Jan Leeming - The Official Website

VANDALISM AGAIN

24th November 2009

VANDALISM AGAIN

In the words of Victor Meldrew 'I don't believe it'.  After my experience at Dover Priory a mere ten days ago when a mindless vandal smashed my passenger window, I parked my car in the Multi-Storey Car Park in Canterbury yesterday from 2.00 - 5.30.  And when I returned to it all Four Doors had been keyed.

As if that weren't bad enough the man in the Car Park Office didn't have a word of apology - 'Sorry Madam, is there any way we can help'!  He immediately got on the defensive and declared that the car park was patrolled to which I retorted 'Obviously not very well'.  For what they charge at that Car Park, one would expect adequate surveillance (I don't think they have CCTV despite the Cash Registers working overtime).

Despite being well known, I do not have endless cash.  Things were very different in my heyday in TV - we loved the work, did it, enjoyed it but many of us were not highly remunerated and there were no Company pensions.

I can't put another claim through my insurance so the car will just have to remain in its scruffy state.  Even my previous ten-year old car was vandalised several times.  So it doesn't seem to matter whether your car is old or new, posh or otherwise.  And the vandals give no thought to how long you might have worked and paid taxes in order to purchase your vehicle.

As a freelance, I have to go where the work is and attend meetings and interviews.  My old and much beloved Cougar just gave up the ghost in a country lane miles from anywhere.  I can't afford for that to happen and put savings into buying a new car in the hope that it would be reliable.  Don't worry I didn't sell on my old car, I gave it to my son who was well aware that upkeep might be pricey but thought it better than having no car at all.  If I didn't do such extensive mileage, I'd probably buy a Smart car but the thought of being sandwiched between lorries on the motorways - and being squashed to a pulp should there be an unfortunate accident, made me invest in a car with a substantial amount of metal around me. 

Since July last year, my car has been damaged, whilst stationary, by two drivers who, of course, did not leave any details.  It has been vandalised in Kingsand, Plymouth, near Dover Priory and now in Canterbury. Some of the damage I've paid for out of my own pocket rather than risk my No-claims but there comes a time when you simply can't continue to shell out.   What a world we live in!  I despair.

Dashing to catch a dreaded train but more at the weekend about my thoughts on society.

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THE REAL CALENDAR GIRLS and Kelly Brooks

15th November 2009

THE REAL CALENDAR GIRLS

We are now into our second week and we are playing to packed houses.  It's absolutely lovely to be part of such a successful show - even though in a small part.

This week we've been visited by the 'Real' Calendar Girls - Tricia (Chris) and Angela (Annie).  They've been to the differently cast productions and certainly seemed to like our version.  Tricia came to see the play on Tuesday and looked stunning in her uniform Black Dress complete with Sunflower.  We all had a drink with her and I took a few photos - as I can only put one into my Blog. I've opted for the one with Kelly as I'm sure she's the 'gal' most of you would like to see.

On Friday, Angela (Annie) came to see us with her newish husband - they were actually celebrating their 4^th Wedding Anniversary that night.  What a lovely way to spend their evening.  She is now a Trustee of the Leukaemia Foundation and all in all the ladies have raised nearly 3 million pounds towards Leukaemia Research.

The only downside for me is the amount of time spent in the dressing room and the five hours of travelling per day which is draining me. (The railways do not exist to benefit the traveller but to put money into the Shareholders' purses.  British Rail may have been a bit of a lumbering giant, but it was certainly preferable in the service it offered  up against anything on offer today.)

 But as my son says - Aren't I lucky to be in the West End.  And if it's the last work I do, it's a good way to end a career.

I've been invited to promote the play in various different media and that's been fun.  And there was an article about my Wardrobe  in the Daily Mail on Thursday.

Till the next time.  Au revoir - Jan

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New Field

15th November 2009

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DOVER PRIORY and VANDALISM

14th November 2009

VANDALISM again.

