Marxism 2018: An Overview of the Weekend

The antepenultimate post in my series on Marxism 2018.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to this, the antepenultimate post in my series about Marxism 2018 (to be followed by a post about the environmentally themed meetings I attended and a post about the Final Rally), in which I cover Saturday and Sunday.

SATURDAY

Having arranged to stay in a hall of residence near the event I was able to walk in, and had time to take a few photos along the way:

Warren Street Station and the BT Tower

Warren Street Station
London’s Pride march was taking place this same Saturday, hence the crowd outside Warren Street Station.

The BT Tower

I started my day with Sarah Bates’ meeting “How did women win the vote?”. She started by pointing out that it was only wealthy British women who actually won the vote 100 years ago – their poorer compatriots had to wait, like a few of the men, a further 10 years. Then she went on to talk about the struggles that led up to women’s suffrage being granted in this country in those two stages. A lively discussion followed.

Before the meetingSarah BatesThe chair calls the meeting to order.Almost ready to startChair introduces speakerSarah making her speechSarah, close upThe MeetingA contribution from the floorSarah summing up

I then went up one floor, from the Malet Suite where that meeting had happened to room 3C/D for WhatMakes Humans Different from Animals? The Marxist View of Human Consciousness, with John Parrington. This one was based around a powerpoint presentation:

Parrington on Human ConsciousnessParrington on Human Consciousness IIPostersPosters IIThrough the window 1Through the window IIPacked housemeeting titleThe chair introduces the meetingJohn Parrington speakingLooking towards the speakerTitle slideComparisonHuman CivilizationHPEnv CatEvolution of Human UniquenessH.U RHU LA Marxist Theory of the MindP1170067Vygotsky close up 1Vygotsky close up 2VoloshinovA modern Marxist view of the mindNerve and BrainGenome and EpigenomeWaves and signalsEmotions and ChemistryConscious and UnconsciousNormality and illnessResistance and rebellionFuture of ConsciousnessParrington

A contribution to the discussion
Jenny, who was filming the meeting (most of the meetings at this event should now be viewable on youtube) also made a contribution to the meeting.
Psychologist Beth contributes to the discussion
Psychologist Beth was well received when she made her contribution.

After lunch I headed for Nunn Hall and the meeting on Disability, Oppression and Resistance, featuring an excellent panel of speakers from DPAC. This meeting was particularly fiery, as you might expect. Mention was made of the petition that DPAC have started to get Esther McVey sacked for lying to parliament.

Nunn Hall 1Nunn Hall 2Education painting, Nunn HallThe panelEllen Clifford from DPACFilling up IIEllen starts the meetingPaula Peters makes a contributionMeeting underwayMark DunkRebeccaThe panel IIThe story of the murder of a disabled asylum seekerconcluding the opening speechesPaula PetersThe picture on Paula's t-shirtPaula Peters IIRMT

Paula Peters IIIEllen Clifford

After this meeting I headed for Politics of the Mind: Marxism and Mental Distress, a book launch meeting. There were two other meetings in that session that would have been of interest but for the clash, John Bellamy Foster on Marxian theory and eco-revolution, and a debate being Charlie Kimber and an as yet unnamed Labour MP, What Would a Labour Givernment Look Like?. The meeting I opted for was a very interesting one, with many people sharing their stories during the discussion section.

Room 3CD for the Politics of the Mind - Marxism and Mentakl Distress book launch meetingThe platformThe bookPostersThe chair calls the meeting to orderIain Ferguson speaking

I concluded my day by going to Alex Callinicos’ meeting on Marx the Revolutionary.

The Venue before the start of Marx the RevolutionaryPreparing for Marx the RevolutionaryPlatformSpeaker and chairBannerJust before the meetingSarah intorduces the meetingAlex Callinicos speakingDuring the meetingCallinicos continuesThe VenueThe Venue IISarah opens the discussion section

SUNDAY

Since I was returning to King’s Lynn that night I was leaving my accommodation on the Sunday morning, and got away earlier than I needed to. My first meeting was at The Institute of Education, but before that I needed to deposit my larger bag at Student Central. I walked via Euston Square this time, using its two street level entrances as a convenient way to cross the Euston Road. 

