Not so much red top as big top SUMMER 2017 EASTFOLK CHRONICLE Eastfolk Chronicle

SUMMARY 2017 NO. 8 FREE! (OF ALL CHARGES M’LUD) FOR ALL FOLK OF AN EASTERLY PERSUASION ROLL UP ROLL UP THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH ETC ETC BY OUR BIG TOP CORRESPONDENT MR JOHN KERRISON I decided to do some research into Pablo Fanque and discovered the story of a truly outstanding man. What is remarkable is that he became the first black owner, in the golden era for , in this country at Your Queen and her intended Mr J. Efkay a time when the Slavery Abolition Act did not become law until the middle of 1834. A ROYAL MESSAGE The early life of this remarkable man is riddled with inconsistencies. While there is some doubt about the NEWS FROM ON HIGH exact date and location of his birth, his biographer, John Turner, claimed that he was born William Darby By our Royal Correspondant Noah Phents on the 28th February 1796 and was brought up in Ber Street near to the present All Saints Green in . Church records would indicate he was one of the To the citizens of the so-called United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – five children of John Darby and Mary Darby, whose Sovereign Queen of The of Great Britain maiden name was Stamp. Other sources claim he was and Northern Ireland - Lord Of the North, Mother of orphaned while still a young boy. The birth records for Dragons and Breaker Of Chains. the Saint Andrew’s Workhouse in Norwich contain In light of your failure to nominate competent candidates the birth of a William Darby to John Darby and Mary for President of the so-called USA and thus to govern Stamp on the 1st April 1810. The aforementioned yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your blue plaque has the same date, so this is most likely to independence, effective immediately. be true. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume It is believed that Fanque’s father was born in Africa monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and and brought to Norwich to be trained as a servant. I was walking across All Saints Green in territories (except North Dakota, which she does not This appears to be confirmed by the fact that William fancy). Norwich and noticed a blue plaque on a wall. Being gave his father’s occupation as a butler on his own innately curious, I decided to investigate and when I Our new Queen’s-Hand, Theresa May, will appoint a marriage certificate. read what was written on it I could hardly believe my Governor for the so-called USA without resort to further eyes! I should explain that I am of a certain age and Although the circumstances or reasons are not elections. the name on the plaque brought back memories of known, the young William became an apprentice Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. the “Summer of Love” - Pablo Fanque! For any self to a circus proprietor called William Batty. Calling A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine respecting teenager in 1967 that name would forever himself at that time “Young Darby”, he made his first whether any of you noticed. be associated with , Sergeant Pepper’s known public appearance on Boxing Day 1821 in a To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the song, “Being For sawdust circus ring in Norwich, tight rope walking (BCD), the following rules are introduced with immediate The Benefit Of Mr Kite”, a song written by John and showing off his equestrian skills. He seems to have effect: Lennon after seeing a Victorian poster in an antique been a prodigy and by 1836 he was in shop in Sevenoaks, advertising a circus performance of and had changed his name to Pablo Fanque. He was 1. The letter ‘U’ will be reinstated in words such as ‘colour,’ ‘favour,’ ‘labour’ and ‘neighbour.’ Likewise, you will learn to Pablo Fanque’s Royal Circus in 1843. billed as a “Negro rope walker”. At the same time he spell ‘doughnut’ without skipping half the letters, and the had also become a great horseman, probably under the suffix ‘-ize’ will be replaced by the suffix ‘-ise.’ Generally, tutelage of Andrew Ducrow, who was described as “the you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable greatest equestrian performer who has ever performed levels. (look up ‘vocabulary’). Words such as ‘Inspirational’ before the public”. The newspapers described Pablo as will return to simply ‘inspiring’ adding ‘ational’ onto the “the loftiest jumper in ” and in 1847, at his ends of words will be frowned upon (frownational). In debut, he was praised for his horsemanship much the same way, though we accept Transistorise we and mastery of the manège, a stylised form of reject Sectionalise. performance, similar to dressage, which had its origins 2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with in in the 16th century.. filler noises such as ‘’like’ and ‘you know’ is an unacceptable He must have had incredible drive and ambition and inefficient form of communication. There is no such because, in 1841, Pablo, at the age of 45 (or 31), had thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. formed his own troupe with just 2 horses and relocated from to the North of England, where he was

Photo by John Lewis Continues on page 2. One turns to page 3 TWO EASTFOLK CHRONICLE SUMMER 2017 SUMMER 2017 EASTFOLK CHRONICLE THREE