I've not been looking forward to all the Train travel especially as the curtain comes down too late for me to catch the ridiculously early last train to Walmer - 10.00 pm.  It wouldn't be so bad if there were a connection from Dover Priory or Canterbury West where one could link to Walmer - but No - Southeastern Rail does not exist for the benefit of the customer but the shareholder.  (Was totally shocked to learn from a young traveller that is she travels in rush hour from Walmer to Charing Cross the fare is over £40)

Imagine how I felt at 1.00 am on Friday morning - after an incredibly long day - to find my car had been vandalised yet again - the passenger window had been totally smashed.  A mindless piece of vandalism as there was nothing in the car to steal.

I had been unable to park in the woefully inadequate Station Car Park (haven't counted but about 20 parking spaces) so had to park around the corner in a quiet street and parked under a lamp-post.  (How are they going to cope when the High Speed Train service commences in early December?  No one has given a thought to it - totally inadequate parking and not even a facility to Park and ride to the Station!)

Some absolutely lovely 'Good Samaritan' had covered the broken window with plastic/hessian sacking for which I was intensely grateful as it had been raining Cats and Dogs that day.  Unfortunately the lady had not left a contact number only a note to say that she'd reported it and there was a crime number - fat lot of good that is - the last time I contacted the police in Cornwall for another act of Vandalism they asked, in my opinion, a load of totally inappropriate questions like - Did I need Counselling.  No I didn't, I was just damned Angry! What was my age and my ethnic origin - what has that got to do with the price of fish!)  If by any chance the Good Samaritan happens to read this, please make contact via the local newspaper as I'd love to repay the kindness in some way.

I'd had a very long day - Julie Goodyear was unwell so we all had to pitch up at Midday for Understudy Rehearsal, then do two shows.  I'd left home at 10.00 am and got off the train at 1.00 am.   I was tired and cold and then to see my car damaged was just the last straw.  It wasn't so much the damage but my feeling about the sort of people around these days.  I was brought up in a house with an outside Loo and no Bathroom, no phone, no TV and certainly no Car.  BUT my generation had a sense of pride and a desire to better ourselves - we had a WORK ETHIC and respect for other people and their hard-earned property.  All that has gone and I feel so SAD and HELPLESS.    I got home and Wept with sheer frustration at the kind of World in which we now live.  It's a World without Shame - no respect for anything and no Work Ethic.  I feel very very sorry for those who do want to work and don't have a job (and it's appalling to see the poor homeless folk around the Strand bedding down for the night in doorways - and this in an affluent country) but, in my opinion, there are too many who simply don't want to work and are totally happy to live off State Benefits.  Do they actually think the Government has a money-tree (well perhaps they do with the way they have been bailing out banks and allowing ridiculous bonuses) - don't they realise that  it is the hard-working tax payer who funds their lives.  

I haven't had a new car for 35 years and only bought my Ford Focus because I wanted to cut down on repair bills, reduce petrol consumption and have reliable 'wheels' under me.  I thought this would be the car to 'see me out'.  I've had it vandalised three times in 4 months. 

I had reservations about parking at Dover and those fears were certainly fulfilled.  So what do I do now.  Well I'm certainly not parking there again so I will have to pay for Taxis - approximately £20 from Dover Priory to my home.  And there's no way around that because the last train to my station from Charing Cross leaves at 10.00 pm - so Dover Priory is the only option.

And as for travelling on trains -  I loathe it.  There is a total lack of respect for other travellers.  People are shouting into their Mobile Phones, having Loud Conversations (I really don't want to know the intimate details of the lives of Strangers nor the latest prices on stocks and shares) and children are just let loose to do what they like.  The Lavatories Stink and are Dirty with a combination of no toilet paper, no soap and the hand- dryer does not work.  Travellers constantly put their feet on the seats - consequently I've become the traveller in black reckoning that at least Black won't show the dirt picked up off the seats.  And, if you are on the last train with a journey of two hours in front of you when you'd really welcome a hot drink - there's no refreshment service.

I was assured by the Station Staff at Dover Priory that there is always a guard on the trains - well if there is, you certainly don't see them.

Although I'm enjoying my stint in Calendar Girls, my journeying on Southeastern and Southwestern trains can't come to an end soon enough.  I've not had to travel by train for years and I only hope I don't have to again in the foreseeable future.  If parking were not so prohibitively expensive (plus the congestion charge) I'd drive in.  Mind you with what I'm going to have to pay in Taxi fares, it might make travelling by car a viable alternative.