Euston Square stationDisplay bioards, Euston Square

My first meeting of the day was Capitalism and Extinction, featuring Sarah Ensor and Ian Rappel. This is one I shall be covering in my next post, so for the moment here is a single picture:

Decline in Marine populations

After this meeting I headed for Brian Richardson’s meeting on “Who gets to be remembered: should all the statues fall?”. The thrust of this was that while statues do not necessarily have to fall it is appropriate to demand that the bad side of people like Cecil Rhodes (vicious racism and imperialism) be acknowledged. 

Platform for the who gets to be remembered meetingPlatformchair Despina introduces the meetingAudienceAudience IIRoomDespinaBrian Richardson speakingThe Rhodes statue

Mary from Norwich makes a contribution tio the discussion
Mary from Norwich contributing to the discussion.

Mary speaking

A brief note on meals: food was available at the event for £5 per meal, and also there were district picnics, where the food was cheaper. I therefore attended the Norwich picnics, donating £2 per time.

The lunch area

My third meeting of the Sunday was “Dirty energy and capitalism: what’s the real story?”, featuring Suzanne Jeffery and Tina Louise Rothery, which I shall be covering in my next post. 

TLR XII

For my final meeting before the Closing Rally I opted for “Corbyn, antisemitism and justice for Palestine”, featuring Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi (founder of Jewish Voice for Labour), Salma Karmi-Ayoub (British-Palestinian lawyer) and Rob Ferguson. This meeting was chaired by Anna Gluckstein (I do not usually mention chair’s surnames or origins, but she is Jewish, and her father Ygal, also known as Tony Cliff, was a founding member of the Socialist Workers Party, organisers of the Marxism Festival). 

I left this meeting slightly before the end in order to reach the final rally venue early because I was hoping to catch three of the four speakers at that before departing in time to at least be home by 9PM.

Upper Hall before meeting on antisemitismNaomi Wimborne Idrissi, Salma Karmi-Ayoub and chair Anna Gluckstein before the meetingBefore the meetinghalf a rose windowAnna and Naomi preparing themselvesAnna and NaomiPostersRob Ferguson arrivesNaomi Wimborne-IdrissiAnna opens the meetingNaomi continuingThe upper hall during Naomi's speechNaomi finishes her speechPalestinian biorn lawyer Salma speaksSalmaSalma Karmi-AyoubUpper hall during Salma's speechUpper hall during Salma's speech IIRob's speechA contribution to the discussion

 

Marxism 2018 Day 2

An account of Day 2 at Marxism 2018 (now a week ago).

INTRODUCTION

There has been a hiatus in my coverage of Marxism 2018 because I had no opportunity to blog on Sunday, due to the tight meetings schedule and my subsequent journey home, was working on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and travelling virtually all day yesterday (getting from northwest Norfolk to southeast Cornwall by public transport takes a long time). I have plans for several more posts about Marxism 2018, a batch of posts about Cornwall, and at least one work-related post in the near future. 

FIRST MEETING: JAN NIELSEN ON THE POLITICS OF FOOD

This was a good though very disturbing start to the day. Some of the things that the speaker revealed about what is done to our food were quite shocking. There was an excellent discussion.

PostersDisplay BoardPlatformThe speaker and booksJan gives her talk

MEETING 2: WHY DOES CAPITALISM LOVE PLASTIC?

I will be covering this meeting in a later post along with several other environment related meetings. For the moment here is a photograph from the room:

Plastics meeting just before start

MEETING 3: MARXISM AND RELIGION

The thrust of this meeting was that we are always willing to work with people no matter what their religion, or indeed whether they have one or not. Most people at this event are not religious themselves but would always consider arguig against religion to be a waste of time.

The Religion MeetingSpeaker and chair, religion meetingPostersBooksMaxine giving her talk

DEMOLITIONS TO SOCIAL CLEANSING – THE CLASS WAR ON HOUSING

This meeting, excellently chaired by Moyra from the Justice for Grenfell campaign, began with a small disappointment. One of the scheduled speakers, Emma Dent Coad MP, was unable to get away from parliament to make her contribution and sent her apologies. The other two speakers were housing campaigner Eileen Short and London Assembly member and housing expert Sian Berry from the Green Party. I was particularly pleased to finally get to here Ms Berry (have a look at my coverage of the 2016 London Mayoral Election and my “Fantasy Cabinet” post for more about my opinions of Ms Berry).

