The Penny University

2019-06-19T11:43:00.000+01:00

Rory Stewart, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the House of Commons (London, UK), 10 Nov 2015:

"Multa novit vulpes, verum echinus unum magnum"

[The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing]

Verbatim source of text below, from Hansard online: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm151110/debtext/151110-0004.htm#15111048000002

10 Nov 2015, 7:12pm:

Hedgehog Conservation

Oliver Colvile (Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport) (Con): Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for giving me an Adjournment debate on hedgehog habitats and the need to protect the species. Before I go any further, I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I still retain an interest in a small public relations company that gives advice to developers, although I am not sure they will want to talk to me after this. I thank the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, and especially Henry Johnson, who has spoken to me about the importance of hedgehog conservation.

An article in The Guardian in July 2013 pointed out that hedgehogs are prickly in character, have a voracious appetite and a passion for gardens, and have a noisy sex life. I leave it to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, to decide which of those traits I share. In a BBC wildlife poll, hedgehogs were chosen as the best natural emblem for the British nation, beating the charismatic badger and the sturdy oak. The victory for the ultimate underdog came about with 42% and more than 9,000 votes cast for the hedgehog. I know what it is like to be an underdog, because that is how I felt in the run-up to the last general election, when I placed a bet on myself with Paddy Power at 4:1 against.

In short, the British people have taken hedgehogs to their hearts. Even though we are a nation of animal lovers and have played a key role in the emergence of the modern conservation movement in the western world, Britain does not have a designated national species, unlike many other countries, including Russia, Australia and South Africa. That is why I am calling on my hon. Friend the Minister to hold a national campaign to identify which animal should be our designated national species. Needless to say, I will be launching a petition after this debate to name the hedgehog as our designated national species.

Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP): I was interested to hear the hon. Gentleman set the scene for us, but there are more than 100 priority species across the UK, many of which reside within my constituency. Does he agree we need a strategy for all those species, including the hedgehog?

Oliver Colvile: Yes, I am happy to agree, but I am talking about, and campaigning for, the hedgehog.

Perhaps the BBC might like to run a competition similar to one to find the greatest Briton, with a series of people arguing the case for their preferred animal over a series of weeks. I would be willing to do the job on behalf of the hedgehog.

Martin John Docherty (West Dunbartonshire) (SNP): Does the hon. Gentleman agree that hedgehogs are a devolved issue to be decided on by the Scottish Government?

Oliver Colvile: I am told that in the western isles, there are no hedgehogs at all.

My relationship with the hedgehog goes back to my own childhood in suburban Woking, when I was read by my actress mother Beatrix Potter’s “The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle”—hon. Members will not be surprised to learn that this is not the only Mrs T who has been important in my life. I was therefore deeply shocked to discover that in the last 10 years, hedgehog numbers have declined by about one third nationally. According to the House of Commons Library, the principal reason for this prickly animal’s decline is the loss of habitats. Likely factors in the hedgehog’s demise are the loss of permanent grasslands, larger field sizes, the use of pesticides and herbicides and a reduction in hedgerow quality. I understand that badgers are a natural predator of hedgehogs and that consequently they avoid sites where badgers are present.

Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con): Does my hon. Friend recognise the importance of using our gardens as a vital habitat for hedgehogs? I recently built a hedgehog house in my garden. Sadly, as yet I have no residents in it, but I hope it will encourage diversity and a growth in hedgehog numbers in South Staffordshire.

Oliver Colvile: I will be making a similar point in a moment.

Hedgehogs seem to thrive in urban and suburban areas, but the move to tidy, sterile gardens—I am sure the garden of my right hon. Friend the Member for South Staffordshire (Gavin Williamson) is not sterile—has also contributed to their demise. However, these suburban habitats are broken up by fences and roads, pushing hedgehogs into unsuitably small areas.

Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane) (Con): Another fascinating fact about hedgehogs, which my hon. Friend might be aware of, is that they run up to 1.2 km a night, but they have to find a mate. Thinking about wildlife gardening, I wonder if he might make a hole in his garden fence so that the hedgehogs can run through to find a mate? This is essential.

Oliver Colvile: My hon. Friend has been reading my speech or has had prior notice of it.

Hedgehogs need to move a surprising distance to search for food, mates and nesting sites, so we need to make it easier for them to move between gardens, perhaps by making holes in fences. During a visit to Plymouth’s hedgehog rehabilitation and care centre this autumn, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Moor View (Johnny Mercer), I learned that the way to tackle this problem is to stop habitat loss. I was also rather surprised to learn that we should not leave milk and bread out for hedgehogs. Additionally, slug pellets are a great danger that can be fatally harmful to them.

Julian Knight (Solihull) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. Does he agree that the advent of specific hedgehog conservation areas, such as the one in Elmdon in my Solihull constituency, can play a major part in arresting the alarming decline in the numbers of the great British hedgehog?

Oliver Colvile: I am delighted to hear about the area in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and I think it important to continue with the theme of ensuring how we can look after the hedgehog.

