Jan Leeming - The Official Website

WALMER CASTLE - THE LYDIAN STRING

23rd July 2010

WALMER CASTLE - THE LYDIAN STRING

I don't often write my blog immediately after a great event but I've got a busy weekend and really do want to write this up whilst it's fresh in my mind.

I'm ashamed to say that for seven years I've lived within easy walking distance of Walmer Castle and have never visited it.  My excuse is that I don't like visiting places tout seul. 

Friends invited me to a picnic on the beach and then to attend A Concert at the Castle - they had no information about the Concert but the tickets were a ridiculously low £5 so what did it matter. 

The Lydian String Quartet were absolutely fabulous.  I'm rather a plebian when it comes to Classical Music - am not deeply entrenched in it but certainly have very catholic taste.  However I do love hearing relatively popular music played by a string quartet - and tonight was exceptional. 

Firstly, the grounds of Walmer Castle are absolutely delightful and I shall certainly be visiting again.  It is owned by English Heritage and I cannot begin to comprehend why they don't advertise their functions more fully.  I can think of half a dozen friends who would have been delighted to attend the concert tonight.

There was no programme, but the mix was, to my taste, absolutely superb.  Let me give you an idea - there was some Vivaldi, Puccini, Handel and at the other end of the scale the theme music from 'Dr. Zhivago', two numbers from 'Fiddler on the Roof', Hoagey Carmichael's 'Stardust' - Edith Piaf's 'La Vie on Rose'; Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson; some Nat King Cole;  Pachelbel's Canon and on and on it went - I was totally enraptured.

Stuart (who designed my website) doesn't like me putting in links to other websites because it takes them away from me - but sorry Stu these guys and girls are so good - and they have raised around £90,000 for Macmillan nurses, so I'm more than happy to give them a plug.  I suppose you would call them a Co-operative of musicians who can be called upon to perform at all sorts of different venues and in differing groups.  Tonight we had a quartet - tomorrow you might just require one musician.  It is always a source of mystery to me (not playing an instrument and unable to read music) how these disparate people come together and meld into a cohesive whole to play the most wonderful music.  Tonight they were deciding as they went along what they would play and at a nod from the lead violin, they were all there playing in unison.

I thought they were wonderful - and apart from the midges who plagued me constantly -the whole setting and ambience were superb.

I really think English Heritage are missing a trick in not better publicising concerts like this one.

If you want to know more about The Lydian String - go to their website - thelydianstring.com

Must go to bed - off early in the morning to watch the Re-enactment lads at Capel and then opening the Tilmanstone Village Fete!!!

Arrivederci,  Jan

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FUTURE BLOGS

22nd July 2010

I've been so busy over the last fortnight I simply haven't had time to keep my blogs up to date.  So, when I've got the time I'll continue the Florence trip, tell you about Rye in Sussex and also about my visit to the Musical 'Hair'.

I must also catch up with photographs in the Gallery.  They have to be entered one at a time and it is quite a lengthy process.

I'm still very curious about how people from all over the world end up on my site - I know it's keywords but last week 35 people from China looked at my Website and I can't think what might have drawn them in.  Stuart - my lovely Website designer - has now added an email link for me so feel free to use it.  I will try to deal with queries etc. but can't always promise a reply.  Even the Blogs are taking me longer and longer - I actually enjoy writing and do try to make the Blogs interesting.

All the best,  Jan

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CHANNEL FOUR - PARALYMPICS 2012

21st July 2010

CHANNEL FOUR -   PARALYMPICS 2012

I had to go to London yesterday for a meeting with a producer at Channel 4 and my friend/agent Simon asked if I would stay on to attend the Press Launch of the Ch. 4 Paralympics.  I was down to attend a Gala Night of the Sandwich Tech production of Les Miserables - produced and choreographed by my friend Josephine Buchan which has had rave reviews and was so good it transferred from Sandwich Tech for a season at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury. 

I chose to go to the Press Night, and though sad to miss Josephine's production, am so glad I was able to experience the excitement and joy at the Press Launch.

