margaret Street, a leading London Choir School, remaining there for four-and-a-half years. They sang a full mass every Sunday morning, from Byrd to Schubert and Rachmaninov.

A nurse friend who was a good singer told him that her teacher, Nora Gruhn, a Prima Donna at Covent Garden, was looking for someone to play Figaro. She not only offered John the part, but she gave him free singing lessons at her Ma-ida Vale Studio each Saturday morning. ‘This was such a big thing.’ It meant, in effect, that he was receiving a music education at the same time as he was studying medicine. On moving back to Somerset in 1960 he found that his senior partner had writ-ten an opera ‘ O Ye Gods’ which was staged in 1961. John sang the lead role in what was the founding of the Wel-lington Operatic Society. Then he was asked by Rev. Eddie Heathcote, the vicar at Ashbrittle Church, if he could put on a summer concert at the newly refurbished church. An advert was put in the Somerset County Gazette asking for ‘able singers.’ He received 40 posi-tive replies and formed the Somerset Summer Chorus. A further concert fol-lowed at Milverton the following year. By 1976, when they gave two perform-ances of Verdi’s Requiem in Wellington to packed audiences in 90 degree heat, there were 168 in the choir, tiered right to the top of the church. One of the solo-ists was a tall soprano, Linda Marshall, to whom he gave a recording of the Requiem. Eighteen months later he and Linda were married. The Somerset Sum-mer Chorus ran for 21 years, presenting major choral works (and the marriage has lasted even longer). When the Summer Chorus ended he was appointed musical director of the Taunton Choral Society, a post he held for 15 years during which 50 concerts were performed. Further invitations fol-lowed and at one time he was musical director of four choirs. During the period from 1976 to 2002 John sang some 40 major roles for Som-erset Opera, from Osmin and Sarastro to Britten’s Noah as well as directing Car-men, Tosca, Aida, and La Bohème. He realised that at some stage he would have to narrow his focus and in 1994 he founded the chamber choir, Amici.

A VeryFortunateMan

John Cole rehearsing

6

Many of its members are solo singers in their own right and the choir has several overseas tours to its credit, including to Italy, USA, France and Belgium. While they do a good deal of what he calls ‘the serious stuff’ (the Mozart Requiem was performed at St. Mary’s Church, Taun-ton at the end of March to a large and appreciative audience) they also per-form ‘let your hair down concerts’, Ger-shwin, Cole Porter and the like. There are two such examples in the forthcom-ing months. In keeping with the festive atmosphere of this Jubilee Year, Amici will perform a concert named ‘Amici on the Lighter Side’ in Wellington Parish Church on 30th June, and on September 22nd they will team up with a jazz trio (which includes another local maestro, Ron Prentice on bass) at Kingston St Mary Parish Church to perform in a con-cert named ‘Hoorah!’ Amici have always considered it im-portant to perform works by living com-posers and have given a dozen or so pre-mieres since the choir was formed. In February 2006 John founded Or chestraWest and remains its artistic di-rector. Its purpose has been to bring professional symphonic orchestral play-ing to Taunton and the West Country. It is an ambitious project which receives no public funding and has no concert hall in which to base itself. Somehow it survives, is available for hire, and very often plays in association with choral

societies and chamber choirs, including of course Amici. Past performances have included works by Elgar, Brahms, Sibel-ius, Strauss, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Wagner and Grieg. Recently, having received support from the Mayor’s Charity, John has also been given significant funding from a local company towards bringing voice and instrumental teachers into local primary schools. He also ‘scribbles’ fiction and enjoys cooking. Overall he considers himself extreme-ly fortunate. ‘There is huge joy in the life I’ve led. In addition to the immense satisfaction from forty years as an old fashioned, rather non-PC family doctor I have over the years become associated with a significant number of truly mag-nificent musicians. It is wonderful where this journey has taken me, even though I

think of myself as a bit of a dabbler.’ However, one thing still irks. It is the lack of that all important venue. ‘If we had a venue such as the Mecca we could set up an independent body, a conserva-toire with administration, teaching and an auditorium for performance all in the same building – and, as far as the other performing arts are concerned, we could attract major touring companies like the Royal Shakespeare Company for which at the moment we cannot offer a large enough venue’. It is a magnificent vision and entirely at one with the often voiced opinion that we need to make our town centres places of entertainment and culture in order to sur-vive and thrive in the current economic climate. One just hopes that someone is listening and is bold enough to take the opportunity.

Erica Eloff, South African soprano, who performed in the Mozart Requiem at St Mary’s before Easter

Forthcoming Amici Concerts:

Amici on the Lighter Side, 30 June Wellington Parish Church.‘HOORAH’, 22 September With Ron Prentice Jazz Trio, King-ston St Mary Parish ChurchJennifer McQueen Memorial Concert, 11 November, Orches-traWest with Amici, R Strauss-Four Last Songs-Elizabeth Watts-Brahms RequiemTickets: www.amicichoir.org.uk

The Amici Choir

8

In celebration of the arriv-al of the Olympic Torch in Taunton, the Brewhouse presents the international premiere of a powerful new drama by the exciting South West based play-wright Natalie McGrath. The Cultural Olympiad’s ideal of sport and art in dialogue with one anoth-er has inspired this work, and as such Rift has been granted the Inspire Mark.

