CITY OF RETIRED TEACHERS ISSUE NO 92 February NEWSLETTER 2019

Main Items in This Issue

2. In Our Thoughts 7. Science Fiction - Biddy Robinson versus Science Fact & Ann Salt - Val Holmes

3. Catherine Crompton 9. Derby’s Neglected - Rick Horth Composer - Bill Grange 5. Derby Churches Quiz - Bill Grange

6, Blood Brothers - Ann Salt and Bill Grange The Newsletter is edited and designed by Bill Grange

For future issues send material to Visit our website: him at : www.codretts.co.uk 19 Elm Grove, Allestree, Derby Compiled by Bert Mason DE22 2HB 01332 551403 …Where a version of this news- [email protected] letter in can be viewed.

CONTACTS

Chairman: Mr. R. Horth (01332 551624 Vice Chairman: Secretary: Mrs. B R Ward (01332) 550383 Treasurer: Mr. F. P. Wilson (01332) 771658 TBF Representative: Mrs. J McGarry (01773) 607206 2 Newsletter February 2019 In Our Thoughts

Since the last Newsletter, we are sad to report that two of our members have passed away. Marie Garner was an active committee mem- ber who joined in many of our outings and Activities with her husband Ken. We sent our deepest sympathy to Ken and the family.

Joyce Morgan was also an active member of our group and will be missed. We sent our condolences to Arthur, her husband.

Chris. Jowitt, a committee member, has been ill for some time and is now in a home for respite care. In cases of bereavement or illness Contact Biddy on 01773-823954 There have been a few instances of hospital or Ann on 01332-513412 visits for other members for various ailments. It seems eyes, hips and knees have needed some repair!! All are now recovering well. Newsletter: I hope everyone enjoyed Christmas and ap- Important Notice preciated the comparatively mild weather. Have a happy and healthy 2019. This will be the last Newsletter to be sent out on the current distribution list. Biddy Robinson and Ann Salt The next Newsletter will be sent to Coffee Mornings: those who have paid their 2019 sub- Important Notice scription. As we have had problems with the We explained the background and need bookings for coffee mornings at the for this change in the last two Newslet- Evergreen Hall, Allestree, we have had ters. to change the venue for the meetings on Tuesday 11th June and Tuesday 12th If you would like to continue to receive November 2019. the Newsletter and have not already done so, please send your subscription We have been lucky to be able to book (currently £8) to our treasurer Frank Mickleover Golf Club, where we had Wilson or contact any committee mem- this year’s Twelfth Nigh Lunch. The ber who will be happy to help you with February, April and September coffee this. mornings will still be at the Evergreen Hall. Rick Horth, Chairman Barbara Ward Newsletter February 2019 3 Catherine Crompton ture, particularly drains and sewers which A Riddle wrapped in a to this day often carry their name on the grids and manhole covers. mystery inside an enigma By Rick Horth Many questions arise as to how Catherine and George ever came to meet and marry. If you have a reputation for an interest in Stephen, our speaker, gradually unfolded local history, then sometimes unlikely the mystery and supplied likely answers to treasures come your way. Such was the the conundrums. Catherine was born in provenance of an old diary Nottinghamshire yet they passed to our November, married in Chelsea in 1865. 2018, coffee morning They had eleven children speaker, Stephen Flinders. although four died in infan- cy. Their first child was The diary had been kept by born two years before their Catherine Crompton and wedding. Such an anomaly contained fairly clipped en- would not cause comment tries about events in her now but in Victorian high life. You might reasonably society was far less accept- have passed over it as being ed. Their second child was of no importance or inter- born fifteen weeks after est but in doing so you their wedding. would miss a story about a very important local family The mystery continues to and the social fabric of Vic- grow as the 1871 census torian society in which they in Chesterfield records lived. George Compton as un- Stephen Flinders married. Was this an error Who was she? by Frank Wilson or was this a reflection of Well she was married to keeping two worlds apart in George Crompton who was a leading Chelsea and Chesterfield? light in the Crompton Evans Bank which eventually became part of the Royal Bank The census of 1861 in Chelsea provides of Scotland. It’s head office was in Ches- another element to the puzzle for it re- terfield. The story grows when you learn cords as member of George’s household that they owned amongst other enterpris- a Catherine Mee, which was Catherine’s es , the Stanton Ironworks and as that maiden name. organisation grew and prospered under the paternalistic influence of the propri- So the possible answers begin to emerge. etors, they built houses for their workers at Hallam Fields. The company’s success They moved from London to Stanton can be linked to the growth in infrastruc- Hall in 1883. 4 Newsletter February 2019 George died as a successful banker and to learn of the work Stephen had done on paternal industrialist in 1897 and is buried their ancestors and in return showed him in the family plot in Stanton. Catherine some their family photographs including died twenty-two years later in 1919 to be one of George and Catherine in formal buried there also. family pose.

