Previous LFA Events

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AGM & Vicarish Allsorts

The LFA AGM this year was, as usual, well-attended, and the presence of Trevor, the Festival pig, on the platform was a happy reminder of the pleasures of the Festival last year.  It was all a marked contrast to the mood at last year’s AGM when the Chairman had to report the Arts Council’s refusal of support for the 2011 Festival. This year there were encouraging statements from the Chairman about rising LFA membership numbers, as well as of increasing ticket sales at both the main Festival and its literary offshoot; though both the Chairman and Director warned of the need for further development in the literary festival and in general programming to improve Arts Council support and secure the Festival’s financial base. After the interval refreshments the entertainment also took a different form: not a “Desert Island” this year, but light-hearted reminiscences of scenes from clerical life from the Precentor, Canon Wealands Bell – which may have been just as revealing! In stories mainly at his own expense, we heard of a childhood which involved playing the organ in the church where his father was minister, of being a choirboy in Durham, of selection and training for the ministry, and of life as a curate in Jarrow.  His account of an argument between ladies of the parish would have been recognised by the vicar’s wife Alan Bennett wrote about in his “Talking Heads”; and he looked to the future with a witty prediction that in 200 years’ time the Church of England’s latest controversy will be whether a cloned person can be a bishop!

Wealands has a pleasant tenor voice and his remarks were interspersed with a selection of songs which Nigel Argust ably accompanied at the piano.  The music ranged from Coward’s clever “Don’t put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington” to Flanders and Swann’s elegy for the pre-Beeching railways, “On the slow train”, from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Time was when love and I were well acquainted” (“I was a fair young curate then”) to a setting of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee”.  It was obvious from the laughter, the generous applause and the remarks from the departing audience that his performance had been much appreciated. 

Review by Adrienne Swallow

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Bella Italia

Ninety folk filled The Guildhall for an unusual and fascinating evening of music and good fellowship.  Oliver Broad from event sponsors Robert Broad Travel and Bishop David Bentley welcomed us, Barry Cheeseman spoke of Kirker Music events. It was no surprise to learn that Andrew Ball gained a first in music from Queen’s College, Oxford.  Through his artistry he was able to draw from a very modest Rogers upright piano a remarkable variety of tone and dynamics.  He began his recital with a Bach piece based on a Vivaldi piano concerto and followed this with Mendelssohn’s Venetian Gondola Barcarolle.   Those of us who admire Michelangeli’s wonderful recordings of Galuppi’s sonatas felt that Andrew’s performance of the C major sonata was  no less
impressive.  He coaxed from his instrument a lively appreciation of the remarkable key changes and turns that so often pass unremarked in many
performances.  The Chopin Barcarolle contrasted well with that of Mendelssohn; whose sister, Fanny Henselt, provided the following piece: Addio
a Roma. After Liszt’s Canzonetta del Salvator Rosa Andrew ended his recital with three pieces from Rossini’s suite Sins of My Old Age. Britten later orchestrated the suite as Soirees Musicales. To add interest to his programme, Andrew quoted excerpts and poems  relating to the works played
by various writers, including  Browning on Galuppi. The applause for Andrew was warm and long-lasting.  The evening concluded with a splendid buffet
provided by Jane Steeley and other members of the Committee. Thanks are due to all who
contributed to the success of a remarkable entertainment.

Review by Peter Tanter

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Just Us Revue

This well-organised evening in Whittington back in November provided the LFA’s usual mix of splendid buffet (courtesy of the wonderful Jane Steeley) and lovely flower arrangements, all produced with that well-tried combination of hard work, expertise and flair.

However, the entertainment on this occasion was something quite unexpected: Just Us is a group of talented amateur entertainers based in Whittington, whose members give their time and services at charitable events, and have helped to raise considerable sums in recent years.  On this occasion the LFA was the beneficiary of their undoubted talents.  Their repertoire included songs, monologues and sketches with something of the flavour of the seaside “end-of-the-pier” concert party of yesteryear.  The old jokes are certainly the best, and I haven’t laughed so much in a long time!  The rest of the audience seemed to be reduced to a similarly helpless state.

Finally there was the opportunity for audience participation in the singing of “Happy Birthday to you” in honour of a woman who was not even a member of the Association!  The membership form and the cheque are in the post – honestly!  

Review by Pat Scaife

Editor’s Note – LFA Members will be delighted to hear that Pat has now joined our Membership ranks! Could you encourage a friend to join us this year? Many Members join as a result of being asked by someone they know and inviting someone to join is a great way to help us raise more money for the Festival. You could even buy Membership for a friend or relative as a gift.