She made an excellent speech, searing criticism of current housing policy and some good suggestions of her own. 

Eileen Short was also excellent, and there were some great stories in the discussion. 

Housing meeting - chairSian Berry and Eileen ShortMoyra opens the meetingMoyra introducing the meetingMoyra hands over to the first speaker...

Sian Berry
The first of a number of shots I got of Sian Berry in action.

Sian Berry speakingSian Berry speaking IISian Berry IISian Berry Close Up

Eileen Short speaking
Eileen Short

Eileen ShortThe scene as Eileen addresses the meetingA contribution from the floorSian Berry summing up ISian Berry summing up II

Outisde student central
Outside the building after the meeting.

Student Central Main Entrance

INJUSTICE AND THE BRITISH STATE

This meeting, which took place at The Venue (in it’s third incarnation, having started life as Manning Hall and then had a few years as Room 101), featured Sheila Coleman from the Hillsborough Campaign, Brian Richardson and Gareth Peirce. It was a superb ending to the day.

The Venue before the big meeting on injusticeThe Venue looking towards The Gallery BarThe Venue looking towards the front rightPostersBrian Richardson ready for his part in the meetingPosters IIChurch frontagePosters IIIChurch ViewBooksGareth, Sheila and BrianSpeakers and ChairSpeakers and chair II

Almost showtime.
Jill from South Yorkshire chairing the meeting.
Gareth Peirce speaking
Gareth Peirce spoke first
Sheila Speaking
Followed by Sheila Coleman
Brian Richardson speaking
Brian Richardson was third to speak.

Marxism 2018: The Opening Rally

An account of the Opening Rally at Marxism 2018, which took place on Thursday night.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest installment in my series about Marxism 2018. My previous post covered the second and third meetings of the first day, and this post takes up the story with coverage of the opening rally.

THE OPENING RALLY

This event took place in Friends Meeting House on Euston Road. We heard from a McStriker about their ongoing battle, a victim of the Windrush scandal, a muslim woman talking about islamaphobia, two women, Siomha and Mary,  giving a shared talk about the #Repealthe8th campaign in Ireland, one of the Wigan, Warrington and Leigh strikers about their determination to remain as NHS workers and not be contracted out (a battle that we now know has been successful), Moyra from Justice for Grenfell, and finally wrapping up the evening Weyman Bennett, co-convenor of Stand Up to Racism. Here are my pictures from the evening:

Arriving at The LightThe LightAfter Party AdGet ConnectedStarting to fill upOther sideThe PlatformSB

Team Member
One of the Team – the group who ensure the smooth running of the event and deal with any queries.

The forward viewAnkhThe Platform IIFilling up IIFilling up IIIAbout to startThe chair opens the rallyMcStriker speaksMcStriker IIOne of the Windrush generation tells her personal story

Siomha and Mary speak about #Repealthe8th
Siomha and Mary gave a very moving account of the campaign to #Repealthe8th

Siomha and Mary speakingSiomha at the mic

Ovation for Siomha and Mary
The next three images show how Siomha and Mary’s efforts were received by the audience.

Ovation for Siomha and Mary IIOvation for Siomha and Mary IIIA Muslim speakerA WWL worker speaks about their strike and their determination to keep working for the NHSClose up of the t-shirt

Moyra from the Justice for Grenfell campaign speaks powerfully
Moyra was savage about the official response to the Grenfell tragedy, particularly their increasingly desperate efforts to pin blame anywheren other than where it belongs – the latest dirty trick they have pulled out being to point fingers at the firefighters – the very people who went into the burning building to attempt to save lives.

Moyra close-up

Weyman brings the curtain down on the evening
Weyman’s fiery speech was a splendid finish to evening.

Platform shot

Marxism 2018 – Day 1 Continued – Science and Slavery

Continuing my account of Marxism 2018, with the second and third meetings of the Thursday.

