Moving Stories #2 - The Beer

1982, Liz was 7 weeks old, and we were leaving the horrid tiny flat in Gillingham to go up to London. Bob had finished his year as Student Minister and was about to begun full time studies at Spurgeon's College. We were going to live in an OAP housing scheme, where I would be one of the wardens. The pay was pitiful, but a two bedroomed flat within the scheme went with the job.  Liz was not sleeping, and seemed to be breastfeeding non stop. I was exhausted. We knew we couldn't manage the move ourselves this time, so booked a local removals company. It was a hot summer's day.

I sat on the end of the bed, feeding the baby, my back to the room whilst three blokes trekked up and down the stairs carrying boxes out to the lorry [and moaning about the number of boxes of books] I said to Bob - "Can you make them a cup of tea, please?" "I don't think so, love, they are on the balcony having beers with our neighbour"
What! drinking then driving? And how do they know our neighbour?

Bob casually said "Well, it seems they were all inside together a few years back" 

Drinking and driving seemed a minor issue after he said that! Whilst I try to be loving and forgiving, and I do believe that people can change, I have to admit that for the next few hours I was really concerned that all my worldly goods had disappeared up the road with a group of ex-cons. Everything did arrive safely in London, I needn't have worried. The only problem was that I'd labelled every box with a bright tag in red, orange or green - and someone at the other end had labelled the lounge and 2 bedrooms with matching tags. But the men just unloaded boxes into one room, then the next, then the next. It took quite a while to sort it all out! 

That move was when I realised that moving gets more complicated as you acquire more possessions - and children! 

UPDATE Tuesday morning, with help from Jon, we unloaded the van. After a snack lunch, we drove back to Dorset, getting here at 6.30pm. At 7, Jenny and Peter delivered our evening meal, piping hot, ready to eat. Better than deliveroo. Thank you. Today will be a repeat of Monday. 

Moving Stories #1 - The Dish

 

August 1977 - My first teaching post, and I was going to Hemel Hempstead. Still called a "New Town" - and consequently teachers, nurses and other key workers were offered good accommodation at a subsidised rent. I had a neat unfurnished one bedroomed flat, first floor, small balcony, tiny bathroom, smaller kitchen - but all I needed back then. Dad and I had been able to measure up, and he had built me [in his Norfolk garage] a wall unit incorporating cupboards and bookshelves to go in the lounge. Then he dismantled it, to travel "flat-pack" to Hertfordshire. [no one in the UK had heard of IKEA back then] He rented a van from a bloke in Dereham - and we loaded it with all my stuff, the precut bits of wood, my bed and a cheap dining set. 

We arrived early and I set about unpacking whilst Dad screwed the unit together. Jean, from down the road, a member of the local Baptist Church, turned up unexpectedly with home-made soup and sandwiches for us, fruit, cake, and fresh milk for our tea ..she remained a good friend for so many years. 

Then when it was all sorted, Dad took me to the supermarket so I could stock my food cupboard. That was when we discovered it...in a dark corner at the back, on the bottom shelf - a dish of dirty, smelly beef dripping. What to do? I didn't have my own dustbin- rubbish had to be dropped down a central chute into a huge communal wheelie bin below. I wasn't sure if it was wise or safe to put this glass and food waste down there. "Don't worry" said Dad, wrapping it in a bit of newspaper,"I will take it home and deal with it later" He hugged me, and drove back to Norfolk - and completely forgot about the dish.

Two days later, he was having his lunch when Van-bloke turned up at his front door. "Reverend, you left this in my van. My missus washed it up, but she thought you'd want the Pyrex back" And to this day I have that oval Pyrex dish!

Sunday was amazing, but emotional. Monday went fine. My little Toyota and one big van load of stuff got to Norfolk OK. We were both exhausted but slept very well. Today we will unload, and take the van back for load #2. Full details later....

Today's The Day.