I was also told that elastic bands, which postmen discard when delivering letters, are also detrimental to hedgehog survivals. There is no robust evidence on this point, but it is one of many concerns that have been raised with me about the pitfalls that hedgehogs must dodge.

Not only do we need hedgehog-friendly gardens, but I also want my hon. Friends and the Government to give local authorities advice on ensuring that hedgehogs do not get caught up in bonfires. Last week, we celebrated bonfire night and I raised my concerns about hedgehogs making nests in the bonfires before they were set alight. One of my hon. Friends suggested that this might be a Catholic plot to ensure that attention was taken away from Guy Fawkes—but I rather dismissed that.

Although it is not thought that badgers are the principal culprit in the demise of hedgehogs, they cannot be totally blame free. In a major DEFRA study, which assessed the ecological consequences of badger removal during the randomised badger culling trial lasting from 1998 to 2006, it was found that removing badgers from a habitat had a number of consequences for other species. The report said that hedgehogs rarely encountered badgers in rural sites, but were found relatively frequently in amenity areas.

Population density increased by over 100% over the course of the randomised badger culling trial in amenity sites in proactive cull areas, while declining slightly in no-cull control sites. No similar increases were detected in rural sites. The report also found that there is strong evidence that badger predation restricts hedgehog populations and that amenity areas in villages act as a spatial refuge for hedgehogs.

In 2011, a further report on the state of British hedgehogs concluded that, while badgers are a natural predator of hedgehogs, where there are good foraging opportunities for worms and beetles, badgers and hedgehogs can coexist. However, when there is no safe refuge, and badgers and hedgehogs compete for these scarce resources, hedgehogs may be in serious trouble.

A more recent study in 2014 found that in areas of preferred habitat, counts did not change where there was no badger culling. An analysis of the original badger culling experiments, published in April 2014, shows that while at some sites hedgehog numbers did increase, following a reduction in the number of badgers, it was thought that some of the sample sizes might have been too small.

I must point out that there have been widespread calls for more research into the effects of the badger, and I welcome this. As I explained earlier, badgers are not the sole cause of the decline in the hedgehog population, but I believe that there is a real danger that if more research is not put into the badger cull, hedgehog numbers will continue to decline. I hope that the Minister will take note of that.

There is a pressing need to support hedgehogs in urban areas. It is very important to focus on the barriers created by walls and impermeable garden fences and the consequent fragmentation of the hedgehog population. The House may like to know that I am pressing my

fellow neighbours at the Royal Naval hospital in Plymouth to ensure that we can create a hedgehog-friendly community and increase the number of hedgehogs in this part of my inner-city constituency.

Dr Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (SNP): I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. I am just reading on the British Hedgehog Preservation Society site that Saturday 21 November is hedgehog day, so I wish to congratulate the hon. Gentleman on one of the timeliest debates on this issue.

Oliver Colvile: Everybody else seems to have had notice of my speech before I ended up making it.

The progressive loss of suitable feeding areas through intensive gardening or inappropriate management of amenity grasslands are also major issues about which we can take action. When new garden fences are installed there are “hedgehog-friendly” options, such as a small hole so that hedgehogs do not become trapped in gardens, and I urge people to consider those in future. More than 36,500 hedgehog champions are campaigning to create hedgehog-friendly neighbourhoods. I have now volunteered to be one, and I am the 150th hedgehog champion from Plymouth to sign up to this excellent scheme.

I am sure, Madam Deputy Speaker, that you will want to know what you can do. Like me, you can sign up to be a hedgehog champion on the “Hedgehog Street”' website, where you can report sightings of hedgehogs on the “big hedgehog map”. Although it is not a scientific survey, it is an excellent way in which to engage the public, and I challenge as many right hon. and hon. Members as possible to sign up to the cause.

I am delighted to report that Saturday 21 November is the day of the hedgehog, and that hundreds of people are expected to descend on the International Centre, in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Telford (Lucy Allan). I myself will be attempting to set up an all-party parliamentary group for hedgehogs, so that we can advance the cause of those prickly characters. If any Members are interested, I should be delighted if they contacted me on oliver.colvile.mp@parliament.uk. On the same day, the next report reviewing the four main surveys covering hedgehogs in rural and urban areas will be released. It must be remembered that hedgehog numbers are a good indicator of the state of the natural environment, which is why these creatures are so important to the United Kingdom’s ecology.

I think that there is more to be done, and I have therefore suggested to the Chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish), that it should hold an inquiry into how we can save hedgehogs.

I hope that I have set out the case for hedgehogs clearly, Madam Deputy Speaker, and that you too will become a hedgehog supporter. Now is the time to increase the public’s awareness of the plight of these plucky characters. I trust that the aforementioned Mrs T would be delighted that someone is taking up this important cause.

Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing): I think I had better confirm, lest my customary silence be taken as negative, that I will of course do so.