Just to keep us in our state of intrigued They might seem very ordinary but what surprise, Stephen told of us of a recent an intriguing story delivered in an en- contact from a descendent of the Cromp- thralling and lively manner by Stephen. ton’s from Canada. They were interested

Some Explain the word ‘autocracy.’ more A country that has lots of Exam cars. Bloopers Explain what is meant by the word ‘dictator’. Someone who reads out loud.

Name Labour’s first cabinet minister. What was the biggest threat to peace in Mr. Chippendale. the 1980s? Heavy metal. Because it Name Britain’s highest award for was very loud. bravery. Probably Nelson’s column. What was Sir Walter Raleigh famous for? Summarise the major events of the He is a noted figure in his- Cold War. tory because he invented It started by someone cigarettes and started a throwing an ice cream and craze for bicycles. then someone threw a lolly back. Name two of the classes which existed in the medieval period. Why was the Berlin Wall built? History class and Geogra- Germany was competing phy class. with China. Newsletter February 2019 5 Derby Churches Quiz. CastleHere is aHoward selection of churches situated within the City or just outside it. How many can you name? The answers are on back page. Compiled Bill Grange

1 3 2

5 6 4

9

8

7 10 6 Newsletter February 2019 Blood Brothers as part of the coursework on the play, as By Ann Salt a set text. We felt they may spoil our enjoyment but in actual fact their behav- iour was exemplary. We salute them and A party of CODRTs members visited the the teachers of Stoke! Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent on 14th October, 2018 to see a production of the By Bill Grange the captivating and moving story, written by Willy Russell, of twins who, separated at birth, grow up in totally different home As with Ann, Diana and I had seen a circumstances. At first, the two families production of Blood Brothers before but live close together in Liverpool, to the this was several years ago in the West chagrin of the wealthier family. Later, End of London. However, that perform- when the more successful family move to ance was much inferior to the one we a place in the countryside to escape the enjoyed in Stoke. situation an unfortunate set of circum- stances cause the poorer family to move I have to admit that the dramatic ending there too, setting in train a path no-one and the wonderfully powerful singing of could have foreseen. the female lead, Linzi Hateley, brought me to tears! I had already seen a production of this show at the Assembly Rooms in Derby At the end, all of the audience rose en- and found it dark and depressing. The thusiastically to their feet. Later on, when Stoke production however was dynamic perusing the internet, I found that and emotionally charged. It was gripping ‘Blood Brothers’ is widely known as the from beginning to end with both the ‘standing ovation musical’. I don’t re- acting and the singing. The audience were member the London production eliciting swept along to its devastating ending one but the performance at the Regent which was a shock certainly did deserve it! even though everyone knew in their heart of hearts that it was the only possible conclu- sion. It was the kind of show that lived with you long after- wards.