 
I doubt I will have much time over the next week to blog. I have moved home so many times in the last 66 years - even in that lovely long spell in the Manse in Kirby Muxloe, we helped the girls move into student accommodation and various subsequent homes - and we were involved in emptying our Dads' homes after they died. I cannot pretend it is ever easy, or stress free- and covid19 adds to the complications - but this week I am going to share anecdotes from previous moves. I may not be allowed to have friends physically with me to help lug the boxes and lift the loads- but at least I know you are laughing with me, and that will be a real encouragement!

And if you are the praying type, please tack us on to the end of your list - we definitely need Divine support as we drive 200 miles to Norfolk [in separate vehicles] We will unload, stay overnight, and then come back again for the other stuff. And we'll keep doing that till everything - including both cars - are at Cornerstones. It's going to be a Long Week...

Our Last Sunday In Ferndown

This is a strange day - my emotions are all over the place.  Thank you so much for all your kind words and birthday greetings, I've been quite overwhelmed by them. So here are the words of a very old hymn - a favourite of my Grandmother. Two of her three sons became Baptist ministers, and she would have rejoiced to know that my husband has been a Pastor for our decades. These words sum up my thoughts today...

In heav’nly love abiding,
No change my heart shall fear;
And safe is such confiding,
For nothing changes here.
The storm may roar without me,
My heart may low be laid,
But God is round about me,
And can I be dismayed?

Wherever He may guide me,
No want shall turn me back;
My Shepherd is beside me,
And nothing can I lack.
His wisdom ever waketh,
His sight is never dim;
He knows the way He taketh,
And I will walk with Him.

Green pastures are before me,
Which yet I have not seen;
Bright skies will soon be o’er me,
Where darkest clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure,
My path to life is free;
My Saviour has my treasure,
And He will walk with me.

I'll Get My Kicks On Route 66!

Nat King Cole sang

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.

Well, I am planning to motor east very shortly, and I shall be going M27,M3,M25,M11...not quite so lyrical. But today, I hit the ripe old age of sixty-six. The next stage of the adventure. I've tried to apply for my Bus Pass, but I need to be in Norfolk before that can be sorted out. 

All tips for freebies/perks/concessions available to women reaching State Pension Age will be gratefully accepted!  Thank you

Remembering

 

It has been a strange day, I woke very early and worked away at the final packing tasks. Listening to the radio as I prepared lunch, I suddenly heard the National Anthem interrupting a programme about Africa. Then turning on my tablet, I realised Blogger hadn't published this morning's post. 

I hadn't expected one of my final tasks here at UCF to be recording a prayer for the Queen to be included in Sunday's YouTube service. 

Whether Royalist or Republican, one cannot deny that to lose a much loved husband after a long and happy marriage is hard. My thoughts and prayers are with the Queen, and with all who mourn. 

Wessex Is Wonderful!

Jane - who lives not far from here, but we have never actually managed to meet 'in person' said that she hoped that during our six years in Dorset we had managed to get out and see the fantastic countryside. Yes, thank you Jane, we have...

I have loved all the National Trust locations - Kingston Lacy, which I first visited in 1987, and I longed to revisit, has been a special place, and just less than 8 miles away. I shall miss the gardens there. We never did make a second trip to Brownsea Island...

The various churches and cathedrals have been amazing - just into Wiltshire, Salisbury is a brilliant city [don't be put off by Russian agents] and always worth a visit 

There are some great Museums too - I loved seeing Dippy Dinosaur in Dorchester! And the Russell Cotes Museum on the Clifftop at Bournemouth [I shall never forget the scuplture of Jael with her tentpeg]

And all those pastoral views which remind me of Hardy Novels, transporting us to the days when Tess, Bathsheba, and others swished their long skirts through the mud of his fictional 'Wessex'

And the rolling hills leading down to the sea - Swanage, built on the fortunes of Portland Stone, Chesil Beach, The Cobb at Lyme Regis, the "chines" in Bournemouth - Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door...

