Registered charity Official magazine of the National Women’s Register SPRING number 295198 2019
Connecting women who are interested in everything and talk about anything
Without music, life Pastries from Ziemiańska Voyages and would be a mistake NWR Member Julie Williams’ Hands up if shortlisted short you agree with story, set in discovery Nietzsche. We wartime Warsaw explore this Find yourself in Plymouth for our year’s theme An exceptional woman of Music and fantastic NWR Annual Conference Society Call for nominations for the Mary Stott Award for general enquiries please email [email protected] for membership enquiries please email [email protected],uk for press enquiries please email ahicks@ nwr.org.uk
What’s On? Get in touch Editor: Judith Charlton For more details of these events contact the NWR office at [email protected] General enquiries: [email protected] or 01603 406767, or visit www.nwr.org.uk Membership and press enquiries: [email protected] 6 April 2019 Maxey Village Hall Website: https://nwr.org.uk Eastern Region Area Quiz Twitter: @nwruk £12 for teams of four. Facebook: facebook.com/nwr.uk Telephone: 01603 406767 23 May 2019 Marlow Address: NWR, 23 Vulcan House, A talk from NWR patron, Marion Molteno Vulcan Road North, Norwich, NR6 6AQ
14 June 2019 Letchworth Cover photo by Herts & Beds Area Quiz Garden City Tony Webster on Cost per team £12, to include refreshments. Unsplash There is a maximum of six in a team. Environmental calculator A huge thankReduce you foryour environmental impact with recycled papers 22 June 2019 Crowne Plaza EnvironmentalReduce your environmental calculator impact with recycled papers all your submissions!Environmental calculator Pirates, Pilgrims, Plymouth Gin and plenty more: Hotel, Plymouth Reduce your environmental impact with recycled papers NWR Annual Conference — Voyages and Discovery Please keep themReduce coming your — environmental group news, impact with recycled papers See page 8 for more information. travel news, personal journeys, short Printed Communications stories, poems.Printed If we can’tCommunications fit them in the 21 August 2019 Carshalton magazine, look out on the website blog Size & quantityPrinted Communications South East Regional Quiz Beeches or news.Size For & thequantityPrinted next Communicationsedition, please send Common paper sizes : A4 Quantity : 7000 Hosted by Sutton & Carshalton NWR. 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In this issue Re: members FEATURES 10 Saved by spontaneous For over 30 years, Gill Wignall sisterhood has enjoyed the sense of community Writer and musician Vivien Goldman that NWR membership provides, even revisits her punk roots attending meetings as far afield as 11 Rave, rain, repeat Luxembourg. Now a Trustee, she reflects Mud and free milk: on what members can do to maintain 50 years of festivals and develop that spirit for women 19 Naïve patriot or Nazi fanatic? everywhere to enjoy. Alan Marlow tells the story of controversial German flying ace Hanna Reitsch It was back in 1960 when those lively medium for discussions, which are also an minded women set up NWR, then known easy way for our independent members ARTS as the Housebound Housewives’ Register. to connect with other women all over the 14 Pastries from Ziemiańska Then, it was run by an army of volunteer country. The exciting plans being made to members but, almost 60 years on, we need celebrate our 60th birthday in 2020 are all Set in wartime Warsaw, this story by NWR to employ professional staff to run the being suggested and implemented by our member Julie Williams organisation as there is less willingness members. Planning meetings are being was shortlisted for and capacity amongst the membership arranged by national organiser Natalie the Historical Writers’ to take on these time-consuming and at venues around the UK, so go along to Association Dorothy legally responsible roles. The office staff, join in and see your ideas put into action. Dunnett short story award who are responsible to the Trustees, work Look out for details on the website and in 16 The Big Read Reviews hard to enable the smooth running of the newsletter, or email [email protected]. our organisation, to ensure our financial uk. It promises to be a great event with A round up of your thoughts and opinions on our 2018 Big Read affairs are in order and that our charitable things happening nationwide, throughout status is not compromised. They make the year. CONFERENCE 2019 certain that the needs of the membership As in all member led organisations, the 8 Plymouth Ho! are met and that NWR remains member- more you put in to it, the more you will led — with a shared purpose of connecting get out of it. As well as participating in a There is a fantastic women for stimulating discussion, local group, consider volunteering for a programme lined up for you at the friendship and, of course, fun. committee organising a regional or national NWR Conference NWR relies on members, both event. It can be extremely rewarding being in Plymouth nationally and locally, to build friendly a key part of something that others enjoy, NWR NEWS communities where women can meet in a while finding skills you didn’t know you welcoming environment to communicate had, and making new friends in the process. 4 Focus on 2020 and share ideas, to make friends, and If you don’t like the way something is done, A photography competition to to co-ordinate the activities of those or the direction a group is taking, don’t just celebrate our diamond anniversary groups — for themselves and for the complain about it, volunteer to be part of next generation. The ethos of NWR an organising committee, become an Area 5 The direct approach makes discussions central to all groups’ Organiser, a Local Organiser or a Trustee Discover the benefits of switching to programmes, but the choice of topics is and put yourself in a position where you direct debit subscription payment decided by the members of each group, can influence change. as are the extra activities such as visits, As an independent member, I enjoy 6 An appetite for the arts speakers and social events. being a part of the NWR community Conversations from the Culture Posting your group’s programme on and appreciate the value of what it gives Vultures Facebook page the NWR website and sharing your ideas to its membership. As a Trustee, I enjoy 7 Mary Stott Award helps to keep your group connected the challenges that the role brings and to other groups and members. Our hope that I am contributing something All about the award and how to make your stimulating NWR magazine relies on towards what NWR offers women today, nomination input from members, reflecting their whilst helping to maintain it for the next widespread and diverse interests. The generation of lively minded women. 22 Members’ Corner relatively new forums on social media NWR is what you make it. Make it Latest news from local groups provide an immediate and accessible great, make it fun, and make it yours!
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 3 PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
Photographs will be assessed for composition, focus, clarity, Focus on 2020 colour depth, overall image quality, creativity and relevance to the brief. To celebrate NWR’s diamond anniversary How to create a winning image? next year, we will be producing a Think about the brief. Be smart and use your imagination. De- commemorative calendar, and who better clutter the image and focus on what your picture is about, then to provide the photos than you! fill the frame with it. Practise, practise, practise! Take your camera wherever you go We are pleased to announce the NWR and take photos every day. photography competition: twelve Be original. Equipment is incredible these days, but one thing winning images will be immortalised in that will always stand out is your own creativity. Put something a beautiful calendar to mark our sixtieth of yourself in the image. Two photographers can shoot the anniversary. same subject in the exact same conditions and produce totally So, what do you need to do? First of different images. How? By inserting your interpretation and all, dust off your camera, refresh your your perspective. skills while you’re out and about, and Shoot what you love. get your creative juices flowing! Use the golden triangle, or rule of thirds. Nature is based upon There are four categories: these magical mathematical rules and they will elevate your ■ ■ I get by with a little help from my friends; work too. Don’t necessarily centre your subject. Use space. ■ ■ The more things change, the more they stay the same; Simplify and exaggerate. You may wish to use contrasting ■ ■ Women of the world; colours, juxtaposition with other objects, even shutter speed to ■ ■ A visual interpretation of a poem or song. give a well-defined image or scene. You may submit multiple entries to each category. Create depth and use leading lines to draw the viewer in — We can accept pictures taken on any device but all images create a journey through the image. must be available, and submitted, in colour. Photos when Lighting is everything! Never shoot into the sun or in the printed will be A4 size so you need to ensure that, when middle of the day unless you really know what you’re doing. scaled to this size, the image resolution is at least 300 dpi. The Understand the ‘temperature’ of the light. Use the golden hours format will be landscape. If you wish at sunrise and sunset, when the to use film you may but the light really is beautiful. image should be submitted Edit yourself ruthlessly! in a high-specification digital The closing date is 31 format. While photoshopping July 2019. Winners will be is permitted, any image announced in the Autumn manipulation must be declared. edition of this magazine. Terms Entries will be judged by a and conditions apply. Look out panel made up of a professional for the full competition rules, photographer, NWR’s Membership which will be available on the and Communications Coordinator website shortly. and the NWR magazine editor.
Photo by Yoann Siloine on Unsplash
Pidley man weds Yelling woman! Just one of the answers to our question about favourite place names in a recent newsletter. Here are some top picks from a few more topics. Keep them coming!
Favourite UK place names Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate in York. Swing There is a village near Edinburgh called Swang Lane in Basingstoke. Shilole… I am always looking out to see In Cambridgeshire there is Yelling which signpost has been changed this and Pidley. Allegedly there were once time. It seems to be a running battle! headlines in a local paper which said Wetwang in East Yorkshire and Crackpot ‘Pidley man weds Yelling woman’. in the Yorkshire Dales. And look out for Zeal Monachorum and Blubberhouses Ryme Intrinseca! Photo by Jake Davies on Unsplash
4 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk NWR NEWS The direct approach Paying your NWR subscription by direct We all have increasing demands on our time. Direct debit debit is a simple and safe way to save time significantly reduces the responsibilities placed on your treasurer and saves them time and effort. and money for staff and members alike. How direct debit benefits YOU The staff and trustees of NWR are delighted to announce Lower staff hours and lower bank fees mean your membership that we can now offer direct debit as an easy way to pay your benefits you, not the bank. annual membership subscription. Most of us nowadays find It’s easy! A 30 second form and your subscription is done. it more convenient to pay our regular outgoings — whether Fees will be taken automatically on a date of your choosing, membership fees or telephone bills — via direct debit. NWR is so no need to remember which month or how much to bring. therefore introducing this capacity for all our members. No searching through the junk drawer for cheque books or We are not only offering this convenient new option, we’re counting cash — your bank does all that for you. also giving members who switch a reduced price! We informed The Direct Debit Guarantee ensures that you are safe. You you in 2018 that the subs for 2019 would be increasing from £23 will be reminded a minimum of 10 days before your payment to £25. If you renew by direct debit, however, we will say ‘Thank leaves the bank and, if a mistake is made, you are guaranteed You’ by freezing your 2019 membership at £23. an immediate refund. Why introduce direct debit? What if my renewal was due in January or February? It’s better for NWR, it’s better for your treasurer and most We’ll take your first discounted payment on 1 April 2019 and importantly it’s best for you! then your next payment will revert back to your usual month How direct debit benefits NWR from 2020. On the web link we’ll need you to enter ‘April’ as the start date. The form will allow you to put January, but this means We know exactly what our income will be, and when we will your direct debit won’t start until 2020 and you may lose out on receive it — this way we can make more effective long-term plans the discount. If you’re unsure, please feel free to call the office. and maximise the investment income gained from our capital. It saves hours of staff time — we estimate that it will free up My membership isn’t due until September — when over 12 hours every week — meaning they can spend time on should I set up the direct debit? other projects to benefit members. The sooner the better. We are legally required to give a And it saves money, enabling us to keep subscription fees to minimum of 10 days notice prior to taking any payment so in a minimum. practical terms we would need you to complete the form 4-6 How direct debit benefits your LO/treasurer weeks prior to the payment date. Having said that, there’s no time like the present! You can set it up now and no payment It protects your treasurer from accusations of impropriety or will be taken until September. fraud and keeps her and your money safe. Carrying large sums of cash in this day and age can be dangerous. By automating What do I do now? financial transactions, we are reducing the risk of criminals The easiest way to proceed is to go to: http://tiny.cc/nwrform. targeting our treasurers’ homes and persons. Alternatively, fill in the paper form inserted in this issue. It means NWR will be responsible for following up You’ll receive a letter from us within 28 days confirming your late payments, saving your treasurer from awkward and details and you never need to hunt for your chequebook again! embarrassing conversations.