Simon has become involved in PR for the Wheelchair Rugby Team who recently played a match on the Woolwich Ferry as it passed under Tower Bridge.  I was introduced to two of the players - both charming and good looking young men, Steve Brown and Mandip Sehmi  - who, through totally freak accidents are paralized from the upper chest down.  You should see them move in their wheelchairs!  And I'm now told that Steve went off to a nightclub in Soho - despite having to film early in the morning - what a guy! Unfortunately I'm not able to bring you the Publicity photographs of these two lovely guys - they are embargoed.  Probably just as well, they'd have a fan club queuing up.

Channel 4 are going to be the Total Paralympic Channel and must have put in a superb bid out-doing the BBC.

The Channel 4 'Café' was last night cleared of everything except throngs of people - some in wheelchairs, some with guide dogs and many with no obvious outward signs of disability.  David Abrahams gave us an outline of how they will be approaching their coverage and there was a brief address by the Minister for Sport. We were shown a short and succinct video of some of the aspects of the Paralympics (there was a short clip of our Rugby players) and then were invited to watch an abbreviated Basketball match.  Those of you who might have been reading my blogs for the last few years will know that I'm lousy at all sport and really have no interest in much other than ski-ing.  Well, all that changed last night.  I would never even think of watching a Basketball match - American anyway!  But watching them play in their wheelchairs was nothing short of miraculous.  One chap was constantly tipping over his chair and righting it again with consummate ease.  It was so exciting, I found myself cheering and thoroughly enjoying the whole event.  I have never ever watched the Olympics but I will be glued to the set in 2012 for the Paralympics.

We've come a long way since 1993 when I was asked by the British Legion if I would do the narration for Challenge 93 - The First International Ex-Service Wheelchair Games. (ITV and the BBC were not interested in doing a full documentary)  The event was held in the grounds of Stoke Mandeville Hospital.  187 Athletes attended from 21 countries.

When I arrived, someone in charge commented on the fact that I wasn't wearing a hat and gloves - I'd come to work for heaven's sake!  What none of us knew was that the late King Hussein of Jordan was coming to present the awards.  (As I was hatless, I was put in the back row for the presentations,  but felt a certain one upmanship when Queen Noor shook my hand and commented on how wise I was not to wear a hat on such a windy day.)

I remember being very moved by the whole event and very impressed that King Hussein gave the same time, care and attention to the Israeli team as he did to the Jordanians and all the other participants.)

It was only a short Video - which I found the other day.  I watched it and had the same feeling of wonderment for those people so badly afflicted by war and yet so positive and courageous. 

It's great that Bejing did so much for the disabled cause and I can't wait for 2012 - when I will be routing for all but particularly for our Wheelchair Rugby team. 

Having had a full, eventful and enjoyable day, it was made for me by meeting Jon Snow as I exited. I don't watch much news but when I do it's usually Channel 4 - I find it one of the best and I really admire Jon as a presenter.   I've met him before at Charity events and I'm not sure if he knew who I was last night but I asked him if I could have a photo taken with him.  I'd not thought to bring my camera and Simon only had his mobile.  I don't yet have any photos of Steve and Mandeep (the Rugby wheelchair players) so for the time being you can look at Jon and myself. (Not the most flattering of either of us)

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

GENOA - SACLA - AND ITALIAN FOOD

18th July 2010

GENOA- SACLA - AND ITALIAN FOOD

What a fabulous couple of days I've just had with the Sacla people in Liguria and I am a total convert to Italian food.  I don't think I've ever really had “Good and authentic” Italian food.  In the UK one expects the ubiquitous pizza and then there are the meat dishes but rarely fish (mind you I don't usually eat fish if I'm too far from the sea as it cannot possibly be fresh and unless you eat frozen fish quite soon after freezing there is always a slightly oily taste and smell to it).

The party comprised Clare Blampied, the delightful MD of Sacla UK Ltd.; her equally lovely PR Sue Wilkins and Marketing controller Katherine Carter.  From the Press were the Editors of Delicious Magazine (Karen Barnes) as well as the publisher (Seamus Geohegan) ; the Editor of the Grocer (Anna-Marie Julyan) and Food Writer and Deputy Editor of Spectator/Scoff Magazine (Tilly Culme-Seymour); and Aggie Mackenzie of TV Fame.

