A Touch of Class

•  Friday 9th October. 6.40 p.m. We are now in autumn, or fall, as it is known in America. There is a definite chill in the air and I am putting my shorts away and now wearing my full length trousers.
• Saturday 10th October. 8.50 p.m. I am pleased to report that my first play 'Hiding In The Smoke' is now edited and is a complete document, ready for printing. It will need some further work, for example, making sure all character names are consistent, basically, because some of them changed durng the course of writing and some will need to be cut completely. Also, it is likely to run far too long, so some pruning will need to take place, otherwise I can imagine it running to close on six hours!
• Sunday 11th October. 3.45 a.m. Far too early to be sitting here, writing this, but so what? I am just bursting with excitement, and I should come down out of the clouds, but someone on Linkedin has communciated and says he might be able to assist in getting my plays edited and prepared for possible staging. I know it will be a very long and complex journey, but, after all my efforts, this could be the beginning of something truly awesome, so watch this space!
• He is part of a literary agency and connected to one of the big London schools of acting. I am not going to say any more at this stage, except to say I now have that feeling in my stomach, the old 'butterflies in the tummy'feeling, which I used to get when I did 'The Book' on shows, when I was a D.S.M., and the entire play was in my hands, the actors' prompting, setting of props, timing the show and generally in charge of the entire thing.

7.30 p.m. I am currently watching the Amazon series 'Clarkson's Farm.' We must be at around season 5, and it gets really interesting. I was intrigued by it, because of the location of Chipping Norton, because many of my mother's family came from around that area. I think I mentioned somewhere in these posts, referring to the Ascott Martyrs, a group of women who lived in and sround the Ascott-Under Wychood area of Oxforedshire, duirng 1873 and were sent to Oxford Gaol, because they dared to picket a field, when the locql fqrmer bought in cheqp labour. Chipping norton was very much central to the incident. 

I mentioned about my brothers in an earlier post. I don't know whether I mentioned I never worked for my father, nor became involved in the farm, not that I didn'tl ike the country life, but I don't think I could have worked with my two elder brothers. One reason would be that they were almost permanently bad tempered, and they could be quite unpleasant, never seemed to be in a good mood over anything amd, I honestly don't think I would hae wanted to be permanently moaned at and, frankly, when they weere in full flow, they could be quitye intimidating.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen

 Sunday. 6.15 a.m. Another sunny and bright morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 20ºc and the flat is cool and pleasant, thank goodness.

3.30 p.m. I have now watched both Doctor Who episodes 'The Space Babies', and 'The Devil's Chord.' Regardless of what people have been saying on the internet, I really enjoyed both episodes. Ncuti Gatwa really throws himself into the role of The Doctor and gives it a real life and energy. He certainly has a charisma that shines out of the television set. It's difficult to take your eyes off him when he's on-screen. His co-star and companion in the Tardis, Mollie Gibson, playing the part of Ruby Sunday. It's clear that the Disney co-production has paid off, in that the production values are far greater, because it looks slick and has a cinematic look, the special effects, the sets and costumes look fantastic.

12.10 p.m. I have restarted my Ancestry account. It is a family history site, where you can find your ancestor's details. If you read these blog posts regularly, you will know how much work I have been putting into this work. I discovered my connection to The Ascott Martyrs, and that I am going to a study day in Chipping Norton this Saturday, to learn more about them (Chipping Morton featured heavily in the incident.) The day isn't just about those ladies, and what they did in 1873, but about other rebellions and protests which went on over the centuries in Oxfordshire. I have managed to get back at least 500 years and the family tree which I am building on the Ancestry website is growing and blooming daily.

Tuesday. 8.20 p.m. I have spent most of my Nectar points on a Nutribullet. For those who don't know what that is, it's a sort of blender into which you put vegetables and fruit to make into smoothies. I haven't yet tried it out, because I am slowly going through the manual which came with it, and I don't have any fruit or vegetables to put in it. So, as I write this post, it is sitting on top of my fridge/freezer and will remain there until I got to Sainsbury's or any other supermarket, or even the market near the shopping centre, to purchase some. I have bought ready-made smoothies in Sainsbury's, and it occurred to me that I could make my own, which would be a very good way to consume my five-a-day fruit or veg. I will let you know how I get on with the gadget when I have tried it out. 