The audience was made up of a goodly proportion of school students, obviously there for information Newsletter February 2019 7 Science Fiction versus Now, some three years later, she has some Science Fact fifty published stories. by Val Holmes Derby, she said, was a perfect location for her genetic teaching role having so many Lured by this intriguing title, some 56 associations with distinguished scientists, retired teachers and friends gathered for including Erasmus Darwin, the grandfa- our annual Twelfth Night Lunch at the ther of Charles. Mickleover Golf Club. Referring to her writ- ing career, she said she After an excellent had prided herself on meal, we settled down never having seen any to listen to Dr. Catrin of the Star Wars films. Rutland, a professor Then some three years based in Nottingham ago she watched one but also now working of the series, was won at Derby University. over, and has now She has two roles: as seen most of them. an Associate Profes- They give rise to many sor at Nottingham questions such as who University teaching was Luke Skywalker, anatomy and genetics for instance? This led and as a published on to the matter of writer of horror sci- DNA. Since the l980s ence fiction with such DNA tests have re- intriguing titles as: vealed many answers. Mother’s Revenge, Dr. Caitrin Rutland Blood tests now re- Vital Entrapment - by Frank Wilson veal genetics leading Incarceration, Simple to such questions Things, Nightworlds and Unintended as....who am I? Viking or Alien? She said Consequences. that many people in the Midlands show they have Viking ancestry, not surprising She researches on and teaches mainly since our area was a Viking settlement. about heart diseases but also lameness in horses and cows. Dr. Rutland recounted On another subject, Dr. Rutland said that how, one boiling hot summer day, she cloning is more talked about now and is decided to write a short story and this becoming a reality. No-one has yet cloned became the beginning of her writing ca- a human but if we can start to do so it will reer, her science fiction based mainly have identical DNA to the original. Iden- around genetics. On the advice of a friend tical twins have the same DNA which can she submitted her story to a publisher, make criminal investigations difficult. who accepted it, and asked for more. This means that DNA can incriminate 8 Newsletter February 2019 you or get you off! In the USA, many on Well, she said, it is already starting to death row have been acquitted as world- happen. wide DNA samples have proved their innocence. She quoted from the book of Deuterono- my where it is written: ‘Do something Dr. Rutland said we are now starting to wrong and it will be visited on the third grow organs in laboratories for use in and fourth generation’....and this is now medicine, another way that science fiction becoming a fact in experiments with mice. is becoming science fact. Referring to Another example of science fiction be- cloning she said that sea anemones clone coming fact. themselves, an example that this does happen in nature. In l952 the first animals Of interest is that the majority working were artificially cloned: then carp, mice genetics are men...and science fiction sto- and, of course, Dolly the Sheep (also from ry writers are also mainly men but changes the Midlands). Now monkeys, bison, cats are happening in both areas as more and water buffalo are being cloned. So, women enter these fields. the question arises, can we now clone Finally, it is of further interest, as you eat dinosaurs? This, said Dr. Rutland, is your breakfast banana, to know that you seemingly becoming more of a reality. as a human share 60% of its DNA... Someone had offered $55,000 to have her beloved cat cloned but, said Dr Rutland, she wouldn’t be the same as the original cat...she would not act the same or look the same, but cloning is becoming a com- mercial reality. So, how long before we clone humans, so we have a deceased child or a parent back?

She mentioned Margaret Atwood’s books that say a lot about fertility: in her book Onyx and Crake she writes about cloning babies - but this is now happening, a popular theme in some of her fiction. In Iceland every baby has its DNA taken at birth and it is now obligatory in South Korea. Government and Insurance Com- panies can use this information but it can be misused so we have to be careful. A DNA database can be a good thing but details can be sold on to interested parties. Gene therapy has been used on lame horses...can it also be used on humans? Newsletter February 2019 9 Derby’s Neglected He is famous for such gems as the Dam- buster’s March, the Knight’sbridge March and Composer By a Sleepy Lagoon, used as the intro to By Bill Grange Desert Island Disks.