If you have never visited, this is a brilliant county for a holiday - lots of different things to see and do. Like Norfolk, Dorset has no motorways - and similarly it does feel just a little behind the rest of the country sometimes - but it has been a great county to live in. I shall miss it so much [altho I shall miss seeing my friends even more]

One final picture - from our walk on Easter Sunday, through the trees on Poor Common. This fantastic site is just a few hundred yards from The Manse.

We have been so privileged to live here, among good people, in glorious surroundings - the sea to the south, the countryside to the west and north and the sprawling conurbation that is Bournemouth to the east. 

Jane tells me she has family in Norfolk - so maybe, when all these covid restrictions are behind us, we may eventually get to meet up there sometime! 

Captured By The Fuzz

Here's another interesting Art Story to come out of lockdown...Did you ever have Fuzzy Felt as a child [do your children or grandchildren still play with it?] 

Lucy Morrow, an artist from Nottinghamshire, started playing around with an old FF set when she was recovering from surgery.

She began recreating scenes from films and TV shows, and great works of art. Her husband suggested posting online, and things have really taken off.

Her Instagram site is called Captured By The Fuzz, and you can find her animated creations on YouTube too. Here she is recreating George and Zippy from Rainbow

Here's Florence and co at the Magic Roundabout

Maria, extolling the Sound Of Music

Cary Grant avoiding the cropduster with the machine-gun in North By NorthWest

And for the more cultured among you, Van Gogh's Starry Night

What a talented lady - and all with just a box or two of simple felt shapes!

Read the full story, and watch a brief BBC video here. Buy her greetings cards here. Thanks for sharing some much needed smiles, Lucy 

UPDATE.  Bless was unaware of FF, so I checked its history... Fuzzy Felt is a popular British toy, invented by an American woman called Lois Allan. She went to Paris to study art, then married a Brit in the 1920s and moved to the UK. During WW2 they had a business making felt gaskets for tanks, and she saw that the children of the women who worked for them had fun playing with the scraps.  Postwar, Lois developed this into a toy and FF was first marketed in 1950. 

Retired, Re-tyred, Re-fired

As more things are packed, two rooms are stacked with boxes, and other rooms becoming strangely empty. My office-  the little front bedroom, feels bizarre. The single bed went to a local charity months ago. We've sold the desk unit, and moved out the other bits and pieces. For some months I have been using a stacking chair from church, and my lovely Captain's chair has gone to Cornerstones. The rickety metal garden table [which we'd decided to leave behind in the shed] has come inside. So this is my workstation now

I think the dents in the carpet will gradually recover. Bob's office is almost empty now - but he kept the green screen curtain up until all the recording work was finished. 

The last couple of years have seen a few health problems for the pair of us, and we could do with some R&R. 

A couple of people have remarked recently that when we arrived 6 years ago we "hit the ground running" and we haven't stopped since. I'm hoping that as we are retired, we also get re-tyred. I reckon we are both definitely due for a retread! Another friend, Rev Lynne, an Anglican priest, says that she is praying that we will be re-fired with fresh energy and enthusiasm from the Holy Spirit, as God leads us into new areas of service.

Isn't this the most beautiful handmade card? Sent from blogfriend Judi in Canada, it ticks all the right boxes - I love the industrious bee, and the shining golden details. And yes "Celebrate every moment" is a great motto. Thank you Judi, I'll treasure this, and your thoughtful personal greeting inside. It arrived with a proper handwritten letter too - what a treat.

Retired, re-tyred, re-fired, the adventure continues...
 

Start Where You Are

 Use What You Have...Do What You Can...

As I've been reading books with "Libby" over the weekend I have come across this quote, [from the late, great Arthur Ashe] in a surprising number of places. I'm a fast reader, and books with lots of pictures take even less time. But these words have cropped up in books on Minimalism, Sustainability, and Frugality. These are my three favourite non-fiction reading topics at the minute.

On Easter Monday I decided to put things into practice. The day began with Bob discovering the small hole in his pjs had turned into a massive split down the side of the back seam. All other nightwear is packed or already in Norfolk. I got out the machine and made a patch from the pocket. Sorry, Patrick and Esme, I didn't pattern-match! These pjs are so thin that we'd already decided they would be chucked**.  But I used what I had to salvage the situation just for a few days.

