It was a black film canister, rattling around the bottom of an old Naturalizer shoebox labeled “photos.” I opened it, wondering if it was a roll of unused film. Instead, I found a twist of white tissue paper wrapped around tightly rolled black-and-white negatives. I held them up to the light. At first I saw…legs. […]
via Never before seen Tiananmen Square photos found in shoebox — The China Girls
One would think that such a momentous issue as the European Union referendum in the UK, would infect a nation into a lively and confident debate. In contrast to the Scotish Independence debate, we witnessed south of the border what we are currently witnessing is nothing short of a kindergarten dispute founded on scare mongering and ludicrous claim after ludicrous claim. Bogeymen are paraded by the Out Campaigners, unnamed bureaucrats wanting to control the shape of bananas, the international conspiracy of benefit seekers attacking the white cliffs of Dover. Our very own tuppence ha’penny Churchill wannabe Boris Johnson leading the Out Campaign even managed to dig up the premier league of bogeymen Adolf Hitler, which made him sound like an archaic outtake from a 1970s BBC sitcom, which failed to be recommissioned after its pilot series. Meanwhile, the Remain Campaign produce dense technical reports setting out their assumption of an economic shock if we were to leave the EU, house prices to crumble, the cost of food to escalate, jobs to be lost. These reports contain detailed graphs showing how the economy will fall off a cliff edge like an army of lemmings. Not to mention the threat of World War 3 and the suggestion that the leader of IsIs is a supporter of the Leave Campaign.
The nature of the in-out debate is a reflection of the health of our democracy, and ultimately nobody is more responsible for the infantile status of this discussion than people like us. We have over the past few decades distanced ourselves from the democratic and political process and increasingly became casual observers like transfixed children watching a Punch and Judy Show from behind a soundproof window called a Television. Our political process is no longer about the use of power and accountability, but soundbite and spin. A process that may require an occasional change of actors, but the script remains the same.
Complex issues and political choices are simply not the domain of 140 words scrambled together in a tweet. They require information, careful deliberation, and the mutual exchange of ideas before forming a decision. But this is incredibility difficult in an environment where politicians, through their irresponsibility, have allowed their important role in our democratic fabric to be vilified. Powerful concepts like equality, rights, and equity have been spun out of our political language and replaced with passive surrogates like fairness, choice and opportunity that are constantly regurgitated and repackaged. Those elected to provide vision and enthuse engagement are acting like middle managers more preoccupied with process rather than building bridges, sharing honest information and working alongside communities to shape solutions. Their primary game is the maintenance of tribal power and the avoidance of accountability, ensuring the average looks better than what it actually is and ensuring blame sits elsewhere.
There is little doubt that the EU institutions are inaccessible and the warbling defence of them by the Remain Campaign is rather pitiful in the same way the Out Campaigners claim the UK parliament is a holy grail of democracy, which it is not. Remember it was the UK government that has taken us into one disastrous war after another in recent history. The Lords remains entirely unelected. Some local councils have a mandate of less than 25%. Only 66% of people eligible to vote bother to do so at general elections. The current UK government was only elected on 36% of those who actually voted. There is the banal talk of ‘voter apathy’ in an attempt to divert responsibility from the established political elite, but they fail to realise that through this lazy analysis that they are part of the problem.
The ugly side of the Little Britain caricature is no more prevalent than when the issue of migration is brought into a debate. There are many good politicians out there, but they do not seem to have the confidence to navigate such a sensitive issue with fear of being labelled racist. The movement of people across the globe is a result of political, economic and environmental instability. If we are truly interested in tackling the issue then we do so by understanding the problem and not demonising those who seek stability from conflicts we often instigate, support or finance. Human beings deserve much better than being left to the cut-throat pirates who trade on their misery through illegal smuggling. These concerns can only be resolved through increased international cooperation rather than less.
To support continued membership of international and cross-border bodies is not defacto support for the culture and purpose of the existing institutions. Those making the case for the UK to leave on the basis the EU is a relic of the past do not seem to be making the same case for the UK to leave NATO. The UK, of course, has the potential to be an economic island throwing out trade agreements across a global free market economy. As an internationalist it’s not the vision I’m interested in, I will be voting remain. I want to see increased integration across Europe, socially, culturally and politically. I do not fear the free flow of labour no more than the free movement of capital.