We landed in Genoa and hit the ground running.  Our first trip was to some Basil Fields and a late al fresco lunch where I saw the largest chunk of Parmesan I've ever clapped eyes on and learned that there is Eating Parmesan and Grating Parmesan - so don't be a snob over the length of maturation of the cheese - 9 months leads to a good Eater and 20 months gives you the harder Grating variety.

I love Basil (the herb !)!  I make my own Pesto and I love to see it growing  in a pot on my windowsill.  Now I no longer have a garden, there's a limit to what I can grow and Basil is a pleasure to have in the kitchen.  I've often wondered why it is that the Basil plants I buy in the Spring and Summer will grow again if cut correctly, yet the Winter purchases rarely re-grow - well the answer is that Basil is seasonal and it needs the warmth and sunshine to encourage re-growth.

The Basil fields (grown in rotation with Corn and Wheat) are cropped several times and as I stood surveying Basil as far as the eye could see, I did a mental tot-up of how many £2.59 pots of Waitrose Basil could be gleaned from the crop.  I was looking at a field worth millions - but it doesn't work like that!  The Basil in the fields has tougher leaves than those on the plant you purchase in the supermarket and they are cropped in rotation.

Below I'll post a picture of me surrounded by Basil.

I won't get technical but they harvest 300 tons of Basil per year!!!  No that is not a typing error.

After we'd savoured the aroma of the Basil and ooh'd and aah'd at the peaches and nectarines growing on the trees near the farm, we were treated to our Al fresco lunch of Parmesan, tomatoes, melon, peaches and nectarines and cold meats - delicious.

Back into the coach and transfer to our hotel Locando del Sant'Uffizio - and as the name suggests it was an old monastery beautifully converted into a luxury hotel.  Unfortunately there was hardly time to enjoy the very large swimming pool because of our Dinner Date with Lorenzo Ercole, son of the founders and President of Sacla along with his daughter Chiara and his niece Lucia and the Chairman and MD of La Cucina Italiana Magazine.

It was a superb meal at Il Cascinale Nuovo in Asti -  splendidly prepared by the chef  Roberto Ferretto.  Course after course arrived - but all small and wonderfully tasty portions.  I like it when someone else chooses the menu - can't bear wading through a huge Carte and changing my mind several times over.  I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and Mr. Ferretto kindly sent me a run down of what we'd eaten.  Sadly I discovered that what I'd been told was Beef was actually Veal - a meat I haven't wittingly eaten in 40 years.  In Australia it was one of my favourites but, on arriving back in the UK, the RSPCA were conducting a campaign against the way Veal Calves were raised and that put me off for life.  I'm not a great meat eater but I like to think that what I am eating had a life - and Veal Calves do not unless they've changed the method.  I won't go into it.  But it was a superb meal and the Risotto course was out of this world - I'd love the recipe.  In fact at the Airport, instead of buying perfume, I bought bags of prepared Risotto and some Trofiette - a pasta I'd never experienced before.  You can probably purchase it in London and big cities but I've never seen it in my part of Kent.  So guess what Leeming is going to be eating for the forseeable future?

The next morning we were taken to Asti and the Sacla factory.  This is where it all began and a very large proportion of the Asti population works at Sacla (similar to Phizer at Sandwich which is a town in its own right)  The original home of the Ercole family is now being refurbished and will be turned into a Museum.

We were garbed in special shoes with steel caps, heads covered in the most unflattering white caps (you know the sort of thing I mean - you see staff wearing them in supermarket deli, meat and fish counters) and white cover-alls.   We had to take off all jewellery and then proceeded to the factory. 

Pesto is only mixed - there is no cooking involved - and it comes out a vivid Hunter's Green colour which then changes slightly after sterilization.  There are no short cuts taken in the making of the Sacla Pesto - in addition to the Basil they use genuine pine nuts and parmesan.

Our guide then told us he would take us to the kitchen to show us where other sauces were prepared.  I stupidly expected a huge kitchen with Tubs of Ingredients rather than saucepans and actual people doing the mixing.  Wrong - The 'Kitchen' looked like the pristine boiler room of a ship! - all pipes and Vats.