INTRODUCTION

This post continues my coverage of Marxism 2018, which started with an introductory post. In this post I cover the second and third meetings of the opening day, which for me were Camilla Royle on the Politics of Science and Ken Olende on What Was Unique About The Translatlantic Slave Trade.

CAMILLA ROYLE ON SCIENCE

Camilla’s actual title was “Is science political?” Most scientists would like the answer to this question to be no, but desirability and truth are two different things. Camilla demonstrated many examples of science being coopted for political ends. This was an excellent talk and it set the stage for a splendid discussion.

3E before the second meetingSpeaker and chair preparing for the meetingspeaker and chairCamilla ready to speakBookmarksEnvironment and WindrushThe chair introduces the meetingCamilla speakingCamilla speaking - close upSarah contributes to the discussionAnother contribution to the discussionCamilla summing upDisplay

KEN OLENDE ON SLAVERY

This talk was accompanied by slides which makes it easier to convey an impression of the ground covered. 

3CPosters, 3CPosters,3C II3C IIFront of 3CPosters 3C III3C IVPosters 3C V

Meeting setup
The big screen, speaker and chaiur before the meeting.
The chair opening the meeting
chair Jay introduces the meeting
Ken Olende giving his talk
Ken starts his talk

The presentationRoman Empire 100 BCE

Moorish cavalry under Lusius Quietus
A depiction of Moorish forces fighting for the Roman Empire – while Rome was a slave holding society skin colour did not come into the equation.

Slaves in Roman CarthageSlaves in CarthageGladiatorsJanissariesMansa Musa

Slave trade routes
The extent to which the translatlantic slave trade dwarfed its predecesors
13th century slave market
This was a slave market in Yemen in the 13th century
Slaves close-up
As this close-up shows skin colour again was not decisive.

Benin bronzeIndentured labourersSlave shipThe storming of the Bastille

Olaudah Equiano
I heartily recommend that you read Olaudah Equiano’s book.

Gillray cariacatureToussaint L'ouvertureLiverpool

William Cuffay
London Chartist leader William Cuffay – the establishment used the same sort of terms about him as they did about slaves.

Display

GoGo Hares

Introducing the GoGo hares – worthy heirs to the elephants and dragons that preceded them.

INTRODUCTION

The charity Break have established something a tradition involving large painted fibreglass animals – it started with elephants, then dragons, and now for a third installment we have hares. This year they are looking beyond Norwich – there is one in Fakenham, which I saw on Friday, there is one in Dereham which I saw through the windows of the ExCel bus travelling to and from the auction that my employers had in the fine city of Norwich yesterday and there are a load of them distributed around Norwich, some of which I captured on camera.

PICTURES OF THE HARES

Lancaster
The first five images relate to Lancaster, the Falenham Hare, whose acquaintance I made while banking my wages.

Lancaster infoLancaster - rear viewCounty TrailLancaster story board

Egyptian Hare, Dereham
This Egyoptian style hare adorns the market place in Dereham

Egyptian Hare, Dereham IHare, St Stephens Street, NorwichHare, near Norwich CastleHare in a shop windowHare, Davey PlaceHare, Bank Plain

Hare, The Maids Head Hotel
This hare resides at The Maids Head Hotel where we had our auction.
Polka Dot Hare, The Forum
Cruella De Vil might like this hare, located outside the Forum.
Kafkaesque Hare, OS Library
This kafkaesque creation can be found just outside Norwich Millennium library
Hare, Norwich Library
While this one is inside the library
Hare, Tourist Information Office
This “Norfolk birds” hare is in the main Tourist information office in Norwich

Info on Tourist Office Hare

Tiger Striped Hare, nr Top Shop
The late legendary Richard Whiteley would probably have described this as a hare-tigger (he specialised in this kind of pun).

Hare, nr M&S

A Successful Day At Fakenham Racecourse

An account of yesterday’s auction at Fakenham Racecourse.