Best meeting topics Favourite words First major news story you The Shipping Forecast, research one of My husband calls bad drivers big hairy remember as a child the areas. dodo or goon and plonker. Launching of Sputnik 1. Our gas oven at Walls, metaphorical and real. Serendipity, Onomatopoeia, Bombastic, home was faulty and making a bleeping Grot, Discombobulate, Mugwump. sound and my mother joked the noise Mistresses and courtesans. was coming from the satellite. I love ‘bonkers’ and my grandchildren Tastings to see if you can tell the difference love it when I say ‘okey dokey’. I was about eight in my first year at between economy and premium product. junior school. Sitting at our desks in the Death and funerals — A Little Grave classroom waiting for Singing Together Humour — a hilarious talk from a local to come on the internal speakers, the undertaker. (Our best ever meeting!) announcer interrupted to say King George VI was dead. I think they then Body art. To avoid the obvious, and played solemn music and we had no probably uniform comments, we invited Singing Together. two young women who were embracing the phenomenon. They loved it. Children dying in the Aberfan disaster. Fascinating.
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 5 NWR NEWS An appetite for the arts? Then you need the Culture Vultures! Trustee Ann Fox brings you a taste of the lively discussions to be found in this NWR Facebook group.
NWR has a thriving social media presence including Twitter, Pinterest and, of course, Facebook. One popular group is Culture Vultures, where members can share their travel and cultural experiences. Ann joined recently and says, ‘I love hearing about where other members have been and seeing the wonderful stories and images they share’. Here, she shares some of the places she and other NWR members enjoyed in 2018. Many of these are permanent exhibitions or fixtures, so you still have time to visit, but to keep up with the latest recommendations, why not take a look yourself? You can find the group at www.facebook.com/groups/nwr.culture.vultures/, or simply log in to Christine Brett Went here yesterday Facebook and search for NWR Culture Vultures, then ask to join. [The Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden] after Audley End (where Victorian walled kitchen garden was wonderful) and Wendy Khatib At the Edinburgh Fringe Jenny Lee Fascinating not disappointed. Very knowledgeable yesterday - saw the most incredible play: trip today to The Blue volunteers to talk to, fab exhibition of work Ulster American by David Ireland. It’s raw, Idol Quaker Meeting by Edward Bawden and also a couple of brutal, funny, explosive and enlightening. House in Coolham, Ravilious gems. Will return another time Brilliant theatre, worth seeing if it tours W Sussex. Organised when in area. the UK. by The Arts Society, we learned so much about the Friends Debbie Reavell I read a book recently and particularly William Penn, founder of about the Great Bardfield artists. Their Pennsylvania, USA. William Penn School in wives and women, who were equally Coolham is the only Quaker primary school talented were struggling with domestic in the country. It is run jointly by West duties and chores and babies in what, Sussex County council and Quakers. even for those times, were poorly equipped houses.
Susan Trayhorn Have any of you ladies To Oxford Wiltshire Walker Just back from The heard of Digital Theatre? I’ve just Sue Gotley Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Kneehigh on tour subscribed for £9.99 per month and now literary festival to at Salisbury Playhouse. If you like your have access to some of the world’s finest hear Sebastian Barry theatre physical, musical and melded with theatre productions: operas, plays, dance speak, but time to pop one of your favourite artists you’ll love this. etc. First on my list is ‘The Crucible’ by into the amazing Pitt Next in Manchester, Exeter, Oxford and Arthur Miller, starring Richard Armitage, Rivers Museum. An Narayan Cheltenham. www.kneehigh.co.uk followed by ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ extraordinary collection with David Tennant and Catherine Tate. It of ethnographic artefacts seems that all the live theatre screenings from around the world. Virginia Wagstaff I’ve seen a number that are shown at the cinema make their of Kneehigh productions and they are way to this platform. I think I shall be busy always outstanding. Christine Brett My first visit to The House for the foreseeable future. of Illustration behind Kings Cross. The Enid Marx exhibition is wonderful. Great day yesterday at the NWR member Clare Reaney A group of us from Yateley Art Car Boot Fair at Kings Cross. Came NWR had a great time yesterday doing a Wendy Khatib Didn’t know about this away with a fabulous Kristjana S Williams ‘Treasure Trail’ around Winchester. What print at a bargain price. museum - been lots of times to the British a beautiful city, so much history every way Museum, passing through Kings Cross, you turn! and also British Library, so will definitely Marie O’Flaherty I’ve just watched ‘Fake put it on my list, thanks Christine. or Fortune’ which I had recorded. Surprise Heather de Lacey You could also and intrigue indeed. I’m now inspired to try www.treasuretrails.co.uk. You buy a Jennie Southgate Just got back from go to the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge and see trail which you can then download. more of William Nicholson. seeing the 17 winners’ photographs of the International Wildlife Photographer of the Year at Tring Museum, they were superb. [This is a touring exhibition, check where Pictures, clockwise from above: it’s on at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/ visit/tour.html ] The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk; William Penn aged 22; Have any groups visited the Tea at Furlongs, watercolour Sarah Akhtar free Victoria Wood exhibition at Bury until by Eric Ravilious, 1939, Fry Art Sept 2019? Gallery; A shrunken head from the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford; Liz Valette The Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth. https://www.spinnakertower. The Fitzwilliam Museum, co.uk/ Cambridge.
6 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk NWR NEWS
MARY STOTT AWARD 2019
explaining why you are nominating this Call for nominations person. Tip: you should use around 500 words. Nominations should be submitted to the NWR Office, and the The Mary Stott Award something exceptional. Without your closing date is 30th April. nominations there can be no award, so The Award will be presented in June is presented to an NWR please get your thinking caps on. The at the National Conference in Plymouth. member who has achieved Trustees have drawn up new criteria to We very much hope the winner will help identify what we are looking for. attend to receive the Award in person, something exceptional, and to this end will provide a free place. explains Trustee Jennifer Mary Stott Award criteria We would love to be able to recognise and celebrate the great Johnson. The person nominated should have shown some or all of the following things our members do, so do please characteristics. She will have made: put someone forward! Why Mary Stott? ■■ an exceptional contribution to NWR, Mary Stott was a journalist and editor the community and/or the wider world; Below: Women’s Page Contributors to of the Guardian women’s page, and it The Guardian by Sarah Raphael, 1994. ■■ great strides in her own personal was under her aegis, in 1960, that the Pioneering editor Mary Stott is on Housebound Housewives’ Register was development; the far right of the picture with, from ■ launched to provide a communication ■ great commitment to a project. left to right, regular contributors Posy channel for housebound wives. This was First you must get their agreement Simmonds, the late Jill Tweedie, Polly the result of a letter to the page from to the nomination, and then write to us Toynbee and Dame Liz Forgan. Maureen Nicol, highlighting the plight of women who moved around the country following their husbands. As they say, the rest is history! Mary Stott remained a great friend of our organisation for 40 years. She served as Trustee, informal advisor and was one of our three Honorary Life Members. Mary died in 2002 aged 95 and, as a lasting tribute, the Trustees introduced the Mary Stott Award in 2003.
What does the Award consist of? The winner will be presented with a Quaich, which is a Scottish cup of friendship, to be held by her for the year. She will also receive a book token as an acknowledgement of Mary’s profession in journalism.
How does it work? We need you, the members, to nominate a fellow NWR member whom you know and feel has achieved Sarah Raphael/National Portrait Gallery
If you remember the 60s, you really with your homework because otherwise Say no to the weren’t there you weren’t allowed out, and even when oppression and vacuity So the saying goes, but we’re hoping you were you had to be home by ten? of household work! some of you can remember at least We’d love you to send us a paragraph or two (or more) for our next issue. March 8 is the day of some of the decade, and would like to rebellion by working share your recollections in the next NWR Badges of honour women against kitchen magazine. Did it bring new freedoms, did slavery. Say no to the you scream at the Beatles, demonstrate in Do you possess an NWR badge? When oppression and vacuity of Grosvenor Square, wear a mini skirt, buy household work! So reads your first LP (remember those listening and where do you/ did you wear it, and do you this 1932 Soviet poster for International booths in record shops?), have a poster Women’s Day, a rallying cry that might of Che on your bedroom wall, watch have any stories connected with it? have been written for NWR. England win the World Cup on your How did you mark the day? Was there black and white TV, fret about the Cuban an NWR event in your area? Please Missile Crisis, marvel at the men on the Please send contributions to send us your stories and photos for the moon — and where were you when JFK [email protected] by 31 August 2019 Autumn issue. was assassinated? Or did you just get on
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 7 NWR NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Workshops that cover history, Plymouth Ho! science and the arts Join us in June in the historic maritime city Your conference weekend will also include of diverse and enjoyable workshops. You can hear about the changing face of of Plymouth. We are absolutely determined Plymouth from popular historian Chris Robinson, try your hand that it will be well worth every minute of at mandala drawing, join the Pirates of St Piran to discover the your journey, writes Glenda Cooper. fun of singing sea shanties or join the Head Gardener of Buckfast Abbey for a practical experience investigating the soil food web, Since writing in the autumn issue inviting you to join us in looking at soil microbes under a microscope and discovering Plymouth, a dedicated band of 10 from Devon and Cornwall how important they are in a living interactive environment. groups have been working their proverbial socks off to bring you an interesting and entertaining conference. We are well Military Wives Choir, a Murder aware that it is a fair distance for most of you to travel and are Mystery or Haunted Plymouth… absolutely determined to make Conference 2019 well worth every minute of your journey. To that end, following our theme Our Friday conference dinner will be held at the Grade II listed of Voyages and Discovery, we have speakers from the City New Continental Hotel. Join us for a complimentary pre-dinner Museum, the National Marine Aquarium and the Eden Project, gin and tonic or soft drink, and a three-course meal that includes a performance from local theatre group Playwriters and a very a glass of wine or soft drink, plus tea or coffee. We are particularly diverse range of workshops to choose from. delighted that our after-dinner entertainment is being provided by the Plymouth branch of the Military Wives Choir. Created to Plymouth, Plymouth bring women in the military community closer together through singing, they have gained much fame and popularity. Enjoy! The voyage of the Pilgrim Fathers is the subject of the Playwriters’ On Saturday evening choose between the ever popular ghost performance Plymouth, Plymouth: So Good They Named It walk Haunted Plymouth, or a Murder Mystery meal with the Twice. They will ask you to imagine that you are leaving England, Candlelight Theatre Company at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel. with its religious persecution and economic hard times, far Created as the city’s first luxury hotel in 1863, the Duke of behind. Your journey will take 66 days, below decks in almost Cornwall was designed to project Victorian grandeur and National Marine Aquarium splendour — the perfect venue for the Candlelight Theatre Company’s unique murder mystery experience. In the county of Agatha Christie fame, this is surely a fitting way to enjoy a fine two course meal in an iconic gothic hotel. Join in or sit back and watch as the mystery unravels… Plymouth is a city rich with history and atmosphere, including a wide array of supernatural phenomena. The highly acclaimed Haunted Plymouth ghost walk will take you on a journey through the cobbled streets to hear of haunted inns, phantom spectres and what has been witnessed by those unfortunate enough to come face to face with the darker side of Plymouth. Friday wrap arounds – a journey from Plymouth Docks to Beryl Cook
For those who join us nice and total darkness. You are ill and hungry and you are heading for a early we have some fabulous wrap land full of savages, or so you’ve been told. Find out what drove arounds on offer. You may take a them to take this voyage and what future awaits them. scenic boat trip from the Mayflower Always in demand for his informative, entertaining talks is Steps across the spectacular Nigel Overton, Plymouth Museum’s City and Maritime Heritage Plymouth Sound, to see the mighty Curator, so we are delighted to have him enlighten us on the many warships and nuclear submarines influences Plymouth has had on exploration, trade and history. of HM Naval Base, Devonport – the Based in Plymouth, the National Marine Aquarium is the largest naval base in Western Europe. UK’s largest aquarium, home to 4,000 marine animals. Since Or visit Number 3 Elliot Terrace, opening 20 years ago, it has been working to combat pollution former home of Lady Nancy Astor, in the world’s oceans. With the ongoing problem of plastic pictured right, the first woman MP pollution taking a global focus, join us to find out about the to sit in the House of Commons. Aquarium’s role in this campaign and discover what action we Number 3 now houses some of can take for the greater good of our oceans.