Natalie McGrath started out her play-writing career by having short pieces of work produced in Exeter. However, It wasn’t until she was chosen to be one of ten writers for Hall for Corn-wall Arts Council funded project Re-sponses, in 2006, that she thought she might successfully write a full-length play. This project explored how the plays of the English Renaissance still

have resonance today. Workshops were undertaken with representatives from across the theatre industry, including Shakespeare’s Globe and National Theatres. Lasting nearly a year, the project culminated in five plays being selected to have extracts performed in a showcase of work. Natalie’s play about two maps being made, one a le-gal map and the other a map of the stars (illegal in Elizabethan times) was one of those chosen. She was particularly interested in Christopher Marlowe, his play Doctor Faustus and his explora-tion of the occult. She felt she learned a huge amount in this process. ‘It opened up my wider field of vision,’ she explains. In partic-ular, she found working with director Anna Coombs as a mentor, a fruitful experience.‘ She helped me tackle my play in terms of how it could work the-atrically in an ambitious way, which I haven’t forgotten,’ she comments. She was inspired and gained the invaluable experience and contact with expertise that she needed to help her develop her poetic style of writing. Not long after completing Responses, Natalie left her full-time job as a teacher to put her

heart and soul into becoming a play-wright. In 2007, Natalie participated in a weekend workshop at the Brewhouse in Taunton. She was one of five writ-ers, who were given a brief to write two new scenes to work on with two actors and a director over the course of the weekend. This was the beginning of Coasting. Natalie worked with Robert Miles (Director and Chief Executive of the Brewhouse), for whom she has high regard. ‘I really enjoyed the collabo-rative way Robert worked over the course of that weekend. He brought a freedom to the discussions and asked me direct and useful questions, giving me the right to not always know the answer, which opened up a range of possibilities about what it might be.’ For the first time Natalie believed she was in a position to become a profes-sional playwright and with funding support from Arts Council South West, she was able to continue working on her practice on her writing. Coasting wasn’t further developed until much later as Natalie was com-missioned by the Northcott Theatre

Inspired International Premier

and Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter to collaborate with groups of young people to write four new short plays about living west of the river Exe in a cross-generational project called Living Here. The short plays were performed for the community upon whose stories they were based and had engaged with. This was further valuable experience for Natalie in learning her craft. Natalie was then invited to tender for Theatre West’s new season Writing in the Margins at the Alma Tavern, Bristol between September and November. She was one of six writers who were selected to submit a full script and one of the fi-nal four to have their play produced. Her play, Metal Remains, about female sol-diers in Iraq, was then shortlisted for the prestigious Meyer Whitworth Award in association with the National Theatre. Though it didn’t win, Natalie was en-couraged by this to continue writing and developing Coasting. Firstly, through the Hall for Cornwall’s Beachcombing project in association with Theatre 503 and then by Sharon Clark (Literary Pro-ducer) who asked her to submit a script for the Ferment Programme at Bristol Old Vic. She submitted Coasting and it was given a reading in January 2010. This was the beginning of a rigorous and fruit-ful dialogue between Natalie and Sharon, who became central in working with her to fully realise the potential of the script. Coasting was the first full-length play to be given a full production of work by a Bristol Ferment artist in 2011. The pro-duction was well received by audiences and attracted some very favourable re-views. It was an extraordinary experi-ence for Natalie. Since her playwriting weekend at the Brewhouse she had stayed in touch with Robert Miles and last year discussed the idea of writing Rift and developing it as part of another Arts Council application. The application also supported her initial development of The Peace, which is a play about Mo Mowlam and the last 48 hours of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. This was developed through Bristol Ferment. Six months were spent working on The Peace and six months on

Rift, which is now coming into fruition in May at the Brewhouse this year thanks to further development support from ACE South West. This is very pleasing for Na-talie as there is never a guarantee that a play will actually be produced. At the centre of this new play is the idea of how different forces or agencies from

different parts of the world might meet, metaphysically or literally. The main pro-tagonists are a Kenyan runner and Olym-pic hopeful in the Rift Valley and a woman on Exmoor who runs in a pair of trainers that do not belong to her. ‘I thought there was a relationship there,’ and providing an insight into her approach to the crea-tive process she adds, ‘I tend to go with my instincts and develop the language of the world of the play rather than nailing the story right at the beginning.’ It was as though her instincts to produce a play in the South West about this subject were legitimised when she discovered that the Kenyan running team for London 2012

will be based outside of Bristol from ear-ly May. What is apparent is that the process of producing a drama is an ever changing one, often involving collaboration and input from a variety of sources, and this will remain true right up to the first per-formance of Rift as the involvement of

the actors, director and creative team in-troduce further opportunities for change and development. It is also clear that even in the thick of her preparations for her current play Natalie always has another idea bubbling just below the surface. As she finishes the in-terview she talks enthusiastically about a plan she has for next year to stage a project to commemorate the Great 1913 Suffrage Pilgrimage from Land’s End to Hyde Park, exactly a hundred years after the original event. It sounds intriguing. Let’s hope that one comes off - and the Mo Mowlam play too. But first, we have Rift to enjoy.