I know. You feel like a lone voice in the organisation championing a closer and more creative relationship with the local voluntary and community sector, but your colleagues have had a bad experience and your politicians are not convinced. It’s a challenging position you find yourself in, but don’t worry you are not alone. A good start is to develop a compelling narrative. Once you have this in place you then have the platform to press on, but your task will not be easy and potential pitfalls and tripwires await you. Whilst your resilience needs to be strong remember to listen, reflect and adapt because you will not achieve much by yourself – building alliances both internally and externally of the organisations will be crucial. Also remember not to become part of the problem by bad mouthing the organisation you work for – be the change you want to see in others. Be positive, be a leader and be focused because you know local authorities need the voluntary and community sector and the voluntary and community sector need local authorities.
It’s an interdependent relationship given 70% of business between the voluntary and community sectors and the state takes place in the locality and not with Central Government. So why is the relationship so difficult at times and practically what can you do to improve the situation? The answers are often complex and very much localised requiring a change of lightbulb to enable a better view. Firstly, it’s not all is bad. I’ve worked in most regions of England. My first decade of employment was with a local voluntary sector group. In my younger idealistic days, I spent time as an elected councillor. I’m not embarrassed to admit I’ve made my fair number of mistakes along the way, learnt a good few lessons and feel i’ve achieved many successes. In time so will you.
I’ve come across great examples of the voluntary and community sectors collaborating brilliantly with local authorities, sharing expertise, knowledge and resources to obtain a common goal. These situations do not happen by accident, chance, or indeed luck, equally, I’ve come across some pretty awful situations where the sectors are barely acknowledging one another. Acting as if in some type of phycological convert warfare with each another. When it gets this bad it takes a lot of energy, time and resource to put the relationship right before improvements are able to deliver benefits for local residents. How can you help to mend it?
The first stage is to understand the context.
Let’s start from a political perspective because local authorities are political organisations. The Centre Right tend to view the voluntary and community sector via a lens of non-state charitable benefit whilst the Centre Left tend to view the sector through the lens of participatory democracy and the effusion of power. The observation I give is very simplistic and overlapping grey areas between both perspectives exist in abundance, but this simplistic starting point is critical when left right compounded by the style of local government in the locality. Regardless if a political administration is left, right and centre they can all be equally centralistic in nature and style.Needless to say, you will have read about the tension between the political class and voter, which give the impression politicians understand themselves more than they understand the wider population. This impression may, or may not warrant some justification, but we still live in a centralised state where politics and government seem distant from everyday life and a disproportion of politicians come from middle and upper-class professions. A good all round politician will immerse themselves in their community, its diversity, its conflicting aspirations, tensions and its social networks. This is where the ward councillor can come into their own because one of the bridges into this diverse world is the voluntary and community sectors and you have an important role to play in helping the ward councillor navigate this world.
At its best the voluntary and community sector is dynamic, championing causes, influencing social policy, and tailoring activity to meet the needs of residents and communities. A vibrant, strong, positive and challenging sector should be embraced and nurtured in every neighbourhood, community, borough and city. The voice of the sector is just as equally important as the services it provides. As a commissioner, this voice helps me shape my approach, design service and facilitate good decisions. The key is to listen and to amass date and information then cross reference what you are hearing with the information you are reading.
Sadly, as will most sectors of the economy, I have witnessed some quite appalling service delivery and fraudulent activities perpetrated by some voluntary and community groups and organisations. I’ve come across deliberate conspiring to exclude people, faced violent because my work has threatened the self-interest of a few people who claim to be the voice of a community. I’ve also participated in workshops after workshop hearing representatives of the sector consistently in a state of negativity and blaming their predicament on everybody else, but themselves. It can be relentless. This is often intensified when an organisation holds a local authority contract and believes this will not ultimately impact on their independence, or they are may be facing the prospect of losing the contract for whatever reason. Yet, as imperfect as the sector is I believe it remains one of the best modes available for meeting need, providing value for money and enabling innovation.