Pablo Fanque - continued from front Royal Message - continued from front of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a FORTHCOMING EVENTUALS world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Eastfolk COME FORTH THEY CRIED Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries. BY BILL POSTING 13. You will tell us who killed JFK/Abe/Martin Luther/ Bobby etc Chronicle News is just in of a new Ceilidh Dancing event in 14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her (not to be confused with Woodbridge run by the good folk at Folkus. It’s on Majesty’s Government will be with you shortly to ensure The Bigger Shoe) the first Friday of each month in The Woodbridge the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776). Community Hall from 7.30 until 10.30. You are 15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper Crowd Copyright. advised to book for this popular event, by directing Beccles Skatepark Community are looking to cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality Established some time ago and registered with your mouse to [email protected], if you manage raise funds to build a new, permanent and safer biscuits (your ‘cookies’) made by my son, and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season. all Fish and Chip outlets as potential to do this and book in advance it will be just five of concrete skatepark. If you’d like to participate in wrapping paper your English pounds and less if you are a student; making a donation, please get in touch. 16. You will re-instate Mr Obama as your President, to remain based. By the time of his London debut he ‘less’ being a mere three nicker. If you remain Summer 2017 Issue No. 8 including his wife who I liked, and you WILL SAY SORRY had a “stud of horses and ponies”, one of which was undecided, even after this article, then contact Rob on www.becclesskate.co.uk to them both and then go upstairs to your bedroom and Editor: Cally at Antar ([email protected]) bought from the stables of Queen Victoria. He had 01473 610 951 not come back down until you are truly sorry also married his first wife Susannah and had children. or (cally@hyreujfbcyehhjchdw if sending Not clashing with this at all is a Real Ale festival on the Halesworth, that town at the very tip of Eastfolk, will God Save the Queen! (me) Before long he had a purpose built three thousand seat complaints) Oddfellows Green near Pakefield, run by the saucy salts host another HERRING FESTIVAL this coming auditorium in and his troupe became a Advertising Manager: Ruth Crome at The Oddfellows Pub, perched, as it is, precariously Autumn – October the 28th and 29th to be alarmingly Her Madge resplendent in approved Windsor Jugend firm favourite with audiences in the north of England. ([email protected]) on the cliff top south of Lowerstelfesteem. It’s on precise. More details can be found on the Halesworth drill outfit His success was partly due to his showmanship, such Saturday and Sunday, the 2nd and 3rd of September New Cut Arts Centre website or paddle off to www. Hot metal setting: Nik Rose as announcing the arrival of the circus in in 3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday. from 11am until 8pm. Saturday is a 1940s - 1950s day suffolkherringfestival.co.uk and more will be revealed. (www.nikrose.co.uk) 1846 by riding 12 hand, which means controlling 12 4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using (that’s a dress-advisory code – not an age limit). There’ll Fishy Jokes, Fishy Stories, Fishy Songs, Fishy Nets, horses at the same time, which was a remarkable feat guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so Printed by Sharman and Company be live music from King Size Papas and something we Keith Haring will not be appearing. of skill, and by his clever use of advertising via advance many lawyers and therapists shows that you’re not quite www.sharmanandco.co.uk 01 733 424 949 understand is called a ‘Disc Jockey’ in the form of Off to Sweffling and the fabled White Horse pub bill-posting. ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for The Muffin Man (probs not selling muffins) and Jive a den of ink wittery if ever there was one. It’s open All material contained remains laughingly shooting fairground ducks with corks. He suffered financial setbacks from time to time but Bunnies. Sunday is a ‘Rock Day’. We suspect that this Fridays through to Mondays seven to eleven and even copyright 2017 by The Eastfolk Chronicle who 5. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything his life took a tragic turn on 18th March 1848 when is not in the form of a long sweet stick with writing at lunchtme on a Sunday! (ignore the closed for lunch accepts very little responsibility for matters more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit his wife, Susannah, by whom he had two sons, was through the middle, nor is it anything to do with the signs) Not content with selling the finest ales they will arising or marriages ending from any of the will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in killed in an accident at the auditorium, caused when nearby Eastfolk Mountains, no, it can only be rock in tempt you with a few events, namely: contents herein, heretofore and hereabouts. public. the wooden supports of the pit, crammed with 600 the form of music, and it will be live music played by Any similarity to , The 5 August - Sound Tradition - Traditional, 6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, members of the audience broke, and it to collapsed Fortunate Sons and Walkway, not all at the same time. unaccompanied folk songs (these will not be called Rotaries) and you will start driving Waveney Clarion, Country Bizarre or Forum onto the lower gallery, where