8 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk PLYMOUTH, JUNENWR NEWS21-23 Picture yourself… If you can find a free moment in your conference schedule, here’s another, more light-hearted, photography challenge. On Plymouth Hoe you will find the BeatleBums, an installation on the spot where the Beatles sat for this photo on 12 September 1967. The image was taken by music photographer David Redfern during a break in the filming of the Magical Mystery Tour. The artwork, unveiled in November 2016, was commissioned by Plymouth City Council and created by local metalsmiths Thrussell and Thrussell. Tribute band The Fab Beatles assisted by allowing their bottoms to be used for mould making. So, position your posteriors and recreate the famous photo. Costumes optional! Send your images to [email protected]
and we will print the best ones in our Autumn issue. David Redfern/Getty Images the city’s civic collections and many items belonging to the shimmy and a shake as Suparna Bagchi provides an insight into Astor family. Not generally open to the public, this is a unique the history of Indian classical dance and an opportunity to learn opportunity to enjoy a privileged tour. moves with an east-west fusion. Less energetic is the meditation Or perhaps you would prefer to go behind the scenes at the technique of Yoga Nidra. Vanessa Tucker will guide you on a National Marine Aquarium? The tour will show you what it journey of deep relaxation using this ancient technique. Or, if takes to keep their 4,000 animals happy and healthy. Entrance to you are hungry for history, Lisa Conway will discuss Raffles: the aquarium is included so that you can wonder at the Atlantic Right Man, Right Time, Right Place. A major historical figure, Sir Ocean exhibit — Britain’s deepest tank — and enjoy a journey Stamford Raffles was an administrator, humanitarian, pioneer, through the different zones taking you from local waters across orientalist and collector of animals and plants. We will examine the world’s oceans to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. his fortunes, good and bad – both of which were extreme! The Plymouth Gin Distillery, the oldest working distillery Worth staying longer for are two wonderful wrap arounds in England, has been making gin to their original recipe to conclude your West Country weekend. Explore the mythical since 1793. This tour involves a fascinating overview of the and atmospherically beautiful history of the distillery as well as an introduction to the Dartmoor — the jewel on distillation process and the botanicals that are used. Visitors Plymouth’s doorstep — from also participate in a tasting, and can then choose between a the comfort of a private coach, complimentary miniature of Plymouth Gin to take home or including a visit to the tranquil enjoy a Plymouth Gin and tonic at the Refectory Bar! and picturesque gardens of the Yet another option is a self-guided tour around the Mayflower Moorland Garden Hotel for a Museum. Set over three floors, it explores the story of the voyage luxurious Devon cream tea. of the Pilgrims and their journey aboard the Mayflower to the Or join us in a visit to the unique New World. Begin your tour on the top floor balcony where you Plymouth Synagogue, the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in regular can enjoy a fantastic panoramic view of today’s busy Barbican. use in the English-speaking world. Amazingly preserved, it is Finally, we have our Beryl Cook walk led by Hilary Bracegirdle, a microcosm of the history of Plymouth. This tour is extremely curator of the 2016 exhibition Our Beryl: Beryl Cook at Home, popular with local NWR groups who often book repeat visits. which received over 10,000 visitors during its 12-week run. Beryl Cook OBE was an English artist best known for her original Now that you have decided this is a and instantly recognisable, lively and often comical paintings. Conference not to miss… The walk will take in Beryl’s former home, Plymouth Hoe and Plymouth Barbican and reveal how the area influenced her art. We will ensure we provide you with details of all there is to see and do in and around Plymouth — and there is a lot! So many reasons to stay But I would like to conclude by saying that, as an NWR for Sunday… member who attends Conference whenever possible, I can recall many memorable speakers and entertaining workshops but the Our main speaker for Sunday’s half day conference will be from unquestionable highlight for me is the coming together of 200 plus The Eden Project. Dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World, Eden interesting, friendly, sociable and, to use a familiar phrase, lively- is a dramatic global garden housed in biomes in a crater the size minded fellow members from far and wide. That experience never of 30 football pitches. More than just a giant tropical garden — fails to deliver! I hope you will all take up the invitation to meet, our speaker will demonstrate Eden’s fascinating insight into talk, listen, laugh and exchange thoughts and ideas with your man’s relationship with, and dependence upon, plant life. extended NWR family. See you in Plymouth in June! Sunday morning workshops include Indian dancing, yoga and a talk on Sir Stamford Raffles. Energise your day with a Book your place now at https://tinyurl.com/plymconf
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 9 MUSIC AND SOCIETY
y the time she and her friends got to Woodstock, says Joni Mitchell’s classic song of that name, ‘We were half b a million strong’ — but I wasn’t one of them. Still, the glamour of the epochal outdoor music festival was alluring, decades before glamping was invented. By the time I was able to leave London to see the American continent, (a very big treat from my parents for being the first in my family to graduate from university), I managed to skive off from domesticity at my big sister’s place in Canada. Somehow, I did get myself to the next music festival, which happened at Watkins Glen in 1973. It was magical, though I mainly remember losing everyone I knew and trudging back in the mud amidst a caravan of departing cars, despairing of ever getting home. Happily, I was picked up by an angelic stranger who whisked me off to stay with her family on gorgeous Lake Champlain. So potential disaster was Writer and musician Vivien Goldman averted. It was a musical adventure, alright, and I was saved by takes us on a personal journey from spontaneous sisterhood. It was a premonition of how, just three the mud of her first festival to the years later, the women of punk would transform my life and freedom of the UK punk movement help me find a sort of freedom — a journey whose roots and branches I trace in my new book, Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot. my birthright. But our few musical sheroes usually seemed My whole Watkins Glen experience, from the ramshackle to combust and self-destruct, like Janis Joplin, doomed by her camp site to the comparative luxury of a sprawling waterfront yearning for the approbation of unappreciative boys off the suburban home, was far removed from my childhood on the stage as well as on. The glorious Fairport Convention folk singer intersection of two main roads in North West London. But it still Sandy Denny proved to be another tragic figure, fraught with did not give me the jolt of female music-making I had thought insecurities despite her brilliance, and dying in 1978 at just 31. was my right when I would gather with my two big sisters Aryan goddess-lookalike genius Joni Mitchell often turned around the piano at home on Sunday nights, as my musician for songwriting fodder to rock star boyfriends who seemed to father led us through Beatles songs, conducting us with his cement her place in the Establishment as much as her skills. It violin bow. Then it had seemed like music was achievable, seemed there was no way for a girl to get ahead in a musical milieu other than via well-connected boyfriends, like Marianne Faithfull and her romance with Mick Jagger. And he cemented Vivien Goldman (right) interviews Siouxsie Sioux (left) of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Photo: Ray Stephenson. girly paranoia with infectious but disturbing songs like (Look at that) Stupid Girl, that caused me some angst while bopping to it on my parent’s gramophone. We had our 1960s songbirds, Dusty, Sandie and Cilla, but there weren’t many compared to the number of lads. Although the super-talented Dusty would eventually gain some measure of control over her career, the other groovy dolly-birds seemed to My musician father led us through Beatles songs, conducting us with his violin bow
be, in the words of Shaw’s 1967 Eurovision Song Contest winner, (Like a) Puppet on a String, controlled solely by men. (In fact, her manager was a woman; and Top of the Pops was controlled by the redoubtable Vicki Wickham, later to be Springfield’s manager and, more recently, the producer of her musical in the West End; but they were largely invisible to the humble fan.) Stubbornly, I stuck with writing about music, even though editorial meetings on SOUNDS, the rock weekly where I eventually became Features Editor, were often a barrage of boy writers snarling that women were not interested in music, women did not buy music, so why should we cover any stray females
10 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk MUSIC AND SOCIETY who had the presumption to be musicians? I can never forget the shock when in 1975 or so, I made my way to the front of a venue while covering a gig as a young rock journalist — with no other females to support or advise me at the time — and realised that the longhaired guitarist in jeans was a girl. It was the first time I RAVE had seen a woman play in a band. In Revenge of the She-Punks, I re-visit that intense moment. It was not without trauma, as the unprecedented apparition underlined the low level of my aspirations and expectations. It hit me, along with the exhilaration of seeing someone like me actually onstage as part of a band. The sheer cussedness that propelled me then was reinforced RAIN with the arrival of punk. Suddenly I was not alone. Rebelling against the supergroups whose budgets and polish seemed to create an insurmountable wall, we sieged the barricades, and REPEAT punk howled and snarled so loudly that they came tumbling down. The monolithic bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis and even From free love to the silver pound, Judith Charlton traces a brief history I realised that of the festival over 50 years. the longhaired guitarist The Woodstock Music Festival began on in jeans was a girl August 15, 1969. Billed as ‘An Aquarian The Who, suddenly seemed passé. Though unsurprisingly Experience: Three Days of Peace and still vastly outnumbered by the lads, we had a community. Music’, the festival now regarded as a The Slits. The Raincoats. Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex. The Mo- byword for the hippie idealism of the sixties Dettes. The Delta 5. When 2-Tone came along a few years later, was conceived as a money-making venture. 1m it brought us forceful singers Rhoda Dakar of all-girl group The The original plan was to hold the festival Estimated number Bodysnatchers and The Selecter’s Pauline Black, who fronted a in the New York town of Woodstock, but no of people who suitable venue was found. Eventually, just attempted to reach band of boys without being defined by them. the Woodstock a month before the festival was to open, a And our passions reverberated across the Atlantic where festival. dodgy cassettes transmitted the feeling to a new generation of dairy farmer named Max Yasgur agreed to girls like Kathleen Hanna, who responded with 1990s bands that rent the organisers part of his land in Bethel, grew into a movement called Riot Grrrlz. Even though the music New York – some 50 miles from Woodstock. industry is still controlled by men, with an all too often reductive By the weekend of the festival, 186,000 view of what makes a girl artist great, there has been some sort tickets had been sold, and the expectation of shift. At the recent Grammys, they may not have been punks was that total numbers would be around as such, but I couldn’t help feeling that the line-up of acclaimed 200,000. In the event, at least twice that number attended. These were the lucky 5 female artists — Alicia Keys, Dolly Parton, Janelle Monáe, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga — would not have been possible had ones who made it through the eight-mile hours liberating mid-1970s punk not showed that women musicians traffic jams that blocked the area — many The length of the could determine their own destiny, more than ever before. more simply didn’t get there. Grateful Dead’s set Those that did found that fencing, gates at the Watkins Glen Writer, educator, broadcaster and ticket booths were unfinished. With Summer Jam in 1973. At 600,000, and musician Vivien Goldman no effective means of charging people, the is a Londoner who lives in this event had a New York, where she is an organisers decided to make Woodstock a bigger attendance Adjunct Professor at New York free festival. Unsurprisingly, huge debts than Woodstock. University’s Clive Davis Institute were incurred. YZYZYZ of Recorded Music. Her post- punk music is re-issued as ‘Resolutionary’ by Staubgold Records. She has written two books on Bob Marley, more recently The Book of Marley’s Exodus. Her sixth book, Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot, is published in May by the University of Texas Press.