7.27 pm

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Rory Stewart): Multa novit vulpes, verum echinus unum magnum, Madam Deputy Speaker.

Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling) (Con): In every happy home is a hedgehog, as the Pashtuns would say. I urge my hon. Friend to encourage our Pashtun community in this country to follow that example.

Rory Stewart: I am very grateful for that Pushtun intervention, but my hon. Friend refers, of course, to the Asian variety of the hedgehog rather than the western hedgehog, which is the subject of our discussion today.

The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.

I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to respond to my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile). I believe that this is the first time that Parliament has discussed hedgehogs since 1566, when the subject was famously raised in relation to the attribution of a bounty of tuppence for the collection of the hedgehog throughout the United Kingdom.

The hedgehog has undergone an extraordinary evolution. The year 1566 seems very recent, but the hedgehog was around before then. It was around before this Parliament. The hedgehog, and its ancestor, narrowly missed being crushed under the foot of Tyrannosaurus rex. The hedgehog was around long before the human species: it existed 56 million years ago. It tells us a great deal about British civilisation that my hon. Friend has raised the subject, because the hedgehog is a magical creature. It is a creature that appears on cylinder seals in Sumeria, bent backwards on the prows of Egyptian ships. The hedgehog has of course a famous medicinal quality taken by the Romany people for baldness and it represents a symbol of the resurrection found throughout Christian Europe.

This strange animal was known, of course, in Scotland, Wales and Ireland originally in Gaelic as that demonic creature, that horrid creature, and is the hedgehog celebrated by Shakespeare:

“Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen…

Come not near our faerie queen”,

and famously of course in “Richard III” there is that great moment when Gloucester is referred to as a hedgehog. It tells us something about Britain today; it represents a strange decline in British civilisation from a notion of this magical, mystical, terrifying creature to where it is today, and I refer of course to my own constituent, the famous cleanliness representative of Penrith and The Border, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle.

I want to be serious for a moment. The hedgehog is of course an important environmental indicator, with its habitat, its ability to occupy 30 hectares of land, and its particular relationship to the hibernaculum, by which I mean the hedgehog’s ability, almost uniquely among animals in the United Kingdom, to go into a state of genuine hibernation. Its heartbeat goes from 240 a minute to only two a minute for six months a year. It has a particular diet—a focus on grubs and beetles. The street hedgehog initiative, which my hon. Friend has brought forward, reminds us that, by cutting holes in the bottom of our hedges, we can create again an opportunity for hedgehogs to move.

The hedgehog provides a bigger lesson for us in our environment—first, a lesson in scientific humility. The hedgehog has of course been studied for over 2,000 years. The first scientific reference to the hedgehog is in Aristotle; he is picked up again by Isidore of Seville in the 8th century and again by Buffon in the 18th century, and these are reminders of the ways in which we get hedgehogs wrong. Aristotle points out that the hedgehog carries apples on his spine into his nest. Isidore of Seville argues that the hedgehog travels with grapes embedded on his spine. Buffon believes these things might have been food for the winter, but as we know today the hedgehog, hibernating as he does, is not a creature that needs to take food into his nest for the winter.

Again, our belief in Britain that the five teeth of the hedgehog represent the reaction of the sinful man to God—the five excuses that the sinful man makes to God—is subverted by our understanding that the hedgehog does not have five teeth. Finally, the legislation introduced in this House, to my great despair, in 1566 which led to the bounty of a tuppence on a hedgehog was based on a misunderstanding: the idea that the hedgehog fed on the teats of a recumbent cow in order to feed itself on milk. This led to the death of between of half a million and 2 million hedgehogs between 1566 and 1800, a subject John Clare takes forward in a poem of 1805 and which led my own Department, the Ministry of Agriculture, in 1908 to issue a formal notice to farmers encouraging them not to believe that hedgehogs take milk from the teats of a recumbent cow, because of course the hedgehog’s mouth is too small to be able to perform this function.

But before we mock our ancestors, we must understand this is a lesson for us. The scientific mistakes we made in the past about the hedgehog are mistakes that we, too, may be mocked for in the future. We barely understand this extraordinary creature. We barely understand for example its habit of self-anointing; we will see a hedgehog produce an enormous amount of saliva and throw it over its back. We do not understand why it does that. We do not really understand its habit of aestivation, which is to say the hedgehog which my hon. Friend referred to—the Pushto version of the hedgehog—hibernates in the summer as well as the winter. We do not understand that concept of aestivation.

For those of us interested in environmental management, the hedgehog also represents the important subject of conflict in habitats. The habitat that suits the hedgehog is liminal land: it is edge land, hedgerows and dry land. The hedgehog is not an animal that flourishes in many of our nature reserves. It does not do well in peatland or in dense, heavy native woodland. The things that prey on the hedgehog are sometimes things that we treasure. My hon. Friend mentioned badgers.

Rebecca Pow: Does the Minister agree that the successful survival of our hedgehog population is a direct reflection of how healthy and sustainable our environment is? It is important that we should look after the environment, because the knock-on effect of that will be that our hedgehog population will be looked after.