Susannah was selling Blistering glad tidings all! The Butley Oyster is back in 12 August - The Crisp Brothers will be back again on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, Gentleman’s Magazine is purely aspirational tickets. Her head and neck were hit by several planks, action after a lengthy slumber. This historic and fabled Catchy, lively tunes. you will go metric with immediate effect and without on our part. For further details please ask for killing her instantly. She was buried in Woodhouse music pub gets back in the swing with Traditional 9 September - STORYTELLING FOR the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and further details. Cemetery in . Music on the first Tuesday of each month. See the GROWNUPS - local duo Dark Love - Death, sex, metrication (not metrification) will help you understand www.eastfolkchronicle.co.uk the British sense of humour. Pablo continued touring England, Scotland and even location on the centerfold map: it’s the The Butley murder, dismemberment and zombies - now that’s Uncle Edward and that nice Mr Goebbels came to tea Twitter: @eastfolkchron Ireland, building several amphitheatres along the Oyster, near Woodbridge and if you use satnag then what we call a night out... 7. The former USA (so-called USA) will adopt UK Editorial address: The Old Printworks, way and suffering more financial setbacks too. Some command it heads to IP12 3NZ and you’ll find it. 16 September - Local indie duo ‘Hot Raisin’ will be prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. You will get used to it, you will Marlinspike Hall, Walpole, Halesworth, of his children joined his troupe, one son billed as If you are undecided then visit the Butley Oyster back once again with their beautiful music use less. You may feel useless OTHER ROYAL NEWS Eastfolk, IP19 9AR, Europe. “Ted Pablo”, performed for Queen Victoria. Probably electronically by the power of the internot (signals only 23 September - EQUINOX CELEBRATION - come the most celebrated member of his circus troupe was to be found in public libraries in Little Bitnorty) you and see in the new season with us! 8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call TEACHER ARRESTED! the prize fighter in 1861, who was very tell it to go to www.butleyoyster.com and off y’geau. 30 September - Matt Buckle French Fries are not real chips, and those things you insist much a household name. on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real 8 October - ANCIENT BIKES RIDE – local A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. chips are thick cut, deep fried, and dressed not with catsup Veteran-Cycle Club fixture arriving and departing on Kennedy International airport as he attempted to board a Fanque later remarried, his new wife being Elizabeth but with vinegar and/or mushy peas. Corker from Sheffield, who was twenty years his ancient machines with oil, gas and candle lights only! flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, junior and had several children, who all joined the 14 October - Dan Fraser - Fab music and a great 9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is a slide-rule and a calculator. entertainer, back with his whole band! Expect a very not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British circus. Pablo Fanque died of bronchitis on the fourth At a morning press conference, Attorney General Jeff Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of of May 1871 in a rented room in the Britannia Inn late night and lots of fun! Sessions said he believes the man is a member of the known and accepted provenance will be referred to as 21 October - Ash Mandrake - musically eclectic notorious so-called Al-Jebra movement. in . By then the popularity of circuses had Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen begun to diminish and he was living in great poverty. (folk rock going out to blues, jazz, eastern, european, african, classical) and includes hats, story and comedy. Malt-Flavoured Beverage (Nefromalflabev) , so that all can He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FolkEast Patrons: The Young’Uns He was buried with ceremony alongside his first wife be sold without risk of further confusion. You will still be FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. in Leeds. His cortege consisted of a band playing allowed to feed this to babies. General Enquiries: [email protected] “...Al-Jebra is a problem set to threaten all of us”, the the Dead March, and his hearse was followed by his 10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast Attorney General said. “They derive solutions by means Production and planning by John Marshall favourite horse and four coaches of mourners. English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search Potter: [email protected] At a time when black people were almost exclusively required to cast English actors to play English characters. of absolute values.” Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialect in Marketing and fortholding by Becky Marshall hired in menial positions, Pablo Fanque ran his own “They use secret code names like “X” and “Y” and refer Four Weddings And A Funeral was an experience not to be Potter: [email protected] business for 30 years, encountering very little racism to themselves as “unknowns” but we have determined repeated. Don’t get one started on Frasier and Manchester and being regarded as a respectable man, held in high that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of Pubic Relations Jane Brace accents therein. regard for his probity. Thomas Horne, the chaplain medieval with coordinates in every country”. [email protected] 11. You will cease playing American football. There is only of the Showman’s Guild, probably summed up the “As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, “There are one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you Coverage of FolkEast by our 2017 reason for Pablo’s success succinctly with this epitaph, 3 sides to every triangle.” Media partners “In the great brotherhood of the equestrian world brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not When asked to comment on the arrest, President Abacus there is no colour line, for although Pablo Fanque was BBC RADIO SUFFOLK involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing Trump said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of African extraction, he speedily made his way to the www.bbc.co.uk/radiosuffolk full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers top of his profession. The camaraderie of the ring has and toes.” GRAPEVINE MAGAZINE but one test: ability.” It was to be many years and take 12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. (Formerly White House aides told reporters they could not recall a www.grapevinelive.co.uk legislation before the rest of British society began to ‘Rounders’) It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside more intelligent or profound statement by the President. embrace these sentiments

FOUR EASTFOLK CHRONICLE SUMMER 2017 SUMMER 2017 EASTFOLK CHRONICLE FIVE

FOR ALL FOLKS EAST By our Festival Freeloader Orson Dood

This years gathering of the hordes in Eastfolk – known O’Keefe), as well as Ben Savage, and Hannah Sanders. three (count ‘em) pubs including the smallest pub in the since the late middle aged spread as Folk East – is a corker Gosh, look, there’s Jon Boden, late of Bellowhead and world ‘The Halfway Inn’ there’s mountains to climb and as folk descend from the world over to celebrate three days Beoga late of Mr Sheeran’s new record. mountaineers to rescue. of songs and dance and a bit of a to-do. All the way from the fiercely independent Basque country, There are random outbreaks of ceilidhs, there are many a The three day event will once again take place on the 300 France’s own Eastfolk, comes Korrontzi, and from London foreign dance sides, and many a stage: Soapbox, Sunset, acre Eastfolk Estate of Glemham being more like a grand comes another duo Alma. Bristol send over a trio of Three Moot Hall, Broad Roots, Sanctuary and Dance stages. village Fete than anything like a so-called Festival. Please Cane Whale. responds with the welcome return of Instrumental returns for the third time running. A chance search this out on the enclosed map, use the red button The Norfolk Broads (not the actual deep water courses but to try before you buy, all manner of arcane and cane if you need further help or refer to our Frequently Given femaies) - who are joined by Jo Freya, Sarah Matthews and instruments in an ideal and friendly setting where you can Answers. Mel Biggs, collectively known as Moirai. talk to the people who make the things! This year, Eastfolk In Bloom figures heavily throughout. The big guns are wheeled out in the shape of Martin Carthy, Some music is inside, some of it outside, some of it breaks Eastfolk in Boom can be heard from the nearby Standing Michael Chapman, John Kirkpatrick, Will Pound, Simpson out with nary a ‘by-your-leave’ as sessions and workshops Militia testing range. Cutting and Kerr all topped off with heavy ordnance that and galleries and shopping trolleys and moon rockets and is Lau, all the way from the Orkneys (Martin Green of Flit Music features a great deal as can be expected, and it would elastic bands and cable cars with white fluffy kittens. fame, Aidan O’Rourke and Kris Drever, author of that song not be Folk East without the visiting, dignitary ‘If Wishes Were Horses’) Buses will bus you out of Suffolk at Wickham Market ambassadors that are The Young’Uns. Joining them on a railway station all the way to platform one at Great separate stage will be the lauded Nancy Kerr and all the There’s Gypsy Jazz Quartet The Swing Museum, there’s Glemham (a bust replacement service). The sun will shine way from Dorset the twin-engined bomber that is the a Kinidröme showing all manner of local films, there’s a and we’ll have ourselves a time. Ninebarrow fighting machine. Fay Hield makes a welcome museum, Art tents, Food Halls, The giant Soapbox Stage return plus the India Electric Co. (Cole Stacey and Joseph with many, many acts all powered by the sun. There are EASTFOLK CHRONICLE SUMMER 2017 SUMMER 2017 EASTFOLK CHRONICLE SIX EASTFOLK CHRONICLE SUMMER 2017 SUMMER 2017 EASTFOLK CHRONICLE NINE

