St Andrew - a day for Scotland

Scott Clan Tartan

My grandfather on my mum's side of the family was born in Dundee and our family are part of the Scott Clan. Today is a day for remembering the Scottish roots of my family which I have to confess I have been less close to than the Welsh roots but nometheless I am proud of them and I do feel affinity. The Scott clan originated from the border region and the name is very common in Northumberland as well as in the lowland region south of Edinburgh.

Heritage and Traditions

Image : Penpont Artists open day Brecon October 2009 (c) Rhys Jones

Today is the 1st Sunday in Advent. This is traditionally a period of waiting and anticipation for the events that people in the Christian world over centuries have believed happened with the coming of a saviour. Not everyone believes in that but the idea of a mid-winter feast has gripped the imagination of everyone no matter what religion and all families have their own ways of celebrating by the keeping of traditions.

My younger son is working on a school project to trace his ancestry - the stories that have been handed down to us is that Matthew is distantly related to Fletcher Christian (Mutiny on the Bounty) on his mum's side of the family. On my side of the family, there is a connection to Thomas Sayers who was a pugilist and bare-knuckle fighter and in 1860 became world heavyweight boxing champion when he defeated John C Heenan of the United States. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery in London and his funeral was reported to have been attended by thousands.

Proving that connection has involved and is still involving research through public records of births marraiages and deaths, census returns and parish records and will involve a visit next year to the Isle of Man where many of the Christian family now reside. We have come across some very interesting discoveries about members of our family from generations ago and gained some insight to how they lived and their hopes and fears as human beings. Some sad discoveries have also been made. We wonder what research will be done on us in 100 years from now and what our descendents will make of blogs, facebook and all the other tools which have augmented the traditional pen and paper letters and diaries that people have kept in the past.

People leave their mark on the world in so many ways - some prefer to keep their deeds and how they are feeling secret and known to only a few close friends and some like to proclaim things to the world - people are free to chose and long may that freedom of choice prevail. People have a million ways to be happy and to be sad and the hope is that everyone will find happiness in their lives doing things their own way.

It is though one of the nicest things in life to share thoughts and words and enter in dialogue with others. It is this by this means that lasting friendships are formed in my opinion. If one doesn't hear from a person for a long period one can always think of that friend by the conversations and exchanges one has shared in the past - in extreme cases a lasting friendship has been formed in just one meeting in life.

The Brunswick Presents.....

A date for your diary after Christmas..Wednesday January 13th...The Brunswick Presents..Helen Finney and Rhys Jones. We will be the first exhibition of not only a new year but a new decade. The opening will be in The Brunswick, 3 Duke Street, Swansea from 6.30pm onwards. We will be providing light refreshments and the pub serves a good range of real ales. If you want to know more details please mail me - rhysjones@ntlworld.com

Artists Book for Charity - Emily Prosser fund

If anyone is interested in contributing a piece of art to an auction to be held on 31 January 2010 at Monkey Cafe Swansea from 4pm onwards please contact me on rhysjones@ntlworld.com

The charity auction is part of a fundraising event with musicians and performers organised by Swansea singer-songwriter Niki Stitch www.myspace.com/nikistitch. The monies will be raised for the Emily Prosser Therapy fund so that Emily can receive regular alternative cerebral palsy treatment at an advanced clinic - join the group on Facebook if you'd like to.

I am also pulling together an artists book to be sold around this event to raise additional funds. If you are interested to have your work included please send me a 300 dpi jpeg to the same email address.

Friday 13th

I am not particularly superstitious but I'm looking through the catalogue of the film-maker Alfred Hitchcock. A lot has been written about his work and signs that are contained within. He has left behind some interesting film of his own thoughts on his work and that coupled with watching and forming our own opinions is possibly the best way of forming our own views. I'm way behind with updates to my visual diary partly because my time has been occupied with other things that have taken priority. I'll be participating in a joint exhibition of art work in Swansea in January which is exciting plus I'm hoping to go on an art trip to Berlin with our MA group also in January which will give a lot of inspiration to my art practice. I've never been to Berlin before and now is a good time to be there with the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall very much in our minds and all that symbolises to the world and especially to the people of Berlin where families were split apart when the wall went up in 1961. I guess it's easy to build our own personal walls and cut ourselves off from people but sometimes we need to be on our own and if we don't like our own company it is going to be difficult to enjoy the company of other people.

When I go off on my own it is usually to take photographs which I am planning for this week-end.