Yesterday, at around midday, I got a telephone call from Milton Keynes Hospital. It was from the cardiology department, telling me that I had to have a heart monitor fitted, which I had to wear for 48 hours and that I should go to the cardiology department this afternoon to have the afore mentioned device affixed to my person. I got to the hospital and managed to park in the multi-storey car park. A car was reversing out of a space, not far inside the car park, so at least I didn't have to search for a space, which made things easier. I and then walked to the cardiology department. Little did I realise how far it was. I had to walk part of the way along the Redway which runs behind the house where Carol and I lived in Eaglestone. I used to walk along there when I used to go and visit Carol when she was in hospital after she was diagnosed with cancer. We used to park in the small car park near the entrance to the cardiology department and when she was first diagnosed and in hospital, we could see building work going on outside and which has now finished and the building which was being constructed was the new cancer unit.

I went into the cardiology department. We used to walk through here when we went to the oncology department, where Carol went to have chemotherapy. I reported to reception and then had to wait in the waiting area. I was eventually called in to a room by a nurse, and we were joined by a student nurse (I presume she was a student.) who was there to observe the procedure of me being connected to a heart monitor. It is a very small device, about the size of a small mobile phone, and it connects to my chest by way of the type of sticky contacts they use when you have an E.C.G. it has a clip on it, so I can clip it on to my belt or put it in a pocket. I will have to take it back and give it to the receptionist at the cardiology department on Thursday morning.                   

Time Travelling

No, the title doesn't mean I have discovered a means of moving through time and space. I haven't got a time machine or created a Tardis, The Doctor's means of moving throughout time and space, as used in the  BBC science fiction show 'Doctor Who.' I'm referring to my interest in history. I am currently reading books that take me through the 20th Century right up to the present day, or, at least, as near as possible. I have actually started my in the 1840s with 'High Minds' by Simon Heffer, followed by 'The Age of Decadence', covering the period up until just before the First World War, then 'Staring At God', which covers Britain in the 1914-18 War, 'The Great War' as it was referred to. Then a book on the 1920s written by Fiona McDonald. I found it incredibly hard to discover a book that covered the 1920s so this was the only one I could find. Not very comprehensive, not covering the political or social history of the age and not particularly enlightening, but nevertheless worth reading because of the covering of such topics as the arts and entertainment, the birth of broadcasting, and the development of the film industry. I am currently reading 'The Thirties', written by Juliet Gardiner. Like the Simon Heffer books, she manages to weave some sort of narrative into her book which gives it a far more intimate feeling which draws you in. I remember when I was at school and then college in the late 1960s, history was just a collection of dates and numbers, You were just crammed with information, and usually about what I would call 'Establishment Figures', kings, queens, emperors, presidents and Prime Ministers, Nothing about the 'lower orders,' the 'ordinary man' or even woman. They seemed to be totally written out of the narrative. I have to say, by the time I got to Mander College in Bedford to do A-Level History, I found the teaching so boring it was enough to send you to sleep. I didn't even get as far as doing the exam, but I have to say, some fifty-plus years later, I don't really remember any of it. Just reams and reams of relentless notes on American history, European history and, I think, British history. A teacher just droning on and on and quite obviously just going through the paces and definitely not interested in the subject, doesn't make things any better for his students.

I'm still reading 'The Thirties: An Intimate History", by Juliet Gardiner. Part of my history journey through the 20th Century. It's very detailed and gives a real feel of what it must have been like to live in Britain in the 1930s. It covers the Depression, and it's clear how difficult it was for those who were unemployed. 

I've been doing my family history. I've been researching both my parent's trees. My mother is easier and I have got back around 15 generations. I am subscribed to My Heritage, and I've been with it for around 10 years, When the subscription ran out over a year ago I didn't continue, but all my work was still 'live' even though I couldn't access it. I kept getting emails from My Heritage attempting to get me to re-subscribe, but it was too expensive, around £160 for an annual pass. They continued with the emails, reducing the price. If it was possible to have a 'pay as you go' subscription it might have been easier to pay, or at least, on a monthly scheme, but that wasn't an option. Then an email offering a year for around £45, so I decided to go with it, hence the re-subscribing, which meant I could continue with my research. I have the app on my iPad and iPhone, and they seem to work better than the website. Far easier to move around my family tree and to connect with other people doing similar research and add their research to mine. I think I've already mentioned my discovery of some ancestors who lived in and around the village of Ascott in Oxfordshire, who was involved in a strike of agricultural workers in the 1870s, known as the Ascott Martyrs. Very interesting to have uncovered this bit of history, and the fact that it involved ancestors of mine makes it even more interesting.