in and out of public acclamation but had lately come into focus with a fringe theatre revival of his first play, The Local Stigmatic (1966), giving the prophetic and chilling lowdown on today’s celebrity culture; with a devastating poetic broadside against – The Blond Beast of Brexit: a Study in Depravity; and with, at this year’s Brighton festival, The Big Song, a learned treatise of a narrative, complete with a 100-strong choir, on the history of mass music-making with special reference to birdsong, protest song and baby song. The quality of anger is usually strained, but Williams’s muse was fuelled by a witty and beautiful anger that he channelled in three great poems at the end of the 1980s: Whale Nation, a wonderful hymn to the largest of all the mammals and a plea for their protection, Sacred Elephant, and Autogeddon, a JG Ballard-style ballad about the plague of the motor car; all three were filmed by the BBC, the third performed by . Williams himself made notable recordings – on his day, he was a charismatic troubadour – of Buddhist scripture, Dante and the Bible, and a collection of shorter poems, Zanzibar Cats (2011), which skewered political absurdity, planetary destruction and social justice mishaps with delightful glee and great verbal dexterity. His writing and curiosity led him in many different THESE INTERNATIONAL TIMES directions that all seemed, in the end, to converge. He By our Underground correspondent Mr. Warren Street was a member of the Magic Circle, learned fire-eating from (and accidentally set himself ablaze when demonstrating his new talent to his then girlfriend, The Eastfolk Chronicle does not purport to be akin to the doors and snippets of overheard conversation in the offices the model Jean Shrimpton), discovered a new species of various counter-culture magazines and journals of yore, but of Special Branch. The anonymous author, or “blue dwarf,” honey-producing wasp in the Amazon, helped establish we do admire the Waveney Clarion (R.I.P.) and were deeply as he styled himself, described how he perused police files, the independent state of Frestonia (in in the saddened to read of the death of in and even claimed to have sampled named brands of whisky 70s) while running a venture for squatters, the Ruff Tuff June this year. in the Commissioner’s office. A day or two later The Daily Cream Puff Estate Agency – which attracted the unlikely Telegraph announced that the “raid” had forced the police Williams became the on-line editor at the recently approval of the shadow chancellor, – and to withdraw and re-issue all security passes. revitalised International Times a newspaper sold on the starred as the inscrutable magician Prospero in Derek streets of this fair county back in the late 1960s and 1970s. IT first ceased publication in October 1973, after being Jarman’s extraordinary 1979 film of (in which convicted for running contact ads for gay men. The Elisabeth Welch sang Stormy Weather with a bunch of International Times was launched on 15 October 1966 name was revived by another publisher in May 1974 sailors). at The Roundhouse at an ‘All Night Rave’ featuring Soft for three issues until October. In 1975, Maya, another Machine and . The event promised a ‘Pop/Op/ In the mid-60s he became a pin-up of the underground underground publication, temporarily renamed itself IT Costume/Masque/Fantasy-Loon/Blowout/Drag Ball’ press and a talismanic, though always elusive, figure in the - the International Times, until that title closed after the featuring ‘steel bands, strips, trips, happenings, movies’. The counter-culture of the day. He was a founding editor with November issue. A new title of the same name launched launch was described by Daevid Allen of as Bill Levy, and of the sexual the following month, continuing until March 1976 when it “one of the two most revolutionary events in the history liberation newspaper, Suck. In his autobiography Thanks went into hiatus until resuming in January 1977, ceasing in of English alternative music and thinking. The IT event for Coming! Haynes recalls that, in their first meeting, August of that year. Similarities to the building of castles in was important because it marked the first recognition of “Heathcote and Jean [Shrimpton] excused themselves to Monty Python And The Holy Grail, here are noted. a rapidly spreading socio-cultural revolution that had its go into another room to make love. Bill, Germaine and I parallel in the States.” International Times has also published two books. Both are continued to talk. Later, when the paper folded, I looked poetry collections – Royal Babylon by Heathcote Williams, back on this meeting as our first mistake. We should all five The paper’s logo was a black-and-white image of Theda an attack on the British Monarchy, and Porterloo by Niall have made love together.” Bara, vampish star of silent films. The founders’ intention McDevitt, a book satirising the Conservative Party. had been to use an image of actress Clara Bow, 1920s It girl, but a picture of Theda Bara was used by accident and, once International Times Archive is a free online archive of every deployed, did not change. issue of the International Times. It runs from a precursor to IT, The Longhair Times, released on April Fools Day 1966 From April 1967, and for some while later, the police raided to an erroneously labelled ‘last issue’—a Xeroxed single the offices of International Times to try, it was alleged, to sheet issue in 1994. The continuum of this journal, in fact, force the paper out of business. A benefit event labelled The includes issues and web presence from the last editorial 14 Hour Technicolor Dream took place at Alexandra Palace group (IT#4 Vol 1986) until the present day. on 29 April 1967. Bands included Pink Floyd, The , The Crazy World of , Soft Machine, The IT Archive was founded by supported The Move, and Sam Gopal’s Dream.