British Rail may have been a bit of a lumbering giant but they manned the Ticket offices, manned the trains and they did run to places slightly off the beaten track. Now, ticket offices, like Police Stations are open for a few hours a day and one is left to the vicissitudes of the damned Machines. I always felt that Utilities should never have been privatised and I feel that way even more so now.

The Grumpy Old Woman is getting even Grumpier!

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CALENDAR GIRLS - AUSTRALIA AND CAPE TOWN

11th November 2009

I understand  that Calendar Girls is going to be staged in both Australia and Cape Town.  In Cape Town the show will be produced at the Theatre on the Bay at Camps Bay.  I would imagine that CG will start off in Sydney, Australia.

I would be thrilled to bits if I could play a part in either place.  Australia would be wonderful - after all I started my Professional life there in both TV and Theatre - being the first Woman Newsreader in Australia in 1963 and then going on to three very successful years in Theatre.

Here's Hoping or Thumbs crossed as they say in South Africa.

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CALENDAR GIRLS

10th November 2009

We opened on Tuesday, 3^rd November to a very receptive audience.  We have a very strong and united cast showing a wealth of talent.  The play is so well written that every actor has a cameo within their role whether that is large or small.  Tim Firth is, in my opinion, a brilliant writer with a great understanding of human nature.

I only have a very small role but am enjoying the whole atmosphere of the theatre. Don't know why but I want to use the words 'Roar of the Greasepaint and the Smell of the Crowd' which was the title of a not too successful Anthony Newley musical following on from his success with Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.  Of course, these days, unless you are doing a character make-up, you no longer use Greasepaint (it used to be Leichner and the Powder in a large tin had a divine smell which I can still conjure up from my days in theatre in Australia).

I watch most of the show every night and am still hugely enjoying it - so too are the audience.  The photo-shoot scene is hilarious.  And what is very interesting is the reaction of the audience reserving their biggest applause not for the lovely Kelly but for the oldest member of the cast - Jessie played so well by Rosalind Knight.  You have the juxtaposition of the comedy and the tragedy and  John's Death Scene is very moving indeed.  My son shed tears twice.

On Monday the 2^nd, we moved in to the theatre (the previous cast having vacated on Saturday).  Imagine my total delight and astonishment to approach the Noel Coward Theatre and see my name outside.  I have such a small part, I really didn't expect any such treatment.  But, I am thrilled and, if I never work again, I can at least say I made it into the West End!

Although very grateful for my career in television - for providing me with a living and also a means of meeting and interviewing such interesting people - my first love has always been the Theatre.  In my early twenties, I was doing very well in the theatre in Sydney, Australia and had my fiancée not been killed in a car crash, I would never have come back to the UK.  I loved Australia, the wide open spaces, the scenery, the climate, the openness of the people who just accepted you for what you were (no old school tie stuff - you could do the job or you couldn't)  and the fact that I was working at something I loved.  But Life has a strange way of altering your pathway and your dreams.  You can't fight it and have to go with the flow.

So, even though my role in Calendar Girls is a small one, I'm drinking in the atmosphere of the theatre and loving it.  I have a very svelte suit for my role and the most staggeringly high heels (made my legs look good but were hell to wear)   With the rake of the stage, I felt as if I were going to topple over and when I heard a member of the audience say - oh, her legs are trembling - I elbowed them and went for something lower.  Strangely enough, being more comfortable in my shoes has strengthened my performance!!!!

First Night was delightful.  I couldn't believe how many flowers I received.  My son is invariably hard up and I assumed I'd just get a rather large Card from him.  Well, shortly before Curtain up, he sent me a text telling me to go down to the Stage Door - and there was the most stunning bouquet of Arum lilies and huge White roses tinged with green set against  Eucalyptus, Pussy Willow and Ornamental cabbage - very South African.  He knows I love White flowers and particularly White Roses and Arum Lillies.  I got a lump in my throat. Would have loved to bring them home with me this weekend but I'd never have been able to carry them - the whole arrangement was over a metre in height.

