Bringing in the Sheaves by Rev Richard Coles - Reviewed

It took me a couple of chapters to work out that Richard Coles was going through the year in his book Bringing in the Sheaves: Wheat and Chaff from My Years as a Priest. To be honest I have to admit part of the reason it took the first three chapters was he starts with Petertide rather than advent or January. As with a lot of things in this book there is reason for this and explanation given, (for the strange churchy words as well as the structure). The structure of the book is this version of the liturgical year – with hatching, matching and dispatching, thrown in there too.

It also took me a few chapters to get a hang of what type of book this was. The style of writing is quite different to his first volume of his autobiography Fathomless Riches or How I Went from Pop to Pulpit. Where as that is based around anecdote and self-reflection with a bit of education mixed in this is a much more focused book. It has the clear purpose of raising religious literacy amongst its readers whilst giving the stories and titbits of gossip which keep it interesting for those whose tastes might generally be a bit more low brow.

Besides an unpacking of the meaning of different parts of the church year and the anecdotes there is also a rich seam of history running through this book. Coles looks at the lives of a range of saints too and demonstrates his pure passion for as well as in-depth knowledge for church history.

Having read the first books reflections on his time at Mirfield I was surprised that it got mentioned so often in this volume, as somewhere he had chosen to revisit.

He is still the wonderful camp guy making the point that he is determined to be open about his sexuality, yet he is also the happily “married” (legally civil partnered) guy who shares his life with the man he loves and their dogs.

The broadcasting career is in there but more interesting are his anecdotes relating to “ordinary” folk he comes across in the course of his ministry which has been to the very rich, the very poor and the standardly middle class.

So is it worth the read? Definitely but be prepared that this is much more Guardian Review than the Saturday Guardian Guide in style.

It is touching in places, particularly when he talks of his dad’s Parkinson’s, hilarious in others and overall enlightening. You learn lots without feeling that you are being hit over the head with it.

The overall feeling of this book is it is the one which Coles wanted to write. The one which enables him to write a theology book for the masses. Thus the biggest feeling I came away with was this guy has integrity. He’s not playing games, he’s writing the book he wants to. He is not worried it’s probably too faith based for some people outside the church and too honest for some in it. That’s what makes it so good, in my opinion – it’s an honest book written by a clever bloke who got famous through low culture but really has a heart for high culture.

 Note: I have also posted this on my Learning from Hagar blog

#LoveBrum Review 2

Another weekend exploring Birmingham on a budget – this time with the benefits of the Birmingham Weekender Festival as we wandered around.

First stop after a beautiful stroll down the canal into the city was the IKON gallery, as I introduced Karl to the Vanley Burke exhibition (which I have previously reviewed) before it disappeared. I love this space which is free to enter and it was great revisiting the Burke exhibition and getting to notice some of the detail I missed the first time round.

The gallery is providing one of the venues for the forthcoming Birmingham Literature Festival. This weekend the space outside provided one of the venues for the Birmingham Weekender events. One of the acts on there we enjoyed was The Choir With No Name. Looking at this choir it was obvious this was a scratch choir with a purpose for the participants. They gave a great performance of a range of songs from the sixties to the present. Whilst there were aspects of the performance which could have been a bit more polished they were very good and any odd (and they were very few and far between) deficiencies in quality were certainly made up by passion.

From there we wandered through to the new Library of Birmingham via the Birmingham Rep where Karl played dressing up. Like Manchester’s redesigned library this is a building which is intended very much to be a community destination. It has a very contemporary design but is also quite classic. As we went exploring we saw signs to “The Secret Garden”. This got us interested and so we headed up to the seventh floor, (squeezing in to lifts which are a tad too small, and listening to random Shakespeare quotes within said elevator). The secret garden was more than we expected. It really is a beautiful space where plants and seating provide a place to chill and be whilst looking out over the ever changing city. On a fine day like we had it was a wonderful place to be….and being a public library it is free. As somebody who used to enjoy sitting and reading up on the Tate Modern members room rooftop terrace when I was in the south I was excited to discover this space. There is a Coke machine in the nearby corridor if you want to pick up a drink whilst you’re up there. One of the things I loved about this though was it was a non-commercial area.