(with Lemmy) Despite by fellow contributors and editors of IT including Mick police harassment, the paper continued to grow, with Farren, John “Hoppy” Hopkins, Dave Mairowitz, Peter financial help from Paul McCartney, a personal friend of Stansill and Heathcote Williams amongst others. then-editor . Published fortnightly, it became The Waveney Clarion archive works in much the same way the leading British underground paper, its circulation and can be enjoyed by pointing your electrified mouse at peaking at around 40,000 copies in late 1968/early 1969, http://www.waveneyclarion.co.uk/ before another police raid, along with competition from newer publications such as Time Out led to declining sales Heathcote Williams, who has died aged 75, was a and a financial crisis. unique and brilliant writer – poet, dramatist, visionary and pamphleteer. He restored and renovated a sense of In response to another raid on the paper’s offices, London’s intellectual anarchy in our public discourse in the great alternative press on one occasion succeeded, somewhat traditions of , William Blake and Percy astonishingly, in pulling off what was billed as a “reprisal Bysshe Shelley, all of whom were among his heroes. attack” on the police—prompting the Evening Standard Williams’s reputation was made on the International Times, headline Raid On The Yard. The paper Black Dwarf Williams himself, an erudite and perpetually incensed and with The Speakers (1964), which Pinter reviewed published a detailed floor-by-floor guide to Scotland Yard, Old Etonian non-joiner, was admired early on by William encouragingly (“These are the only people I’d ever want to complete with diagrams, descriptions of locks on particular Burroughs, Samuel Beckett and . He flitted listen to”) TEN EASTFOLK CHRONICLE SUMMER 2017 SUMMER 2017 EASTFOLK CHRONICLE ELEVEN

Other short plays of this decade included Remember the was given a boost by government legislation increasing 4. A copy of The Sun (once replaced by a copy of The Star) Truth Dentist (1974), summarised by one critic as a full- the weight limit for road vehicles. Numerous showman’s crumpled. frontal assault on the western “death culture” in favour of tractors, smaller versions of the showman’s engine, were 5. A tray and cellophane wrapper for Co-Op Pork Rolls or “a Zen- and sperm-orientated Mongolian cluster-fuck” and also built, with Garrett’s leading the way. Savoury Bites, empty, original cellophane cover in second location. Hancock’s Last Half Hour (1977), a short monologue for In 1919 Garrett’s joined the Agricultural and General the morose comic (played by Henry Woolf, Pinter’s friend Engineers (AGE), a combine intended to generate 6. A pile of human pooh with attendant toilet paper (well soiled) from Hackney schooldays) on the brink of suicide in an production efficiencies by dividing the industry into I start to piece together a story whereby this is all left by Australian hotel, defining laughter as “thoracic epilepsy sectors. Production of showman’s engines was already No.3: Litter the same person. I suspect he’s a man (there is never a Daily cured by a poke in the eye with a wet stick” and making tailing off as diesel engines proliferated and the AGE Mail) who stops after work (in need of an energy boost) jokes as “a leap into outer space”. combine entered receivership in 1932. This was not before Some time ago I received the following email from a good to try his luck on the lottery and never wins (the cards are certain ironies had been acted out, not least the closure of often ripped up) whilst having a last cigarette (he’s trying to A cascade of poetry and pamphlets ensued over the years, neighbor addressed to all in our sleepy Eastfolk village: Thetford rival Charles Burrell and Sons in 1928 and the cut down) and tasty meaty-snack break. many of them self-published, or distributed privately. subsequent manufacture of Burrell engines by Garrett at Hi all. Some of you may have noticed that we are being visited The horror of the lottery loss, the sudden demand on his Williams, who lived in Oxford with his longterm partner Leiston. in Cookley almost daily by a litter lout who parks in a passing Diana Senior, an historian, joked that he had spent the last place on the Halesworth side of Valley Farm, reads his/her digestive and nervous system is all too much and defecation 20 years in obscurity and illness. After his “second bout” Meanwhile Garrett’s had begun producing electric- tabloid newspapers and then throws them out of the vehicle on the side of this quiet country lane is the only option open to him. of fame with the long poems, he characteristically turned powered vehicles in 1916 and manufactured electric along with a plastic drinks bottle and all the accompanying trolleybuses from 1925. On the collapse of AGE Garrett’s wrappers and supplements. to something new, painting and sculpting, and becoming I like to call him Terry. I don’t know why he is Terry, he was purchased by rail locomotive giant Beyer Peacock, proficient in both disciplines. But then, along with the It usually happens around lunchtime on weekdays and he/she just is. ending family ownership of the company. Nevertheless Boris broadside and the Brighton sing-song, he popped reads the Sun or the Star. the business continued as Richard Garrett Engineering This, then, is a portrait assembled, Holmes-style, a possible up with another fringe play earlier this year, penning The Works, manufacturing steam engines and trolleybuses. The Please keep an eye out for this person. If we can get a number lead to our killer litter lout. Ruff Tuff Cream Puff Estate Agency, a delightful, funny works finally closed in 1981 following further changes in plate of a suspect then we can report them. I’m thinking of I pick it all up (not the pooh, I leave that for someone else) evocation of earlier days for Adrian Jackson’s Cardboard ownership after the Beyer Peacock group was sold in 1976. erecting a sign in that lay by to let