Decommissioning is a part of the service life-cycle full stop and funding should never be provided on a never-ending cycle of demand. As soon as a voluntary and community organisation accepts money from the state then there is a financial and legal interdependency. By providing money to voluntary and community sector organisations for the purpose of delivering a particular service a local authority is effectively discharging itself from the responsibility to deliver that service and handing its responsibility to the voluntary and community sector group, although local authorities cannot discharge themselves of their accountabilities. For example,a council can commissions a private company to be responsible for collecting rubbish, but the same council remains legally accountable for ensuring the rubbish is collected. There is an interdependency, so the money comes with strings attached. If groups don’t like the strings then advise them not to take the money!
wpid-risk-managementAs a local authority officer you are employed to manage and oversee the implementation of services and policies. Its a risky business, seriously. You are navigating and balancing a minefield of political expectations, limited resources, management frameworks, unmet needs and demands, complaints and legal requirements. The whole process encourages a culture of risk aversiveness rather than risk awareness. The consequences are plain to see and result in organisational systems, processes and policies that stiffly opportunities for voluntary and community sector engagement. You are caught in the middle of this world and finding a way will to be easy, so here are some ideas to help you. They are not exhaustive, but simply provided to help and offer encouragement.
1. The Compact: I have mixed views on the joint Compact between voluntary and community sector and Local Government, but if your local authority does not have one why not see if there is an appetite to develop one. But make sure the continues are right. Ensure the Compact has a means to an end rather than being viewed as a strict contractual document. Nobody needs to play Neville Chamberlin waving a peace treaty in the air and no it should not require a compact officer to police it. Remember a compact is not essential if it does not exist and there is no appetite for one life goes on, so move on, it’s not worth the battle.
2. Asset Transfer Policy: A good community asset transfer policy will encourage innovative approaches and creates access to affordable spaces. The policy should provide options and not be consigned to getting rid of them problem buildings, which the local authority now finds itself lumbered with.
3. Volunteering policy: a council policy that provides all employees with an opportunity to volunteer with a local group. This helps build alliances and break down misconceptions.
4. Staff secondments: When I became a senior manager for the first time I was able to arrange for members of my team to go on short term work based secondments with a local voluntary and community sector group. This was built into annual appraisals and personal development plans. This is very different from a volunteer policy (as above).
5. Behaviours: A staff behaviours and skills framework that promotes how staff should work collaboratively with voluntary and community sector groups.
6. Capacity Building: Invest in the sector to manage assets and services. This can be achieved in two ways. Firstly, commissioning technical support through a specialist organisation. Secondly, by using 3 and 4 above.
7. Collaborate: Establish demonstration projects with individual voluntary and community sector organisations that will achieve common goals, or address a long-running problem in the locality. This will build confidence across both sectors.
8. Take some risks: If you manage a budget (regardless how small) try and set aside a small budget to explore something new and innovative with the sector.
9. Capital Challenge Fund: Establish a challenge that requires match funding from the voluntary and community sector.
10. Take decisive action: If something is going wrong do not let it fester. The vast majority of voluntary and community sector groups will not tolerate misbehaviour or fraud within the sector and nor should you. If a group or organisation is ripping the tax payer off take action quickly – it will enhance your credibility. Just make sure the action is proportionate, justified and you understand all the impacts, so you are able to inject mitigations, if required.
Finally, you are not a lone wolf in the chicken pen. If your approach reflects this then you face a up hill battle and may face the consequence of being burnt out and frustrated pretty quickly. Take small practical steps. Changing attitudes is about both hearts and minds. You can only achieve this by demonstration – think about it?
Sirius Scarcliff’s disfigured existence brought terror and trepidation to those facing his judgement. Those gathered to witness his deathly endeavours prayed in fear of avoiding a similar predicament. A short reading from his black leather Bible and a slight nod of his cloaked head, the hangman pulled the rope, the final whimpered cry as the struggling torso swung from the water bank and then slowly stillness. Silence. The wretched soul of his latest victim departed from their mortal existence. Upon the execution of his deadly deed, Sirius would turn to those gathered, warning them of the dangers of witchcraft in the village. To be vigilant of their friends, neighbours and family. The witchfinder for Brislington, Bristol 1694-1696. Sirius had been appointed by the Puritans of the village who wanted to purify their church and community. Sirius was tasked with undertaking the exorcisms of demonic possession. He had come to prominence during the Salem witch trials of 1692–1693. During his ruthless charge, he showed no mercy in applying his judgement regardless of age or circumstances. His youngest known victim was a seven-month baby boy, whose parents had reported the child for demonic possession. A 70-year old village elder fell foul of his judgement for speaking in the tongue to other witches, when alone, although the most notorious case that set off a sequence of events, which ultimately led to his demise, is the case of the Morgan Family.