Our next stop was to be a drive to a little port and then a Rubber dinghy ride to the cove of San Fruttuoso for lunch.  Unfortunately the drive which should have taken an hour and a half took three hours.  There is only one way in and out of Genoa and it was absolutely solid with traffic.  (They have no way of expanding the road being squeezed between the mountains and the sea).  However, despite being out of schedule Clare decided that we would still make our trip to San Fruttuoso and we were all so glad that she did.  The Dinghy ride was wonderfully exhilarating as we skimmed over the surface of the sea.  Again the hub of the tiny cove was the de-commissioned Monastery - well the monks certainly got away from it all at San Fruttuoso because the only way to it was by sea and in the old days, that journey must have taken a couple of hours.  We didn't see it but there is a huge crucifix 17 metres down in the sea to the right of the cove (as you approach from the sea) fishermen and others (with good lungs)  dive down and  kiss Il Christo degli Abissi.  The Crucifix is 2.5 metres high and was placed in the sea in 1954.

We had a splendid seafood lunch at Da Giorgio.  I love mussels but am very wary of them as I've had food poisoning so often - but as we were literally on the ocean I reckoned that I'd be OK and I was.  The setting was lovely, the company great and bonding further.

Our hotel for that night was the Excelsior in Rapallo - a lovely hotel in a superb location.  I was a trifle curious as to the name of the dining room - The Lord Byron.  We were not dining in though and after a very quick shower and change, we were back in the bus and on to Portofino - how stunning a place that is.  It reminded me of Honfleur in France - except that Portofino is even more picturesque.  There was a concert in progress in the square and people were perambulating  - as one does in the Mediterranean with the lovely weather and the gentle sea breeze.  As someone who doesn't eat great quantities of food, I wondered how I was going to make my way through another 3 - 4 course meal at the O Magazin Restaurant.   But I have to say every course was light and delicious and I so love seafood.  There was a castle on the hills above the little Port and we were told it had belonged to Lord Byron - but I've been unable to substantiate this claim.  I think he may have visited it but he does not appear to have been an owner.  However, as the light faded and the castle was lit up, it fed my romantic nature to believe that indeed it had belonged to Byron - especially as I'm currently reading a book about Lady Caroline Lamb with whom he had a brief affair - the effect of which lasted Lady Caroline a lifetime albeit a brief one.

I can't think when I've enjoyed a couple of days as much as my brief visit to Italy.  It was educational and fun - we saw beautiful scenery and ate delicious food - so, once again, many many thanks to Clare for an exceptional experience.  I can well understand why Sacla is so successful with the longevity and experience of the Ercole family and the dedication and drive of Clare Blampied in the UK who says she 'just happened to be in the right place at the right time'.  Lucky for both of them.

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

BATTLE OF BRITAIN MEMORIAL DAY - CAPEL-LE-FERNE

11th July 2010

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UNSOLICITED PHONE CALLS

6th July 2010

UNSOLICITED PHONE CALLS

I am getting heartily sick of unsolicited phone calls, particularly as my phone number is Ex-directory.  Today I received an automated call offering to sort out my Debt (I have none thank Goodness) and  then a real person  offering to sell me a hearing aid and yet another offering to make a Will for me.  I don't need a hearing aid and I made a Will years ago!!  When I ask with exasperation why I am being called on an Ex-directory number, I am told that my number has been gained from a Data Marketing Agency or that it is because I have made an online purchase.

We are being pushed more and more to online purchasing which I don't like but sometimes am forced to use BUT I always tick the box to say I DO NOT WANT any produce literature or any sales literature.  THIS IS OBVIOUSLY NOT ENOUGH as the calls continue.

This is an intrusion on my Privacy.  I have taken to screening my calls which is a bind because sometimes my friends think I am out and do not leave a message.

Today I went 'Online” to find out how I could block these calls only to be met by a proliferation of different options - and even those made me feel uneasy.  I opted in to one site but when it started asking for all sorts of information, I pulled out of it.

SO IF ANYONE KNOWS OF A LEGITIMATE SITE TO WHICH ONE CAN SIGN UP WHICH WILL DEFINITELY BLOCK THESE DAMNED CALLS PLEASE LET ME KNOW - MY CONTACT IS ON MY WEBSITE.  AND I WILL BE GREATLY IN YOUR DEBT.  