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 11 MUSIC AND SOCIETY
The festival opened around 5pm on the Friday with Richie Havens and ended with Jimi Hendrix, whose set included the iconic Star Spangled Banner. Due to delays in the schedule, Hendrix didn’t appear until Monday morning, by which time the audience was considerably depleted. In spite of rain, mud, lack of food, water and sanitation, the intervening three days passed in peace and harmony. While some attributed this to an enthusiastic consumption of psychedelic drugs, others believed it was simply a matter of young people living out their ideals of peace and love. Meanwhile, the UK festival scene was also taking off. Rivalling Woodstock in numbers was the Isle of Wight Festival, pace. Attended by a variety of counter Above: Stonehenge which ran from 1968–1970 before an Act Free Festival 1984 culture groups, these were notable for their of Parliament made it necessary to have lack of centralised organisation. Publicity a special licence for overnight outdoor leaflets for the Windsor Free Festival, gatherings of more than 5,000 on the which ran from 1972-1974, asked people island. The festival was revived in 2002. and bands to bring their own equipment Pre-dating the Isle of Wight, the Reading $1m Total debt and create their own environment. The Festival — now a teenage rite of passage amassed by £30 event was not looked upon kindly by the — is generally agreed to be the world’s the end of The fee paid Woodstock. authorities and, during the 1974 festival, to The Rolling oldest music festival still in existence. It It took until 1980 Thames Valley Police descended in large Stones for their started life as the National Jazz Festival to pay it off. numbers and forcibly evicted festival first appearance at at Richmond Athletic Ground in 1961, the National Jazz goers. Public outcry ensued at the level of becoming the Reading Festival ten years Festival — now the violence used by police. later, by now primarily a rock festival. Reading Festival — From 1974 to 1984, the Stonehenge Free in 1963. The first Glastonbury Festival took up the mantle, taking place Festival, then the Pilton Pop, DDDDDDDD around the summer solstice in June. As the Folk and Blues festival, took place in September 1970. Entrance cost £1 and included free milk from Worthy Farm. Attendance was 1,500. The following year the event was moved to the summer solstice and was free. The first pyramid stage was constructed on a site above the Glastonbury-Stonehenge ley line and doubled as a cowshed. The next event at Worthy Farm was in 1978, when a convoy of New Age Travellers turned up, mistakenly thinking $100,000 that there was a festival taking place. In Cost of clearing 1979, Glastonbury Fayre, as it was then the 600 acres of rubbish left on the named, became a three-day festival. Woodstock site. Attendance was 12,000 and tickets cost £5. llll Since then it has grown into the largest and possibly best-known greenfield festival in the world, receiving extensive mainstream media coverage while still managing to retain something of its hippie origins. Free festivals, such as the impromptu 1978 Glastonbury, were also gathering
12 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk MUSIC AND SOCIETY
Salix alba at en.wikipedia You have proven or ‘A group of drop-outs [who] set up a sordid encampment adjoining the something to the world... monument1’? The choice is yours. One thing is certain though, you don’t need to be pursuing an alternative lifestyle that half a million kids can in an ancient single decker bus to enjoy Sales0 of get together for fun and one of today’s music festivals. With annual Woodstock attendance in the UK approaching 4 merchandise. music and have nothing million, the festival market is reckoned to The only official souvenir was be worth £2 billion to the UK economy, but fun and music the festival and events are likely to be in the hands of programme, Max Yasgur multinationals like Live Nation, which runs which went largely Reading/Leeds and Latitude, among others. undistributed. Another development is the recent rise llll festival grew — numbers were thought in urban one day festivals, such as British to be 30,000 in 1984 — restrictions were Summer Time in London’s Hyde Park imposed, with fences being erected around and fashionably vowel-free TRNSMT in the stones, and the resurrection of an Glasgow. With no camping obscure law against driving over grassland. element to organise, profit The following year a High Court margins are more favourable injunction was obtained to prevent the 1985 £3m Sum raised and, far from calling in the festival from taking place, resulting in what for charities, police to evict them, councils became known as the Battle of the Beanfield, including are likely to welcome them when a convoy of around 600 Stonehenge Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water as revenue streams for local bound New Age travellers known as the Aid, by the 2017 tradespeople. And, at the other Peace Convoy was met by 1,300 Wiltshire Glastonbury end of the spectrum, are so- Police armed with truncheons and riot Festival called immersive festivals like shields. The travellers endeavoured to Boomtown, which may incorporate live escape by driving into nearby fields and in action role-playing, extreme sports, a wild the confrontation that followed, police were west or a steampunk experience. again accused of using excessive force. All of which means that the typical Were the Stonehenge festival attendees UK festival goer has changed somewhat a living model of radical ideals in action, 36 too. While 21-25 year olds make up the largest age group at 18% of all attendees, MINUTES Time in which close behind with 17% are 41-50 year Glastonbury 2019 olds, and over 50s make up 13%. Don’t tickets sold out fancy camping? Join the 12% who enjoyed a hotel bed, or the 5% who bought a glamping package. No need to huddle over a primus stove either as food and drink outlets cater for all tastes — pizza is the most popular fare — and, should you be among the 21% who admit to having taken drugs at a festival, many events now provide safety testing to establish content and strength. Festivals may have changed over the years but in many ways they remain the same – a space to gather and share in the 537 creation and appreciation of music, love the number of and youth – regardless of age. However, travellers arrested one constant that the organisers will never at the Battle of be able to guard against is the British the Beanfield. It was one of weather, so don’t forget your wellies! the largest mass arrests since the 1 Kenneth Marks, Under-Secretary of State for second world war. the Environment, 1975 to 1979
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 13 ARTS
oung Esther fought so hard to be free that she knocked her Yfur-lined bonnet askew. Hana tugged it back to keep her child’s ears warm before she lifted her clear of the pram. They had no bread for the ducks but the baby didn’t care. Enthroned Pastries from in her mother’s arms, she stared without pity at the hungry mob quacking round Hana’s legs, then dropped her rattle on them. Hana shifted the baby on to her hip, bent down and reached Inspired by an account of her ordeal in for the rattle. The ducks had scattered and she gazed after wartime Warsaw by the mother of a them across the snow-covered ice of the lake. A dark cloud had girlhood friend, this story by Julie Williams sucked all the light from the sky. On any Sunday last winter of Wisbech NWR was shortlisted for the Ogród Saski would have been thronged with families, parents Historical Writers’ Association Dorothy handing out crusts to their children at the lakeside, buying bags of hot chestnuts, stamping their feet and clapping their cold Dunnett short story award 2018. hands as they stood and gossiped with acquaintances. Today it was deserted. Warsaw people who hadn’t fled or died in the bombing were too busy trying to survive in the city. They had ‘Her name is Esther, she’s five months old, a good baby,’ she no heart for a stroll in the park. said now, sounding reedy and adolescent to herself. Esther squirmed and Hana heaved her up to shoulder-level, ‘And does she look like you, my dear?’ kissed her and smiled, wrinkling her nose, coaxing her to smile Hana grasped Miss K’s meaning. She saw the two of them back. Her own survival plan was to trust her instincts like a as any stranger might, standing in the snow in Ogród Saski. fox protecting her cub and never succumb to self-pity. Her The stout old Polish woman in a thin coat and muffler, felt hat pulled down in a futile attempt to keep out the cold, and the young blonde Jewess with blue eyes wrapped in good worsted and a fox fur stole. And does she look ‘Well, I must be getting on. You’ll be heading home. Somewhere around Marszalkowska, is it? like you, my dear? Or perhaps you still live with your parents? That beautiful apartment!’ confidence spun a glow around them. They wouldn’t hide in a Hana realised the old woman didn’t expect replies. It must be stuffy room. They came to the park because no-one else came. loneliness and the habit of talking to yourself. That made it feel safe. Miss K touched her sleeve. ‘Goodbye, my dear. Next time you ‘Tatuś would be proud of you, Kochanie,’ she whispered, and go out, wear your armband, won’t you?’ paced back and forth between the two groups of willows on the z bank. Esther’s head pressed a little harder into her shoulder as she Home again, Hana was glad that the clatter of the lift hadn’t grew more drowsy with each turn. Hana had stopped to settle her woken Esther. Her brother’s wife Naomi was waiting for them in back in the pram when she heard the crump of footsteps in the the apartment hallway holding the white armband with the blue snow. Her stomach tightened. She kept her head down. star of David embroidered on it. Hana brushed it aside as she ‘Disgraceful, that we should have to struggle through the reached forward to kiss her on the cheek. Naomi tried to give snow like this.’ Hana a meaningful look but she had been crying and couldn’t The voice was familiar. Hana glanced over her shoulder to quite bring it off. The armband dangled from her fingers. ‘Why make sure, then relaxed. Her old piano teacher hadn’t changed. don’t you wear it? What will we do if they send you to prison?’ Plump feet in galoshes planted well apart, Miss K carried on Hana thought carefully as she took off her coat, shook it out, complaining: ‘They always clear the path to the lake. What can pushed her gloves in a pocket and hung it up. Naomi trailed they be thinking?’ after her. Hana spoke tentatively. ‘Please Hana. You think you can get away with it, but people ‘Pani Kominska? Don’t you recognise me?’ know you. You can’t assume they’re all your friends.’ ‘Why Hana, you have a child, I see.’ Hana stepped away from the pram but Miss K waved a hand to indicate she would not be inspecting the sleeping baby. ‘I heard you had married. Jozef Adler, wasn’t it? I taught his sister. Sadly she had no ear. You were different of course but you chose the law. Well. And now you have this child.’ Hana was struck by the evidence of total recall. She felt sixteen again and a disappointment. Not that Miss K had ever praised her talent, that wasn’t her way. She’d simply arranged an interview at the Conservatory. Hana hadn’t attended, had asked her father to telephone and explain.