See Rift at The Brewhouse

Thu 17 May - Sat 19 May 3pm, 7.45pmBrewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre Coal Orchard, Taunton, Somerset TA1 1JLBox office: 01823 283244 www.thebrewhouse.net

Kathryn O’Reilly & Ayodeji Aloba who star in Rift

Harry Frier is the one Taun-ton artist from the late Vic-torian-Edwardian period whose work is still known today. There is now an opportunity to learn more about his legacy with an ex-hibition of his art in May and a talk by Jeremy Harvey on his life and work at Somer-set College in June.

What quickly became evident to Jeremy Harvey in researching Harry Frier was that here was a man about which there were a number of contradictions and sur-prises: an artist who is avidly collected and, increasingly, fetches good prices, yet his work is of variable quality; associated with Taunton though not a native; trained as a portrait painter yet is best known for watercolours and his pictures of land-scapes; and an artist who experienced some early recognition but died in pov-erty, his last years an apparent tragedy. Our knowledge of Harry Frier’s life up

to now, Jeremy acknowledges, is large-ly due to the diligence of local author Michael Jones who has written an excel-lent book on him, the result of years of research and endeavour, published in its most recent incarnation in 2002 though now, sadly, out of print. Jeremy’s own interest in art began with weekly lectures by the art master at his school. In the sixth form they would go out into the countryside and he would paint watercolours. His family did not have any especial interest in art though his father would sometimes take him to art galleries. At Oxford University where he studied history he attended art lectures by Eric Newton. He has maintained his interest in art throughout his career and headship of Bishop Fox’s School in Taunton (where he oversaw its transition from the site in Kingston Road to its current site off South Road). However, it was of neces-sity, a spare time interest. When he retired as head teacher he decid-ed that he wanted art to come more to the fore and began studying art more closely and attending weekly painting sessions on a Friday morning, learning from other artists and beginning to appreciate the skills and techniques required. ‘By doing so,’ he explains, ‘ you can read an artists

work more intelligently.’ Though modest about his skills he has sold some paint-ings on his own account. Jeremy began teaching art as part of the adult education programme at Somerset College. When the funding ceased he was invited to give an open lecture along with other speakers. The talk he gave was well received and he was invited to continue his lectures in the Conference Centre at Somerset College. Since 2004-2005 he has been giving approximately three talks a year at the college, starting with Giotto and the ‘old masters’ progressing through to nineteenth and twentieth century artists such as Sickert, Degas and Manet. Despite his interest and involvement in art he had no formal art qualifications. However, an opportunity arose in an un-expected way when he and his wife vis-ited a friend, Daphne, who they knew to be the niece of Stanley Spencer. As they were leaving, Daphne commented that she wished someone would do something with the letters she had from Stanley Spencer. Seeing Jeremy’s evident interest she went to a cupboard and pulled out a box folder of 53 letters in pristine condi-tion. Excited by the find, Jeremy read the let-ters and gave a talk on them as part of his Conference Centre programme (to which he invited Daphne). Encouraged by the response, he contacted Paul Gough, RWA, at the time Professor and Head of Art and Media Studies at The University of the West of England who he knew to be bringing a book out on Stanley Spen-cer entitled Journey to Burghclere, telling

Harry Frier:Artist & Recorderof Taunton’s Past

The New Inn. Wilton, Taunton, 1898 (Now Vivary Arms) SANHS

Harry Frier

‘Tauntonians of the future will owe Mr Frier a great debt for having preserved for them the sketches of many of the old buildings in Taunton which have now been demolished.’His obituary by Charles Tite, Somerset County Gazette, 26 Feb 1921.

him of his intention to do an MPhil on the subject. Gough agreed to supervise Jeremy. In total the MPhil took four years under the tutelage of Mike Hill of Leeds University. Jeremy says candidly, ‘He gave strong opinions about how it could be improved ‘ insisting that Jeremy write some biographical details of every person mentioned in the letters. ‘It was as hard as anything I have ever done,’ admits Jer-emy. However, in the end he must have thought it was worth it for Mike Hill commented on its completion that it was work of national importance. Jeremy for-mally received his MPhil for his work on Stanley Spencer in 2011 and is currently in talks with a publisher in Bristol. Harry Frier is a departure from Jeremy’s usual talks for Frier was not considered a great painter – though he could at times be a very good one. However, he is huge-ly significant as a recorder of public and private buildings and characters within

Taunton, leaving an important legacy of paintings and sketches of Taunton and the surrounding area which he painted towards the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. Despite his association with Taunton, Harry Frier was not a local man. He was born in Edinburgh in 1849 and went to Edinburgh Art School. He moved to Lon-don in 1878 during the ‘great depression’ unable to secure enough commissions lo-cally to make a living from his paintings. He was not a success in London either but obtained a job in a London music hall as a scenery painter where he met and fell in love with one of the chorus girls, Kezia (Kate) Dyer. Kate’s father had died in 1872 leaving Kate some property at Creech St Michael and Bathpool. They were married in Taun-ton Registry Office on 1st March 1881 living first with Kate’s mother at Hyde Lane Bathpool. He began to rent a room in East Reach for use as a studio. Though he had developed his artistic skills as a portrait painter he found the few commis-sions he gained for portraits unprofitable and time consuming and turned instead to painting houses and views, approaching the owners of larger properties to com-