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

GREAT BRITISH WASTE MENU BANQUET

5th July 2010

GREAT BRITISH WASTE MANU BANQUET

I was invited to attend this function which will be shown as a TV programme probably in the Autumn.

The venue was the Great Hall at Lincoln's Inn - a staggeringly beautiful place.  The Hall was originally built in 1489 but has been extensively renovated in 1625, 1652, 1706 and 1819.  (It is well worth Googling Lincoln's Inn - quite fascinating)

We entered this illustrious building to be confronted by banks of shiny dustbins with food spilling out of them.

The purpose of the 'Banquet' was to highlight the waste of food from our supermarkets - 30% of Supermarket Food ends up in Bins and the chefs for the day had 'raided the bins' full of perfectly edible food and their task was to concoct a three course meal from what they found.

There were about 60 guests - a mix of MP's, Supermarket bosses, worthies and 'Us' - some people from the world of TV.

I happened to be seated at what I think must have been the most interesting table in the entire room - well even if it weren't, we all got on like a house on fire and had a very interesting afternoon.  I was sitting opposite the delightful David Lindo - from the One Show - what a lovely guy - pity he wasn't 20 years older and single!! (Only joking) PICTURE below.

Next to me was a delightful Norwegian Artist who, bless her, has finally sent me the recipe for the cake for which my son would kill - the one which cost us an arm and a leg when we were in an Oslo Coffee house during our Baltic Cruise last year.  The cake happened to be Cathrine Kramer's Father's favourite cake and she was as good as her word and sent the recipe to me immediately.  I'm going to try it out on some friends at the weekend.

We were welcomed with samosa canapés - of which I didn't partake as I do find it so difficult to juggle a drink, eat and hold a conversation.  On entering I'd met an absolutely delightful lady, Laura Sandys, who turned out to be the MP for Ramsgate and Margate just up the road from where I live. 

Matt Tebbutt concocted the Starter which was billed as

“British Beef with a Beef Consomme and Summer Vegetables” made from meat and vegetables that were going to be thrown away.

For some strange reason, I really didn't like it and actually left the dish.  Later I was informed that rather than beef - the meat comprised ox tongue, ox cheek and something else from the offal family.  Any of you who've seen the Come Dine with Me in which I took part will know that I didn't eat Donal McIntyre's Ox Cheek Casserole.  There's something slimy in it's consistency and that's why I can't eat it.  I loathe Frankfurters and the French delicacy Andouillettes.

The Main Course was by Richard Corrigan

“Fresh Kent Fish Wrapped in Courgette with a Pork Ratatouille” made from fish and vegetables that were going to be thrown away.

As I love fish, this was more to my liking although again I don't know why it is so fashionable to almost kill the delicate taste of fish with meat.  Again at Donal's dinner he combined Scallops which I love with Chorizo which I don't - so I ate the scallops and left the rest.

Angela Hartnett made the Dessert

“Ginger Floating Island with British Summer Fruits”

made with strawberries and eggs that were going to be thrown away.

The Floating Island was definitely the rather bland French Ile Flottante but the overall taste was pleasing and I love Summer Fruits.

It is obscene when you think that half the world is starving and our dinner was made from food which had been thrown away.

It was a very long afternoon and very hot - the Great Hall is a lovely old building which, of course, has no air conditioning.

The chefs were judged by a panel led by Prue Leith and the Dustbin Award went to Richard Corrigan, although Prue did add that, had the canapés been part of the competition, then Simon Rimmer might have won.

I think the programme will be transmitting in the Autumn and it should make for very interesting viewing. 

Apart from the waste caused by 'Sell-by' Dates etc. I had a complaint about all these so called 'Offers' - you know what I mean - Buy One, Get One Free - Buy Two and get one for half price.  As a singleton with a small fridge and even smaller freezer, I simply cannot accommodate large amounts of food and have to grit my teeth to pay £1.99 for a pack of salad when for an extra 1p (yes 1p) I could have two packets - but what do I do with the second one except throw it away.

