Jan Leeming - The Official Website

THE GREAT RIFT

25th January 2010

THE GREAT RIFT - Africa's Wild Heart

I don't watch much television - preferring to sit down to a good DVD of an evening.  At the weekend we are almost spoilt for choice when during the week there's hardly ever anything I want to see.

Last night I wanted to watch 'Slum Dog Millionaire' and The Great Rift .  Because of my great love and desire for knowledge of Africa, I came down on the side of the Documentary.  It was superb and represented all that is best in the BBC and of a calibre that we always expected of the 'Beeb'.  In my humble opinion this is the kind of programme on which the BBC should concentrate.  They get our licence fee over which we have no choice, therefore they do not - or should not have to compete in the Ratings War.  Their remit was to provide Programmes which Entertained, Enlightened and Educated and I wish they'd return to that.  I think Lord Reith must be twirling in his grave over much of the current output on the BBC.

Mind you, most people are unaware that they also pay through the nose for the other channels every time they buy a box of Cornflakes or anything else which has to be advertised.  That advertising is all absorbed within the final price of the object being purchased.

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

New Field

25th January 2010

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J.B. PRIESTLEY

25th January 2010

J.B. PRIESTLEY

I forgot to mention that an Actor friend of mine came with his wife to see Calendar Girls and asked me if I'd read Barry Cryer's 'The Chronicles of Hernia'.  I hadn't but was absolutely amazed to find two references to the fact that JB was, apparently, a great fan.  How I wish he'd got in touch and we could have met - it would have been such an honour.

In the past I've worked on several programmes with Barry - he's great fun and I miss those days of being a panellist on programmes like Blankety Blank and I've Got a Secret.  Innocent they were and certainly entertaining.  I don't think they were expensive to produce and feel it's such a shame that we don't have more programmes like them nowadays.

Just a reminder that the Come Dine With Me in which I took part goes out this Sunday 31^st January on Channel 4.  We all had a great time and I only hope it is edited in such a way that our fun and enjoyment of each other shines through.

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

ALTRINCHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL CENTENARY

17th January 2010

ALTRINCHAM GRAMMAR SCHOOL CENTENARY CELEBRATION

Weather permitting, next week I am going up to Altrincham Grammar School near Manchester.  They are celebrating their 100^th Anniversary and wanted me to MC their Celebrations.  I feel quite honoured really as there are loads of people they could have asked.  Still I am an ex Grammar School girl - having won a scholarship when I was eleven.  Actually I passed the 11+ highly enough to gain a place at a Public School - Christ's Hospital - which was exclusively for girls.  BUT there was some to do over the fact that my father had paid for me to go to a Convent School in Charlton (something like £4 a term but quite a sacrifice on a regular soldier's pay) so the LCC - London County Council didn't allow me to take up the place.  Instead I went to St. Joseph's Convent School in Abbey Wood - now defunct and turned into apartments - but a very good school which gave us the discipline, manners and the dedication to work ethic which must have stood we pupils in good stead for the rest of our lives.

I will come back to this - bit tired at the moment - as I would like to extol the virtues and praise the kind of teachers we had in my schooldays. We may have been taught- rather boringly - the Three R's (Reading, 'Riting' and 'Rithmatic') but without those, one is really hampered with studying anything else.

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

COME DINE WITH ME

11th January 2010

COME DINE WITH ME

Of course I can't let you know who were the other participants but I understand that the programme will be transmitted on 31^st January - so not a long lead time.

The four of us couldn't have been more different but I think we all enjoyed each other's company and got along extremely well.  Of course, one doesn't know what the others say in the Taxi after the dinner and how the Producers decide to edit the programme - programmes and reputations are made and broken in the Editing Suite.

I would have liked a few days respite between Calendar Girls and CDWM but that was not to be.  I treated myself to a car home from London on Saturday Night at the end of Calendar Girls as I had a lot of baggage, and was so glad I did - about 20 miles south of London the snow started to fall and I was mightily glad that it was the driver and not me who had to cope with the conditions.  Couldn't believe the snow piled up at the side of the roads as we got deeper and deeper into Kent.  Also discovered that the road from Deal to Dover had been impassable for three days.

Got home safely and fell into bed.  Spent Sunday organizing everything for my evening of entertaining for CDWM.