I've already told you in a previous Blog all about our lovely Director and the delightful cast, so all I can say is if you want a really good laugh - and maybe the odd tear - do come and see Calendar Girls. We are on until January 9^th.

I didn't take my camera into London with me - didn't think there'd be anything for which I'd need it so I can't, at the moment, show you the outside of the theatre - but will do in a day or two.

 

Every Monday, I receive an analysis of my Website visitors.  I'm staggered at seeing from where you all come.  I don't know anyone in China, Laos, Saudi or Mauritius to mention a few  and almost no-one in the States but the numbers are growing.  I now feel a responsibility to keep you amused but don't know what the next few weeks will bring as I shall be incarcerated in the Theatre.  Maybe I'll go in early and visit a few exhibitions about which I could write.

 

Bye for now,  Jan.

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COMMUTING WITH SOUTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST TRAINS

9th November 2009

Nearly went mad trying to decide how best I could sort out the regular commute to London.  I haven't had to commute since I was in my late teens and working as a Secretary at BBC Broadcasting House in London.  And then in the 80's I gave up using trains and tubes because of 'recognition' - I enjoy talking to people but not endlessly answering questions from total strangers on a train.

I'm mildly claustrophobic so I never did like taking the Tube, and apart from the newer Jubilee Line, nothing much has improved.  They are overcrowded and overheated .  No wonder people get so many colds etc.  I reckon the temperature varies by about 15 degrees as you enter and leave the Tube Station.  And I'm afraid the Tube bombing in 2005 hasn't left me feeling any more willing to travel underground.

I looked at making the journey by car but it really would have been prohibitively expensive with the cost of petrol, parking and the congestion charge - all in all amounting to a cool £70-ish per day and putting thousands of miles on the clock over the ten week run.

The Train!  I looked at every route around where I live but nothing I could catch, after the show,  came out as far as my station - so it's going to be a drive, park, and train.

Because it was the first week of the show and I knew there would be note sessions etc.  I stayed in my friend Doreen's flat.  Buying tickets and finding out about the permutations of travel is a nightmare.  The first day, the ticket office was shut, and I loathe using machines and ended up getting it wrong.  The next day the office was open and when I politely asked at what times they shut, I was rudely told they didn't - oh yes they do and did again the next day by which time I'd got the hang of the darned machine.  

As it was necessary to go up a flight of steps and then down to the ticket office and then up and down again to the appropriate station for Waterloo, on Saturday,  I decided to give the ticket office a miss and opt for the machine - both were out of order (surprise, surprise) and it necessitated another clamber back up the steps, down to the ticket office with a large queue, of course,  and then back up the steps etc. and so forth - you get the picture!

I really do not like travelling by public transport and the attitude of staff ranges from ' Couldn't be more helpful - to downright rude and abrasive'.  Perhaps they should realize that not everyone is a commuter with intimate knowledge of the complexities of Over-ground, Underground, Oyster cards and the infernal machines.  (Isn't it amazing that we have so many people unemployed, yet the inexorable march of the machines continues in every walk of life. Orwell's 1984 isn't so far removed from reality, is it?)

On my own South Eastern line, the trains don't exactly run for the convenience of the customer and the timetable will get worse with the advent of the High Speed Train - which, of course, doesn't come past Dover.  But the staff have been lovely.  The guards and the 'Trolley' people have been extremely friendly and helpful though I'm  still not looking forward to traveling late at night but  have no option.

I remember the good old days when I had to commute up to Manchester (to read the news for Granada Television) on a Monday and came back home on a Friday on the Pullman.  For those of you too young to remember - they were trains with lovely little Restaurant Cars containing tables for four and lit by romantic little lamps with shades.  The food was not exactly haute cuisine but the journey became an adventure.  You'd never know who might be sitting at the table with you - sometimes you'd encounter fascinating folk and you'd natter away and be in London before you knew it.  In those days, I regarded traveling by train as a pleasure.  