The head of the Morgan Family was Oswyn 38 years old. His wife Katherine was 33 years old. Their two sons were Daniel (12 years old) and Samuel (8 years old). Following accusations of witchcraft Sirius consulted his book of Daemonologia (published in 1567) and the whole family were subject to persecution. Katherine Morgan was thrown into the nearby river Avon with her thumbs tied to her opposite big toes. If she were to float, she would be guilty of witchcraft, but if Katherine sank then she was innocent. Kathrine Morgan was to die from her experience. After initially submerging below the current her body surfaced and floated on the river. Her body was brought back for judgement, alongside the rest of the Morgan family. The sentence of death for witchcraft was given. Oswyn, Daniel and Samuel were simultaneously executed from the village hanging tree, which to this day can be found on the Brislington Brook trail. Katherines lifeless body was burnt nearby. The persecution and subsequent execution of the Morgan family had caused both anger and revulsion, which also came at a time of growing unrest at Sirius’s murderous reign of terror.
On the evening of 13th September 1696, the villagers gathered around Sirius’s house and summarily dragged him, his wife, Martha and their young daughter Isabel down to the hanging tree. Each member of the family was branded with a crucifix on their foreheads, but instead of being hanged they were entombed alive in the hollow of the hanging tree. As the days went by their cries because more and more faint, until silent.
To this date, this incident has divided ancestors of the Puritans. On the anniversary of the entombment of the Scarcliff family, a small gathering of Puritans leave offerings of fresh fruit, burn candles and prays are given. It is said by locals that on dark winter evenings when the wind is blowing through the trees a murmured cry can be heard from the direction of the hanging tree. During the winter months of 1976, Sidney Thompson, a local resident, claimed to have caught a black and white grainy image of Sirius and Martha Scarcliff walking and searching the woods. To his dying day, Mr Thompson claimed to have heard them repeatedly call the name, “Isabel.”
Additional photographs can be found at the lost woods
Derek Dodd is the Area Coordinator for the West Holts Stage, Glastonbury Festival. I’ve Known Derek for almost 20 years. Over these year’s we have been to many concerts and festivals, so armed with my camera, notebook, a recorder and an electric hammer drill (don’t ask) we sat on his attic floor chatting and I asked him to select five vinyl records from this collection.
The Beatles, White Album (1968) was the second or third album I bought from Lesley Browns, Stockton, which was the place to go as a teenager when you wanted to buy records in the 1960s and 1970s. The shop had personal listening booths where you could listen to the records before you purchased them. I remember my Mam lacerating her hand on the sliding door of the booth when we went to listen to Twist and Shout EP – there was blood everywhere!! Each copy of the White Album is numbered and my copy is No. 0094165. It’s an amazing album because it is just so musically vast and a pivotal point, not only for the 1960s but the 20th century. It has all the influences the first track (Back in the USSR) is an homage to Chuck
Berry. Bob Dylan influenced singer/songwriter tracks, The harmonies of the Beach Boys, blues numbers, psychedelia, children’s songs and even Karlheinz Stockhausen is there in the most surreal tracks. The guitar-led songs arguably set the blueprint for the heavy rock phenomena that was to emerge. It’s difficult to see what musical influences it did not draw from and at the same time in its aftermath what musical genres it did not affect. It’ got everything. I heard the White Album when it came out in 1968; I bought it a year afterwards because I did not have enough pocket money. Sgt. Peppers was the first album I bought and I purchased Abbey Road the day after its release. I remember people taking copies of Abbey Road back to the shop because they thought the hissing on the last track on side 1 was a fault, but it was, of course, static that was supposed to be on the record. It’s always dangerous to listen to music in your youth because it sticks with you for the rest of your life. My first 4 albums were Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, The White Album and Revolver, not a bad start I guess.
Brinsley Schwarz, Silver Pistol (1972) are also pivotal. They were a bit before their time. I suppose they were a neo-punk band. It’s just a beautiful album combining a low-key pub rock sound, mixed with folk, country, psychedelia and pop influences. Nick Lowe plays bass, guitar and provides vocals on the album. Shortly after the band’s demise in 1974, Brinsley Schwarz briefly joined Ducks Deluxe before forming The Rumour and going on to achieve success with Graham Parker and the Rumour.