INTRODUCTION

Yesterday James and Sons had an auction at Fakenham Racecourse, the first in 2018 to take place anywhere other than our shop in Fakenham, and the first at that venue with me in sole control of the IT side of things (the latter being a cause of some trepidation). The auctioneer and I had visited the racecourse the Friday before to establish that our IT setup (including the card terminal as part of the IT setup) would work there, and the auction lots and IT stuff were moved down to the racecourse on Tuesday. 

GETTING THERE

I caught the 7:00 bus to Fakenham (the earliest, and my regular one on workdays anyway these days) and on what was already a warm sunny morning enjoyed the walk from Oak Street to the Racecourse (which is located not as its name suggests in Fakenham but just outside the adjoining village of Hempton), arriving at the venue at just before ten past eight. The auctioneer arrived a few minutes later and I was able to accomplish the IT setup before any viewers arrived. We had Croc’s providing catering at the event, and I took the opportunity in a quiet period to fortify myself with a bacon bap. 

Mute Swans
Crossing the Wensum en route to the racecourse I spotted this pair of mute swans enjoying the sun.

Mute Swans II

Mute swans approaching the bridge
This bridge across the Wensum gives Bridge Street, Fakenham its name.

A BRIGHT START

For various reasons (to do with a combination of over-ambitious planning and an important member of staff being absent for a long period of time) this auction had some odd numbering of lots (it started at lot 741, and then there was a 50 lot gap between the end of the first section and the start of the coins at lot 901, then a massive gap after the last coin lot, no 1072 to the start of the Militaria at 1,466, then another major gap from the end of the militaria at lot 1,620 to the start of final segment at lot 1,920, with the last lot of the sale being lot 2,000), but although there was a range of almost 1,300 between the first and last lot number there were only 503 lots in the sale. We originally planned to take a short break at the end of the coin section before starting on the Militaria, but this as you will see changed part way through. 

The first big success of the auction came at lot 747, three gold rings, which had been valued at £70-100 but ended up selling for £150…

747747-a

Then lots 757 and 760, a ladies cigarette case and a ladies powder compact of similar styles, both esitmated at £30-40 went for £65 and £60 respectively, both to the same online bidder.

757
Lot 757 (three images)

757-a757-b

760
Lot 760 (two images

760-a

These however were a mere curtain-raiser for…

LOT 764 – A PHOTOGRAPHER’S TRIUMPH

There were indications that this elegant Mantle Clock, with a case carefully designed to show off its workings was going to do extraordinarily well, but we were all absolutely gobsmacked by what actually happened. The item had gone in with a modest valuation of £10-20, but I having noted the effort to which the makers of this clock had gone to put the workings on display created an image gallery for it which reflected this:

764
The main image, showing the whole clock.
764-a
This metal plaque was obviously of some significance, hence a close-up photograph of that.
764-b
And since the makers had been so determined to make the workings visible I devoted no fewer than four photographs to ensuring that thsi was reflected in my online image gallery.

764-c764-d764-e

The opening bid was £310! Then, a bidding war between four internet bidders who all obviously saw something that eluded those who are not experts on clocks pushed this already barely credible looking price up to an eye-popping £750!!

Incidentally, just for the record, the valuer himself said that it was the photographs that did it for us, hence my title for this subsection. Here are some photographs of this item that I took during the break:

Clock IClock IIClock IIIClock IV

UP TO THE BREAK

After the events described above almost anything else was going to feel a little anticlimactic, but a few items fared well nevertheless. Lot 919, a forged 1791 farthing estimated at £5-10 ended up going for £35.

919919-a919-b

The other effect that the early excitement had was that we were progressing slower than normal, and in the end the auctioneer brought our midauction break forward to lot 1,000. 

AFTER THE BREAK

We finished the coins, ending with lot 1072, which went to me for £4 (it is a small medallion, which I considered to be railwayana by association since it refers to Isambard Kingdom Brunel):

10721072-a1072-b

The Militaria section went pretty well, with most items selling, and two doing very well indeed:

1552
With this lot of badges being sold as one I could not spare the time to provide close-ups of all the badges…
1552-a
…so I nselected a couple of what I considered to be good ones…
1552-b
…the lots had been valued at £100-200, but interest possibly stoked by my choice of close-ups, pushed the final price up to £300.