Who do the supermarkets think they are kidding.  If they can afford to give these 'Offers', why can't they sell the damn stuff at the correct price. I think it is the Walmart Ethos - pile 'em high and sell 'em cheap.

Cathrine told me that she tried putting the unwanted produce in a box outside her flat with the offer to just 'Help Yourself'.  It worked in Shoreditch but I don't think it would work where I live!!  They'd probably think it was a set up for a programme like the old 'Candid Camera'.

The lovely Stuart (don't know his surname as he had no cards and hasn't yet emailed me) suggested our table went for a drink after the recording.  I don't like Pubs but I did like the company and only had a train journey and an evening with the cat to look forward to, so went along for a while.  Someone else joined our party and I thought he looked familiar but wasn't absolutely sure.  We had a very animated conversation and then I checked out that it was Lembit Opic - previous incumbent of the Lib Dem seat in Montgomeryshire from 1997 until this year.  He was actually a very interesting and personable gentleman.  I'd only read in the press about his amorous exploits - but then the press love to get a handle on you and then you can rarely shake it off - like me and my marriages.  I was amazed to read that he nearly died in a paragliding accident in 1998 - broke his back in twelve places along with his ribs, sternum and jaw.  He is now a keen supporter of the Spinal Injuries Association - Good for him.

Anyway, I'm so glad I made the effort to go in to London.  And I'm sorry I keep breaking my promise to write up my Florence trip - but it's a heck of a lot of work and I do have other things to do.  I must also tell you about my visit to Rye a few weeks ago.  Been there before but this time it was a beautiful day and wasn't teeming with tourists.

A bientot.  Jan

P.S.  Just a little aside.  I'm an ardent reader of Historical Novels.  I love history but don't want to read a dry book of dates.  At the moment I'm making my way through a tome - just under a 1,000 pages entitled The Autobiography of Henry V111.  The author - Margaret George - spent 15 years researching and reading over 300 books on the subject of Henry V111 - the result is quite gripping.  Well, of course Sir or St. Thomas More featured heavily in Henry's reign and it was lovely to spot  in the Great Hall a copy of the Holbein portrait of Sir Thomas.

The photo is of David Lindo, Cathrine and me.

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

EDUCATION, ILLITERACY AND BAD TEACHERS

4th July 2010

EDUCATION, ILLITERACY AND BAD TEACHERS.

Sorry I've been off the radar for a while but had a small operation and have been hors de combat for over a week.  Anyway here goes -

Catching up on the weekend papers (last weekend 26/27^th June)  I was interested but not surprised to read that Sir Mike Rake, Chairman of Bt, called much of British schooling a disgrace.  BT had to discard nearly a quarter of job applications because the applicants were unable to fill in the forms correctly.  Why has it taken almost half a century to realise that the basis of any good education is literacy and the ability to perform the three R's (Reading, Writing and arithmetic).

When my son attended university, one of the first tasks was a 'Module' to be completed by three boys and two girls.  Having chastised me and regarded me as 'old fashioned'  for my insistence on correct punctuation and spelling, he phoned me and expressed his absolute dismay that the other students needing to contribute to the module were barely literate and it was left to him to collate and write down the information they had gathered.

What is the point of Mr. Blair's target of 50% of young people attending University when literacy standards are so woeful, and many degrees useless?

Today - July 5^th I read an article by the excellent journalist Melanie Phillips.  The  gist of the article was the fact that we've probably got as many as 17,000 sub- standard teachers in our schools - instead of being sacked for incompetence, they are often given falsely glowing references so that they are able to seek employment elsewhere and their incompetence does not reflect badly on the school.  I suggest you read her article - Daily Mail July 5^th -  for me to précis it accurately would take time and I could not express the points as succinctly as she has done.

Why is it that ordinary folk with a modicom of Common Sense recognized the problem years ago - yet nothing was done about it.  Illiteracy can blight a life forever.