My Ancestors, Going On A Journey of Discovery: The Ascott Martyrs

For the past couple of years, infact, since I gave up work (oh the joy of retirement) I have been doing some research into my family history. With the advent of the internet it's now possible to do quite a considerable amount of this research without leaving the comfort of your home. I've enjoyed enormously the BBC1 television series "Who Do You Think You Are?" It's not so much the fact that we follow the journey of some celebrity or other, I think it's what they discover about their ancestors. Some manage to delve no more than a few generations back, perhaps to the time of the Second World War, whilst others manage to find out about their forebears going back several hundred years. This sort of research builds on my fascination with history and the 'discovery' aspect of things, uncovering bits of history and then connecting these 'snippets' to my family history. The same can be said of another interest,  archaeology,which, as a teenager I would have found thoroughly dull and boring, but as a much older person, I find thoroughly intriguing. All that stuff, buried only feet below the ground, just waiting to be unearthed and explained. That was sparked off by the Channel 4 series "Time Team." Amazing when television has this sort of ability, good-quality documentaries about real things, not trivial such as a 'reality' show, not 'Big Brother,' idiotic non-entities sitting around in a house, doing nothing in particular, or 'celebrities' making fools of themselves in stupid shows such as "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here." What television executive came up with that idea for a show? Desperation chasing after viewing figures and nothing more.  

I began my quest for my maternal and paternal line by subscribing to a site with the original name of Ancestry and then I discovered a site called My Heritage. I was on a free membership of that for a couple of years and then I decided to pay for a subscription. With a free membership of these sites you have a limited amount you can search for and begin to build a basic family tree. Then last year i decided to go the full thing and buy a membership package, which meant I could not only build up the family tree but to then join forces with other people on the site who were doing similar research. I was really surprised how many others were doing research of different areas of my ancestry. I could use what research others had managed to do and add to my family tree. I'm just surprised how far I have been able to get, to around 1520.

I had done the barest minimum of research on my Murdoch forebears and can only get back around 200 years. Perhaps it's because they lived in Scotland but it's perhaps that there are that there aren't many other people doing research which I can add to my own research. The maternal side of my family, the Ferriman side, is far easier to research as there are a great many other people who are out there doing similar research. As a result I have got back to around 1520, as I have already mentioned. There are connections to several families, the Eddons, Pursers and mostly the Pratleys. My grandfather and grandmother came from across The Cotswolds, both Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Mostly around Stow-On-The-Wold and Burford. A small village close to Burford called Leafield. I have done quite a bit of research by merely using Google searches. I recently Googles 'Leafield' and found a site which bought up a great many details of the Pratley family who lived and worked in that area. I then came across something which has really caught my attention. I may have found the names, dates and basic facts of many of my ancestors, but no real details or what they did. This is what makes the television show "Who Do You Think You Are?" when the subjects of these programmes discover something extra-interesting about them, some incident which stands out. In this case I came across a historic event regarding "The Ascott Martyrs." There is a  chestnut tree on the village green in a village in Oxfordshire called Ascott-Under-Wychwood. Around this tree are four steel seats painted black and bolted together around this tree. Each bear an inscription. One has the words "Ascott Martyrs imprisoned 1873." The next lists the names of "Amelia Moss, Caroline Moss, Jane Moss, Martha Moss, Mary Moss, Ellen Pratley, Elizabeth Pratley, Mary Pratley." These Pratley ladies are my ancestors, through my Ferriman line of the family. I will not go into too much detail on here, as it's possible to find out far more by Googling 'Ascott Martyrs.' The incident very much has similarities to a far more famous incident called 'The Tolpuddle Martyrs.' All about setting up unions. As a result we visited this place so I could at least put the places I've researched into some sort of context. I shall continue with my research but this historic incident has made the whole experience far more interesting. At least someone did something which was rebellious and exciting, in an attempt to change things.

Plaque on bench on the green at Ascott-Under-Wychwood

Me on bench. (Sorry, I do look miserable in this photograph!)

Me standing under signpost showing a lot of the village where many of my  Ferriman ancestors came from

It's odd that I've always has a sort of affinity with the Cotswolds. Knowing that so many of my ancestors came from the area, lived and worked in and around that area makes it even more interesting. The scenery is quite breath-taking. It amazes me that people can say that Britain is boring, that there's nothing much to see. I cannot agree. Why go abroad for a holiday when there is so much history and so much amazing scenery to enjoy? And in such a relatively small space. You don't have to go too far, either, to come across something fascinating to look at and discover, as we've done over the past few years.