The other big success in this range was lot 1584, valued at £80-100 and going for £140. 

1584
Please note that the fact that we as auctioneers sometimes handle Nazi memorabilia does not mean that any of us entertain anhy sympathy for Nazi ideology.

1584-a

The books fared poorly, although The Royal Liverpool Golf Club by Guy Farrar which I had given a deliberately cautious estimate of £15-20 fetched £55. 

19311931-a1931-b1931-c1931-d

The auction over, all that was left was the clear up, which was done by 3PM. I had one worrying moment when it seemed that a problem was developing with the internet connection, but fortunately it never got serious.

On Saturday the action shifts to The Maids Head Hotel, Norwich and the focus to cigarette cards. A full caftalogue listing for that auction can be viewed here.

England Teams Flying High in Limited Overs Cricket

A post celebrating recent successes for the England men’s and women’s cricket teams.

INTRODUCTION

The last few weeks have been magnificent for English cricketers of both sexes. Each side has been very dominant through a sequence of games, and each have set a team scoring record during the sequence of games. 

THE WOMEN

The women warmed up with an ODI series against South Africa, losing the first match but winning matches 2 and 3 very comfortably, in each case with their efforts being spearheaded by centuries from Tammy Beaumont. Then they moved into a T20 tri-series featuring South Africa and New Zealand, the latter fresh from three straight 400-plus ODI tallies against Ireland, the last of which featured the first part of a ‘script rejection’ performance by Amelia Kerr – 232 not out with the bat, and then to settle things 5-17 with the ball. No author of a cricket themed novel would dare have a 17 year-old do that in an international match, but it happened in real life.

On Day 1 of the tri-series New Zealand opened proceedings by scoring 217 from their 20 overs against South Africa, which at the time was a new record in that form of the game, and won them the match comfortably. That record lasted until later that same evening when England took on South Africa, and with Beaumont scoring yet another century (getting there in a mere 47 balls) and Katherine Brunt responding to a promotion up the order by running up 42 not out off just 16 balls reached a total of 250-3. This proved way out of SA’s reach. On Saturday, the second set of games in the tri-series, England lost to South Africa but bounced back to beat New Zealand in the other match.

THE MEN

The men started the limited overs segment of their summer by losing to Scotland at The Grange, but then they commenced a five match series against Australia and were absolutely dominant through the first four matches, winning all comfortably and racking up 481-6 in the third match. The fifth match was a very different kettle of fish. Australia were all out for 205, a modest total that featured the most misjudged leave-alone in cricket history (perpetrated by Ashton Agar). England then collapsed to 114-8 and I was getting ready to point out that wins in dead rubbers don’t really count. However, Jos Buttler was still there, and now Adil Rashid provided some sensible support, and the pair put on 81 for the ninth wicket, turning the match into a nail-biter. Jake Ball, the England no 11 only scored 1 not out, but he survived 11 deliveries, while Buttler first completed an astonishing hundred (with a six that on sheer distance should probably have been a nine) and then sealed England’s one-wicket victory in this game and with it a 5-0 whitewash against the old enemy. 

Tim Paine thus became the second Tasmanian born captain with a surname that begins with P to surrender a match in which the opponents had needed 92 with only two wickets left (look up Mohali 2010 for more details). 

Buttler’s innings secured him both the player of the match and player of the series awards. Buttler was 110 not out in a score of 206-9, and the joint second biggest scores were 20 for Alex Hales and Adil Rashid, and he finished the series with 275 runs at a handy 137.50. In the course of this innings he passed 3,000 ODI runs. Unlike most of his previous big innings which have been all about putting opponents to the sword (his 3,000th ODI run came up off only just over 2,500 balls faced in this form of the game) this one involved getting his team out of trouble and probably rates as his finest for precisely that reason. 

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS

Both the men’s and women’s teams have benefitted from the fact that everyone has contributed somewhere along the line, but each also have had certain players who have been especially outstanding (see Buttler above), and I offer the following composite list of the best:

Moeen Ali: Watching the way the Aussies tackled his off-spin you might have thought they had been put in a time machine and taken back to 1956.