them know we are on to them but find I am far from any wheely bin on that stretch so Citizens season of Home Truths. but I’d like a number plate first. This is true neighbourhood have created a special pile of roadside rubbish near the gate Richard Garrett and Sons had encompassed the entire watch! Please pass this message on. that takes me across the field. I always intend to drive past Apart from The Tempest, Williams made, when invited, industrial revolution. Almost half of their traction engine ..and it got me thinking this pile and collect it all into a sack, but I get a little thrill occasional, desultory appearances in movies – Sally Potter’s and ploughing engine production and nearly all of their at seeing it mound up too. The proposed new steam locomotive designed for HS2 by Potters of the Long When I was nine years old (quite a few years ago) my Orlando (1992), Mike Figgis’s The Browning Version Sufferingham Long Shop steam roller output had been exported, the latter also (1994) and Miss Julie (1999), Des McAnuff ’s Cousin Bette produced under licence in Italy under the name Ansaldo- chum Clive Liggatt said that he had made a New Year’s Then there’s the Cookley schoolboy (or girl) who walks to YOURSELF IS STEAM get the bus and delves into mum’s carefully packed lunch to (1998) with Jessica Lange and Bob Hoskins, and even Basic Garrett. Richard Garrett Engineering ended up assembling Resolution. I didn’t know what one was. He told me that all manner of electronic domestic appliances towards the he would never ever drop another piece of litter ever again devour the Wispa early. Those wrappers acccumulate daily Instinct 2 (2006) – but these were like holiday jobs. His Many a visitor to Eastfolk has made favourable comments as against unemployment and poverty which even the earliest in EXACTLY THE SAME SPOT. The precision of the end, a far cry from heavy steam driven machinery that had ever. overriding commitment was to the written word as a means to the pace of life in this fair county. Notably, they remark, machines exacerbated. routine astounds me every time. of liberation, activism, galvanic dissent, the harrowing of made their name world famous. So now I understood what ‘Resolution’ meant and, as the traffic moves slower than most anywhere else. Escaping Nevertheless it is indicative of the importance of East I looked up to him, I decided to copy him in this grand If those torn Lottery cards one day disappear does that hell and the soaring of souls. When the works finally closed in 1981 its historic core was the madcap be-skirted, tinted windowed Citroen Saxas of Anglia to the development of powered farming to note proclamation. Since that day I have seldom broken this mean that Terry came good? won a fortune, left his job? When recently asked How he got involved with the re- Essex, each with their own deep exhaust tone and Red Bull preserved and opened as the Long Shop museum in 1984. feat; if an empty crisp packet has ever been whisked away Would he deprive me of the intrigue? I need answers now, that of the twenty or so manufacturers that went on to Named Family Friendly Suffolk Museum of the Year last launch of International Times he replied can window-ejector, visitors find the A12 Dual Carriageway become nationally significant in the industry, 40% of from my hand into the breeze, I vow to pick up two foreign and if you find him I demand interrogation, but not so becomes a single one and as they enter Eastfolk this becomes year, recently the Heritage Lottery Fund awarded initial packets at the nearest opportunity. much that he changes his ways, please. “I’d been writing for IT, largely anonymously, for years. them originated in the East between Lincolnshire and little more than a gravel track. support towards a £2.6 million project to transform the site Mike Lesser, an old friend who co-produced the issue of Suffolk. Steam for farming was given a boost in 1839 by into a beacon of industrial heritage. I’m not a Catholic. But wait, this is not the only reason for the slow pace, many the formation of the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS), IT from Paris in ’68, suggested that we revive it online. So The museum’s collections celebrate the Garrett family and Three times a week I go running through the lanes and a motorist enjoys the calm of sitting behind a steam driven whose remit was to spread awareness of improvements in we did; since then it’s had a million hits and gets about their draftsmen, engineers and craftsmen; above all the across the fields with our Shetland Poodle. I take two bags, agricultural vehicle, perhaps towing a bowser wagon and farming techniques to feed the rapidly-increasing urban 10,000 hits a week. We’ve called it ‘The paper of resistance’. engines, tools, vehicles and machines that were made here one for his pooh, one for other people’s litter. Sorry to say population. Competition for RAS prizes for innovation that my obsession with collecting litter has got out-of-hand There’s a need for an anarchist pacifist paper with the living van. Oft-times these are forced to stop , the engine to in rural East Anglia. For a glimpse of the impact of the was eagerly embraced by East Anglian engineers, and as - if you know the writer David Sedaris you will know how widest possible range that’s open to everyone as a forum. take on water, the driver to take on beer and so the trailing industrial revolution on a small Suffolk town, and of the Try sending an article into without knowing motorist, decidedly late for his pressing