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without shifting his feet and lost his balance. He put out an arm to steady himself and grinned like a naughty boy. He was so relaxed it was infectious. ‘Your husband was educated in Ziemiańska Germany?’ She shook her head. ‘Warsaw. We met here, studying law. We travelled of course — Italy, France, Germany.’ Who are you ‘I will wear it,’ she said. trying to impress, she thought, this is madness, but Richter had ‘Every time?’ got to his feet to explore further. Now he was looking through Hana nodded, ‘Yes, every time. I’ve worried you. I’m sorry. I the discs in paper sleeves stacked next to the gramophone. He wish the Nazis were in hell or at least back in Germany. I wish pulled one out and ran his finger over the label. they hadn’t bombed you out of your home. I wish you weren’t ‘You know, we have much in common,’ he said. ‘I have many too frightened to leave the apartment. I wish, I wish. I wish we of these records. Jazz, the Blues, songs from the movies.’ knew where Jozef and Jacov were.’ ‘It’s my husband’s collection. I prefer classical music. I play a She took the armband from Naomi, went back to the hall and little myself.’ left it on the console table by the front door to remind herself. ‘Really? Well, your husband is a man after my own heart. Is ‘Wouldn’t pastries from Ziemiańska be wonderful now? Two he here?’ each. Napoleonka.’ Hana couldn’t answer straight away. She bit her top lip. ‘And a slice of lemon in our tea,’ Naomi added, ‘Oh, yes.’ When she did speak her voice emerged as steady as before. ‘I z don’t know where he is.’ Next day when the doorbell rang, Naomi hurried into the ‘Oh?’ His brow crinkled with concern. nursery where Esther was asleep and closed the door behind It occurred to her that, yes, perhaps he could be of service to her. Hana stuffed the Judenbinde into a drawer and glanced in the mirror before she answered. Two German officers stood in the corridor. The younger one was strikingly good-looking, very much like Gary Cooper. He waited courteously for an invitation before he stepped inside. ‘Leutnant Richter.’ He bowed and clicked his heels. ‘Leutnant Müller.’ She saw that his fellow officer, who did not bow, carried a small case. ‘Good,’ said Leutnant Richter, smoothing the tips of his fingers over the beautiful blond surface of the console table. ‘Simple, clean lines.’ Hana had bought the table soon after her marriage and loved it all the more because her mother disliked it. They had come, he said, to see if they could be of service to her. She found herself wanting to oblige this officer by finding something he could do. His charm took her back to the old days. ‘Thank you,’ was all she managed to say before Esther began to cry. Both men’s eyes followed the sound to the door on their Inside Ziemiańska, by Józef Rapacki, 1926 left. Esther fussed a little then was quiet again. Hana led them into the salon. They stood side by side on the silk rug in front of her cream leather sofa. She sensed they wouldn’t sit her. ‘He joined up the day war began and left with the army. It’s down without a word from her and she kept them standing. been five months.’ Müller fumbled his cap in his hands and stared at the floor. He glanced at his companion then back at her. ‘An officer, Richter strolled to the bookshelf and tilted his head sideways to of course.’ read the titles. He squatted down to scan the lower shelves. Hana nodded. In the familiarity of a few minutes ago she ‘Goethe, Schiller, Schopenhauer.’ He looked up eagerly might have smiled and added ‘The same rank as you,’ but she mustn’t drop her guard again. ‘It’s possible he was captured so I may be able to trace him. I could make contact with the Red Cross in Berlin. Do you have a pen and paper? Shall we sit?’ The host now, he stretched out an arm towards her without presuming to touch and gestured towards the sofa. Müller, who was older and certainly not of the same class, began to move towards the alcove where Hana’s piano stood, its top clustered with silver-framed photographs of the family — her sister in Palestine, she and Jozef on their wedding day, her parents who had fled a few days before the invasion, their diamonds
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 15 ARTS hidden in her mother’s wig. She couldn’t bear him to put his hands Dangerous Knowledge was the theme on them, pick them up, look at them. Hana stood in his way. for the NWR Big Read 2018, selected by ‘You can write in the study.’ It was an order and the soldiers obeyed. She held the door Warwick and Leamington Spa branch. open and when they had both entered the small room she Their choices obviously provoked much followed them in. She moved the blotting pad to the centre lively discussion! of the desk, drew a precious sheet of writing paper from the drawer and placed it on the pad. She offered Richter her fountain pen. He sat, unscrewed the cap and wrote as she told Persepolis him Jozef’s name and rank, date of birth and regiment. He Marjane Satrapi turned the sheet when he had finished and carefully blotted it. He folded it and put it in an envelope. She saw that his hands This book is a semi-autobiographical were as white and soft as hers. graphic novel about a girl named Marjane growing up in Iran during the He wrote an address on the envelope, blotted it, sealed it, put advent of Islamic fundamentalism, it in the breast pocket of his tunic and buttoned the flap. He and we chose it because it was unlike turned her pen and glanced at the maker’s name embossed in anything that we had read before, either in content or format. Most of us agreed that although it was a quick read, looking like a comic book, it was actually quite He may be able a hard read, and that it demanded more attention than the format seemed to imply. We were divided as to the to trace Jozef benefits of presenting the story in this form, with some people feeling that the exploration of characters’ inner lives that we were accustomed to in novels was gold on the side. Then he put the pen in his pocket. He turned lost, while others felt that it gave the story more immediacy. We his attention to her grandmother’s Baccarat paperweight, acknowledged that the pictures were remarkably expressive and holding it up to see the light play through the millefiori of that they worked well in black and white given the often grim coloured glass. He replaced it on the desk. subject matter, but several of us had difficulty with the size of Hana averted her eyes. ‘I hope you don’t mind, I have an the print in the speech balloons — we were not sure whether this was because the book had been designed for a larger appointment,’ she said, and waited for them to leave the room. format or whether it was simply our ageing eyes! She followed Richter through the door but when she looked There was a general agreement that telling a story from back she saw that Müller had one foot up on the seat of the the point of view of a child was effective in creating a desk-chair and his case across his knee. He snapped open the straightforward view of events and contrasting the ambitions and simplicity of childhood with the repression and frequent catches, raised the lid and took out a sheet of newspaper. He hypocrisy of the adult world. It was also effective in criticising wrapped the Baccarat paperweight and put it away in the case. the male-dominated fundamentalist society in which Marjane ‘It’s been delightful to meet you,’ said Richter in the hall, lived. The clash between the child’s and the adult’s viewpoint smiling Gary Cooper’s lopsided smile. ‘You know, if we’d come often created comic effects as, for example, in an illustration across each other before the war, I’d never have guessed. You that showed a number of little girls in a school playground, having just been issued with hitherto unfamiliar head scarves, people are remarkable.’ using them as skipping ropes, reins, or monster heads. The From the wide window of the salon Hana and Naomi frequent use of comedy balanced the darker side of the book. watched the two men stop to light cigarettes, climb into their There was discussion about the behaviour of Marjane’s car and drive away down Przechodnia Street. parents. Her mother is the old emperor’s granddaughter and, ‘Do you think they’ll be back?’ Naomi’s voice wavered. rather oddly, they are affluent Marxists — a contradiction which their daughter recognises — dedicated to protest and a ‘He said he may be able to trace Jozef. He’s written to the Red western way of life. Many of their friends leave Iran to escape Cross.’ Hana felt a wave of exhaustion that threatened to wash the threat of imprisonment and torture but they choose to stay, her off her feet. in spite of the fact that members of their circle are executed or Later that morning, she went downstairs to see if there was disappear, and this seemed incomprehensible to many of us. any post but there was nothing for her. On her way back up They could, after all, manage a holiday in Italy and Spain. This led us into a discussion as to what sort of life refugees face. in the lift she found the envelope addressed to the Red Cross The difficulties of leaving one’s own country are well illustrated screwed up and dropped on the floor. in the book by Marjane’s problems when she is fourteen and her parents send her to live in Austria in an attempt to Pastries from Ziemiańska was inspired by the mother of the author’s protect her. She comes back several years later, having failed schoolfriend, a Polish lady who welcomed Julie into her family house in spectacularly, and then finds it impossible to re-adjust to the London. A survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, she was rumoured to have repressive nature of life in Iran. She belongs nowhere. escaped from a train on its way to the death camp at Treblinka and, even more astonishingly, to have kept her baby — Julie’s friend’s older On the whole we felt that this was a good choice of book. To sister — safe throughout the war. She never spoke about it, but her describe it as a cheerful read would be completely wrong, but account of her ordeal in Warsaw both in and outside the ghetto was we learned from it, and there was a lot to think about. There published after her death as A Jump for Life. Julie fictionalised a small was certainly no shortage of discussion. incident from her book as a tribute to this remarkable woman, Ruth Altbeker Cyprys. Liz Williams, Culcheth group
16 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk ARTS From Perfume to Persepolis: The Big Read Roundup
was put in the care of one of three people, one being Marie’s All the Light We Cannot See father. Not one of them knew if they were responsible for the Anthony Doerr diamond or one of the two copies. There is a strong focus on German scientific and technical The 10 members of our group who research. It is Werner’s ability to work with radio transmitters came together to review this book which leads to his leaving the Children’s House and his sister, agreed that it is a wonderful story which to join the Hitler Youth training school. While his abilities there brings together, if only briefly, the are valued and nurtured, he also trains to use brutality. The lives of the two main characters: one book has great examples of courage and compassion. Werner’s a blind French girl, the other a young birdwatching friend refuses to play his part during particularly German boy, following an interweaving cruel treatment to one of their number by the Hitler Youth, as of paths and events. It is a powerful the man subjected to it had, he thought, suffered enough. We tale, set during the second world war, had to question how important it was to weigh up obedience culminating in the capture of St Malo against being true to one’s own nature. by German troops and the subsequent Anthony Doerr has created a brilliant character in Marie- destruction of the town by Allied Forces. Laure: it is easy to empathise with her — partly, of course, The book is packed with detail as she has been blind since she was six. Her father creates — a little too much for some of our group — and requires miniature models of local streets to help her find her concentration to follow the plot as it unfolds. The multi-layered way around. This task results in unpredictable, terrible tale is told via the device of short chapters which jump back consequences for him as wartime for the two of them becomes and forth between the 1930s and 1944, and some of us found increasingly dangerous. While Marie’s life grows further and it confusing and difficult to get into at first. One member used further away from the Parisian friendliness she had known — post-it notes to highlight the date of each chapter, which made ‘Bonjour. Bonjour’ — it draws closer to Werner’s. it easier — it is definitely worth persevering! At times Doerr employs elaborate description, at others he is economic, and Wantage NWR through this medium builds tension. Members picked out the use of different themes in the work. Kitchen confidential: Adventures in Some especially liked the references to nature: the shells, molluscs and birds; and references to the works of Audubon the Culinary Underbelly to connect the storylines of Frederick and Etienne. Others Anthony Bourdain enjoyed the descriptive passages about food — breakfast, peaches and so on — and, as if there was not already enough I thought that this was an unusual choice going on, there was the intrigue of the Sea of Flames diamond! for Big Read 2018 but as this year’s Given the use, or possibly overuse, of adjectives throughout theme was ‘Dangerous Knowledge’ the story, we came up with several of our own to describe the it fitted well. It is a factual account of book: suspenseful, engrossing, shocking, moving, beautiful, the development of a chef from the intricate, haunting. earliest appreciation of food in France, All in all, our group agreed that this is a great