Fleetwood Mac, Kiln House (1970) Its the most obscure of Fleetwood Mac albums. It is weird. Officially there is only 
four of them credited in the band Jeremy Spencer (guitar, vocals, piano), Danny Kirwan (guitar, vocals), John McVie (bass guitar) and Mick Fleetwood (drums, percussion). Although Christine (Perfect) McVie provided backing vocals and keyboards, is uncredited. Christine Perfect, who was married to bassist John McVie, made her first appearance with the band as Christine McVie at Bristol University in May 1969 just as she was leaving Chicken Shack. She had success with the Etta James classic, “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Kiln House is an homage to rock n roll but done very softly with tracks like Buddy’s Song, a tribute to Buddy Holly, written in his style. Kirwan and Spencer were left with the task of filling Peter Green’s boots in live shows and recordings. Kirwan’s songs on the album moved the band in the direction of rock, while Spencer’s contributions focused on re-creating the country-tinged “Sun Sound” of the late 1950s. I like it because hardly anybody knows of the album outside of Fleetwood Mac diehards. It was recorded during the period following Peter Green’s departure, but before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined.
Then there is this thing, which is incredible it’s called King Kong, All African Jazz (1961). I love this album. It’s the 
original recording from an all black cast touring show, which came over from South Africa to the UK. After being a hit in South Africa in 1959, the musical played at the Prince’s Theatre in the West End of London in 1961. It’s an amazing mix of township jazz and African beats. A brilliant and iconic album. The liner notes for the London cast recording state: “No theatrical venture in South Africa has had his sensational success of King Kong. This musical, capturing the life, colour, and effervescence as well as the poignancy and sadness of township life, has come as a revelation to many South Africans that art does not recognise racial barriers. King Kong has played to capacity houses in every major city in the Union [of South Africa], and now, the first export of indigenous South African theatre, it will reveal to the rest of the world the peculiar flavour of township life, as well as the hitherto unrecognised talents of its people. The show, as recorded here, opened at the Princes Theatre, London, on February 23, 1961.” The song “Sad Times, Bad Times” was considered a reference at the time to the infamous South African Treason Trial in Pretoria, which had begun in 1956 and lasted for more than four years before it collapsed with all the accused acquitted. Among the defendants were Albert Luthuli (ANC president), secretary Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela. According to John Matshikiza, King Kong′s first night was attended by Mandela, who at the interval congratulated Todd Matshikiza “on weaving a subtle message of 
support for the Treason Trial leaders into the opening anthem” The shows key performers included Miriam Makeba, Nathan Mdledle. There was a cast of 72 that included Hugh Masekela, Abdullah Ibrahim, Kippie Moeketsi and Thandi Klaasen. The London cast also included Patience Gowabe and former Miss South Africa 1955 Hazel Futa, who went on to provide backing vocals for “She’s Fallen In Love With The Monster Man” by Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages (1964).
Finally, Palm Wine Guitar Music The 60s Sound by S.E. Rouge (1988). S.E Rouge is an amazing guitarist from Sierra Leone. A tailor by trade he became a professional musician in the 60s, singing in four languages. After touring America he moved to England in 1988. I saw him play during the early 90s at an arts centre in Taunton of all places. He had an amazingly warm, happy, very uplifting sound. I spoke to him after the gig, he took my phone number and about 3 months later he rang me up asking if I could promote a gig for him in Bristol, but I was not putting on gigs at the time. Shortly after that call, he died. He had just completed the recording of his last album, Dead Men Don’t Smoke Marijuana. He had undergone heart bypass surgery some months earlier but against medical advice travelled to Russia, where he lost consciousness while performing onstage.
Not many people know that Nat King Cole recorded five versions of the track L-O-V-E, English, Japanise, Italian, German and French. The English language version recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood on June 3, 1964. Bert Kaempfert, the songwriter for L-O-V-E, also wrote the music for many well-known songs, including Strangers in the Night (Frank Sinatra) and Wooden Heart (Elvis Presley). Kaempfert was born in Hamburg, Germany and in 1961, he hired The Beatles to back Tony Sheridan for an album called My Bonnie. The album and its singles, released by Polydor Records, were the Beatles’ first commercially released recordings. During October 1961, a man walked into the music store owned by Brian Epstein to ask for a copy of “My Bonnie.” The store did not have it, but Epstein noted the request and was so intrigued by the idea of a Liverpool band getting a record of its own released that he followed up on it. This event led to his discovery of the Beatles and ultimately their signing by George Martin to Parlophone Records. The rest is history.