mission paintings In 1891 he gave up his East Reach stu-dio and moved to 11 Greenbrook Terrace. He sold watercolours at Alfred Vickery’s artist materials shop and monochrome watercolours to Bath Place photographer William Corbett in imitation of photo-graphic prints. In 1895 he moved to Bath Place though they returned to Green-brook Terrace (this time to number 15), two years later. He also had a fruitful as-sociation with Charles Tite, secretary of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society who paid Harry to pro-duce sketches of local scenes and charac-ters and allowed him to sell them on. By the early 1900’s, however, he was struggling to make ends meet. His rela-tionship with Kate had deteriorated. and he began to drink too much. As a result, the quality of his painting declined. Kate died on the 31st January 1912, after catching a chill. Harry was inconsolable. His niece, Lottie, took him into their own house but his behaviour became intolera-ble and he went to the workhouse in 1917. He was in and out of the workhouse over the next few years and died there on 19 February 1921. There are two significant public col-lections at the Somerset Museum in Taunton and at Taunton Deane Borough Council, (though many of the pictures are unframed) as well as one or two impor-tant private collections. It is estimated that he produced between 2-3,000 water colour drawings for Tite. It is not known exactly how many completed paintings he produced though Michael Jones has catalogued 600 (Harry Frier’s Taunton, Michael Jones. Somerset Books, 2002).

Harry Frier Art Exhibition12-23 May at Mendip House, High Street, Taunton TA1 3SX. Paintings and sketches will be on show from private and public collections. For further information contact Somerset College. Tel. 01823 366366

Jeremy Harvey Talk: ‘Harry Frier:His Life & Times’June 11th 7.00 – 9.00 at the Conference Centre, Somerset College, Welliington Rd, Taunton TA1 5AXThere will be an interval to look at originals and cards.Cost: £5.00 payable at the door. Enquiries to Sam MacIntyre. Tel. 01823 252934

‘Cockles, a penny a plate’, 1904 SANHS

31

John Stuart chairs the Somerset poets’ group, Fire River Poets. He has broad-cast on BBC Somerset and 10 Radio, Wiveliscombe: and he runs the Poetry at The Brewhouse series of readings and poetry cafe. The younger son of Scottish parents and from a farming background, John is married with four children and three grandchildren. He speaks French, German and Russian and retired a few years ago from customer relationship management in order to focus on poetry which has completely taken over his life.

Poets’ Corner

Son

You should not imagine thathe’s ever doing nothing. If you find himthrown across the sofa, headpropped blankly on a hand and eyes fixed on the sightless distance,

don’t ask: he’s occupied.You may imagine that he’s lost in a desert without words, a waste with no horizon for the sun to climb. Life is a great jigsaw:

maybe he’s lost a piece and needs to work on where it dropped.Or love is a well down which he may have thrown his last penny and is breathless

waiting for the splash. Or fortunehas an eye the size of the worldand he could be, he could just be staring into the eye of fortune trying not to blink.

Harvest watch

He stands in deep shadow while the sun grinds the day off on its stone. The gun stock warm on his arm, hot boots tight to his feet, sweat beads in his eyes, he has stood a full slow,torpid watch and waits for the midday mark.

You will not see him unless the husky bam!of his twelve bore makes you look for movement;and a few heads may turn, leading your eye.A figure may bend in the black shadows as his dog fetches and lies still again

at his heel. Then they will flicker and fade under the mottled light at the field’s edge.If there had to be gods of the harvest,talismans of childhood, and there were – oh, yes, there were – it would be the watching men.

Men trusted with guns. But he does not see himself in the role of god. By his own secular measure,blinking and staring, shifting his weight, loosening his arms, stifling his yawns, he’s after rabbits and that’s all it is, watching as the field

is shaved of sanctuary. Let the boys apethe rhythm of his gun, the smooth ease of its snap, lock and glide to the shoulder; the kick of its recoil. Let them laugh, as their eyes lust for his metal monster.

A man should not be turned by admiration. … But when his son has come to the field’s edge,he finds the majesty in a straight back and high head, wants the boy’s eyes to pay unmistaken homage to his dark shape.

Read More of John’s Poetry

John Stuart’s poetry collection, Word of Mouth, priced £8.00 which includes the above poems is available from Brendon Books, Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER Tel. 01823 337742email: brendonbooks@gmail.com www.brendonbooksonliine.co.uk

36

LAMP is a new magazine, its purpose is to shine a light on literature, art, music and performance in the Vale of Taunton and the surrounding area.

Running my own bookshop, organising a number of talks and Taunton’s first liter-ary festival has made me realise what a wealth of talent and artistic endeavour there is in our community and how often it goes unreported. In any month you are likely to be able to see high quality musical offerings in our local churches, award winning drama, displays from visual artists with an international reputation and talks by highly acclaimed authors.

At the same time I believe there is a willingness and desire to embrace the arts by the wider community. The magazine will include interviews with authors, artists, musicians and dramatists, reviews and comments, a short stories and poetry, and, at the centre of the magazine, a calendar of events for the following two months.

