I should, given the quantity and nature of things to do, put writing aside but I was greatly affected by Who do you think you last night which featured a TV presenter Kate Humble whose programmes I do not recall watching. It was revealed that Kate has not one but three remarkable ancestors, all men, two of them grand parents and one a great great grand parent. This seems an unfair distribution. But then the distributions of life experience are unfair and not random
Kate presented herself in this programme as self assured, vivacious, open, lovable and adventurous devoted to nature and to animals. Before being introduced to her mother and father I assumed she was privately educated and with a comfortable to wealthy middle class background. She met her father in the garden of the local pub and her mother in home to discuss their respective ancestors and both confirmed my first assumption. They were both interesting people in their own right about whom I wished to know more about.
Kate admits she was part of a family who did not discuss their emotions and personal experiences and that although she knew something about her two male grand parents in fact she knew little of them and was concerned less she discovered they had done remarkable things and would spend the rest of her life wishing she could live up to them. That this was signalled at the commencement of the programme suggested what was to follow rather than something different.
The first remarkable individual was her paternal grandfather who was a distinguished second World War Test pilot and before then a flamboyant air show performer who owned his own aircraft and whose work both as a performer and Test Pilot is well recorded and admired. There several hints of his being something of a ladies man and photographs indicated a Hollywood appearance and personality. It was another example of grandchildren finding admirers and fans of their ancestors among the specialist public while they were unaware of their the fame of the individual.
He had trained as a mining engineer whose father had been the major owner of a Northumberland coalfield and this led to an interest in his background and to the discovery that his grandfather/father had been a mine viewer, originally put down and hewer although the two roles could not be further apart. The hewer is the individual who goes into the bowels of the earth to bring out the coal and which in the era of the ancestor involved families including children as young as 11 years. The Viewer and Assistant Viewer of which her ancestors was one were the managers and assistant managers of the pit employed by the owners. It is assumed that whereas the mine owners need not have direct mining experience or technical knowledge the Viewers would. I would like to know more but cannot devote the time.
Moreover her relative had been one of those in charge of the New Hartley pit in Northumberland which suffered the most terrible of disasters and which changed the way mines were established thereafter.
The New Hartley mine is South of Blythe and I had seen the village signposted on my recent trip to the area but had no knowledge of the shocking history. The village is now part of North Tyneside with North Shields regarded the principal town of the area outside of Newcastle at the time. 204 men and boys, nine in one family, with some 600 dependents died because the pumping mechanism broke and fell down the main shaft sealing it for several days until sufficient of the fallen mental could be raised for the bodies to be brought to the surface. Only 25 men remained in the surrounding villages. The inquest found that it had been an accident and that the managers had acted courageously. He ancestor had left the industry and opened a drapery store in County Durham at Seaham. One wonders to day if the management would have been so regarded, The disaster led to Parliament deciding that all pits had to have two shafts in future.
Although the ancestor left mining, although as his son or one of his grand son became a coal field owner confirms that the family had wealth and position. As with the Test pilot one felt considerable editing about the men had been undertaken by the programme and their legal and other advisers to the families involved. More on this later.
Attention was then directed to her maternal grandfather who she knew as a quiet man sitting in a corner with a pint and tobacco. He was known to have been World War Two air crew in bombers and to have been shot down a few months after he met and married her grandmother. He made several escapes before the family believed he had been moved to Colditz when in fact he was sent to Stalag Luff Three, as famous as Colditz because of the Great Escape and the Wooden Horse. The Great Escape film with Steve McQueen and a host of others actors masks the story of 50 men executed because they escaped at the same time from a camp designed to prevent escapes, with only three reaching freedom and the rest some 23 were returned or sent to other camps including three to Colditz. Some 600 men were involved in the construction of three tunnels with 200 planning to escape in Harry, the tunnel which was not discovered. From the journal record book of her grandfather it is established that he had a role in planning the escape and may have been one of those waiting to depart when the escape was discovered. This is because at the back of the book there was a brief note of significance in that it is known that the valuables of the executed men were auctioned among the prisoner so that they would not fall into the hands of the Germans and the money raised set aside to be given to the dependents after the war. There were ten thousand officers in the camp and of those executed 21 were from the UK, 16 from the Commonwealth and the rest other Europeans. The three who successfully escaped were Norwegian and Dutch.