Those were the days of Corridor Trains and individual carriages with comfortable seats and a very ample luggage rack. Last week, I took a small case up to London and there was absolutely nowhere to store it - then a woman got on with a pushchair and again there was nowhere to put it.  Travellers, by virtual of their name - travellers - very often do carry luggage so why is this not taken into account when designing the damn trains.

AND the fare was the fare.  You travelled First or Second Class and you knew the price of a ticket for prime time and Off peak.  Now, you almost need a degree in Maths and IT to work out the 'Best Deal'. ( It's a bit like buying an Airline ticket.  I've yet to sit on a plane without finding out that the person next to me paid a lot less!!!! )  In this past week I discovered that I could go 'overground' to my destination for one price but it I used the Train and the Tube, the price was considerably more and even more if one didn't possess an Oyster Card.  A single trip from Charing Cross to Leicester Square would have been £4 - a return with an Oyster £5.60.  I decided to walk.

Enough - Grumpy Old Woman has 'grumped' enough for now.  I'll close and turn to the much more pleasant subject of Calendar Girls.

What do you think? Send your feedback to contact@jan-leeming.com.

CATCH UP

8th November 2009

CATCH UP

Hi folks,

I've been in London all this week with the opening of Calendar Girls and, consequently been away from my Computer and the Internet.

Loads to tell you but have got to get down to the Washing, ironing, emails  and general chores, so please allow me a day's grace and I'll  get back to writing my story.

The elbow is still hurting badly and hasn't healed so I hope I haven't chipped a bone or something sinister.

Promise I'll tell you all about Calendar Girls tomorrow and the ghastly commuting - how people do it day in and day out is beyond me.

Bye for now - Jan   (8^th November)

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DEADLY WHEELIES

1st November 2009

DEADLY WHEELIES

The other evening - I was going to a Battle of Britian Memorial Fund Function at the RAF Club.  Of course I'd left my Poppy at home and thought I couldn't possibly go to the Club 'Poppyless'.  So on Green Park station I purchased another - stepped back and fell backwards over a Wheelie Case being pulled by an American Gentleman.  He must have come very close behind me with no spacial awareness.  He apologised and, though shaken I accepted his apology and went on my way.  After walking a short distance my left elbow felt rather cold - it was bleeding quite profusely.  I patched myself up with 4 sticking plasters and an RAF Club paper serviette stuffed up my sleeve and proceeded to enjoy the function.  I did actually have a very nasty V-shaped gash about one and a half inches in length.  I suppose it needed stitching but I was loathe to take myself off to A & E at a London Hospital - thinking that by the time I'd sat around for hours, the wound would be past stitching anyway and then how would I get home?

So now, I've had a Tetanus jab, am on antibiotics and have an Elbow which is incredibly sore and is still bleeding 4 days after the incident.    I will also have a nasty scar - well it could have been worse - I might have fallen the other way onto my face.

So please, do be careful how you 'drive' your Wheelie and the same goes for those of you who wear knapsacks on your backs.  No spacial awareness - and how often do you turn around totally unaware of that extra 'lump' or excrescence behind you and either hit or narrowly miss another member of the public.

I really am becoming a 'Grumpy Old Woman' - GOW.

Take care,  Jan

You wouldn't credit it - it nearly happened again.  I was purchasing a train ticket and stepped back from the counter into another damned 'wheelie' stuck way out in front of a woman in the queue.

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CALENDAR GIRLS REHEARSALS

1st November 2009

CALENDAR GIRLS

Joined the cast for rehearsals on Monday.  They are a delightful crowd and made me feel very welcome.  We have the most divine Director - Hamish McColl.  He is an actor, as well as a writer and director and his approach is one of building you up and getting the best out of you - as opposed the some of the directors with whom I worked in my dim and distant Thespian days.

I've seen the film several times and saw the Stage Show in July which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Haven't met the writer - Tim Firth - but what an incredibly writer he is.  He's made the transition from the film to the Stage and given an even funnier and more moving piece. 

There's a rolling cast - changing every three months.  I would say this cast is finding even more humour in the lines but the contrast between the humour and the sadness is all the more telling.  I've now watched the show many times and have not stopped laughing nor crying.  In fact, yesterday in the rehearsal rooms, when I could see the scene preceeding my entrance, it moved me so much, I had to clear the lump in my throat before I went on.