Then it was off to the Museum and Art Gallery to have a wander round and pick up a snack. One of the things we wanted to do was visit the Edwardian Tea Rooms. Now, we were a bit worried about what the price would be and were ready to be really careful. Yet, we were surprised. For under £14 we were able to get a great lunch. Karl got a big bacon butty with door steps of bread and a tasty, healthy, fresh salad together with a drink whilst I got one of the best tea and scone combo’s I’ve ever had. The tea came out in a huge metal tea-pot and I was worried how I was going to get through it, but in reality it was enough for two large cups. There was a lovely tea strainer to use and the tea was not bad. It was the scones, cream and jam which got me though. I was completely bowled over.

There were four small scones who came out on a log tray with a small glass jar with strawberry jam in and another with clotted cream. The scones were still warm and were just the right consistency, so they weren’t dry or too crumbly. The one drawback was our cutlery holder was out of knives so we had to go and raid a nearby cutlery tin.

As we sat in the comfortable arm chairs looking at the art on the wall and the museum gallery above we reflected on whether this was value for money or not. Now, it was a little more expensive than you would normally pay for lunch but not that much more. We sat and reflected how much you would spend in Starbucks for a drink and sandwich or cake and the difference was not as much as you would think. Additionally, the butty was much larger than you would get and the scones were something you would not pick up in an average coffee shop. Yes, this is a treat not an every weekend thing but in an otherwise free day it was well worth the investment.

After eating we wandered round the museum which gave an enlightening insight into Birmingham’s past. The thing I found most interesting was reflecting on the reason why migration has been so central to the city…..the fact it was not given a royal charter and so had more freedoms to offer religious dissenters and others who may have been viewed as undesirable at various points of our history as well as being a manufacturing centre.

The history’s past wealth does have the shadow of slavery hanging over it and this was acknowledged in an appropriate way without dwelling on it.

Overall, I enjoyed wandering round and feeling that this museum was rooted in the same kind of values as those in Liverpool and Glasgow. Social history has been important and remains so.
 

After we left this magnificent building we headed round the corner to Victoria Square where we picked up some more of the festival. We found seats on artificial grass and were able to enjoy the Hackney CollieryBand playing their contemporary brass. The band had a new Sax player who was particularly talented. The sound quality wasn’t always great, as is often the case with such events where the PA can be a bit dodgy but the music was great and the mixed age crowd had fun.

So far loving exploring this new city which has so much to offer in terms of history, culture and art.

The Mistresses of Cliveden - Reviewed

The Mistresses of Cliveden by Natalie Livingstone is a historical journey through the history of a building which gives a peek into the lives of the aristocracy and royalty who at various points lived there.

It is an easy read and it took just three days to work my way through to page 436, where the volume’s text ends. The end notes which show the historical research which went into this book continue for another 49 pages.

The reason I think it maintains attention is that within what appears to be a weighty tome are actually five smaller sections and each is like a book within its own right. Collectively they take you through from 1642 to 1964 on a journey which on the surface appears to be full of intrigue, scandal and indiscretion.

Yet this is not a scandalous book, the writer is a regular contributor to titles such as Tatler and Harper’s Bazaar as well as being the wife of the current owner of the building. Thus, this is a measured volume which exposes only what is generally known and on occasion seeks to reinforce the positive aspects of British aristocracy and royal family, almost excusing away or minimising their misdemeanours.

The key point the author appears to be making is that these women’s stories have to be seen in the contexts of the times they were living in.

Firstly, there is Anna Maria, who lived in the aftermath of the Civil War and puritan Commonwealth. In Restoration Britain duels and women living as mistresses of men they were not married to was more normal than we would perhaps like to think. Anna Maria was a woman living in a hedonist environment where there were double standards enshrined in the higher echelons of national life. Livingstone’s tale of her life shows how the lives of wives and mistresses in this set up differed and how they also at points overlapped.