I went through the food stocks - and made 2 beef&butterbean bakes [topped with squash&spud mustard mash] plus two apple&date galettes, two pasties, and most of the remaining veg plus lentils produced 3 days worth of soups.  Now I can pack a few more kitchen items [stick blender, potato masher etc]

I know many of the books tell you to 'eat out or live on takeaways' during the week you are moving - but the former is currently impossible, and the latter would not be my choice. Especially since I discovered that I packed all but one pair of chopsticks- and we can hardly share one stick each.

**This past year - and especially the last month, I have been wearing the same clothes - day in, day out. Many are stained, thin, frayed...and I have been mending and darning - but I have consciously decided to "wear them out". They are not good enough to pass on to a charity shop, they're unsuitable for rags, and sadly, most are non compostable. 

Liz made the suggestion that at the end of the pandemic, one should have a "Viking Funeral" - and ceremonially burn all these garments which have come to the end of their lives after much honourable service.  I quite like the idea- but not sure that I want to waste the wood needed for the longboat - or that the council would like such a spectacle happening on Bournemouth Beach!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I shall so miss the generosity of the people here at United Church Ferndown. Early on Saturday, Lasantha drove round picking up bags of groceries from church members to take to Hope For Food  

Here's his car boot being unloaded- and there were more bags on the back seats too. 

Bob and I went down to church midmorning, where Steve and daughter Sharon were working in the kitchen.

Jill, Geoff and Nadia arrived to help pack and bag up dinners - and Bob and I passed them on to the distributors. All very covid safe, [ in one door, out the other] and very efficient. 

Over 40 lunches distributed to people who were on their own - unable to be with families on this holiday weekend. Some had received lunches at Christmas, others were new on the 'Home Alone' list.

Chicken breast, wrapped in bacon, with roast potatoes, cabbage, green beans and carrots- plus gravy. 

Followed by pie and cream. And each of our guests also had an Easter card and a chocolate egg with their delivery.

I am glad that the last 'in person' activity I shall be involved in at the church here is such a practical, loving project. It sums up so much of what the fellowship has been about - caring for other people in a generous and practical way.

We all worked very hard and it was remarkably efficient. The drivers waited patiently, on socially distanced chairs, to collect their insulated bags 

- then took them to the recipients like reliable Deliveroo Drivers! I know that these good people will go on loving and caring long after we've gone.

I love this shot of Bob surveying the tables of dessert boxes! I wonder what he was thinking? 

I hope your Easter weekend was as special as it could be, given the circumstances. I applaud everyone who has made special efforts to help others this past weekend. Thank you!

Be Thankful!

 
Thank you Dave Walker for another brilliant cartoon

Easter Morning Prayer

 

Lord it has been so hard

In the past year we have witnessed suffering and death on a scale few of us have ever known before. We have seen people growing greedy and rich, profiting from this pandemic - whilst others have lost homes, livelihoods, loved ones- and their hopes and dreams have been shattered

We have seen the worst of humanity, and the best

Lies, excuses, selfishness – but also inspiration, encouragement and sacrifice

Despair – and hope

We remember that week two thousand years ago – when the disciples went from hearing joyful hallelujahs, to bitter cries of “Crucify him”, seeing cheering crowds, then watching the one they loved suffering and dying – feeling that everything was being taken away from them, the sky went dark – and they lost all hope.

Lord it was so hard for them too

But then it was Easter Sunday – and everything changed

Your Son rose again – and they knew that they had hope for evermore.

They knew that death was conquered, that sins were forgiven, that Jesus had brought love, and joy and peace beyond all human understanding. In the power of your Spirit, they went back into their world, to start building your kingdom

This Easter morning, give us faith and courage to live in the light of that resurrection, and to go back into our struggling, suffering world, speaking with your words of life and love. forgiveness and hope. Teach us what it means to be Easter people –

Help us to love you as Mary did

Worship you as Thomas did

Serve you as Peter did

And may our hearts burn within us, like the Emmaus disciples, and give us their energy to run back to share the good news with our friends and neighbours – that Jesus is alive, and there is hope.