Business: a strong local economy and a successful artistic culture so often go hand in hand. Listings are free though they can be highlighted with an advert. Within the magazine you will also find interviews with authors, artists, musicians and dramatists, reviews and articles

I alos believe there is an increasing appetite

Following a successful dance career, Mark Bruce has become one of our foremost choreographers with close to a score of productions to his credit under the company that bears his name, yet he did not turn to dance until he was seventeen.

Mark Bruce’s greatest ambition as a child was to draw comic books, despite the fact that both his mum and dad were dancers. He explains, ‘It was not that I rebelled against it, it was more a ques-tion of being surrounded by something that you didn’t realise is front of you.’ Though seventeen is rather late to be-come involved in dance, he believes it is easier to start late as a boy rather than a girl where there is so much com-petition from a young age (though it is

beginning to change now). Showing the determination and bloodymindedness of youth and a willingness to work hard

he made it into the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. He does not believe he had a special natu-ral talent and that, in any case, natural talent is not enough on its own. ‘You have to be fit to take part in professional dance, rather like an athlete, and have the mentality to keep working at it.’ In fact, when he left Rambert he did not class himself as a good dancer. He be-lieves that his dancing skills really de-veloped as a result of the influence of his peers, professional dancers and cho-reographers after he left Rambert - al-lied to his willingness to stick at it. ‘It is a long process,’ he observes. His interest in choreography began as soon as he went to dance school. In fact there was a time when he thought he might give up on dancing. However, he realised that if he wanted to really un-derstand movement and the vocabulary of dance then he would need to pursue his dancing career. This and the fact that he made full use of his time at Rambert to develop his choreographic skills – he choreographed at least ten pieces before he left ballet school - meant that by the time he moved into choreography he had a head start. He had also taken part in the occasional tour with his father, who had become a choreographer, and observed how the process worked. He likes to become involved in the total creative process, putting together the sets and design as well as the dance movements. ‘I work with some great collaborators and designers and give them a lot of freedom because I want their creativity to feed in to the overall vision,’ But he is very specific about the overall image that he wants to achieve. He works visually and is influenced by the movies. ‘I am trying to create a world on stage,’ he explains. Every piece of his work is original even when he is drawing upon a clas-sical story like Medea. Though he did not deviate from the essential story and

the emotional content, he gave Medea a fury which is not in the original play though it proves an invaluable device for carrying out interpreting some of Medea’s wishes. As Mark’s career in dance and cho-reography developed he began work-ing with a number of professional dance companies both in the UK and abroad, including Rosas, Bern Ballet, Inrodan, Extemporary Dance Theatre and DJazzex. It was in 1991 that he launched The Mark Bruce Company. Productions included Moonlight Drive (1991), Lovesick (1995), Helen, An-gel (1996), Horse, BlackBird/RedRose (1998) , Dive (1999) and Dance Hall At Louise Point (1997) - a celebrated col-laboration with Polly Jean Harver and John Parish. In 2000 he and his partner decided they wanted to move out of London to bring up their family. He had fond memories of holidays in the West Country as a child. Frome, which was already known to him, was, therefore, a natural choice. He finds it a magical place. ‘It is a very special town. There are so many crea-tive people living here.’ He took a break to pursue other projects after his move returning to make Fever To Tell for Probe, Green Apples for the ROH’s Clore Studio Summer Col-lection and Bad History for the Place Prize 2006. In September 2006 Sea of Bones premiered at Frome, Somerset’s Merlin Theatre, followed by a UK tour

Made in Heaven

Mark Bruce photo: Hugo Glendinning

Love & Warphoto: Stephen Berkeley-White

34

throughout 2007. Mark’s theatre work includes Man-chester Royal Exchange productions of The Bacchae (premiere November 2010), Antigone, The Glass Menager-ie, The Revenger’s Tragedy, Antony & Cleopatra, Peer Gynt, As You Like It, Fast Food, Still Time and The Way of the World. He directed Rick Bland’s Thick for the Edinburgh Fringe and in Canada and New York. He has also worked in a variety of new media, screen and inter-active stage productions with Ruth Gib-son & Bruno Martelli of Igloo. He has written music for his own productions and also for art installations, films and video promotions for the company. Mark created The Sky or a Bird for Probe’s 2008 UK tour and Stars for Dance South West’s Rural Tour 2008. He co-devised Skellig- an opera based on the book by David Almond – for the Sage Gateshead in 2008. Bruce’s Crimes of Passion, commissioned by Bern Ballet, premiered in January 2010. The Mark Bruce Company premiered its new full-evening work, Love and War, at the Tobacco Factory Theatre on 7 May 2010 followed by a U.K. tour. Medea, his second commission by Bern Ballet, premiered in February 2011. He is concerned that there have been so many cuts in grants to the arts in Somerset, affecting, for example, his local theatre, The Merlin, in Frome. He believes that the arts are not valued or held in such high esteem as they are in the rest of western Europe where they receive more funding and have a greater status. He also believes that this holds true in the education system where he thinks much more could be

done in the field of dance and drama. He himself is very active in this area, teaching classes and workshops in the UK and internationally, including

workshops and dance classes for GCSE and A Level. His forthcoming produc-tion, Made in Heaven, provides an ideal subject for comparative study using, as it does, both narrative and abstract el-ements, referencing myth, literature and film. It is in part about fear and denial, brainwashing and self imposed blindness and challenges the idea of a heaven and a hell that is sold to us ‘You could describe it as Dante’s In-ferno meets science fiction and horror with a bit of Wizard of Oz thrown in,’ he explains. ‘It is like a Vaudeville act in the tradition of the old fashioned travel-ling show, very surreal with black hu-mour.’ It sounds intriguing. I can’t wait to see it.