As with most of the stories in the book the description of Anna Maria’s life also explains clearly how the system of royal patronage works. This is perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of the book because we tend to think of this system as more important in Tudor times and before. Yet, we see through a range of precarious financial situations and personal relationships how important this system was to the highest echelons of society.

Next we have the story of Elizabeth Villiers, a woman whose story is most interesting as a result of her ongoing competition with Sarah, wife of the Duke of Marlborough. The competition between the women who had much to do with designing and building two of the most well known stately homes of the time is fascinating as it shows how power dynamics worked. This chapter is also interesting because it starts to give an insight into the way in which the death of a child had a devastating impact on many of these women.

Then we get to Augusta whose life from 1719 to 1772 gives us a fascinating into the rifts within the Georgian royal family. Augusta was the Princess of Wales and by the time we get to her mistress has very much changed meaning in this book. She is clearly the head of the household and a woman of integrity but not beyond working politically when needed. Indeed the political understanding and operating of these women is an interesting subtext within the book.

Of all the women in the book Augusta is perhaps my favourite, although her story is not the most interesting.

Next we get to Harriet whose story was, for me, the most engaging and the most disturbing. Being more recent and a close confidant of Queen Victoria there appears to be more material on Harriet, Duchess of Sutherland. Her story is one which is infused with politics, particularly through her friendship with Gladstone and links with royalty through her professional and personal links to Queen Victoria.

Indeed the most moving part of the book is when both Harriet and Victoria’s bereavements take place close to each other and their impacts are discussed.

What I found perhaps most difficult with this section of the book was reading so soon after watching the recent BBC Two programme Britain’sForgotten Slave Owners. This programme gave a picture of wealth at this time which often came from compensation claims. Whilst Harriet was shown to be an abolitionist advocate with regards to slavery in the USA I was conscious of the complex world in which she lived in. It is a world which history has often sought to sanitise somewhat and with that  in mind I had a mixture of feelings about this women. This uncomfortable aspect of nineteenth century history is picked up through reference to another chapter of British History which we may like to sweep under the carpet, the Highland Clearances. To be fair to the author she does pick this up but comes to no conclusion on the matter. Rather it comes across as an unfortunate aspect of history which needs to be acknowledged but not dwelt upon.

Finally we pick up on the story of Nancy Astor, first female MP to sit in the House of Commons. The anecdotes about her seem to come from a range of sources and as throughout this book material is taken from achieves and published sources but somehow there is a different feel to this part of the book. It seems that this is more sanitised and that there were less surprises found amongst the archives when it came to Astor. Perhaps this is not surprising, after all this was a media owning family who sought to control their image, at some times more successfully than at others. The key point within this chapter appears to be scorching the myth that there was a Cliveden set which was linked to Nazi Germany and the ideology of that regime. On one hand Livingstone does this successfully but on the other she highlights how the relationship between the upper echelons of society and Germany at that time was more complex than we might like to think in post-war society. As the recent pictures of the Queen from 1933 illustrate the picture was much more complex.

There is at the end of the book a description of the Profumo  Affair which involved the house and Nancy’s son.

What is missing is the writer herself. We know from the book something of her religious identity but beyond that nothing. Yet as current mistress of the house her story needs to be included, even if there was a gap between her Astor and her occupancy. I hope any revised version will include that.

Overall a book I would recommend but I would probably say wait until it comes out in paperback as £25 is somewhat high a price for this tale of five remarkable women. That said the hardback has one of the most beautiful book jackets I’ve seen. It looks and feels wonderful.

What I would add about this book is I hope BBC 4 pick it up and do a six part series (I say six part as I would like the author and current incarnation of the house included). Each woman does deserve her own programme and visually this would make a fascinating work.

I also now have somewhere else I hope to visit as this book is very much about place as much as people.

The Mistresses of Cliveden Three Centuries of Scandal, Power and Intrigue by Natalie Livingstone is published by Hutchinson. ISBN – 978-0 091-95452-9