Rory Stewart: That is an important point. The hedgehog is a generalist species, and traditionally we have not paid much attention to such species. We have been very good at focusing on specialist species, such as the redshank, which requires a particular kind of wet habitat. The hedgehog is a more challenging species for us to take on board.

As I was saying, the hedgehog is a good indicator for hedgerow habitat, although it is not much use for peatland or wetland. The hedgehog raises some important environmental questions. One is the question of conflict with the badger. Another is the question of the hedgehog in the western isles, which relates to the issue of the hedgehog’s potential predation on the eggs of the Arctic tern.

Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP): On the point about the hedgehog in the western isles, we have established that hedgehogs are a devolved matter. My hon. Friend the Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr MacNeil) is not in the Chamber at the moment. Scottish Natural Heritage is doing careful work to humanely remove hedgehogs from the Hebrides, and it would be interesting to hear how the UK Government intend to support that work.

Rory Stewart: This is an important reminder that things that matter enormously to our civilisation, our society and our hearts—such as the hedgehog—have to be in the right place. In New Zealand, hedgehogs are considered an extremely dangerous invasive species that has to be removed for the same reasons that people in Scotland are having to think about controlling them there. It does not matter whether we are talking about badgers, hedgehogs or Arctic terns—it is a question of what place they should occupy.

Finally—and, I think, more positively—what the hedgehog really represents for us is an incredible symbol of citizen science. The energy that my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport has brought to the debate is a great example of British, or perhaps English, eccentricity, and it is on the basis of English eccentricity that our habitat has been preserved. Gilbert White, the great 18th century naturalist, was himself an immense eccentric. It has been preserved thanks to eccentrics such as my hon. Friend and, perhaps most famously of all, Hugh Warwick, the great inspiration behind the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. He has written no fewer than three books on the hedgehog, and he talks very movingly about staring into the eyes of a hedgehog and getting a sense of its wildness from its gaze. These enthusiasts connect the public to nature, sustain our 25-year environment programme and contribute enormously to our scientific understanding of these animals. This is true in relation to bees, to beavers and in particular to Hugh Warwick’s work on hedgehogs. I am also pleased that the hon. Member for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (Dr Cameron) mentioned national hedgehog day in an earlier intervention.

Ultimately, we need to understand that the hedgehog is a very prickly issue. The reason for that is that my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport has raised the question of adopting the hedgehog as our national symbol. Some hon. Members will remember that the hedgehog was used by Saatchi & Saatchi in an advertising campaign for the Conservative party in 1992 general election. We should therefore pay tribute to the hedgehog’s direct contribution to our election victory in that year. But I would like to challenge my hon. Friend’s assertion that the hedgehog should become our national symbol. I ask you, Madam Deputy Speaker, as I ask those on both sides of this House, because this question concerns not only one party, but all of us: do we want to have as our national symbol an animal which when confronted with danger rolls over into a little ball and puts its spikes up? Do we want to have as our national symbol an animal that sleeps for six months of the year? Or would we rather return to the animal that is already our national symbol? I refer, of course, to the lion, which is majestic, courageous and proud.

If I may finish with a little testimony to my hon. Friend and to those innocent creatures which are hedgehogs, perhaps I can reach back to them not as a symbol for our nation but as a symbol of innocence to Thomas Hardy. He says:

“When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn,

One may say, ‘He strove that such innocent creatures should come to no harm,

But he could do little for them; and now he is gone.’

If, when hearing that I have been stilled at last, they stand at the door,

Watching the full-starred heavens that winter sees,

Will this thought rise on those who will meet my face no more,

‘He was one who had an eye for such mysteries’?

Madam Deputy Speaker (Mrs Eleanor Laing): I paused because I wanted to encourage some more positive noises for the Minister, who has just made one of the best speeches I have ever heard in this House.

2015-04-25T14:06:00.001+01:00

2014-01-13T13:35:00.001+00:00

Santa was listening! My latest timepiece - Mondaine A672 'Simply Elegant', a classic, timeless design statement (note the lack of date display). I love its simplicity and also as a memory of a rather fateful holiday in Switzerland this last summer. The trains ran on time (thanks to the famous Swiss Railway clocks) but my cycling prowess (well, lack of) resulted in a broken arm, which rather put the kibosh on the rest of the holiday in Italy and Corsica. My father wore a (home-made) metal watch-strap since the time when he had his watch cut off while hanging his arm out of a bus in Egypt during the war.

The new Mondaine '2 seconds to remember' stop2go watch (below) is also ultra cool. Imagine a watch where the iconic, red second hand stops for 2 seconds every minute, while the minute hand advances with a visible movement (like the station clock mechanism) - the second-hand then catches up. [http://www.mondaine.com]

2014-01-13T13:14:00.002+00:00

2014-01-13T13:12:00.001+00:00

2013-07-25T15:14:00.002+01:00

UniformWares Watches

2013-04-04T15:36:00.002+01:00

I love watches. There, I've said it. I'm not obsessed by timepieces, but if I had a few more bob to spare I'd have a collection of wristwatches. I love their practicality (my omnipresent iPhone notwithstanding), functionality, design and horological importance. I guess they're as close to jewellery as a man can get - should get, in my opinion. Santa, are listening?