‘You could describe it as Dante’s Inferno meets science fiction and hor-ror with a bit of Wizard of Oz thrown in. It is like a Vaudeville act in the tradi-tion of the old fashioned travelling show, very sur-real with black humour.

Scene from Made in Heaven photo: Stephen Berkely-White

See Made in Heaven at the Tacchi-Morris Arts CentreTuesday 12 June 7.30 pm

Tachi Morris Arts Centre, School Road, Monkton Heathfield, Taunton TA2 8PD Tel. 01823 414141 www.tacchi-morris.com

For information aboput workshops and tour details: info@markbrucecompany.com

35

A new gallery opened in Watchet in April, con-ceived in a conversation between Watchet resi-dent and gallery owner Nick Cotton and Paul Upton.

Nick Cotton has an emotional attach-ment to 41 Swain Street for this was where he grew up. His parents had run it as a coffee shop and fish and chip shop. Later it became an antique shop and, over the years, a junk shop. Nick had become friends with Paul Upton sometime in the late 1990’s when Paul was involved in renovating a couple of houses in Watchet. Perhaps, he asked, his friend, he could renovate 41 Swain Street? Paul found the property in a shocking state of re-pair. There was extensive dry rot in its ancient structure and at that time he could find little in favour of taking on such an enterprise. He turned to-

wards another project he had in hand. When that did not go ahead and Nick asked him again he said in frustration, ‘What do you want me to do with it?’ When his friend suggested an art gal-lery, he was surprised as Nick already ran the successful Lynda Cotton gal-lery in Watchet. ‘The more the better.’ was Nick’s attitude. If Watchet became known as a town of art galleries, like St Ives, he would benefit, not lose by it, he thought. Looking at the project again, taking into account some buildings at the back that could also be developed and with Nick’s blessing for an art gal-lery Paul thought he had a project that might work. Paul took possession of the property in February 2011 and has found work-ing on the building a satisfying and rewarding experience. Paul grew up in Bridgwater and trained as an architect in the mid sixties. However, he be-came disillusioned with the direction of architecture at that time and instead turned to education where he had a suc-cessful career. He enjoyed three head-ships and became a principal lecturer at the University of the West of England. Building, though, was his first love and, after taking early retirement at 50,

he began renovating old buildings and took a post- graduate qualification in architectural conservation. He has used traditional building materials inside and out of 41 Swain Street. The downstairs walls are medieval in origin while it is believed that a first floor was added in the 17th century. Outside the walls are rendered with lime render and the walls inside are plastered with lime plaster ‘allowing them to breathe again.’ Above the gallery there will be living accom-modation and behind it three artists’ studios, a cottage and a tea room. ‘My dream,’ explains Paul, ‘is that the whole site should be involved in the artistic endeavor.’ It is his hope that all the occupants should be artist or involved with art in some way. To Paul’s delight many of the early visitors have expressed an interest in the building as well as the art. Though he is committed to using traditional materials he likes to put them in a modern con-text. The entrance, therefore, is modern while the gallery itself shows contem-porary art. Paul is also the case officer of the Watchet Conservation Society and hopes that Gallery 41 can be used as an example of good practice. ‘You need to work with old buildings and un-

Gallery 41

The well attended gallery launch

9

derstand how they work,’ he explains. To this end he has kept a blog of materials used and commented on its progress. He believes that the project may have en-couraged others in Watchet to renovate their buildings. Neither Paul or his wife had any knowl-edge of how to go about setting up a gal-lery. They asked five friends to become directors and to form a company to de-velop and run it. Only one of them has experience of working in a gallery. How-ever, what they lacked in experience they made up for in enthusiasm and have de-veloped a clear idea of where they want to go with it. They want the gallery to be a cultural hub of excellence in the artis-

tic world and do not want to compromise on standards. Though many of the artists in the opening show have connections to Watchet they all have national or inter-national reputations. Zoe Bingham, the Gallery Manager and Curator, heard about the enterprise hav-ing recently moved back to Somerset from London after working in some of the major galleries for the last 15 years, and is impressed with the directors vi-sion and is delighted to be involved. She believes that it fits in well with the other developments, such as the harbour at Watchet and believes it presents a per-fect opportunity for some of the artists in the area for whom she believes there

are a lack of suitable outlets. There will be four major exhibitions a year and it is hoped that by the summer the cafe will be open which will present oppor-tunities for local artists to display their work. They want to maintain the same high quality as for the other work. (See website for submission details). This will include ceramics, sculpture and installa-tions as well as paintings. Early indications are encouraging. 350 turned up to the opening night and 17 works were sold (whose price range from £50 - £5,000). Visitor numbers since have exceeded expectations. It seems that Gallery 41 can look forward to a bright future.