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Lichfield Literature

I’ve decided on my New Year’s resolution for 2012.  It is to be in Lichfield for the whole of next year’s Literature Festival.  This year, I was around for only the final weekend – but what a weekend it proved to be.  A truly eclectic mix of topics – there really was something for everyone.  Our Literature Festival makes me realise just how much creativity and intellectual curiosity there is in our world.  Brilliant minds are researching and writing on every conceivable subject.  How fortunate we are here in Lichfield to have a Festival team able to bring the best of the country’s authors to our city.

I’d like to share memories of some of the authors I heard that weekend.  Everyone will have their favourites – that is what is so important about our rich and varied Festival programme.

Douglas Hurd

I had a very personal reason for wanting to hear Douglas Hurd talking about Foreign Secretaries over the past two centuries.  In the 1980s I was working for Christian Aid in international development.  Occasionally I would be part of an inter-agency delegation meeting with government ministers to discuss a current key global problem. I remember so vividly our meeting with Douglas Hurd, then Foreign Secretary, about the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.  I was struck by his intelligence, wisdom and courtesy and his genuine interest in what we had to say. And so it proved to be during his talk on his new book about Britain’s foreign policy over the past 200 years.  Foreign Secretaries have had to decide when to intervene in overseas conflicts, when to take unilateral or joint action with certain allies and when to stand back.  Nothing has changed in the world in international politics!  Questions followed on Britain’s recent involvement in conflicts in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq/Afghanistan and, most recently, Libya.  Fascinating insights from someone with so much direct experience.

Henry Hitchings with his illustrious lexicographic predecessor

Equally fascinating was Martin Kemp’s talk about his study of icons and images.  As a Professor of Art History at Oxford, he explained how our perceptions and views are influenced by iconic images.  He looked at popular depictions of Jesus Christ, Marilyn Monroe and Che Guevara – and then moved onto the shape of the Coca Cola bottle and the DNA double helix.  It was both exciting and a little frightening to think about how our minds ‘see’ familiar images that now bombard us all the time.

And then on to language – with local author Henry Hitchins talking about the correct usage of the English language.  Perhaps he should go through this piece with a red pen!  No language is static but where do we draw the line – in both words and grammar (let alone the infamous apostrophe!)?  I think our local luminary, Dr Johnson, would have been well pleased with the first of the newly instituted ‘Samuel Johnson Talks’.

Adam Hart-Davis

As you would expect, humour featured widely in the talks given by Simon Hoggart on all the politicians he’d met in his long career as a political commentator and by Adam Hart-Davis on the history of Time.  But the high point for me was the hour of delightful humour as Stephen Pile recounted real stories of some of the world’s ‘heroic failures’. He urged us to sometimes forget about ‘success’ and remember J.K.Galbraith’s maxim that “immortality can always be assured by spectacular failure”.  Now, whenever I want a good laugh on a dark autumn evening, I read a few stories from his ‘Ultimate Book of Heroic Failures’. But the one thing that can be said about this year’s Literature Festival was that it was immensely successful.

Michael Hawkes October 2011

Colin Dexter

Editor’s comments: I’m sure everyone must agree with Michael that the extended lichfield literature this year presented an amazing selection of goodies.  Did anyone manage to attend something every day?  Like Michael, I was away for part of the week, but managed to cram quite a lot into the days I was here.

I was particularly impressed by David Crystal’s talk on the writing of the King James Bible and its influence on the language – fascinating insights, and such an entertaining speaker!  The talks by the two Rabbis, Julia Neuberger and Lionel Blue, also gave plenty of food for thought – and nice to see Lionel Blue in the audience for his erstwhile student.  Deirdre Le Fanu, editor of Jane Austen’s letters, managed to find a (to me) totally unexpected local connexion, with a visit of several weeks in the summer of 1805 by Jane, Cassandra and their mother to Mrs Austen’s nephew, the Rev Edward Cooper, who held the livings of Hamstall Ridware and Yoxall; and she used the diary of a similar visit by Edward Cooper’s mother-in-law as a source to suggest the sort of things the Austens may have done, including being met from their coach in Lichfield – what a frisson that provided!

Particularly the first weekend there was plenty to involve families and young people – storytelling sessions and workshops and a young writers’ scheme – and a strong emphasis on creativity as well as consumption.  On the Tuesday evening there was a Literary Quiz Night; on the Friday, a convivial Literary Dinner, with Colin Dexter, author of “Morse” and – like Morse – a crossword enthusiast, as after-dinner speaker. Truly, something for everyone.