Jonny Bairstow: about the only thing he did wrong all the way through was get out in the game at The Grange when he was putting Scotland to the sword and would have had England firmly in control had he batted a few more overs. None of the Aussie bowlers, even the highly impressive Billy Stanlake, had any idea where to bowl at him.

Tammy Beaumont: the smallest player in physical stature in this list (5’3″ tall) she has been a metaphorical giant in these matches with three centuries from her position at the top of the order.

Katherine Brunt: In the first match she made 72 to give England something to defend. After her 42 not out in the 250-3 T20 game she followed up by picking up 2-18 from her four overs. Ignore talk of imminent retirement – so long as her body remains in one piece she will keep going.

Jos Buttler: The batsman-keeper did all that was asked of him in the first four matches of the series against Australia and when the going got tough in fifth match he got going and carried England to victory.

Alex Hales: started these matches as favourite to miss out once Stokes was available again but played several incredible innings, and I would now say that for all his all-round credentials Stokes has to be considered as far from certain to regain his place.

Adil Rashid: another of the ‘role-reversal’ aspects of this series was that on this occasion it was Aussie batsmen who looked like rabbits in headlights when facing an English leggie. In addition to his success with the ball he played that crucial little innings in the final match.

Jason Roy: the leading run scorer of the series with 304, including a ton which spearheaded the chase-down of 310 in the 4th game.

Anya Shrubsole: reliable as ever with the ball, and when really needed in the game against New Zealand on Saturday she delivered some quick runs.

Sarah Taylor: quite possibly the best wicketkeeper of either sex on the planet at present and she also scored some important runs.

Danielle Wyatt: opening with Beaumont in the 250-3 game she was quite magnificent, and she had other successes through the season.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Time now for some photographs, starting with a cricket themed one from James and Sons’ upcoming cigarette card auction.

 

2489
While not super-famous these cricketers all have some noteworthy achievements: Vallance Jupp achieved the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in each of eight successive seasons, Fred Root once took a seven-for against Australia. Percy Fender once reached a century in 35 minutes. Dodge Whysall batted no 3 for Nottinghamshire for many years. Ernest Tyldesley scored more first class runs for Lancashire than anyone else. Percy Chapman led England to victory in each of his first eight matches as captain. George Gibson Macaulay was a very successful bowler and enough of a batsman to have scored 76 in a test match. Charles Hallows was one of three cricketers to score 1,000 first-class runs within the month of May (half a dozen others reached 1,000 first class runs for the English season before the start of June, but had runs in April in that record). Herbert Strudwick was England’s first-choice keeper for 15 years in spite of regularly batting at no 11. Frank Watson was a good county player, who once made a triple-century.
Dragonfly
A spectacular creature, presumably some form of dragonfly.

Small TortiseshellDucksSmall birdGulls on the Great OuseGulls on the riverbankdrakesGulls on The Great OuseJay

Jay II
I saw this jay yesterday. This species is not threatened, but I use this caption to draw your attention to one that is, the nightingale. There is a petition to protect a threatened habitat for this bird at Lodge Hill please sign and share it.

DrakeDrake and gullGull and churchGullBird mootSmall Bird IIDucks IIPale duckbirds on the Grat Ouse

Karytaina Castle

An account of Karytaina Castle.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest in my series of posts about my holiday in Greece (May 12th to 19th). After the last post in which I gave the animals their due we resume our coverage of the Friday, having dealt with Dimitsana

ON FROM DIMITSANA

Those of you who read my first post about Dimitsana will recall that my mother was not well that day, necessitating changes to our plans, including an abandonment of our plans for lunch. Thus we decided that my father and I would make do with what we could find in Karytaina town, and we would stop on the way back to buy some good food for supper.  Here are some introductory pictures:

Distant view of Karytaina Castle
A distant shot of Karytaina Castle taken while travelling.
Karytaina Castle from below I
Two shots taken looking up at the castle from the town.

Karytaina Castle from below II

Karytaina map
A couple of public maps of the area.

Karytaina map IIHeroesStatue in Karytaina

My father and I did locate a place in the town serving food, but the sole merit of the meal was cheapness – neither the ham & cheese toastie nor the drink had any flavour at all. Having had lunch it was time for the ascent to the castle.