R J Lloyd, Gate Screen

David Imms, Quantock Moonlight

Hanne Westergaard, Dancing Circles

Forthcoming Exhibitions

Featured Artist: Vanessa Clegg ‘Fata Morgana’ : A Journey to the Frozen North of Norway. Three Potters: Jacqueline Leighton-Boyce, Alison Hood & Linda Wicks 9th May - 9th June R J Lloyd: 18th June – 14th July

Open 10am - 5pm Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Bank Holidays and at other times by appointment.

Gallery 41, 41 Swain Street, Watchet, Somerset TA23 0AE

Gallery Opening ShowLast day of exhibition is Bank Holiday Monday 7 May 2012Open 10am - 5pm Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Bank Holi-days and at other times by appointment.

Artists: Ian Cryer ROI, Fred Cuming RA, Alexandra Haynes, Alexander Hollweg, David Imms, Roger Large, RJ Lloyd RI (illustrated above ‘Gate Screen’ 1999), Angus Stirling, Kitty Stirling and Hanne Westergaard.

Above some examples of work from the Gallery Opening Exhibition

10

Fine Cards from...

good to sendgood to keep & frame

ginger fig gallery promotes artists and designers exclusively from the South West, exhibiting new talent alongside established artists

ginger fig gifts and gallery1b Bath Place, Taunton TA1 4ER 01823 326798

It is with great pleasure that I introduce LAMP to you – a new magazine which will shine a light on the arts in the Vale of Taunton and surrounding areas.

There is a rich seam of artistic talent and activity running through the Taunton region, which deserves wider reporting, exposure and celebration. We enjoyed a hugely successful literary festival last year. We have high quality live music in our churches, award winning drama in our excellent theatres, internationally recognised visual artists working and exhibiting in a number of venues. We have,

too, in Taunton a vibrant educational sector, with our schools and colleges sustaining a superb and diverse artistic programme.

All of this deserves wider recognition.

Our community is keen to embrace the arts and LAMP will play a key role in keeping us up to date on what is happening. The magazine will include a calendar of events covering the following two months. It will also feature interviews with authors, artists, musicians and dramatists, reviews and comments, short stories and poetry.

This new venture deserves the support of all, not least from local businesses: a strong economy and a successful arts scene often go hand in hand. I am sure this magazine will play its part in building the buzz and excitement that are at the heart of a thriving community. I am sure you will join me in wishing it every success.

Richard BiggsHeadmasterKing’s CollegeTaunton

As the Headmaster of Taunton School, it is usually assumed that I have no time for reading. Quite the opposite. Most Heads I talk to, like me, see the Arts as a vital source of refreshment and diversion. The 18th century notion that the aim of lit-erature was ̀ plaire et instruire’ - to please and to instruct - still holds true. I studied French and Russian at Oxford and take a pleasure in literature from all over the world. I am much happier tak-ing on the big hitters (Tolstoy, Flaubert, Joyce), but do spend a lot of time in holi-days reading history and politics. But what about some specifics on my current favourite works and artists? Top book? Must be War and Peace. I know it is something of a door stop and is top of the list of `books I would like to read’ for many folk, but I have read

it several times and consider it an end-lessly colourful, challenging description of what 1812 meant for Russia and what it said about how History is formed.

The revolutionary and effective crea-tions of the Impressionists never fail to be absorbing. If I have to pick one artist, it must be Cézanne. His many pictures of Mont St Victoire are a study in colour and typify an outdoor approach to paint-ing which was very new at the time. Hav-ing said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the bi-ography of Matisse by Hilary Spurling in the South of France last year. In terms of music and theatre, my tastes are very catholic. The Beatles will al-ways rein supreme in popular music just because of their marriage of great tunes, meaningful lyrics and original thinking. However, choral music has always been a joy, blues hit the spot at the right time and I have a real liking for Chopin. If I had to choose an album for my desert is-land, it would have to be Abbey Road. In the theatre, two figures stand out for me. Shakespeare’s language is sheer music. The wisdom and brilliance of the man continues to stimulate books and studies. Due to poor records, he is elu-sive as a person, which I suppose gives

licence to the bold for some exorbitant claims and analysis. However, the plays are pure magic. Secondly Chekhov. He is a very different sort of playwright. Many may not know that he made his name as a short story writer first. He draws all round characters about whom it is hard to

make rash judgements and is the master of the anti-climax. So top plays for me? King Lear (as a father of daughters, we have much in common) and The Cherry Orchard - a very apt depiction of the de-cline of the upper classes in early 20 cen-tury Russia.

My Favourite...

We asked Dr John Newton, headmaster of Taunton School, to tell us about his favourite book and pieces of art, music and drama.

Leo Tolstoy, author of War & PeacePhoto: Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky,1908

Zebra Crossing outside Abbey Road Studios where the famous Beatle album was madeRonald Kunze,1969

King Lear and the Fool in the Storm, William Dyce (1806-64)

Mont Sainte-Victoire, Cezxanne (1882-85). One of several studies

38

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The West Somerset will be run-ning its first ever Art Trains Day on Saturday May 19th. Armed with Rover Tickets which give the freedom of the line it will be possible to spend a day travel-ling on the trains and sampling what takes your fancy from the following programme station by station:-

Minehead:- Live music and workshops by ARTSY-ARTSY Workshops presents: drop in workshops where children of all ages can explore their imagina-tion within a choice of struc-tured activities that facilitate expressive visual development. There will also be bough houses from Rob Heard and face paint-ing from Minehead Eye

Dunster:- will host a wood theme with willow workshops and there will be a story walk around Dunster village.

