The Village Of Ghosts

Imber Church.

Saturday afternoon and it is raining again, but quite warm. I just went outside to feed the birds and they had not eaten what I gave them yesterday, which was peanuts. I could not get suet pellets yesterday which they like. Bugger! If they don’t eat the peanuts, I’ll eat them myself.

When I got up this morning and was sitting in the kitchen, I could hear the sound of mortar bombs and artillery exploding in the distance. I am not joking, because on the outskirts of Westbury behind the White Horse is Salisbury Plain where there is a huge army firing range, so you can often hear shelling going on. There is a ghost village quite near here called Imber. During World War 11 all the villagers were told to evacuate the village at short notice, and they left, never to return to their homes. The village is now used for the army to practice house to house fighting and that sort of thing. The church of St Giles is still there, and generations of families are buried in the churchyard. Once or twice a year services are held in Imber church. The Ministry Of Defence still owns vast tracts of land on the plain which was acquired during the war and kept ever since. Although it is quite sad about what has happened, one bonus is that the land has become a wildlife sanctuary and some rare birds such as the Bustard have returned. There are lots of deer as well, which is where the deer who get into Westbury cemetery and eat the flowers probably originated from.

Talking about noise, when I went to the front door to pick up my post, I could hear two lorry drivers arguing outside, “Why don’t you look where you are going, you f+++++g dickhead”, and this sort of thing. I thought it was quite funny. You hear it all when you live on a main road..... The sound of Car Wheels On A Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams is filling my kitchen now. I haven’t played it for ages. What a great album it is. Nearly every song is a classic, Drunken Angel, Concrete And Barbed Wire, Lake Charles, Greenville and lots of others. If you like a country rock ballad sound, then I am sure you would love this album. 

My team Peterborough United aka The Posh are playing today. It is 0-0 at half time. I will let you know the result. If they win, I might treat myself to a drink tonight.

Me & Posh.

Addendum: Posh won 3-0 !!!!!!!!!! 2nd in the table now !

 

The Road Less Traveled

My Yucca.

After the sunshine of yesterday afternoon, we are back to dark skies again today. I am not complaining because at least it is warm for February. I had to take a walk to Morrison’s for provisions and although it was raining, I quite liked the rain and the wind on my face which felt quite refreshing. They had Yucca plants for sale £5.00, so I bought one. It will look nice in my kitchen window and I will enjoy the company. 

I am still reading my The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle, but a little at a time. I read a couple of pages and mull it over to understand it, and to put it into practice because unless you try and live it, there is no point reading it. As well as the book I have been watching a lot of Eckhart Tolle video talks on YouTube. Although he is often saying things that Krishnamurti said decades ago, it seems to me that he says it in a simpler way that people can understand. He is also quite a humorous teacher which I like about him as well.

Gwyneth Paltrow & Eckhart Tolle.

Last night he mentioned a book called The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. Specifically, the opening words of that book, which are, "Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult - once we truly understand and accept it - then life is no longer difficult'. ....That struck me as a great piece of wisdom and remarkably simple. Life is basically a set of problems that need to be solved, one by one, and there is no point moaning about it and saying, “Oh no, why is life so difficult? it’s not fair”. Life is tricky and you just have to get on with it. Once you accept that, then you are happier. I do not think I need to buy The Road Less Traveled, but I started reading about the author today and his theories about love, discipline, neurotic and legitimate suffering, evil and communities. I will not go into all that now, maybe another day, but reading about what he thought evil was, he mentioned malignant narcissists which immediately made me think of certain politicians who I will not name. .....That will do for today, I have problems to solve one by one, starting with doing the washing up. See you tomorrow.

 

My Magical Transistor Radio

It was the 1960's. The Beatles were just bursting on the scene, everybody else was either a Beatles or a Stones fan, but I held back because I knew that rock n roll began in the USA, not in Butlins. We always went to Hunstanton, Skegness or Cromer in the summer holidays. The summer of 64 I used to hang out in an amusement arcade to listen to the music on the jukebox and to play on the machines. There was a penny cascade which paid out 2p for Gregory Peck, 3p for Jane Russell, 4p for Ava Gardner and 6p for Marilyn Monroe. When the attendant wasn't looking I would nudge the machine and the money would fall down, then I would put the money in the jukebox. One day I was in there and a song came on the jukebox. 'Round round, get around, I get around,' I stopped dead in my tracks, this was the sound I had been looking for, it was the sound of America, it held the promise of sunshine, sea, girls, cars and excitement. It was The Beach Boys. I had found the soundtrack for my teenage life. 

BBC radio was rubbish in those days but the new pirate station Radio Caroline began in 1964, I was determined to hear the new music. In Curry's window in Bridge Street I saw a transistor radio for sale, it looked so elegant in its brown leather case, shoulder strap and a little case for its earpiece, it was £4/19/11p. I paid 2/6 deposit and it was mine. I paid it off at two bob a week from my paper round. We went for a walk down by the river every Sunday afternoon. I can see it clearly in my minds eye, the weeping willow trees and Ted Hammond hiring out his rowing boats and I would take along my radio and listen to Pick Of The Pops with Alan Freeman. That was when the new weeks chart was announced. 