novel, through numerous fast food kitchens in reminding us of the horror and inhumanity of war, and yet also New York, to high end restaurants. The the kindness of which humans are capable. We would definitely descriptions of his progression through recommend it! various roles of dishwasher, on the line, chef, manager, and international food Beith NWR writer are boisterous and robust. There is apparently lots of swearing and repartee THIS IS A MOVING STORY set in Germany and France before so, as the subtitle says, it really does reveal the ‘underbelly’ of and during the German occupation of France in the second professional kitchens. world war. Wantage NWR readers were soon gripped by both Given that, it is actually a very interesting read. Bourdain’s the characters and events. passion for food is evident as he writes in fascinating detail One member expressed difficulty getting into the book. The about the challenge of presenting identical plates of food night beginning can be seen as stilted, with its few short chapters, after night, the best days to order fish, dealing with owners and those chapters generally focus on a particular person — only interested in the bottom line and building relationships usually Marie-Laure, a French girl, or Werner, a young German. with and getting the best out of suppliers. Bourdain picks out Descriptions, we agreed, were excellent, and we could feel his key mentors who encouraged — and disciplined — him that we were there. Characters were wonderfully believable; as he moved from kitchen to kitchen, as well as the characters it was hard to put the book down as we wanted to know what among often a very multicultural staff. happened to them. Readers can’t help but learn about ingredients, dishes and There is a subplot involving a large blue diamond, which trends, such as foam and truffle oil, which will inform their next is not only very valuable, but is also thought to carry a curse. visit to a restaurant. Anyone who likes their steak well done This was safely locked away in the Paris museum where Marie’s might change their minds on reading this book! father worked before the German occupation, after which it Josephine Burt
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represented and developed through their internal dialogue: The Husband’s Secret especially the insecurities that haunt Tess, Cecilia’s need to Liane Moriarty always be in control, and Rachel — who feels an acute sense of loss as a result of her daughter’s death some years ago and the The book divided opinion in our group, imminent departure of her son and his family for America. with views varying widely from ‘I enjoyed Even though eight of the 16 people liked the book, few of it so much I read it again’ to ‘I really had the eight would recommend it as a good read to a friend. The to persevere and I’m still not clear why rest were indifferent. Reasons given were lack of empathy with there were so many characters; they any of the characters, and finding the plot a bit implausible. A weren’t all necessary’. Several in our lack of descriptive scene setting, which would give a feel for group had gone on to read other titles the place or environment in which the characters lived, was by the same author. also given as a reason for the lack of engagement. Much of the Three people at our meeting hadn’t novel was dialogue so we had an insight into their feelings and read the book and asked for a brief motives, but little feeling for their surroundings. resume, and great fun and games As a summary the novel, though not disliked, would not be ensued with those who had read it recommended as a good read. giving their various interpretations. As the storyline is multi-layered with several plot lines and many Bar Hill NWR characters, and as everyone who had read it was keen to add their voice, you can imagine that the decibel levels rose to Restless quite a pitch. We agreed that at the heart of the book is a letter that is William Boyd not meant to be read; a letter that changes everything for Our group decided to identify two of a lot of people. We also agreed that the use of an epilogue the books from those suggested as part was very effective and that, when all the circumstances of the of our contribution to the Big Read for ‘death’ are revealed to the reader, responsibility for it becomes this year. Our thanks go to Warwick and contentious. This led to a lengthy discussion of the rights and Leamington Spa group for compiling wrongs of John-Paul’s behaviour when, all those years ago as a the list on the theme of Dangerous teenager, he thought he had been responsible for the death. Knowledge. And, as far as we are Most of us agreed that John-Paul should have run for help/ concerned, the two books we read reported what had happened to the police at that point. Then certainly lived up to that theme. there would have been a proper post-mortem and the real We first discussed Restless, by William cause of Janie’s death would have been revealed, and John- Boyd, about a young woman recruited Paul wouldn’t have had to live with his dreadful secret all those into the British Secret Services just years. But of course, John-Paul didn’t behave rationally. He was before the second world war. Comments terrified and ran, and hence the story. included ‘couldn’t put it down’, ‘read it in two days’, ‘a gripping We also agreed that John-Paul was a good husband and story’ and a ‘page turner’. We all felt that the characters came father but we agreed too that he was weak. Well, most of over very convincingly, with particular emphasis on the strong us felt he was weak but some of us liked him anyway. We female roles. Although it was thought that there was too much discussed John-Paul’s mother and decided that she knew what jumping around by swapping from one period to another, it still her son had done but hadn’t said anything over all those years. kept our attention, as we wanted to find out more about Eva. This led to a discussion about morality and how we might react We then moved on to The Husband’s Secret, by Liane if someone we loved committed a crime — would we tell? Moriaty, which was quite a different subject area. It starts by At this point a vote on ‘what would you give this book out offering us a more simple approach when one of Cecilia’s of 10?’ revealed that no-one gave it less than five and most daughters asks about the Berlin Wall. Cecilia remembers she people gave it over eight, with one giving it a nine and a half. has a brick from the Wall, acquired when she visited Berlin. As We talked about Cecilia and whether we liked her or not. she looks for the brick in her attic she finds a letter written by Opinions varied but we agreed she was compelling and funny. her husband, and on the envelope it states: ‘My darling Cecilia, We discussed whether it was important or necessary to like the if you’re reading this, then I’ve died’. characters we read about and felt probably not, but they have The initial dilemma about whether to read the letter, even to be believable, there has to be integrity and you have to care though her husband is still very much alive, shows us a little about what happens. about Cecilia. But when she does finally open it, her life is Overall, the book lead to a really good discussion, ‘one of turned completely upside down. The lives of others, apart from the best ever’ some of us felt. We discussed, with feeling, her own family, are interwoven into the story in this small town issues of crime and punishment, whether secrecy is ever in Sydney, Australia, as we learn how the death of a teenager warranted or justifiable, and issues of trust and betrayal. some thirty years previously has affected so many lives. We found the story entertaining although many found it initially Jillian Sage, Deepings NWR difficult to follow the different threads. The characters were well drawn and the ending was very dramatic. We were not all sure about the last chapter as it provided too simplistic an ending, THE HUSBAND’S SECRET by Liane Moriarty did not seem to but the book as a whole kept our attention. capture the interest and passion of our readers as might have These two books certainly did fit into the theme of been expected from the plot and storyline. Dangerous Knowledge and of how some things are best kept Relationships are the dominant theme in the book, and how secret. We look forward to the Big Read in 2019 and again actions, thoughts and events influence them. Depending on the send our thanks to Warwick and Leamington Spa group for relationship and the people involved, there will be expectations giving us such thought-provoking books to read. associated with it. For example, the relationship between married couples, and how the different people cause and Jackie Jacobs, Kenton NWR react to changes in that relationship. The characters are well
18 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk REMARKABLE WOMEN
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Patrick Süskind Naïve patriot Having previously written for television, this was Patrick Süskind’s debut novel. First published in 1985 it has become or Nazi fanatic? an international bestseller, and in 2006 a film version was released. Alan Marlow brings us It warrants inclusion on the list of titles for this year’s Big Read because the lead the story of formidable character, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born flying ace Hanna Reitsch with a unique talent for distinguishing and mentally cataloguing an infinite Even at the beginning of the twenty variety of scents, makes it his life’s work first century, the world of the test pilot to master every aspect of extracting and capturing scent. In his utterly amoral is dominated by men. So how was it hands, this does indeed become Dangerous Knowledge. that in the Germany of the 1930s and For our group, this proved to be a book like no other. The 40s, a diminutive young woman in her translation from the original German has been skilfully done, twenties would join an elite cadre of the writing flows seamlessly, descriptions of different scents pilots testing what was at the time some seem to rise from the page. Engrossing and disturbing in equal measures, you are drawn in to the central character’s scent- of the most advanced and challenging obsessed world. Born in the fetid slums of eighteenth-century aviation technology in the world, while Paris, unwanted, unattractive and unloved, Jean-Baptiste at the same time becoming a poster girl Grenouille has a uniquely sensitive nose, but no personal for the Nazi regime? odour at all. As a result, this wretched creature, when he is Hanna Reitsch was born in Silesia in 1912. During her teenage noticed at all, has an unsettling effect on those he meets. Entirely without moral compass, and unable to connect in any years she developed a fascination with flight and begged her meaningful way with others, he flees from one encounter to the father to allow her to take gliding lessons. After the first world war, next, single-mindedly searching out knowledge and leaving under the terms of the armistice, aviation activities were severely death and disaster in his wake. restricted in Germany. Gliding was the exception, and clubs sprang As a character, Grenouille is cleverly drawn. A monstrous up all across the country. To encourage his daughter to take her creature, using people only for that which benefits his devilish plans, yet he is able to evoke our sympathy. Constantly aware academic studies more seriously, Hanna’s father made a bargain that his lack of natural human odour sets him apart, he learns with her: if she passed her school leaving examination, he would to disguise himself with a wardrobe of perfumes each designed pay for gliding lessons. He probably anticipated that when the to evoke a particular response. In time, he conceives of a time came Hanna’s ambitions would be in other directions. They scheme to create the ultimate perfume, one that will finally weren’t, and in 1931 Hanna made her first flight in a glider. make people love him. The fact that he has to murder 25 young maidens to achieve this is of no consequence to him. If Within a few years, Hanna became one of the most respected anything, he imagines them living on in their purest form, that glider pilots in Germany and the world. She broke a number of fleeting scent of blossoming womanhood. records, flew as a stunt pilot on a feature film, and took part in Without spoiling the novel for those who haven’t read gliding expeditions in Europe, South America, and North Africa. it, Grenouille achieves his aim, but with disastrous results. He perceives that it is not enough to be able to command Around this time, Hanna found herself a mentor and patron the love of others because he cannot love himself. Without in Luftwaffe General Ernst Udet. Udet was an extraordinary being able to smell himself, he cannot know who he truly is. character. He was the highest scoring surviving German ace Disgusted by the debauchery of those whose acceptance from the first world war — having flown in the famous Red and adoration he sought, he returns to Paris and willingly Baron’s squadron — and had been a barnstormer and stunt sacrifices himself to his grisly fate. While we were in agreement on most points, one member pilot in the United States in the 1920s. His wartime comrade, found it hard to engage with the story, and found the liberal Herman Goering, now chief of the newly formed Luftwaffe, use of adjectives irritating. She overcame this by doing some appointed Udet head of technical development for his air force. background research and as a result was able to highlight It was a political role for which Udet was totally unsuited and, aspects that we may have overlooked. One such was overwhelmed by the stress of it, he would commit suicide in 1941. Grenouille’s Christian name evoking a comparison to John the Baptist, and in particular his self-imposed exile. She also pointed In 1936, while conducting demonstration flights of gliders at out references to modern serial killers, and how Grenouille’s the Berlin Olympics, Hanna met 17-year-old British schoolboy mesmerising effects on the masses drew parallels to Hitler. All Eric Brown. It would be the first of many meetings and their lives of this excellent research resulted in an interesting discussion, would become strangely intertwined. Eric’s father, an aviator and she would recommend this approach, but in spite of her in the Royal Flying Corps during the first world war, had been enhanced understanding of the book, she still did not enjoy it. For most of us, though, this was a fascinating read and as a invited to the Olympics by General Udet. Eric recalls Hanna as ‘a result of our discussion other members have been intrigued petite, hyperactive lady who was a compulsive talker who took to read Perfume and have also given positive feedback. The virtually no notice of him’. He was deeply impressed by Hanna’s majority of us would highly recommend it, and if at first you flying display and was delighted when General Udet offered to don’t warm to it, try a little research! take him up for a flight. During the flight Udet performed ‘every Leamington and Warwick Group aerobatic stunt known to man’ and, on landing, slapped the