We pray in the name of our risen Saviour- Amen

Easter Celebration from UCF HERE

Do You Know Libby?

 ...said Bob. And I guessed he wasn't referring to my Kiwi friend in Wanganui, whose husband was at College with Bob, and whose daughter was one week older than Liz. Libby who? I replied, and he explained it is a Library App, enabling you to access online many books from your local library.

If you know all this already, then feel free to go and do something else. But I'm afraid I was slow to find out about this, and this past week I've got rather hooked! 

I am not sure why I've not checked this out before. I knew that Dorset and Norfolk libraries [I'm currently a member of both] had online borrowing facilities, but I had not used them. But with all but three of my books packed [a small Bible, and two books of bedtime stories to read to Rosie] I've really enjoyed discovering Libby. You just install the app, and then you can explore the thousands of books on offer. [over 36K titles - including magazines]

It is free and the site is very easy to navigate. [Watch a tutorial here] There is lots of fiction [sorted by genre] and a huge range of non fiction, including many craft & cookery books. I love flicking through these, to see if there are projects or recipes worth trying - and I've enjoyed doing this over the past few days. The first day, I got through a dozen craft books, skim reading them, looking at the pictures - and returned them within 10 minutes of borrowing. But my tablet keeps a log of them all, so I can always return and re-borrow if I want to [a full loan is for 14 days, then the book 'disappears'] 

During lockdown this is so useful. And at 10pm when I want something to read and 'wind down' with, I appreciate the convenience [although I am still wrestling with the issue of 'late night screen time can affect sleep patterns'] 

The two books I have kept out for Rosie are these. 

Both rather old and tattered. They have mostly words and few pictures, but that's fine. Rosie is very good at closing her eyes and imagining. Bob's not so keen on MMM - so I read those on the evenings when he is happily at Zoom meetings with the Deacons [no more of those in retirement] 

The Play School stories are varied in quality - but there are some gems in there. It was good to read a Michael Rosen tale about a magpie. [Rosie loves Bear Hunt.] We could talk about the fact that MR was ill last year but was better now. 

Do you borrow online library books? 

Are you a Kindle person? 

Or does it have to be a 'proper' book, with paper pages to turn, and a bookmark to keep your place?

And do you know Libby?

He Died That We Might Live

 

Come and see, come and see, come and see the King of love
See the purple robe and crown of thorns he wears
Soldiers mock, rulers sneer, as he lifts the cruel cross
Lone and friendless now he climbs towards the hill

We worship at your feet, where wrath and mercy meet
And a guilty world is washed by love's pure stream
For us he was made sin, Oh, help me take it in
Deep wounds of love cry out 'Father, forgive'
I worship, I worship, the Lamb who was slain.

Come and weep, come and mourn
For your sin that pierced him there
So much deeper than the wounds of thorn and nail
All our pride, all our greed, all our fallenness and shame
And the Lord has laid the punishment on him

Man of heaven, born to earth, to restore us to your heaven
Here we bow in awe beneath your searching eyes
From your tears comes our joy, 
From your death our life shall spring
By your resurrection power we shall rise

[Graham Kendrick 1989]

UCF are joining Latchford Baptist to worship at 10am. Link here - service will be available on YouTube after that

Phletrafritis

definition phletrafritis  - the disease of feeling the urge to combine the names of two articles of clothing to make another one.

Some of these terms have been around quite a while

jeggings - ie jeans + leggings have been around since 2009

and skort - a short skirt with attached briefs underneath [or a brief skirt with attached shorts underneath, take your pick] first appeared in American sportswear catalogues back in 1959

And when respected brands like Slazenger, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer take these terms on board, you feel that they must not be dismissed too quickly.

But honestly, can you see a man admitting that this is a shacket? [shirt + jacket] What are M&S thinking?

And as for coatigan... [you can work that one out yourself!]

