durham_rambler | Reading

Today is the hundredth birthday of David Attenborough. I have no particular opinions about this, beyond a general "that's nice." Or at least, that was my initial reaction, the first time the BBC mentioned it. But they are making such a fuss about it, I'm becoming quite irritable. I have nothing against the man, but his birth is not the only thing that happened in the spring of 1926.

Why yes, I am thinking of the General Strike. I have been surprised at the general absence of comment on its centenary: it was quite a big deal at the time, you know.

There are some commemoative events going on, but you have to look for them: and while I was doing that, I found a couple of links which I will stash here to come back to when I have time, one from Hansard in February 1926, and one from Beamish Museum.

And one other (because I haven't forgotten that I have a post pending): on Good Friday, 2nd April 1926, The Portmeirion Hotel opened to guests.

shewhomust

Have I written before about the guilty pleasure of obituaries? I don't want to treat anyone's death as a good thing, but sometimes an obituary for someone I had never heard of makes me less sad that they have died, more glad to know that they lived in the first place.

Last Saturday's Guardian carried an obituary for sculptor Lloyd le Blanc (Why the delay between online and print, I don't know. It's just one of the Guardian's little foibles.). I admit, it was the giant bronze artichokes that caught my eye (another reason to dream of visiting Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons), but I also admired Le Blanc's career path: with a fine arts degree from Yale, followed by a stint as a welder on North Sea oil rigs, what else would you do but set up a foundry?

More pictures on the Le Blanc Fine Art website.

My newspaper of choice lets me down when I try to quote the counter-example of Nicole Hollander: I am a long-time admirer (my 1991 diary was 'The Sylvia book of days') and I was sorry to hear of her death. But it's possible, I suppose, that someone may read this who has not already encountered Sylvia, in which case the information might be a source of happiness. Since the Guardian is silent on the topic, here's The Chicago Sun-Times. And - not an obituary, but a reference work - Lambiek Comiclopedia is generous with examples of her work.

shewhomust

We spent the afternoon at a lecture jointly organised by the City of Durham Trust and the World Heritage Site. The speaker was Colleen Batey, currently World Heritage Site Honorary Professor: a new post, and one which sounds as if it will give her scope to do all sorts of interesting things.

The original plan was for the session to be divided between two speakers: but then Jane Lovell looked at the Bank Holiday rail timetable, and realised that it couldn't be done, so instead we had a single talk with a dual focus. Colleen Batey's revised title was Interpretation through storytelling: case studies from Orkney and St Kilda. I'm not convinced that these two cases cast much light on each other. The Orcadian example looked at the interpretation of the Earl's Bu at Orphir, as described in the Orkneyinga Saga, and camre to the conclusion that the Saga gave an accurate description, but that subsequent interpretation had settled on the wrong building as the drinking hall. At St Kilda, the question seems to be, who gets to tell the story? But if you'd announced a talk on "Some digs I have worked on in Orkney and St Kilda (with pictures) I'd still have been there...

Most tantalising prospect: the possibility of a projct to research the mason's marks of Durham Cathedral and compare them to those found in St. Magnus' (which I think must refer to this project, and see whether the same masons really did work on both...

nineweaving

... down falls the lark O. A beautiful May morning by the river, a little chill before the dawn, but after glorious, all budding and abloom. I can't remember if I was at the first gathering over fifty years ago, but I don't think I've missed one since 1979. There were some terrific young new Morris sides this year--I don't believe I've ever seen a cellist dance with her cello before--as well as the beloved old stagers, the maypole and the singing. The hobby horses were enchanting. Along with our venerable qilin, there were a griffin, an owl, and a luna moth.