UniformWares - stylish watches with masterful minimalistic design.

History Tour of London's Penny Universities

2012-02-25T13:48:00.000+00:00

London's original coffee houses were the 'Penny Universities' where you could read the latest news in the first newspapers (which were not widely distributed and were too expensive for the masses). The 17th-century coffee houses were used as auction rooms, and for business deals, medical treatment and the hiring of servants; these early meeting points were essential to the commercial and political development of London. Early social networking? 'Over a couple of caffeinated beverages, the ideas that shaped the Age of Enlightenment and finally dragged Britain out of the medieval era were discussed. The impact of such places, both in London and elsewhere, is hard to overestimate' - [Coffee Society].

Join actors, musicians, and Dr Matthew Green for a caffeinated tour of London’s original – and best – coffeehouses: from the City’s warren of medieval streets, through St Paul’s Churchyard, down historic Fleet Street, and into the cobbled courtyards of the Temple. Free shots of black and gritty coffee, brewed after the 18th-century fashion, included: Unreal City Audio

The streets of London are awash with chain coffee shops. But they are a dismal incarnation of London’s historic coffee culture: a heady brew of wit, wisdom, innovation…and crucified crocodiles.

London’s love affair with coffee can be traced back 350 years to a muddy churchyard in the heart of the City of London. Dr Green will meet you in this churchyard for it was here, in 1652, that a Greek visionary with a twirly moustache and shocking English accent first sold a foul-looking liquid to the public. Coffee would transform the face of the metropolis forever, spawning more than 3,000 coffeehouses, triggering a media boom, scientific discoveries, literary excellence, freedom of speech, dolphin dissections, and imperial triumphs. It was coffee, not tea, that built the British Empire.

Learn about the meteoric rise of the coffeehouses in the 17th century as you weave past their original sites on Cornhill, Cheapside, St Paul’s and Fleet Street; jolt as actors in period costume leap out performing real debates that raged around their candlelit tables hundreds of years ago; hear Dr Green tell stories of the kaleidoscopic activities that went on inside their walls: from dolphin dissections at the Grecian Coffeehouse to lethal duels over Latin grammar at Tom’s; from slave auctions at Garraway’s to ventriloquism and viper decapitations at John’s.

Marvel at a world where you could begin a conversation with anyone you liked simply by asking for the latest news; feel a tinge of nostalgia for this lost world of social conviviality as you gaze through the windows of the cloned coffeehouses that have usurped the City.

Listen to Dr Matt Green's 'Coffeecast' and the world of the 18th-century Hackney coffee house for The Hackney Podcast here

Book (Amazon link): London's Coffee Houses by Antony Clayton

From the London Walks Blog: Pasqua Rosée, an Armenian servant of a coffee importer by the name of Daniel Edwards, opened the first coffee shop in London, just off Cornhill, in 1652. Rosée was also responsible for the first coffee house in Paris in 1672.

By 1675 there were more than 3000 coffeehouses in England (cue another joke about a certain Seattle-based chain of coffee emporia having 3000 in one street). King Charles II, however, wasn’t so keen on ‘em. He believed them to be "places where the disaffected met, and spread scandalous reports concerning the conduct of His Majesty and his Ministers." (ed - Sounds like Facebook...)

Pet peeves in the Coffee Shoppe

2011-11-10T17:19:00.001+00:00

Coffee shop denizens reveal their top pet peeves
Great infographic.

The Perfectionist

2011-01-26T21:54:00.001+00:00

Books recently read: Dave Gorman: America Unchained The Perfectionist - Rudolph Chelminski Rich Smith - Around the Weird in 80 days Jonathan Ross: Why do I say these things?

5* Chef

2010-11-30T14:09:00.001+00:00

Alastair Cook celebrates reaching 200 on the final day of the first Ashes Test at The Gabba, November 2010. Photograph: Dave Hunt/EPA via Guardian.co.uk

Alastair Cook's 235* in Brisbane was the third highest by an England batsman in Australia. Only R.E Foster, 287 in 1903 and Wally Hammond, 251 in 1928, have scored more.

A 'daddy' century and one mother of an innings...

'Alastair Cook was a natural at 13', says Derek Randall in The Guardian. Alastair's also a master of understatement himself in his articles in Metro newspaper: "After everything that has happened in the past year I hope to use the next two months to prove I can play..."

Telegraph.co.uk: 'A triumph for simplicity'.