If you can't work out when, or how to wear it, White Stuff have a helpful page to explain. Basically you can wear it inside or outside, but you do need one of their brollies if it rains!

Then there's shooties [I kid you not, see here] shoe + booties

If your hands are cold, splash the cash on some J Crew glittens.

I think "they're 'aving a Turkish" **

It's bad enough having Coronavirus, we don't need to suffer Phletrafritis too.***

**allegedly Cockney rhyming slang - Turkish = Turkish Barf = Larf

*** Ok, I admit, I made this word up - just for today, let's fool around.

A Service of Shadows

Since 2011 we have held a Tenebrae service on the evening of Maundy Thursday - a quiet reflection on the events at the end of Holy Week. 
This year, we have recorded it and it will be on YouTube tomorrow. You can share in it here

March Past

It is the last day of March. The year is already one quarter through - we've passed the equinox, and altered the clocks. On Monday I celebrated 13 years of blogging. In the next 12 days Bob and I shall celebrate Easter**, celebrate my 66th birthday, I'll become an Old Age Pensioner, he will conduct his final service at Ferndown on April 11th ...and then on the 12th, the Big Adventure of moving to Cornerstones and entering Retirement. 

It has been a very strange year. I remember vividly our journey back to Dorset after our Christmas trip to Norfolk at the end of 2019. Bob was driving and I was taking notes of our conversation. As we understood it then, preparation for retirement had four strands - 

1. seriously downsizing the contents of the Manse. Selling stuff, giving it away, recycling it.
2. working out what needs to happen at Cornerstones [eg new garage, new handbasin, patio door replacement, paint the lounge etc]
3. helping to equip UCF to operate without a minister in the gap till the next one comes - handing over jobs, leaving necessary information, and generally encourage the fellowship to continue doing all the good stuff in the church and the community.
4. plus planning in a three week stay in Manchester with Steph after the baby arrived, when Gary returned to work after his paternity leave.

How easily our plans can be thrown into the air - I went to Manchester in early March for Steph's Baby Shower. It was so good to see her, and her lovely MIL Andrea. And I came back on the [almost empty] train- which was very late into Euston. My original plan had been to walk to Waterloo - but timings meant I caught the tube instead - which was jam packed with commuters. And then there was my dry cough, and the anosmia, and the self-isolation- and Bob got ill...[I didn't say here just how ill he was]...but we recovered 

And all the plans were abandoned.

Church life shifted to Zoom and WhatsApp - no more services in the building, meetings in the Church Hall, or homegroups and pastoral visits in people's houses. Bob's study became a recording studio - and instead of play costumes I was making headbands to hold facemasks, and pyjamas for the teddybears. For the first time in forever, I wasn't planning Holiday Club Crafts.

George arrived and we met him online. It was all a bit emotional. #4 on our list had been abandoned. We finally got to Manchester in June, and sat in the garden with our new grandson. Then on to Norfolk to find a leaky boiler, and Rosie unsettled, missing Nursery, and no real contact with anyone other than her Mum and Dad. I spent the summer 'in a bubble' at Cornerstones, teaching Rosie, and enabling her parents to get their work done.

Item #1 on the retirement list was sorely neglected, and #2 was impossible. #3 was the only thing that really did get sorted- but in such a different way. Training people in preparing YouTube services, organising PA gear and cameras for future Livestream events. Setting up WhatsApp groups and PhoneBuddy teams. In 40 years, I have never been conscious of Bob working so hard, learning new skills in record time, under such strange and stressed conditions.

One year on and Steph's back at work, George is settling in well at Nursery, Rosie is loving school, and I thank the Lord that the family are thriving. What an unexpected twelve months...but we have got through it! 

Everyone has a different story to tell - so sad, some happy. We must not forget the lessons we have learned about kindness and caring, giving and sharing - I hope that now the evenings are lighter, and rules are gradually being relaxed, we can all work towards a brighter, safer, healthier year ahead.