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 19 REMARKABLE WOMEN young man on the back and told him to learn to fly and speak German, and then come back and see him. In 1938, having fulfilled both criteria, Brown knocked on the door of General Udet’s flat in Berlin, where he once again met Hanna. Brown describes the flat as being ‘like the waiting room in Birmingham Central Station, with people constantly coming and going and lots of drinking and partying going on’. Eric Brown One pastime was target shooting, except that one was required to aim over the shoulder looking in a mirror. Many missed, The Reichenberg Piloted V1 blowing holes in the walls. direct access to the upper echelons of the Nazi regime, allowing By this time, with Udet’s support, Hanna had become a test her to virtually dictate that she should fly the most advanced pilot on powered aircraft at Germany’s experimental aircraft and challenging aircraft that Germany had to offer. establishment, Rechlin. Udet also gave Hanna the rank of Without a doubt, one of these was the rocket powered ME163. Flugkapitan, or Flight Captain, an honour she was not really This tiny aircraft had been developed to intercept the allied qualified for. One of her projects was testing Germany’s bombers now laying waste to German cites. It could climb pioneering helicopter, the FW61. Udet wanted to raise more quickly and fly faster than any other aircraft, but was also awareness of Germany’s lead in this field of aviation and, ever incredibly dangerous. The rocket fuels which propelled it were the showman, he hit upon a spectacular stunt. For five nights extremely corrosive and volatile. A leak in the cockpit would Hanna flew the helicopter inside Berlin’s Deutschlandhalle literally dissolve the pilot, and explosions would occur for no exhibition hall during the 1938 Motor Show. Eric Brown recalls apparent reason. Fuel would be exhausted very quickly so the witnessing Hanna’s spectacular and potentially dangerous pilot would be required to make a very demanding unpowered demonstration, in which she would lift the helicopter to the high-speed landing. Hanna described flying the ME163 as being top of the roof, fly along the length of the exhibition hall, turn ‘like sitting on a cannonball, you were intoxicated by the speed!’ around, fly back, then land. Prior to landing Hanna would But, after crashing while attempting to land, she required extensive present a Nazi salute from the cockpit. plastic surgery, and had spinal injuries from which she took months to recover. The most distressing thing was being told she Not a strong man! might never fly again. Unbeknown to her carers, as her condition In the next few years, Hanna was involved in a number began to improve, Hanna would climb out of the window of her of hazardous flight-testing programmes. She undertook room and ascend to the roof of the hospital, where she would walk development of the air brakes on the notorious Stuka dive bomber, along the ridge tiles in an attempt to regain her sense of balance. and went on to test a massive glider called the Gigant, which was intended to provide transport of troops and equipment for the A suicide bomb invasion of Britain. The Gigant was so big that it needed three By 1943 it was obvious that the tide of the war had turned against aircraft and rockets to get it airborne. Hanna remonstrated with Germany, and Hanna decided that desperate measures were the designer, Willy Messerschmitt, that it was virtually un-flyable needed. The V1 flying bomb was designed to fly autonomously and a death trap. Messerschmitt told her that she found it difficult and, when its fuel was exhausted, crash into its target. Its because she was ‘only a little girl and not a strong man’! primitive guidance system, however, meant its aim was very poor. One of the most bizarre experiments Hanna conducted was With two friends Hanna formulated an outrageous proposal: to fit attempting to cut the steel cables holding down barrage balloons. a cockpit so that a pilot could fly the V1 directly into a high value, During the blitz of London, a number of German aircraft had strategically important target. A suicide bomb! Hanna presented crashed on colliding with balloon cables. Hanna’s task was to fly an the idea to senior Luftwaffe officers, who dismissed it out of hand aircraft fitted with a cutter bar directly at the cable. Several attempts as being totally counter to the culture of Germany. were successful, but then a cable smashed through the aircraft’s Eventually she got the opportunity to present the proposal to engine and almost severed the wing. It was only by a spectacular Hitler himself. In recognition of her crash in the ME163 rocket feat of flying that Hanna managed to land the plane, Hanna had been awarded the Iron Cross First Class. aircraft without killing herself and her crew. After the presentation, Hanna attempted to persuade Hitler of For this she received an Iron Cross Second the necessity of her suicide bomb strategy. Hitler was lukewarm Class from Adolf Hitler himself. about the proposal, but eventually agreed to allow Hanna to go By this time, Hanna was becoming a ahead with development and testing, although only he would superstar in Nazi Germany, hailed as a authorise its deployment. There were fatalities and serious injuries shining example of German womanhood. during the programme but Hanna escaped relatively unscathed. She appeared on the covers of newspapers Ultimately the V1 never was used as a suicide weapon, but a and magazines and was given honorary special group of pilots known as the Leonidas Squadron was citizenship of her home town of formed, all of whom signed a pledge to lay down their life for the Hirschberg. For Hanna, however, the most Fatherland. Hanna Reitsch’s name was at the top of the list. important thing was that she now had Following the suicide of Ernst Udet in 1941, Hanna found another friend and mentor in senior Luftwaffe officer General General Ernst Udet Ritter Von Greim. As the Russians advanced on Berlin in the spring
20 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk REMARKABLE WOMEN of 1945, Von Greim was ordered to attend a meeting with Hitler in his Berlin bunker. Von Greim decided to fly himself, and Hanna insisted on accompanying him. As they flew over the Russian lines, the aircraft was hit by artillery and Von Greim was wounded and lost consciousness. Hanna was forced to reach over Von Greim’s inert body to fly the aircraft from the rear seat. She landed near the Brandenburg Gate and they were taken to the Führerbunker. Once Von Greim’s wounds had been treated, Hitler informed him that Goering had betrayed him and that he, Von Greim, was promoted to Commander of the Luftwaffe. The reality was that, by now, the German Air Force was virtually non-existent, but in Hanna (fourth from the left) meets President John F Kennedy the fantasy world in which Hitler now existed, he ordered Von contrition for her close associations with the Nazi hierarchy, Greim to organise a counter attack on the advancing forces. asserting that she had no political affiliations and that these Should the necessity arise relationships only came about through her flying activities. Disillusioned with her country’s failure to allow her to put her In the chaos of the bunker, Hanna offered to fly Reich Minister past behind her, in 1974 Hanna took Austrian citizenship. Joseph Goebbels’ six children to safety. Their mother, Magda, Meanwhile, Eric Brown continued to test some of the most refused and subsequently poisoned her children and herself, technologically advanced and challenging aircraft in the world rather than allow them to fall into the hands of the Russians. and, in the opinion of many, is the greatest test pilot that Hanna and Von Greim flew out of Berlin just hours before the city Britain has ever produced. While he met Hanna occasionally finally fell. Prior to leaving the bunker, Hitler personally gave Von at aviation events, he didn’t really regard her as a friend. He Greim and Hanna cyanide tablets, ‘should the necessity arise’. was surprised, therefore, when in August 1979 he received a At the cessation of hostilities, Hanna and Von Greim were letter from Hanna which he described as rambling — talking detained by the advancing American forces. It was at this time of the bond that they had as aviators but also about her deep that a familiar face came back into Hanna’s life. commitment to the country of her birth, Germany. She ended At the start of the war, student Eric Brown had managed to the letter: ‘what began in the bunker will end in the bunker’. escape from Germany and had joined the Fleet Air Arm where Hanna Reitsch died on 24 August 1979. No post mortem was he had himself become a test pilot. As the war drew to a close, he performed and her funeral was conducted quickly and in secret, was appointed head of Britain’s Enemy Aircraft Unit, tasked with but Eric Brown, along with many others, believed that, depressed, acquiring advanced German aircraft and technology and detaining exhausted and unwell, Hanna Reitsch finally used the cyanide and interrogating key German personnel. So it was that in July 1945, tablet that had been given to her in Berlin 34 years before. in Salzburg prison, Lieutenant Commander Eric Brown sat across a In death as in life, Hanna Reitsch continued to be a table from the woman who had been so inspirational to him. controversial figure. Whether she was a fanatical Nazi who was Eric describes Hanna at that time as being in a highly emotional fully aware of the atrocities being committed by her country state. That is hardly surprising. Hanna had just learned that all and cynically chose to ignore them in pursuit of her own of her family were dead. In the immediate post war confusion, a ambitions, or whether she was simply a naïve patriot who was rumour circulated that all German citizens were to be repatriated manipulated by an evil regime for their own ends, are questions to their place of origin. For the Reitsch family, that meant Soviet- which continue to be asked. Certainly, Hanna professed to have occupied Silesia. Germans were aware of the terrible retribution been appalled by the events of Kristallnacht in 1938 and claimed that the Soviets were extracting for atrocities committed during to have confronted Henrich Himmler over the rumours of the invasion of Russia, and Hanna’s father was determined that death camps. Unsurprisingly, he flatly denied that they existed. his family should not suffer. After an unsuccessful attempt at Like many other Germans, when finally confronted with the poisoning them, he shot Hanna’s mother, their maid, her sister evidence of the Holocaust, Hanna simply refused to believe that Heidi and her sister’s three small children. To compound her her country, with its sophistication, culture and high moral code, misery, Ritter Von Greim, believing that he was to be tried for war could possibly have been involved with anything so barbarous. crimes, used the cyanide tablet given to him in the bunker. Eric Brown, while himself believing Hanna to have been a In the post war years Hanna would re-discover her love fanatical Nazi, had nothing but admiration for her courage and of gliding. She set up gliding schools in Ghana and India flying skill, which he summed up very simply: ‘She was to my and continued to break world gliding records virtually up to mind, the greatest female pilot who has lived to date’. the time of her death. In aviation circles, she was a celebrity around the world and was invited to give lectures in numerous Sources: The Sky My Kingdom by Hanna Reitsch; Flying for The by Judy Lomax; by Captain Eric countries. In the early 1960s she was introduced to President Fatherland Wings on My Sleeve Melrose ‘Winkle’ Brown; two extensive interviews with Captain Brown John F Kennedy as a founder member of the Whirly Girls, an conducted by the author. international federation of female helicopter pilots. Alan Marlow is the Audio Recording Centre Technician at the Open But for many in Germany Hanna was something of an University where the audio version of NWR Magazine is recorded. A life embarrassment. She continued to use the rank of Flugkapitan long interest in aviation and its pioneers led to a fascination with the intertwined lives and careers of aviatrix Hanna Reitsch and legendary and to wear her Iron Crosses, insisting that the honours were British Test Pilot Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, whom he had the for her flying experiences and nothing else. She expressed no privilege of meeting and interviewing on a number of occasions.