St John's @ Harrow School

2010-11-06T11:37:00.000+00:00

To Harrow School on Tue 2 Nov, to hear a concert by St John's College Choir from Cambridge. In the truly extraordinary setting of the Speech Room, built in 1873 by William Burgess, St John's gave of their best, with the trebles rising to the occasion as the evening drew to its conclusion. Their encore (and the St John's Gents' encore) were both wonderful displays of the choir's versatility. The concert finale, Hubert Parry's Hear My Words, Ye People, was a rousing rendition, ending as it does with Parry's hymn tune O Praise Ye The Lord. (Almost) all conducted in inimitable style by musical director Andrew Nethsingha.

Bogoroditse Dyevo - Rachmaninoff

Bogoridtse Dyevo - Part

Cantique de Jean Racine - Faure

Missa Brevis - Mozart

Prevent Us, O Lord - Byrd

This is the record of John - Gibbons

Rejoice in the Lord Alway - Purcell

Like as the Hart - Howells

Hear My Words, Ye People - Parry

plus Allegro from Vierne's Symphonie III (played by St John's senior organ scholar, John Challenger) and Church Sonatas 1 & 2 from The Enlightened Players (chamber quartet)

Photo below from St John's Choir Facebook page:

Hampton Hill Playhouse

2010-11-01T09:32:00.000+00:00

Sang a concert, entitled Morning, Noon and Night, with Cantanti Camerati (of Richmond) choir to a full house at the Hampton Hill Playhouse last night. The inimitable, 74-year-old Geoffrey Bowyer arranged and conducted some lovely part-songs, madrigals, barbershop quartets and solos - all non-secular, for a change.

My favourites included:
Sweet day so cool - Sir Edward German
The birds that sing on autumn eves - Robin Milford
The Prince of Sleep - Sir Edward Elgar
Softly fall the shades of evening - J L Hatton
Night of stars and night of love (duet, from The Tales of Hoffmann) - Jacques Offenbach
A brown bird singing (soprano solo) - Haydn Wood
Hail, smiling morn (mens' voices only) - Reginald Spofforth
When at night I go to sleep (women's voices only, from Hansel and Gretel) - Engelbert Humperdinck
Draw on sweet night - John Wilbye
The Long day closes - Sir Arthur Sullivan
Good night, good night, beloved - Ciro Pinsutti

Nos Galan Gaeaf

2010-10-31T10:15:00.001+00:00

I'm proud of my Welsh roots and feel sad when I realise that the Welsh language that my father spoke hasn't been carried over into my generation (or that of my children) in my side of our family. So, happy Nos Galan Gaeaf - celebrating the Celtic New Year's eve on Oct 31st.

Here's the best description of the legends around Galan Gaeaf and the transition into the first month of the calendar, Samhain, that marks the beginning of the dark half of the year:

Nos Galan Gaeaf (All Hallow's Eve)
In addition to preserving the Eisteddfod, the Noson Lawen and the Cymanfa Ganu, Wales has also managed to keep alive other old traditions, though some of these are now confined to particular areas. Many are connected with the old New Year's Eve of Celtic tradition, transformed into the rites connected with the Christian celebration of All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween. In Wales, this night is called Nos Galan Gaeaf (the beginning of the new year), the night when spirits walk abroad. On stiles, or entrances to footpaths, ghosts of dead persons are said to appear at midnight. In some parts of Wales, the ghost was often the Ladi wen (white lady), but in the north, it was usually the more frightening Hwch ddu gwta (tail-less black sow) that appeared. Before dawn, huge bonfires were lit on the hillsides, often two or three within sight of each other. It was a great honor to have your bonfire burn longest and great pains were taken to keep them alight. While apples and potatoes were thrown into the fires for roasting, the watchers would dance around or leap through the flames for good luck. Stones were thrown into the fire; then, when the flames died down, everyone would run for home to escape the clutches of the Hwch ddu gwta.The next morning, at daybreak, searchers would try to find their stones. Those who succeeded would be guaranteed good luck for the coming year. If you could not find your stone, then bad luck or even death would follow.

On Nos Galan Gaeaf in Montgomeryshire, in many farmhouses, a mash was made of nine ingredients: potatoes, carrots, turnips, peas, parsnips, leeks, pepper, salt and new milk. In the mash was hidden a wedding ring. The young maidens of the local village would dig into the mash with their wooden spoons, anxious to learn their fate, for the one who found the ring would be first married. In Carmarthenshire, the mash of nine ingredients, stwmp naw rhyw, was not used to foretell the future, but nine girls used to meet to make a pancake containing nine ingredients. This was then divided among the girls and eaten. Before morning, each girl would have a vision of her future husband. In many parts of North Wales, where the custom of bundling was a very common practice (much frowned upon by the English judiciary) the young dreamers would often find their future husband in bed with them!! Along with the mash, or the pancakes, came the wassail bowl. The wassail was often put inside a puzzle jug, with many spouts, and the unsuspecting drinker would find himself doused with beer, wine, or cider by drinking from the wrong spout. Some of these puzzle jugs can now be seen at the National Folk Museum of Wales at St. Ffagan, near Cardiff. The custom is very similar to one observed by the author in southwest Germany, where participants in a contest drank out of a large glass boot that had to be handled a certain way to prevent spillage.