I am an enthusiast for ‘classical music’, The other composer was Ronald Binge. ranging from Bach, through Beethoven to Elgar and some present-day compos- Ronald Binge was born in Derby, though ers, though not those who produce rath- I wonder if many people, even those who er strident and tuneless stuff! I am also know of his music, would be aware of drawn to what is referred to as ‘light this. He saw the light of day in a modest music’, a genre of highly melodic orches- semi-detached house in Wiltshire Road, tral music which strad- Chaddesden on the 15th dles the divide (which I July, 1910. As a child he don’t recognise) be- sang in the choir at St. tween classical and Andrew’s Church, Lon- popular, and upon don Road, the ‘railway- which the musical man’s church’, typically snobs look down upon. (for Derby), demol- Yes, it is often rather ished in 1971. sentimental - but I am paid-up member of the Later on, he became a sentimentalist’s club! cinema organist (those were the days of ‘silent Such music was regular- cinema’) and then a ly played on the radio member of summer or- (or ‘wireless’) during chestras in various sea- the 40s and 50s, espe- side resorts, being cially on the BBC Ronald Binge particularly proficient ‘Light Programme’, on the accordi- when I was growing on. up, so it has nostalgic appeal, too. Sadly, is seldomly broadcast nowa- He graduated to an organist in Mantova- days, especially on local radio, which ni’s first band, the Typica Orchestra. seems almost wholly biased towards ‘pop During the Second World War he served music’, ignoring the tastes of many of the in the Royal Air Force, as a trainer, when mature members of its audience. he was in great demand as an organiser of camp entertainments. At the end of the In our area of the country, two composer war, offered Binge the job of giants of light music were born. One was arranging and composing for his new Eric Coates, from the former mining orchestra. His ‘cascading strings’ sound town of Hucknall over in Nottingham- for this orchestra, devised by Binge, has shire (and very near to where I grew up). 10 Newsletter February 2019 become famous, especially in his piece Some Definitions From The Ux- Charmaine. He then went on to concen- bridge English Dictionary trate on composing original works and As heard (with adaptations) on ‘I’m film scores, as well as a huge output for Sorry I haven’t a Clue’, BBC Radio 4 radio, television and stock music libraries. = Probably his best-known composition = now (to insomniacs, anyway) is Sailing By, = used everyday on BBC Radio 4 to intro- = duce the late-night shipping forecasts. Elizabethan Serenade (not Binge’s original title) was regularly played on the ‘wireless’ = in days gone by and was greatly popular. My favourite work of his is The Watermill, = a beautiful gently atmospheric piece, a perfect antidote to the stresses of contem- = porary life. = By all accounts, Binge himself was well- liked, with a cheerful personality, as re- flected in his music. He was particularly = known for the attention he paid to the welfare of the musicians who worked for = him. He died of cancer in 1979 in Ring- = wood, Hampshire, where he lived in a = large house, a far cry from that in Chad- desden. He obviously profited very well, = financially, from his work, as opposed to = many other composers, some of whom did actually die in garrets. = Sadly, Derby has not, in my opinion, suf- Spanish rowing crew ficiently honoured Ronald Binge. There is = a blue plaque on the wall of his former Chaddesden home and there is a brass = plaque inside the Assembly Rooms, not now visible, of course while this venue = remains closed. I think he deserves much more, such as a local annual music festival in his name and, possibly, a statue. And what about Radio Derby playing some of his pieces? = Newsletter February 2019 11 Forthcoming…

Wed. 8th May Visit to Llangollen, including a trip on the canal - over the famous Please contact the Treasurer, Pontcysllte Aqueduct. Frank Wilson, to express interest in one or both: 19th June: Summer outing to Anglesey Abbey (National Trust), Mr. F. Wilson, 15 Willson Road Cambridgeshire. Littleover DERBY DE23 1BY (01332) 771658 The famous gardens, have classical statuary, topiary and flowerbeds. The house has a valuable collection of furniture, pictures and objets d'art.

Getting Older Consider this: Today you are oldest you have ever been, yet the youngest you’ll ever be, so enjoy every day while it lasts, even with these impediments to getting older: Newsletter February 2019

The Cover Photo… on 21st February. This also gave it the name of 'spring messenger'. Other local Is of Lesser Celandine is a member of names include bright-eye, butter and the buttercup family and not related to cheese, frog's foot, golden guineas and the less common Greater pilewort, as the plant Celandine, which is a was used to treat haem- member of the poppy orrhoids. This was family. It is found at based on the ‘doctrine woodland edges, road- of signatures’, because side verges and in some its knobbly tubers were gardens. thought to resemble Lesser Celandine is one piles! of the first wild flowers Wordsworth's favourite to appear in the spring, wild flower wasn't the around the same time as Tubers of Lesser Celandine daffodil - it was lesser that other herald of celandine. He wrote no spring, the swallow. In fact the word less than three poems about it. 'celandine' comes from the Greek chelidon meaning 'swallow' and it Bill Grange traditionally produces its yellow flowers

Your Newsletter Needs YOU! Answers to Derby Church Quiz

1. Allestree – St. Edmund’s

2. Alvaston – St. Michael and All Angels

3 Breadsall – All Saints

4. Chaddesden – St. Mary’s

5. Darley Abbey – St. Matthew’s

I very much need more articles from 6 Derby city centre – St. Mary’s members in the future if the Newsletter 7. Derby city cente – St. Werburghs is to continue! Anything, ranging from accounts of favourite holiday destina- 8. Mackworth – All Saints tions, those on pastimes and hobbies to 9. Mickleover – All Saints opinions on particular issues, will be most welcome. 10. Spondon - St. Werburgh’s Bill Grange, Editor © 2019 City of Derby Retired Teachers’ Group Telephone (01332) 550383 Printed by MurrayPrint, Long Eaton