I was elected to go last - don't know whether that is a good or a bad thing.  One has more time to worry about one's choice of meal - a choice you can't change after it has been handed in to the Production Team at least a week prior to the filming.

I liked the three other guests and found them all very interesting in different ways.  We had lots of laughs and, I think, a good time was had by all.  After the show has been aired, I'll post some amusing photos in my Gallery but can't let you in on the secret yet.

Felt very sad on Thursday evening at the end of my Dinner.  Did some of the clearing up after the team left and fell into bed at 3.00 am.  I've had ten weeks of company in Calendar Girls and a week of excitement and good company with CDWM so coming down to earth this weekend has been something of an anti-climax.  Still at least I managed to go for a long walk on the beach.  Being a Sunday, loads of people were out walking their dogs and otherwise perambulating.

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

CALENDAR GIRLS - END OF RUN

9th January 2010

THE FINAL CURTAIN ON 'CALENDAR GIRLS' IN THE WEST END

The final curtain of the West End Run came down on Calendar Girls on Saturday, 9^th January. (The show is now going on tour for the remainder of this year.  It is one which will run and run and run)  I shall miss the company, the excitement of theatre and the laughter and applause of the audiences.  Also my son, Jonathan, works just up the road so we were able to see each other on a regular basis.  However, I am mightily relieved that I won't have to make that ghastly journey on grubby trains with filthy lavatories - nor will I have to stand on freezing cold stations in the wind, rain and snow.  Whatever happened to passenger comfort?  In the interests of making as much money as possible for the shareholder, small stations only open their ticket office for a few hours in the morning - ticket office shuts and so does the waiting room.  Perhaps that is acceptable in the summer but certainly not in the depths of Winter especially when trains are delayed and cancelled because of inclement weather - among the most amusing announcement for late trains was 'Slippery lines' - now what on earth does that mean!

Sorry to say that I shall be very 'un-green' and unless completely unavoidable, I don't want to travel on any more trains.  I shall return to the expense (petrol), comfort and solitude of my own car.

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

FROZEN FOUNTAINS IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE

8th January 2010

FROZEN FOUNTAINS IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE

I had to do some filming for 'Come Dine with Me' on Friday 8^th January.  In view of the inclement weather and the possibility that had I managed to get home to Kent, I might not make it back again, the CDWM team put me up for the night in an hotel close to the Theatre in which 'Calendar Girls' was playing. 

Sadly I usually arrive late at hotels and have to leave early before I can fully utilise and appreciate the amenities.  However the Royal Horse Guards Parade Hotel was lovely with a huge and impressive ground floor housing the Reception and lovely lounges with open fires.  The Dining Room was called '1212' - as it was previously the home of Scotland Yard - and the phone number, for  those of us old enough to remember the days when a phone number actually had a place name, was Whitehall 1212.

I had a few hours to kill before the filming so I took my camera into Trafalgar Square and captured a few interesting images which I will put into the Gallery as I can only get one picture to accompany the Blog.  Thought this one was amusing - the little lost bird and the sign behind him.  Will put more into the gallery - icicles on the statues in the fountain etc.

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

THE HORSE BOY

3rd January 2010

The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson

THE HORSE BOY  By Rupert Isaacson

With all the travelling on trains I've had to do over the last few months, I've read endless books, but one I simply must tell you about was this one - The Horse Boy.  I started reading it on the train into town yesterday, continued reading on the homeward journey, was too tired to finish it when I got home at 1.00 am but got up this morning, made a cup of tea and went back to bed to finish it.

It is the story of a couple with a severely Autistic child and how, seeing his affinity with a horse, his father decided to take this further.  The story involves Spiritual healing.

The couple decide to take their son to Mongolia the spiritual home of the horse and they seek the aid of a powerful Shaman living with the Reindeer people.

I cannot adequately précis this amazing journey and the experiences through which Kristin, Rupert and their son Rowan lived.  I simply couldn't do it justice.  You must read it for yourself and then pass the book on to friends and friends of friends.

Can you imagine what it must be like to live with a child who continually goes into uncontrollable rages, cannot communicate, and cannot be toilet trained?  The love and forbearance shown by this remarkable couple is a lesson to all of us.  Their trials and tribulations would have broken most of us.

I won't give away any more of the story - suffice to say I shed tears and found myself saying silent prayers that little Rowan would be 'cured'.

It was a Sunday Times bestseller, and is published by Penguin in paperback

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