Apples always played a large part in Halloween festivities (they are the one fruit that grows prolifically in the temperamental Welsh climate and can be preserved throughout much of the early winter). The most popular game was apple bobbing, with six or eight perfectly round fruit placed in a large bowl of water set on the floor. Then, with both hands tied behind their backs, the young lads and lasses would try to pick up an apple with only their teeth. Usually they received a nose and mouth full of water for their pains, but no apple!! In some houses, the apples were tied on one end of a stick suspended from the ceiling with a candle tied to the other end. The stick was then rotated and the participants, again with their hands tied behind them, tried to catch the apple with their teeth as it spun around. They usually ended up with a mouth full of candle! Apples played a large part in many other customs, too. If you peeled an apple in one single piece and then threw the peel over your shoulder, the letter of the alphabet it most closely resembled when it hit the ground would be the initial letter of your future partner in marriage.

Other Halloween customs did not involve apples, but the unseen. In the Vale of Glamorgan, at night, when the spirits were roaming the churchyards, one of the braver villagers would put on his coat and vest inside out and recite the Lord's Prayer backwards as he walked around the church a number of times. Then the courageous lad would enter the porch and put his finger through the keyhole of the church door to prevent any spirits from escaping. It was believed that the apparitions of those who would soon die could be spied through the keyhole. In other areas of Wales, groups of youths would dress up in women's clothes with the girls in men's clothing. They would wander from house to house after dark, chanting verses and soliciting gifts of fruit or nuts, used to divine one's future. In other, more rural areas, young men used to dress up in sheepskins and old ragged clothes and disguise or blacken their faces. After chanting their weird rhymes, they would then be given gifts of apples or nuts, and sometimes beer. The groups would be known as the gwrachod (hags or witches). The visiting of these groups were always in fun, but were taken seriously as harbingers of good tidings for the forthcoming year and the expulsion of the bad spirits from the household.

Grove Park Music Festival

2010-10-10T10:52:00.003+01:00

Sang the Bach B minor Mass at St Paul's Church in Grove Park, Chiswick, London last night.

Such a glorious piece, with a large Festival Chorus and period-instrument Canzona orchestra. The concert was the climax of the biannual Grove Park Music Festival and inspiringly conducted by former King's Singers member Brian Kay.

Evensong at Charterhouse

2010-10-03T23:09:00.009+01:00

Sang choral evensong at The Chapel in Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse on the 18th Sunday after Trinity. More of us in the Fever Pitch choir than in the congregation, as seems usual these days, but it was a great opportunity to see the inside of Sutton's Hospital and take some pics (here) of this wonderful part of old, hidden London.

Charterhouse is a former Carthusian monastery in London, to the north of what is now Charterhouse Square. The building is formally known as Sutton's Hospital in Charterhouse, and is a registered charity. Since the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century the house has served as private mansion, a boys' school and an almshouse, which it remains to this day.

Hear my Prayer - Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Preces - Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656)
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis - Short Service by Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)

Anthem: O Clap Your Hands - Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)

Mississippi McDowell's wise words

2010-09-27T15:43:00.000+01:00

The lyrics to You Got To Move, a McDowell song covered by the Rolling Stones on their Sticky Fingers album in 1971 (here they are playing it live), are inscribed on the headstone of Mississippi Fred's grave in Panola County, Mississippi. McDowell was highly influential blues player and is considered the father of hill country blues.

Photo by 'joseph a' from Flickr.

The Shield

2010-09-21T17:19:00.002+01:00

After watching 89 episodes of 7 seasons of US TV's The Shield DVD box set over the last 4 months, I finally reached the end the other day. It's 'the story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact.'

An awesome made-for-TV series, engaging beyond the norm of television. Dating from 2002-08, it was shown on FiveUSA UK Channel at 11pm on Sunday nights, a time guaranteed not to hit the jackpot in our household.

Vic Mackey, the lead character played by Michael Chiklis, is so watchable as the bad-but-good detective who does everything his way. The sub-plots in each episode all wind cleverly around each other - both the writing and the editing are excellent. The visual work, done by two hand-held cameramen, is what is said to give The Shield its unique look and feel.

Forest Whitaker (who won an Oscar for The Last King of Africa) plays an internal investigator Jon Kavanaugh who Mackey consistently manages to stay one step ahead of, and Glenn Close, who briefly takes over as the police station Captain; both feature in just a couple of the seasons.

IMDB 8.9/10 - and worth every decimal point above the 8.

89 x 45min episodes (plus the voiceovers and deleted scenes) amount to nearly three days of my life - a sobering thought, but only lost sleep, really. To think I have never even watched a single episode of The Sopranos, yet. Only 5 more seasons to watch of West Wing, too... No wonder TV is so much more 'on demand' nowadays. No adverts, either, if you use the boxed DVD sets.