I've only got a few lines, but I'm delighted to be part of such a successful and well received show - and if I never work again, I can say that I ended my career on the West End Stage - does it matter that if you blinked you'd miss me!!!

I must add that all the money from the Booking Fee and the profit from the merchandise is being donated to Leukaemia Research and since the show opened in the West End over £150,000 has been donated.  That is, of course, in addition to over £2 million which has been raised so far from the original Calendar and the Film and Stage Rights.  So a wonderful night out at the Theatre and a good way to help the most worthwhile of Charities.  

The only downside for me  is all the commuting.  There's no way round it.  It would be prohibitively expensive to drive in, pay the congestion charge and in excess of £30 for parking so I'm afraid I have to commute - something I've not done since I was in my teens.  We are not in the best part of the country for commuting even despite the advent of the High Speed Train to Dover which won't affect - other than adversely - a commute from Deal.  So it's knuckling under to approximately 5 hours on a train from Tuesday to Saturday and there's a limit to how much reading one can do in poor light. 

 The facilities on the train are abysmal and as for the Toilets - they are excrable.   Predominantly the young put their dirty feet on the seats and as for the amount of unwanted information one cannot but overhear on mobile phone conversations - Well - enough said.  The Guards, Trolley staff and Station Staff couldn't be nicer.

It is over 50 years since I commuted in to work as a Secretary in the BBC, and things have changed phenomenally - not for the better.

I couldn't believe how crowded the Tubes and Trains were right into the 9.00 pm Time Zone - what are people doing staying in London so late!

We used to criticize the lumbering dinosaur of British Rail but at least the trains were run for the good of the public - now they appear to be run for the good of the shareholder and one has to spend ages on the Internet looking for the best 'deal'.  Gone are the days when a ticket from A to B had a price and that is what you paid.  (Personally I do not think Utilities which serve the Public should be privatised but it's a done deed now)

I was totally taken aback the other day attending a rehearsal in Southwark.  Having paid for a ticket to Charing Cross although I got off a station early at Waterloo East, and also having purchased an Oyster Card at the behest of my son, I found that I couldn't use either to walk between the Station and the Southwark exit - it required a Platform Ticket at the cost of £1.  It wasn't the money that so incensed me as the fact that I held two perfectly good paid up tickets and yet still had to pay again.  Many many thanks to the two lovely young Staff who helped me through the Financial Maze.  Out of sheer bloodymindedness, I took the long way round after that - coming out of Waterloo East Station and walking to the Rehearsal Rooms.

In the past, when I lived in Buckinghamshire,  I used to wonder why people got up and left before the end of a Theatre Show - now I know - they had to catch trains which aren't there for the passengers' benefit but exist to make a profit and late trains are not profitable.  I know this to my cost.  Curtain Call for the Show is too late for me to catch the last train to my home station so I have to drive to one of three stations which make a Late Stop and then onward from there.  Am not looking forward to being on trains late at night but hope I'll be OK.

P.S.  I heard that Southeastern Trains lose a huge amount through Fare dodging.  What do they expect when the smaller stations are only open for a few hours and in the case of my local station - it didn't even bother to open the other day.  The hours firmly stated 6.00 - 11.00 am - but the doors were firmly shut and I drove to the nearby larger station to get a ticket  and met someone else who'd made two trips to the Station only to find it shut - no excuse, no 'Sorry for sickness' - Nothing.   Yes there is a machine there but I loathe using them and so often they malfunction.

When I boarded the train, a young person (with feet on seat of course) paid the guard for a ticket - and it was quite obvious that  they had been ensconced on the train well before the station requested.

Perhaps Southeastern would lose less money if they actually staffed their stations for a full day, thus giving employment to a person and a service to the passenger.  Not only is the local station shut before noon, but so are the facilities like the waiting room and the Loo.

I'm coming back to my pet theme of 'Common Sense' which seems to be in incredibly short supply these days.

I am fast becoming a 'Grumpy Old Woman'!!! 

What do you think? Send your feedback to contact@jan-leeming.com.