WATCHING TWO RIVERS

Karytaina Castle was built by the Franks in the 13th century, and its location was chosen because it commands a direct view of two rivers, the Lousios and the Alpheios, both of which flow all year round (most rivers in Greece do not). The ascent from the town to the castle is quite steep, although the path is fairly well maintained, so it is not unduly difficult. 

ruins at KarytainaKarytaina Castle info boardMemorialDefencesStatue flanked by cannons

Karytaina town
The town as viewed from the castle.

Karytaina castle enhancementruins, Karytaina castleruins, Karytaina castle IIruins, Karytaina castle IIIsnail shellArches, Karytaina castleKarytaina castle outbuildingsruins, Karytaina castle IVenhancements

THE TWO RIVERS

I finish with some pictures of the two rivers the castle overlooks (mainly the Lousios, but I did get one shot of the Alpheios as well):

Lousios bridges I
This has been a recognised crossing point of the Lousios for hundreds of years.

Lousious bridges II

Alfios
The Alpheios.

Lousios bridges IIILousios bridges IVThe crossing of the LousiosLousios crossingsLousios bridges VI

The Lousios valley
The Lousios valley

 

Greek Wildlife

Some of the creatures I observed in the course of my holiday in Greece.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the latest post in my series about my holiday in Greece (12th to 19th May). This one is an almost purely pictorial post showing some of the plant and animal life that I encountered there.

THE FLORA AND FAUNA I CAPTURED

Lizard I
This little green lizard was the only such creature I amanged to capture on camera, but I also saw a larger yellow/brown lizard at Methoni, although it made itself scarce before I could photograph it.

Lizard IICleopatraLizard IIIButterfly (1)Butterfly IIButterfly - folded wingsButterfly on spiky plantFish in rockpoolred beetleOrange ButterflyGiant green beetleYellow butterflyHopping insectHouse Martin nestsAdult House Martin visits one of the nests

Three cats at the noms plate
We had decided that we would put out cat food, but no treats, so the cats who visited were genuinely hungry..

Orange butterflyLizardYellow and green butterflyButterflygreen butterfly

dark butterfly
This picture and the next demonstrate that not all the butterflies in Greece are brightly coloured.

stony butterflylong legged insectbugmulticoloured beetlemulti-coloured beetle IIOrange catOld terracingFish in rockpool IIFishOrange bitterfly IIOrange butterfly IIIOrange Butterfly IVOrange butterfly VOrange butterfly VIGrasshopper IIHouse Martin visits the nests

Mountain snail
I saw this mountain snail during the ascent to Karytaina Castle, on the Friday, after the visit to Dimitsana.
arachnid
I could not identify this one with any confidence, although the shape suggests an arachnid of some sort rather than an insect.
Beetle
The size and shape of tbhis creature and the apparent solidity of its carapace suggested a large beetle, although such creatures do not usually display their wings when on the ground.

During one of the walks I saw a tiny snake which concealed itself very quickly, and I missed many other intended shots, but I think I got a fair selection!

The Tannery Section of the Dimitsana Museum

The tannery at the open-air museum fo water power in Dimitsana.

INTRODUCTION

In my previous post in this series about my week in Greece (May 12th to 19th) I wrote about the Open-air Museum of Water Power at Dimitsana, and stated that I was going give the tannery a whole post to itself, and here it is.

THE TANNERY

As well as containing everything used in pre-industrial leather making this section features a short video detailing the process in its entirety. To get from a batch of skins to leather from which stuff could be made would take a couple of months. 

tubstubs IItubs IIItubs VTanneriesSofteningSkinsLeather history818splittingsplitting bowlcornerFleshingWashingwooden boards826827Tanning stages 5,6 and 7protoleathertreatment vesselsstirring vesselsstirrer and nearly ready leatherNearly ready leatherfleshing toolsdeliming info boardTanning stages info boards3rd and 4th tanning stages info boardFinal panels and video screenTannery

This is the centrepiece of a fascinating museum. The tannery is the second-furthest part of the museum from the entrance, with the gunpowder mill directly below it.