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 21 Members’ Corner Not at all grim up North! We were NOT expecting that!
After 18 years as Local Organiser for Bridge of Don branch, Jean Pritchard has handed over the reins to Eilleen Torry, our youngest and newest member. In recognition of her services the group presented her with a voucher. Upon Jean’s arrival in Aberdeen in 1990, with a job already in place in the oil industry but no friends in the area, the NWR poster in the local library was exactly the thing to appeal to a newcomer, and the Bridge of Don group was to form the basis for good friendships over the next 28 years. Likewise, when Eilleen arrived, amid NWR has a habit of setting in motion thoughts and ideas. In June 2014 the terrible wintery conditions in 2010, the Trentham group looked at the significance and value of war memorials, including NWR ladies provided a friendly welcome our local one. We thought it would be interesting to research the 17 names listed and much needed company. from the first world war. Eventually we tracked down information for all but one Fast forward to today, and our of the men, but we could not stop there. Ten of us formed ourselves into the programme continues to be current, with Trentham World War One Project group and set about finding out more about a flourishing book group and whole range who lived in this community 100 years ago, and how they coped with the dark of subjects being discussed, plus outings days of the war. to places of interest, cinema, theatre, Over the past three years, we have used our subsequent researches to make walks and meals. Our latest visit was to a four films, engage with local schools, organise two Heritage Open Days, run new waste management facility and our community events, mount exhibitions and lead heritage walks. We also undertook Christmas outing will be a carol concert all our own fundraising. It seems as though our efforts have not gone unnoticed. followed by afternoon tea at a seafront In September 2018, we won the community group of the year in the Our Heroes restaurant — in Aberdeen in December! awards run by our local newspaper, the Sentinel. We’re a hardy lot up here. That NWR meeting back in 2014 took us on quite a journey. We would not have Over the years programme planning missed the experience, but afterwards we said we will NOT be doing anything has become something of a DIY exercise, similar anytime soon! However... we are now moving on to research the names with members electing to host a date from the second world war that are inscribed on our war memorial, and we are from a blank diary and choose the subject looking at Trentham’s contribution to the war effort and gathering oral histories for discussion. At our last evening we from older residents. Watch this space! discussed the viability of reintroducing Marilyn Vigurs, Trentham NWR animals back into the wild in areas where they have become extinct. Coming up, we have a Burns supper, a spring supper, we look forward to the annual Christmas corner challenge of the TTT, and have even compiled one on capital cities. Cheltenham and Charlton Kings branch had two festive celebrations. Each year Eilleen and Jean they hold their Christmas meeting at a member’s home. This year, alongside our Dibden Purlieu branch enjoyed a lovely usual Secret Santa jeopardy game and Christmas lunch. quiz, we were treated to a pantomime. Ros led the cast, all suitably costumed and rehearsed. The interpretation of Cinderella was hilarious and enjoyed by audience and the players alike. It is amazing what a small, talented cast and a clever script can achieve. Early in December a large party from the group, plus guests, enjoyed a festive meal at the very popular Daffodil Restaurant in the Suffolks area of Cheltenham. This is a restored art deco cinema which has been carefully turned into a beautiful restaurant. It is well worth a visit if you are in town.
22 NWR Magazine Spring 2019 www.nwr.org.uk MEMBER’S CORNER
Auntie recommends…
We are the Lytham St Anne’s NWR group, Lake Albert between Uganda and Belgian in Lancashire on the Fylde Coast. The Congo for almost forty years she found group came into being around 1979 fame on the silver screen in 1951 with after a woman, new to the area, heard Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. a programme on the radio about the She now lives in Florida at Key Largo. National Housewives Register and phoned The 2018 season saw our group enjoy the BBC to find out more. It transpired a typically varied programme ranging that the nearest branch was in Lancaster. from a discussion and DVD showing of The BBC recommended that she start up Me Before You from the 2018 Big Read, a new group, which she proceeded to do. a talk by a member entitled The Courage Entry was advertised and the group began of Women, a talk by a member about with eight members. The speakers were her experiences in a Patient Involvement based on members’ interests and there Group at her local GP surgery, a trip to our was to be talk neither of domestic matters town theatre to hear Michael Portillo, and nor of children. a fascinating guided walking tour of the I understand that the group grew so historic Winckley Square in Preston, after large that it split into two. The splinter which we met with members of Thornton group eventually folded but ours NWR for a most enjoyable lunch. Lively, noisy, friendly continues to be well supported and There was much more, which space We are the Shoreham 1 NWR group, to progress prevents me from mentioning, and the based in Shoreham-by-Sea on the Sussex from strength 2019 season beckons. Amongst other coast. We currently have 16 members to strength. items, we look forward to a Room 101 and we are looking to recruit. We are a We would and What to Put in It session, a talk by very lively, noisy and friendly group with encourage a member about how she went from a good range of interests. Our meetings anyone selling fried chicken to becoming a prison usually take place in the evenings, and so interested to warder, researching and talking about far this year we have enjoyed: find a local NWR Poland, discussing our big reads The Bag lady — five items in a bag, guess the group and join Awakening by Kate Chopin and If You owner l Anti-bucket list l My personality it, as membership does add an interesting Can Walk You Can Dance by our new in a collage l What’s in the newspapers? l dimension to one’s life, not to mention patron Marion Molteno, not to mention Talk about someone famous who shares new friendships. an Easter afternoon tea at our local your birthday l Pictures of members in Lytham’s claim to fame is that the steam Georgian mansion, Lytham Hall. And past fashions l Unexplained happenings l powered launch The African Queen that’s only up to April! Here’s to a fun and Guess the year — five cluesl Talk from — see The Big Read Spring 2017 — is interesting NWR year for us all. local charity 4sight l Interesting pub said to have been built by the Lytham names. Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Jennifer Edwards, At our Time Travel evening we recently in 1912. After plying the waterways of Lytham St Annes NWR welcomed our area organisers, Jenny and Marilyn. Later this year we are looking forward In memoriam band and took the lead as our organiser to a talk on aromatherapy, the TTT Quiz, several times. When others took their turn lunch at a local college prepared and Christine Walker as LO her skills and advice were greatly served by the students, a pottery painting appreciated by the incumbent organiser. Christine died suddenly on 30th evening at a local garden centre, and Celia was a well-renowned ice- January. She had been Wantage NWR a craft evening. Also planned is a pre- skater and trainer in her younger days. treasurer for many years and contributed Christmas buffet with Secret Santa presents She appeared in ice shows and was a greatly to meetings. – last year the budget was £5 and gifts had professional trainer at Richmond Ice Christine was kind and thoughtful, to be bought from a charity shop. Rink, where she taught many children always helping people through difficult As well as our evening meetings to skate, including several young royals. times. She loved her family and enjoyed we have a monthly coffee morning, She moved to Ferndown to teach at the travel, walking, was a great hostess and restaurant visits, an annual post-Christmas Bounemouth Ice Rink which then closed an amazing cook. meal, a book group, and visits to six months later but, undeterred, she took She will be greatly missed by all of us. museums and gardens. We have also up training synchronised swimmers at the played croquet, an area event, and have Celia Bell Ferndown Leisure Centre, and organised joined Shoreham 2 for shared events. several large County and National events In August we went to Driftwood, the We lost a stalwart member of the including one for Children in Need. She amazing award-winning coastal garden Ferndown and West Moors NWR group was on the advisory panel for Crohn’s in Seaford, owned by Geoff Stonebanks. in November 2018. Celia Bell died disease at the Royal Bournemouth After a talk, where we learned that it suddenly at the age of 82 after surgery. Hospital and always willing to help takes him seven hours over two days to Her husband, lost without her, died anyone who needed it. She looked after water his plants, we visited each corner three weeks later. her husband, John, and last year, when of the garden before sitting down to Celia had been a member of NWR arthritis struck and reduced her mobility, tea and cake made by Geoff. ‘A perfect since, as a young mum in Sutton, Surrey, she still cheerfully attended meetings, summer’s day in a beautiful garden’ and she joined the then NHR. She continued lunches and quizzes. Her wisdom and ‘an inspirational garden’ to quote two of her membership after moving to Dorset common sense were a rare commodity in our members. in 1990, when she joined our merry today’s world and we all miss her. Lorraine Nightingale and Cathy Ford, Shoreham 1 NWR
www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2019 23 Where is your nearest NWR group? Are you interested in joining NWR? 01603 406767 Contact us to find out more. [email protected] Can’t find a group near you? www.nwr.org.uk Contact us about setting one up.
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