appointment in a result the gear-driven self-propelled agricultural engine much I am copying him, he’s my new version of Clive - it’s impact of a small Suffolk town on the world, Leiston’s Long a hobby gone badly wrong. anyone there and see how far you get.” Norfolk, joins the driver in the pub, thereby rendering all slowly evolved in the second half of the 19th century. Shop is hard to beat. future forward motion redundant, not to say illegal. Garrett’s of Leiston took a key role in this development. At I demand ‘clean on my patch’ wherever it is I run, and I He died after an extended period of ill health, and is * ‘I’ve been to Harlem’ is said to have originated in Sussex in the delight in finding yet more sweety wrappers or tins of pop. the time a self-propelled farm engine, useful for haulage as survived by Diana and their two daughters, China and How come Eastfolk has so many of these leviathan’s still on the early 1800s. It continues, ‘... Over, over, three times over/ Drink With our council garbage collection scheme I’m never too Lily, three grandchildren, Freya, Albi and Wilf; Charlie roads? We sent out our roving reporter de Selby on a quest to well as threshing, weighed eight or ten tons and cost around all the brandywine and turn the glasses over/ Sailing east, sailing far from someone else’s blue or grey wheely bin. Oh, but THE CUT Gilmour, his son with the novelist ; and his find out, his report was filed just before we went to press and £500. Two gears gave speeds of up to 4mph on the road, west/ Sailing o’er the ocean/ You’d better watch out when the then I think of the family arguments that must ensue when younger sister, Prue. follows asunder: but it took three hours or more to raise steam from cold. boat begins to rock/ Or you’ll lose your girl in the ocean.’ the owner spies cans and cans of Carlsberg full-strength HALESWORTH When a contractor’s engine visited a farm for threshing or lager in their recycler and demands to know the truth from • John Henley Heathcote Williams, poet and dramatist, ploughing, the farmer was responsible for maintaining a their spouse. born 15 November 1941; died 1 July 2017 LANDSCAPE WITH MACHINES supply of coal and water to keep the engine turning. Yet my habit reaches further perverted proportions when SATURDAY 28TH Adapted from Stickypedia and the obituary by Michael By de Selby Richard Garrett III, grandson of the company’s founder, I round the corner off the road to Halesworth and set Coveney had witnessed new American manufacturing ideas at the back home on the Cookley Road. In the first layby a story & unfolds. It’s a portrait in rubbish: daily deposits of the ‘I’ve been to Haarlem, I’ve been to Dover. I’ve travelled 1851 Great Exhibition in London, among them ‘flow line’ following: this whole world all over … ‘ So runs the 19th-century folk production, and the Long Shop was built to facilitate this SUNDAY 29TH OCTOBER song*, still being taught to schoolchildren in the 1950s, process. Construction of a machine would start at one end 1. Lottery Scratch Cards: (three-of ), often torn in half, sometimes perhaps a more enlightened era than our own. One might of the Shop, and as it progressed through the building it torn into smaller pieces (probably depending on the size of their loss) 11AM-4PM add, ‘I’ve been to Gressenhall, a monument to the brutality would stop at various stages for more parts to be added. visited on the dispossessed of East Anglia’s 19th century 2. A packet that once held ten Mayfair cigarettes, damp in poor Many component parts were made on the upper level of agricultural economy, and I’ve been to the Long Shop condition. the Shop, from where they were lowered to the machines www.suffolkherringfestival.co.uk at Leiston, a tribute to East Suffolk’s industry, skill and being built at ground level. When the machine reached the 3. A can of ‘Relentless’ (empty) ‘energy’ drink (non-vegetarian) inventiveness.’ end of the Shop it would be complete. The company grew The Long Shop? It’s a museum, housed in part of the to become major business employing around 2,500 people, HARROLD THE BARREL original factory, dedicated to the history of Richard Garrett building state-of-the-art machinery as well as using state- & Sons, agricultural machinery manufacturers. A Grade of-the-art production techniques. II listed building, it was built in the 1850s to house the Steam ploughing was developed in the 1860s, necessitating construction of portable steam engines. Traditional folk returns to the Butley Oyster much heavier and more powerful engines with a powered The company was founded by Richard Garrett in 1778 to winch drum beneath the boiler to wind the plough across First Tuesday evening of each month manufacture agricultural machines and implements. Steam the field between paired machines. Later still, at the very www.butleyoyster.com power was slow to get a grip on the landscape, the huge end of the 19th century, the growing popularity of travelling weight of steam machinery being incompatible with the funfairs led to the development of showman’s engines, Open daily for pub food and real ale soft earth of the fields. And in the early 19th century there heavy, ornate, beautifully-decorated locomotives designed The Oyster Inn, Butley, Woodbridge IP12 3NZ was considerable opposition from poverty-stricken farm both to haul the funfair from town to town and to generate workers, to the extent of riots and rick-burning in protest electricity to power the fair itself. Construction of these EASTFOLK CHRONICLE SUMMER 2017