2009 Flower Show Match

The Flower Show Match 2009
Matfield Village CC v George Sherston's XI

Played at Matfield on July 22nd 2009

The fourth annual cricket match between Matfield Village and George Sherston’s XI took place in the idyllic setting of Matfield Village Green in the Kent countryside near Tonbridge. The match is played each year in memory of Siegfried Sassoon. The match was once again honoured by the attendance of Dennis Silk, Vice-President of the SSF and former President of the MCC.

The 1906 Flower Show Match is described by Sassoon in ‘Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man’ as being “the match of the year” and to play in it for the first time “was an outstanding event: words were inadequate.” In 2009, those same words still apply as this match is considered one of the highlights of the sporting year by the players of both teams.

As usual the teams gathered before the match for a pre-match lunch in ‘The Wheelwrights Arms’ – some of those in attendance had also played in the golf match the day before. Both events are the brain-child of Bob Miller who has again been the driving force of pulling the team together.

The weather in 2009 was a somewhat unsettled affair – periods of sunshine in the opening period were interspersed with period of cloud, which eventually gave way to some light drizzle during the Sherston innings. Whatever the conditions, both teams adapted well and resolutely continued until close of play at 7pm. Matfield went into bat first as in the 2008 match. A spirited display by the opening bowling pair of Jones and Bull and some fine fielding by the Sherston XI saw the first two wickets fall for just 35 runs. The good form shown by the Sherston team continued despite resistance to the bowling attack from Mills and Danby in the Matfield batting line up. The players thought an early tea might be on the cards when the ninth Matfield wicket fell for 98 but the last wicket partnership by Wilkin and Cooper had other ideas and admirably contributed a further 57 to the Matfield run total, finally ending on 155 when Wilkin was lbw to Southwell for 23 leaving Cooper unbeaten on 34.

Tea is always a highlight of a village cricket match and the spread provided by Matfield was no exception and much appreciated by both players, match officials and spectators. The 2009 match tea of delicious sandwiches, light snacks and a vast array of cakes with an accompanying cup of tea was taken in the pavillion on the edge of the green. In 1906 a Luncheon tent was provided and Sassoon describes the somewhat different and slightly humorous food preparation of lunch that day : “the brawny barman……sharpened the carving-knife on a steel prong with a rasping sound that set one’s teeth on edge while predicting satisfactory slices of lamb and beef, to say nothing of veal and ham pie and a nice bit of gammon and bacon.” A grace was said by the Rector of Rotherden who was known for “the strident and obstreperous bellow to which he gave vent when he was trying to bluff a village umpire into giving a batsman out “caught behind”.

In the 2009 match, fortified by the splendid tea, Matfield took to the field to try and outwit the Sherston batting line-up. During the Sherston innings, the weather took a turn for the worse but the team stuck to their task and the runs started to appear on the scoreboard at a good scoring rate. Barford and Lawson put on 45 for the first wicket. Lawson was bowled by Knott for 20 and Barford was eventually out for 65 bowled by Cooper. There was good support from the rest of the Sherston batting line-up, with notable contributions from Southwell and Heard who contributed 17 runs each. A late burst of sunshine after the rain not only saw a rainbow appear in the darkened sky over the village green but also a final flourish from the Sherston team and they scored the winning runs for the loss of 5 wickets.

The final presentation ceremony was very honoured by a visit from Derek Underwood fresh from his duties at Lords in his role of MCC President where he hosted The Queen for lunch during the 2nd Ashes test England v Australia. The winning captain Julian Hill was presented with the commemorative plate by Dennis Silk followed by the presentation to Matfield of a photograph of the teams who played in the 2008 match : a gift from the Siegfried Sassoon Foundation. Dennis Silk read ‘Everyone Sang’ and recounted how he first met Siegfried at a match between Cambridge University and Worcestershire in 1954 and said how much his friend would have relished the match played in 2009 on Matfield Village green. Derek Underwood wound up a memorable day with a short address and everyone dispersed with a promise to convene again next year. The match series now stands at 2-2 so there is everything to play for next year to take the lead in the series!

Return from Edinburgh

We had a fantastic time - the Edinburgh Fringe is a great place to see some very talented performers and exhibitors. The lesson for an artist is to book ahead a year in advance and ensure that the location is an official fringe venue - marketing is essential because there is competition from hundreds of other performers. Going to have a think about next year! Thanks to those who came to our exhibition!