I was extremely fortunate to be born when I was.  So much of what was best in England was also the best in the world - Education, Law, Hospitals and as it developed we had the best Television on offer.  My father was born and brought up in India and received a superb education.  When he returned to this country (his forbears went out to India at the time of Clive in 1750) he was determined that I should have the best education he could afford - and on an ordinary soldier's pay he managed £4 a term to send me to a Convent School from which, at the age of 11, I won a scholarship to a Girls' Public School - Christ's Hospital.  We lived in Woolwich which was a LCC (Labour controlled) borough and it was deemed that as my father had paid for my education, I could have no help with the fees at the Bluecoat School.  So I went to a Convent Grammar instead.  I cannot say that School Days were the happiest of my life but by heaven the teaching was superb and the teachers so dedicated.  About ten years ago I went to one of the very few school reunions - just before our Convent was turned into Flats - and met some of the girls who still talk about the fact that they all passed their O level English because of the wonderful nun we had teaching us.  Mother Mary David did eventually leave the order - reverted to her name of Evelyn Magold and lived a very ordinary life in Canterbury - but she went on helping people and cats right up until her death.

I would like to have gone to University but my parents simply couldn't afford it - back in the late 50's only about 3% of girls went to University.  So instead of having a life in which I probably would have become a teacher of English and Drama, I went on to have a Dramatic life of my own - meant to be a pun!

In my day we had three tiers of education - Grammar School, Technical School and Secondary Modern.  But they all equipped us  with regard to our best ability and played on our strengths - why push people into University to come out with a useless degree in order to say you've been to 'Uni' and become part of Mr. Blair's favoured Target.  (I must tell you that at my school, St. Joseph's we girls came from all walks of life - I remember a girl whose father had a market stall and another whose father was a docker - it wasn't an elitist school - didn't have grand facilities, but we were definitely taught the 3 R's superbly.  We also had sessions on Public Speaking - I suppose today it might be seen as elitist but you had to write a piece and then get up in front of your peers and deliver it - how often today do I meet young people who are bubbling over with ideas and enthusiasm but do not have the means to express themselves) ( My thanks to Andrew Sinclair who wrote a letter pointing out that I'd made an error - a total aberration on my part - I'd put who's father instead of whose - and I should have known better.)

I hope that the new Government will realise the value of Apprenticeships and give them the respect which is their due.  Frankly, I bet there are many plumbers, electricians and builders who are earning far more than those who attended University and came out with a half-baked degree.

When I was young we all aspired to rise to the Highest Common Denominator and not to dumb down to the Lowest.  I find the sloppy speech and even sloppier grammar of today's youth quite unacceptable.  Speech is 'communication'.  Accents add colour to speech but if an accent is virtually incomprehensible to the majority then there's no excuse for majoring in that direction. 

THIS IS AN ADDITION ON 6TH JULY.  Honestly I had not read the article by Roger Moore in the Daily Mail when I wrote my few words above.  I have to be careful what I say in case I get accused of elitism but Mr. Moore can get away with it and he wrote an excellent article - putting matters more lengthily and succinctly than I had.  Now that he's opened up the subject, I will stick my neck out and say that when it is acceptable for our young royals to speak ungramatically, what can you expect from the rest of the population.     And just about everyone gets it wrong with 'We was .....' which makes my toes curl.  The -correct  declension is   -I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, you were, they were. If you have the time, look up both Melanie Phillips and Roger Moore's articles in the Daily Mail for 5th July (alright, I know you will say it is a right wing paper but to my mind proper speech and grammar should not be a hostage to politics).              

I don't watch much television but being housebound I watched more than usual.  Recently there was a change to the advertised programme and the film made in 1982 on 'Bloody Sunday'  was shown.  In view of the Enquiry, I felt it encumbent upon me to watch it.  I so wish there had been sub-titles as I must have missed out on at least 50% of what was being said because of the extremely strong Northern Ireland Accent. I don't know if it was hugely biased but it was very interesting.  However, as there has been such an extensive and expensive enquiry into the roll of the Military who were found guilty, why oh why has there been no reciprocal enquiry into the role of the IRA - how many people did they maim and murder?

Mind you, if you look at history, many terrorists end up in positions of power and as heads of Government - look at Begin in Israel, Mandela in South Africa and Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams to mention but a few.

Well I'd better climb down off my soapbox because I've got so much more about which to tell you and these Blogs take me so much longer to write than I ever anticipate.

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