Seed of a Song?
Last week I wrote about the Fiery Bird, their programme of live music and that Friday, 31 January would see the first of their 2025 Lovely Music Nights, presenting the best in original music on the grass roots scene, bringing you The Invisible Hats, The Beelines, Rats, Rats, Rats!
The Invisible Hats are a songwriting project made up primarily by Geoff Allnutt (lyrics) and Jamie West (music and vocals), plus a number of loose collaborators attempting to build a songwriting factory out of a small studio in rural West Sussex.
Do check out this programme of live music.
I was intrigued by the name Geoff Allnutt due to that old sign on the side of a building in Chobham Road: Allnutt Seeds. I wondered if the seed merchants might be distant relations to Geoff.
I imagined him composing a folksy song about the Old Tiles of Woking Calling to Him. Folk songs tend to be mournful, and what is more mournful than that old sign and the current state of Woking – and Chobham Road?
Kind Hearts
I spent most of the weekend in bed feeling sorry for myself. Daughter Caroline, who lives with me, has been amazing, dancing attendance on me almost to the point of force-feeding me. I know I must east but I don't want to!
She said she was going for a walk and pulled on her walking boots and I heard her go to the to the front door, but there was a considerable pause, which she later told me about.
Waiting at the front door was our Sri Lankan neighbour with a box of fruit for me. She had seen a mutual friend visit us – I was in bed – and had got all the recent news about my state of health at that time.
So she and Caroline decided to walk off together to the Rive Ponds but first met with our other next door neighbour. His wife is an ex-GP and has been so kind in translating all my medical papers into layman’s words.
The two girls continued to the Ponds. Does your mother like dahl? Yes she does.
They went their separate ways and when Caroline got home here was a bowl of fresh dahl waiting for me.
This was not the end of gifts for me: an ex-neighbour and his son turned up. The son is doing cooking as part of his Duke of Edinburgh award and I had said I would be happy to sample his wares.
This was a fudge cake with a health warning – very high sugar content. It did encourage me to eat but I am not sure that the current state of my taste buds will result in a fair score for the lad!
Tale of Two Cities
John Snelson has been fascinated by musicals all his life and is a leading expert in British musical theatre (the subject of his PhD).
He is especially known for exploring musicals – British and American – in the light of not just the music and the stage, but society and culture to reveal what makes them so appealing, enduring and important.
He is well known as a writer and speaker on all aspects of the lyric stage – musicals, opera, ballet – and has written many programme articles for leading companies in the UK and abroad.
Who better than he, then, to give a lecture on the subject to The Arts Society Mayford (TASM) on 13 February at 10.30am at Welcome Church, 1-5 Church Street West, Woking, GU21 6DJ.
The musical evolved in two great cities: London and New York, so similar and so different in equal measure.
With Soho and Times Square as the ultimate destinations, this lecture explores the metropolitan world from the perspective of the musical theatre stage, taking in ganglands and society haunts, the suburbs and the centres of power.
West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Sweeney Todd and Oliver! are only a few of the familiar shows that have put London and New York centre stage. So what do metropolitan musicals reveal about the real cities and the people who live in them?
I think Mr Snelson will have some very intriguing thoughts on that.
For more information see https://theartssocietymayford.org.uk/Lectures/FutureLectures.aspx
The lecture is free to members of TASM. Visitors are welcome for a fee of £10.
Cold Turkey
My medication has changed, Just like that. There are now boxes of sealed and unused medication which I must no longer use.
We went through my prescription and removed that, and that, and that one too. I said we should bag them up and take them to the pharmacy.
No, I was told, you know they will just be ditched!
But with all the conflicts all over the world surely there are cancer patients who could do with my, probably, expensive pills?
Home at the Range
For all those shoppers keen to explore The Range and its, well, range of products the wait is almost over.
An email from CDS Superstores, parent company of The Range and Wilko, reaches me with the news that the Homebase store in Knaphill is to reopen as The Range Superstore, with integrated Homebase Garden Centre tomorrow (Friday, 7 February) following the acquisition of the Homebase brand and up to 70 stores.
The missive also tells me that the store will be “offering customers a fresh shopping experience, combining the exceptional product variety The Range is known for with the home improvement expertise of Homebase and featuring Garden Centres by Homebase”.
The store will follow The Range’s dog-friendly initiative, allowing well-behaved four-legged shoppers in store, provided they are kept on a lead.
Encouragingly, The Range has prioritised retaining and transferring team members from the acquired Homebase locations, ensuring continuity of employment for local communities.
Alex Simpkin, CEO of CDS Superstores, says: "We’re fully committed to retaining the best of Homebase’s heritage while introducing the broader product range and value that customers expect from us as The Range.”
Why not pop along and check out the new look?
If you’re keen to do a bit of homework beforehand, you can visit www.therange.co.uk, and to explore the full range of products on offer on Homebase’s website see www.homebase.co.uk