The real joy was getting into bed and getting my earpiece in and listening to the sounds that floated in through the ether from the pirate radio stations. I don't think I have experienced such enjoyment in listening to music as I did listening to that magical transistor radio. We had no record player in the house until 1966, so this was my only contact with the pop music, apart from Top Of The Pops on Thursday which was a must. Roger Twiggy Day had a Beach Buddies spot on Caroline which I always listened to and sent in a request for Surfin' USA but he didn't play it . I followed the Beach Boys career closely though California Girls, Help Me Rhonda, Little Girl I Once Knew, until we got to the year of 1966. The Beach Boys finally broke through in a big way in Britain with four hit singles in a row, Barbara Ann, Sloop John B, God Only Knows, and Good Vibrations. We finally got a record player and I bought Good Vibrations. Now we had a record player there was no stopping me, I was on the hunt for sounds. At the top of Lincoln Road in Peterborough was a second-hand record shop called Cranes. I used to spend hours in there gold-mining, sifting through the entire stock until I had whittled it down to my decision. Then give Mr Crane my 2/6p for my one record. I managed to get all the Beach Boys old singles this way and if I couldn't get them it would be another American band, Lovin' Spoonful, Four Seasons, Sam the Sham, Young Rascals, anything as long as it was American. Sometimes I would find a real rarity such as Little Honda by The Hondells. Then I had really hit paydirt. Tesco's also used to sell ex jukebox records, they were 3/11 they didn't have any middles because they had been in jukeboxes so you had to buy an adapter to put in the record so you could play them. I bet the kids of today with hoods on their heads listening to rap on their I-pods don't get half as much fun out of music as we did in those faraway days of the 60's when music was young and exciting.

Word Of Mouth by Vin Garbutt

I ordered an album by Vin Garbutt at the same time as ordering Jackie Leven. I was reminded of the pair of them when I was out on one of my walks. I thought it was high time I got acquainted with Vin’s music because I met him at the Village Pump festival a few years ago, but I did not actually see him perform. Vin had finished his set when I met him and asked him for a photo. He seemed a very friendly person, and I think he was amused at the slogan on my t-shirt which said, F**k Google, Ask Me!. As with Jackie, I did not know which album to get. In the end I opted for one called Word Of Mouth from 1999. I had heard that Vin was a very funny guy when he performed live with lots of humorous anecdotes between the songs. Therefore, I was expecting quite a light-hearted collection of songs. I found out different though. Apart from one instrumental set of tunes and one funny observational song, the songs on this album are mainly powerful political songs which show a huge social conscience.

Vin & Me

Vin came from Middlesborough and sings with a strong northern accent. Some people, especially from outside Britain might find some words quite difficult to understand. Luckily, I got used to his accent quite quickly. The first song is called City Of Angels. It is set in Thailand where the name of the Capital city Bangkok means ‘City of Angels’. It tells the sad story of a girl called Anchali who is forced into prostitution in order to support her family. Forty Thieves is another protest against injustice, namely fishermen being swindled out of a fair price for their catch. It was written by Dave Evardson who comes from Grimsby, so knows what he is talking about. While listening to this song a TV series set in the north called When The Boat Comes In came to mind. I think that is because of Vin’s accent. Dark Side Of The Moon is nothing to do with Pink Floyd. It is a powerful anti-war song. The war in question is the Falklands conflict. John You Have Gone is a very sad song which Vin wrote about a friend of his who died in tragic circumstances.

Wilf Mannion

The sombre mood is lifted then with three instrumental tunes Wilf Mannion’s Jig / The Wild Irishman / Jamie’s Christening. It shows Vin is a great whistle player. Football fans will know that Wilf Mannion was a legendary player. Sarajevo is next and was written by Stan Graham at the height of the war in Bosnia. The Truth Is Irresistible is a humorous song, but also has a message about preserving the things in our heritage that are important. Waits And Weeps is a song about the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster in the North Sea in 1988 in which 168 workers died.

Vin’s mother was Irish and there is quite an Irish feel to this album. I wonder if she came from Kilorglin, County Kerry because Beyond The Pale is the story of someone who leaves that town and goes to England in search of fame and fortune and ends up regretting it. The area around Dublin used to be known as The English Pale and so the rest of Ireland was ‘beyond the pale’. The Beggar’s Bridge is an historic tale set in the reign of good Queen Bess. Tom Ferris goes off to sea after lovely Agnes’s father calls him a beggar. He returns rich and builds Beggar’s Bridge which is still standing today, marries fair Agnes and becomes Lord Mayor of Hull. Time And Tide was written by Beth Lyall & John Crookes and tells the story of the building of The Richmond which was the last big ship to be built at Swan Hunters famous shipyard on the River Tyne.

Beggar's Bridge, Glaisdale.

In my opinion Vin has saved the best until last because my favourite song here is called The Troubles Of Erin. Vin wrote it when the IRA ceasefire was announced in 1994 and there was hope for peace. In the song Vin chronicles the troubles from 1969 and it is a passionate plea for a peaceful future for Ireland. Let us hope it continues. I wish I had seen Vin Garbutt perform live, but sadly he died in 2017. To me he is a political folk singer in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joe Hill, Victor Jara and many more. I hope his legend will grow by word of mouth, his music live on and hopefully be enjoyed by future generations of folk music fans.

Duke Special - Orangefield - Amsterdam