In a career spanning five decades, George Martin not only signed the Beatles but produced more than 700 records. Often referred to as “the Fifth Beatle” because of his extensive involvement on each of the Beatles’ original albums. Martin was considered to be one of the greatest record producers of all time, particularly in Britain with 30 number-one hit singles in the United Kingdom and 23 number-one hits in the United States. Martin, directly and indirectly, contributed to the themes of three films in the James Bond series. Although Martin did not produce the score for the second Bond film, From Russia with Love, he was responsible for the signing of Matt Monro to EMI just months before his recording of the song of the same title. In his autobiography All You Need Is Ears, George Martin wrote of having visited the Capitol Tower during the recording sessions for the Frank Sinatra album Come Fly with Me.
John Lennon famously said, “that without Elvis Presley there would have been no Beatles.” 25 years after Lennon’s death Presley would still be impacting on the Beatles. Paul McCartney had made a connection between popular Elvis Presley remixes and the Beatles back catalogue. A few years later, he was approached about doing a Fab Four-themed Cirque du Soleil production, which eventually became 2006’s Love. McCartney, says he jumped at the chance to oversee a series of remixes. Hand-picking Beatles producer George Martin’s son Giles to do the work.
The pathways to horror are many, but most are man-made. Causes belied with hatred, greed and intolerance. The manufacturing of the tools to extinguish life. The devastating impact when the horror in a far away land becomes a horror in your neighbourhood.The ritual over analysis of 24-hour news channels struggling to fill time with empty words. The peddling of shaky images and grainy films from mobile phones across social media. The silent space vacated by reasonable people who just want to live a peaceful life. The bigots and political thugs with their contorted facial expressions, gasping for air, to fill their lungs and expel their prescribed rigid ideology be it faith, Marx or Smith. Those who hide behind the artificial boundaries of nationality, those who pull the trigger, those who embrace the ends of days, those who manipulate and spread poison in the shadows of ignorance your darkness will ultimately consume you. Sometimes it’s ok to say nothing and just reflect that a chair once occupied is now empty and an embrace once given is no longer provided.
Whilst all-female rock bands during the 1960s were generally being ignored Goldie & The Gingerbreads were signed to Decca Records in 1963. The band consisted of Genya Ravan (vocals, percussion and sax), Ginger Bianco, (drums, percussion), Margo Lewis, (organ, keyboards) and Carol MacDonald, (guitar, background vocals). In the UK the band went on to tour with The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Beatles, Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, The Hollies and The Kinks. The band became resident in the UK for a 2 year period and through their hard work and determination managed to secure a minor hit in 1965 “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” that reached No. 25 on the singles charts. Although extensively touring North America the band failed to achieve similar success in the U.S. where they were generally viewed as a novelty. When “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” was released in the U.S. a recording of the same song by Herman’s Hermits was also released with great fanfare the impact of which fatally undermined the chances of them achieving a hit single in their native U.S. A lesser known fact is that Goldie of Goldie & The Gingerbreads (Genya Ravan) was the first person to record the song “Going Back” which was written in 1966 by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Over the years “Going Back” has been recorded by many artists, although it’s the Dusty Springfield version most people take as the authentic benchmark.
The Goldie version, which was produced by Andrew Loog Oldham (manager and producer of the Rolling Stones 1963-1967) was withdrawn a week after its release following disagreements between Gerry Goffin and Carole King over lyrical content. To give the lyrics of the song more potency lead singer Genya Ravan, born Genyusha Zelkovicz April 19th, 1940 in Poland, arrived in the U.S. during 1947, accompanied by her parents and one sister. They were the only family members to survive the onslaught of Hitler’s Holocaust.
Devizes Road is a busy artery shuffling vehicles to and from the heart of Salisbury. Houses lined like lego on both sides with intermittent shops, occasional commercial garage and the oblitory public house that seem to have seen better days. Frustrated drivers sound their horns as they navigate the obstacle of illegally parked cars, radios and banter from builders, a young tired couple argue intensively whilst their offspring peers out from the relative safety of his pushchair absorbing the chaotic sounds. Built before the advent of mass car use it takes little to bring Devizes Road to an halt, especially when large delivery trucks thunder down towards the city centre ladened with commodities from faraway lands to be sold to ever demanding consumers. Eight brand new cars vibrant and shake like charms on a Pandora bracelet as the truck carrying them slows down. The big beast stops. Its tremors burst along the footpath and cause vibrations under my feet. An elderly resident steps out from her home, closes the wooden gate behind her, looks up at the sky and with no expression slowly walks past me. Opened in 1856, with its small chapel it would only take a flicker of an eye to miss the cemetery on Devizes Road, which is closed to full earth burials.