Fever Pitch in Fairlight

2010-09-20T17:14:00.002+01:00

To Fairlight in East Sussex with Fever Pitch for a charity fund-raising choral concert. Right next to Hastings, the walk beforehand along the Firehills footpath overlooking the sea and the bay over to Dungeness marshes, wind farm and power station were glorious on this fine late summer afternoon.

We came across an unusual wedding in a tiny chapel right by Pett Level seafront, where a bagpiper played in a Tam-o'-Shantered and bewhiskered groom and his glamorous wife.

After a trip up St Andrew's church tower, from where there are unexpectedly wonderful views, we sang a mixed programme of Bach to Beatles. The usual Fever Pitch eclectic mix included a Bach motet and English traditional folk song arrangements.

Sadly, we missed the chance to celebrate Richard D'Oyly Carte (founder of the Savoy Theatre, Savoy Hotel, and D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which produced the Gilbert and Sullivan light operas) and Anglican choral composer Thomas Attwood Walmisley, who are both buried in the churchyard.

Mark Who?

2010-09-15T11:53:00.005+01:00

Mark Zuckerberg - if you've never heard of him then it's not surprising. But he is one of the co-founders of Facebook and The New Yorker magazine has an interesting interview with him here.

Not to be confused, of course, with Justin Timberlake (below), who is not playing Mr Zuckerberg in the upcoming movie, The Social Network. Jesse Eisenberg apparently has that privilege.

The Modern Pantry

2010-09-13T11:54:00.003+01:00

To The Modern Pantry in a Georgian townhouse building in St John's Square (right by Bruno Loubet's Bistrot in the Zetter hotel), Clerkenwell for Sunday late brunch. A lovely day, with pre-prandial drinks high up on an urban-living terrace then on to this great little restaurant that gives 'fusion cooking' (Pacific Rim) a good name. Very New York in style (open all hours, no airs and graces, just great food and great service - at last!).

Recognised by Michelin with a bib gourmand and the AA (2 stars), the prices reflect its popularity. However, when the food's this good then you never mind paying. Scallop sashimi with mustard seed, miso-marinated (or sugar-cured?) shrimp omelette with smoked chili sambal, tofu and sweetcorn fritters, onglet (skirt) steak cooked perfectly, casava chips with chili marmalade and creme fraiche, peach salsa, affogato made with great Caravan espresso coffee poured over Jude's hokey-pokey honeycomb 'ice-cream with soul', and much more...

Chef-owner Anna Hansen (UK New Zealander of the Year 2010) has a wealth of experience under her belt (she trained with London's originator of fusion cooking, Peter Gordon) and it clearly shows. When the food's this good it's time to push the boat out and I broke one of my main rules, by splashing out on a fine vino - but the company, location and food were too enjoyable to note the detail, just that it was a lovely, oaky 2006 Italian Barbera, worth every penny of the restaurant's mark-up. Service was excellent: friendly, generous and knowledgeable. Artwork ('A Visual Feast') from Selina Snow (see pics at bottom for a contrastingly arty take on British food). A joyful experience, bu wtf is umeboshi butter?

* Waitrose guest chef: Anna Hansen (link left to recipes, from Waitrose Food Illustrated Jan 2010 edition)

* Anna features in Coco (pub. Phaidon), a book showcasing 100 of the world's top up and coming chefs

* Matthew Norman hits the nail on the head in his Guardian review:

"...Low expectations can distort the critical judgment, the relief luring you into inflating the competent into the outstanding, but by any standards the Modern Pantry is a gem."

Google homepage

2010-09-07T21:32:00.002+01:00

Loved Google's interactive balls on their homepage today. Also love the idea of Google giving Apple a run for their money on the music front.

ICA - Death of Print?

2010-09-07T11:23:00.000+01:00

Join the debate at the ICA over the death of print on 21 October. Link here.

Black Fleece for Men

2010-09-06T19:00:00.006+01:00

Brooks Brothers' Black Fleece for men is described as 'tailored sophistication. The fragrance is an earthy aromatic style, the bright sparkling citrus and fresh spices invigorate, while hints of geranium bourbon and rosewood heart warm the fragrance and blend seamlessly. Rich undertones of patchouli, incense and vetiver complete the scent with a tailored elegance. The bottle is inspired by 1950's ceramic glass flacons in refined grey, with matching silver-trimmed glass caps. The packaging is fabricated with rigorous environmental sensibility, the Black Fleece falcon and carton establish a new aesthetic in fragrance design and packaging.From soy ink to plant-derived materials made without petroleum that are recyclable and biodegradable, the Black Fleece Fragrance collection has been fabricated with respect to the Earth.'

...so that's how they get 125 bucks out of you. Still, it seemed like a justifiable expense and a pleasurable indulgence in NYC in February.

Clocks

2010-09-06T18:40:00.002+01:00

Trying to decide on a new wall clock - and it's harder than I thought, with so much choice. Found this great site for Newgate Clocks, though: www.newgateclocks.com - lovely site design and quite inspiring.