**three special UCF services this weekend - look out for details.

Works Of Heart

The French artist Degas said "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see". The artists have certainly been busy down in this neck of the woods during the past year. Here are three 'local' pieces which have been in the news in recent days. I say 'local' - because prior to the pandemic, their locations were all close enough to visit on a Day Off. No such jaunts at the minute, but here they are anyway.

The nearest piece is at Christchurch Priory. This building dates back 900 years - and like many such buildings, has an extensive, ongoing conservation programme. Back in February 2020 a competition was announced to design some new replacement "gargoyles and grotesques" The Priory already has a number of contemporary carvings [check out Darren Bonner's pictures here]

I think it is wonderful that one of the new gargoyles represents an NHS worker in PPE. How fitting that up there among the carved saints and angels there is a 21st Century angel!

Until recently, we had an NHS angel living next door- a midwife at Southampton General Hospital. She came home very excitedly last May and told us that there was a new Banksy Mural in the corridor. It is entitled "Game Changer"

The robot and Batman toys are in the wpb, and the child's caped superheroine of choice is a nurse. He painted it as a thankyou to the staff during the first wave of the crisis. Last week, it sold for a record £16.8 million - and the money will go to health charities!

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - and a number of 'Banksy Style' paintings have been appearing up and down the country of late.

Here is Dorset, om the Isle of Portland, we have artists who are twins - Lulu and Soph, who work under the name Hendog. Lulu's son is Hen[ry] and Soph has a puppy called Dog. 

Do check out their website here for quirky gifts and cards. Hendog has produced a "Banksy-style" piece for the wall of the Winchester Community Food Pantry - a young child holding a sandwich. They left a box of groceries 'with love' below the painting.

This is their second piece in Winchester- the last was a child with a rainbow kite

Do you have any covid inspired artworks near you? And how would you feel if Banksy came and painted something on your wall?

And was Degas right? Does art help us to see the world differently? 

A Self-Satisfied Pork Butcher?

So what did  William Shakespeare really look like? Most people if asked would talk about high forehead, receding hairline, thin moustache, trimmed beard

Yes, like this. This is the famous engraving which appeared in the frontispiece of the First Folio, and was done by Flemish engraver Martin Droeshout. This was published in 1623, seven years after the artist's death.

Or maybe you know this painting - known as the "Chandos portrait" Painted between 1600 and 1610, many believe this was the basis for the Droeshout engraving. [It was owned by the Chandos family for 130 years] Nothing was written about it till 1719 - a century after the Bard's death. 

This painting is Number One in the National Gallery Collection - donated by Francis Egerton, 1st Earl of Edgemere, who founded this wonderful gallery.

There's also the Cobbe portrait, but that's not given much credence nowadays. Sir Roy Strong, historian, said that any suggestion it was WS was "codswallop"

But there is one more depiction of Shakespeare, which is not a two-dimensional piece- it is this effigy of Shakespeare in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford Upon Avon.

This was installed over his grave, several years after his death, and always believed to have been a posthumous memorial, not an actual likeness. 20th century critic John Dover Wilson  declared this effigy to look like "a self satisfied pork butcher" [the more I read of JDW, the less I warm to him]

And now- in 2021 - over four hundred years after Will shuffled off his mortal coil, Prof Lena Cowen Orlin [Georgetown University USA] has revealed some fascinating research. Orlin says that in the 17th century, a sculptor called Gerard Johnson was responsible for the limestone bust - but she maintains Gerard mainly created pieces for gardens- his brother, Nicholas was a tomb-maker. It is known that Nicholas produced another effigy in Stratford- for John Combe, who died in 1615 and was a friend of Shakespeare. Nicholas had a workshop in London, close to the Globe, so would have seen Shakespeare. He also travelled with his sculptures to see them installed- so he would have been in Stratford at the right time.

She believes that Shakespeare commissioned this effigy himself [this was a common thing to do] and that the painted inscription was written before his death - leaving space for a date to be added later. It's all very interesting - I guess we will never actually know.

I like to think that maybe he looked something like this. [those Coren-Mitchells are very witty, and they certainly have a way with words]