Upon entering its gates one is suddenly embraced by the mythical silence cemeteries bring, which is coupled 
with a feeling of unease and humbleness. So many stories of love, loss and sadness. Husbands, wives, children to their journey’s end. An elderly lady is attending a grave, she is the only person I come across. A childs windmill is spinning, weathered, standing slightly askew, pinned down near a small grave. Sitting amongst the scattered, ageing and often crumbling memorials are new headstones, sand coloured, identical in size and shape. Maybe 30 of them shattered around the site each inscribed with a crucifix, reference number, name, rank, date of death and if known date of birth, “34593 Edward Daniel Curtin, Army Medical Corps, 11th April 1915 Age 21. Second Lieutenant Goodyear….also his son Leonard….” Whatever one things about the cause, process or purpose of war the sacrifices these people have made is beyond calculation. As I walked through the uneven grounds, taking care and pausing to read the inscriptions, trying to imagine the impossible, their fleeting lives, fears, the horrors that they must have witnessed. Towards the rear of the cemetery I find 4 distinctively different headstones marking the resting places for Ulrich Helma, Adolf Dolejš, Antonin Plocek and Richard Hapala. I was intrigued given their foreign names to discover more and so a small journey began.
On the night of the 1st and 2nd July 1941 Ulrich Helma, Adolf Dolejš, Antonin Plocek and Richard Hapala were part of a six-member crew and RAF squadron tasked with carrying out a bombing raid on the port of Cherbourg, northwestern occupied French. Whilst the team was led by Ulrich Helm, an experienced pilot amassing 18 
previous air raids the remainder of the crew were young rookies. Their target that night was the Prinz Eugen, a battle cruiser, which had arrived in Cherbourg after leaving the ill fated Bismarck that had been sunk. According to reports there was at least one direct hit, which crashed through the deck of the ship preventing its from leaving port until vital repairs were undertaken. Returning to British shores after their mission the British Royal Air Force picked up the returning plane on radar defence and made several attempts to contact the crew, but with no success. The plane’s identification, friend or foe system, which was designed to make home stations recognise incoming friendly aircraft was malfunctioning. The plane was considered hostile and shot down. The stricken plane crashed at Lower Park Farm, southeast of the town of Mere, Wiltshire. The entire crew consisting of Sgt. Ulrich Helm (pilot), Sgt. Anthony Plocek, (copilot) P.O Richard Hapala, (navigator), Sgt. Adolf Dolejš, (radio operator), Sgt. Jaroslav Petrucha, (leading scorer) and Sgt. Jaroslav Lančík, (rear gunner) died. Ulrich Helma, Adolf Dolejš, Antonin Plocek and Richard Hapala were buried in a Devizes Road Cemetery, Salisbury.
They were all members of No 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, which at the end of world war 2 was disbanded as an RAF unit and became part of the reformed Czechoslovak Air Force. That day I walked back home, along Devizes Road opened up my laptop and pieced together this story. 4 brave men who escaped the tyranny of hate spreading across their homeland 1000 miles away in what is now known as the Czech Republic. In these turbulent times we live where we can casually dismiss the suffering of others through the flick of a TV remote we can also easily forget the sacrifices of people like Ulrich Helma, Adolf Dolejš, Antonin Plocek and Richard Hapala who laid down their lives for a better Europe and indeed a better world.
The four Handsel sisters were of Danish origin who had moved to Wilton, Wiltshire at the same time of an outbreak of smallpox in 1737 killed 132 people. The local people became convinced that the sisters were responsible for the deaths and accused them of witchcraft and an alliance with the devil. Without an official hearing the sisters were taken to Grovely Wood, murdered by being bludgeoned over the head, and buried a little way apart from each other so that they could not conspire against their murderers. There are four gnarled beech trees associated with the sisters; because either the trees were planted to mark their graves or they mysteriously grew on top of the unmarked graves to remind the locals of their dreadful deed. Sightings of the sisters have been reported over the years. There is a hollow at the back of the largest tree where people leave offerings. Grovely Wood is one of the largest woodlands in southern Wiltshire. It is situated on a chalk ridge above the River Wylye to the south of the village of Great Wishford, within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Irregular Frequencies 