Blue Anchor:- Appropriately for a seaside location a driftwood workshop from Emma Duke.

Washford:- will have Ben Horrobin demonstrating black-smithing on his portable forge and lots of other metal work-ers including silversmiths and sculpture plus other artists.

Watchet:- Live music plus, once again appropriately, paper mak-ing demonstrations and rope making demonstrations from the Boat Museum which is housed in the former goods shed adja-cent to the station.

Williton:- Live music and, still to be confirmed, Punch and

Judy.

Stogumber:- A painted glass workshop with Avril Silk.

Crowcombe Heathfield:- A pot-tery workshop with Jo Dove and launch of “The Emerald Dragon and Other Magical Tales of the Quantock and Blackdown Hills” by Clare Viner with illustrations by Georgie Grant

Bishops Lydeard:- Textiles in the Victorian sleeping carriage and live music.

The Art Train Day is part of the Making the Links in West Som-erset project funded by the Eu-ropean Union and Defra, which encourages creative industries and tourism businesses to work together to try out innovative ideas. Other artists and crafts people are still being added and the best way to keep up with Arts Trains Day is to call in on the West Somerset Railway’s website at www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk

BOOKS: New & Old 20,000 in Stock

Named as one of the top 50 of all bookshops in the UK by the Independent Newspaper in February 2012

01823 337742 brendonbooks@gmail.com

www.brendonbooksonline.co.uk

Armed with Rover Tickets which give the freedom of the line it will be pos-sible to spend a day travelling on the trains and sampling what takes your fancy from the following programme station by station:-

Minehead:- Live music and work-shops by ARTSY-ARTSY Workshops presents: drop in workshops where children of all ages can explore their imagination within a choice of struc-tured activities that facilitate expres-sive visual development. There will also be bough houses from Rob Heard and face painting from Minehead Eye.

Dunster:- will host a wood theme with willow workshops and there will be a story walk around Dunster village.

Blue Anchor:- Appropriately for a seaside location a driftwood workshop from Emma Duke.

Washford:- will have Ben Horrobin demonstrating blacksmithing on his portable forge and lots of other metal workers including silversmiths and sculpture plus other artists.

Watchet:- Live music plus, once again appropriately, paper making demon-

strations and rope making demonstra-tions from the Boat Museum which is housed in the former goods shed adjacent to the station.

Williton:- Live music and, still to be confirmed, Punch and Judy.

Stogumber:- A painted glass workshop with Avril Silk.

Crowcombe Heathfield:- A pottery workshop with Jo Dove and reading from “The Emerald Dragon and Other Magical Tales of the Quantock and Blackdown Hills” by Clare Viner with illustrations by Georgie Grant

Bishops Lydeard:- Textiles in the Vic-torian sleeping carriage and live music.

The Art Train Day is part of the Making the Links in West Somerset project funded by the European Union and Defra, which encourages creative industries and tourism busi-nesses to work together to try out innovative ideas. Other artists and crafts people are still being added and the best way to keep up with Arts Trains Day is to call in on the West Somerset Railway’s website at www.west-somerset-railway.co.uk

All Aboard the Art TrainThe West Somerset Railway will be run-ning its first ever Art Train Day on Satur-day May 19th. Be-low are details of the events

Taunton Literary Festival Dates AnnouncedThe second Taunton Literary Festival, organised by Brendon Books of Bath Place, Taunton, will take place over nine days from Saturday 22 September until Sunday 30 September. The programme of events will be available in the next issue of LAMP at the beginning of July and on the website from mid-June (at present showing event details for 2011). See www.tauntonliteraryfestival.net. Some of the authors already signed up include children’s and adult author and poet Helen Dunmore, best selling author Kate Mosse and historian and historical fiction writer Ian Mortimer. The venues will be as follows:

Saturday 22: The Castle Hotel Sunday 23: Hestercombe GardensMonday 24 Taunton SchoolTuesday 25: Taccchi-Morris Arts CentreWednesday 26: Queen’s CollegeThursday 27: King’s CollegeFriday 28: Richard Huish CollegeSaturday 29: The Brewhouse TheatreSunday 30: Somerset Museum

Kate Mosse will be talk-ing about Citadel the final novel in her trilogy which is available just in time for the festivalCitadel, the final novel in the Trilogy, is set during World War II in Carcassonne and the Aude. It tells the story of an all female resistance unit, fighting against the Occupa-tion of their country, but also the discovery of an ancient Codex that has the power to change the course of history. Citadel publishes in Septem-ber 2012 in the UK

Helen Dunmore is equally celebrated and successful as a poet, novelist, short-story writer, and children’s author and is a Orange Prize win-ner. Helen Dunmore will be talking about the latest volume in the Ingo Chroni-cles series

Ian Mortimer has been said to have ‘single-handedly put me-dieval history back in the hands of ordinary readers’. He also writes historical fiction under the pen name of James For-rester and will be talking about his latest book in the series.

• •

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