This morning I looked up Kate Humble on the Internet (born 1968 and therefore 41, she comes across as younger) and discovered that her site has been withdrawn for updating. Wikipedia is both revealing and secretive. The site says nothing about her parents and if she has brothers and sisters for example.
After leaving school where she describes herself as a poor student she travelled through Africa from cape Town to Cairo working her way. She then established herself as an explorer and writer. For the past ten years she become an A list TV presenter involved in some 40 programmes. The article mentioned that she is married having moved from Chiswick to Wales, that she has not had the inclination to have children and that she is a private nudist all which make a colourful and interesting character in her own right.
There are vast blanks in the story of her ancestors and herself which the new website or website changes might address or possibly information is being removed which is no longer wished to retained now that the extent of public attention on her life has increased. This is an excellent example of the point I have had made several times that it is possible to individuals to lead public lives but to retain degrees of privacy and to control the extent to which examination of aspects of their history does not adversely affect the lives of relatives who wish to retain their privacy.
On one hand people like me would love to know lots more about Kate and family because of the completer finisher instincts which require the fullest possible information picture before coming to conclusions. On the hand there are others only too willing to exploit any negative or dark aspects for their own interest, often occupational and financial without regard for the potential impact on individuals and their families. It is a difficult balance, more difficult for someone naturally open and honest. The broadsheet media has an important role to play in holding the balance.
The programme is one of the best of all the series to-date because it generated viewer interest in the lives of three men and in particular the wider role of test pilots during World War 2 with one in four losing their lives, in the nature of coal mining in Victoria times through to the creation of the National Coal Board, and in the ingenuity and bravery of those who became prisoners of war.
As the war came to an end the Germans moved the prisoners from their camps as they retreated from the advancing enemy, using the prisoner as Shields from air attacks. Kate travelled by car the 800 kilometres from the Stalag to Lubeck where they were held until the town was surrendered to the allies. They were expected to march 30 kilometres a day in freezing weather conditions with no food until possible something in the evenings. They became like automatons. At one stop Kate was joined by a survivor from the camp and march who found the return difficult as it reminded of the darkest moment of his life. They had tried to do their best he said with genuine modesty a living reminder of the great debt present generations have, Kate mother mentioned that when her father returned her parents were strangers who did not recognise each other. She was four and half years old when they met for the first time. There is one good family biography, an autobiography, and films to come within the story of he Humbles and Carters.
I realised I needed a blood test for my health check appointment next week and this involved a 12 hour fast. The Hospital now charge £1.20 for the privilege of parking. This meant I did not have the change for the car parking at Asda. I left a note at the window and bought the rolls and pastries for the cricket changing a £20 note at the DIY check out and then after getting the car park cricket went tot he bank to pay in the cheque from Northern electric, now N power before calling in at Marks and Spencer’s for cherries, three packs of chicken pieces for £5 and two packs of crispy bacon with a pack of salmon pieces again for £5. The crispy bacon was delicious with a lunchtime salad and I could not resist eating the rest later in the afternoon. It became something of a bad food day as I had a soup and roll with the salad followed by the rest of the sweet melon and later anchovies with crackers for afternoon tea. Calling in at Wilkinson they not only had more of the blue display folders but a new supply of black. They are nearly giving away the 20 page variety at half price or two for 1 more accurately. I had gone for the washing up pads where a large packs costs under £1 so I used each only for a couple of days before discarding. It was then back to the supermarket where I completed the purchase with a fresh supply of the prawns in shell, salami and Greek olives with feta cheese. I forgot to reclaim the £1 parking charge so had to go back up to the customer services counter. The assistant was upset because previously she had been shouted out.
Back home after the meal I rang regarding the camera and it was ready on the 15th which surprising because it could have been returned before the London trip and would be released now after I had asked it to be held until the 28th. I am still convinced the hold up was because I had he renewed subscription as this seemed pointless until it was confirmed the charger could be replaced.
Rain held up the Test match and everything pointed to no play to day but everything was being done to start the match so that the spectators had something for their time and money, although one felt the authorities were anxious because of the loss of revenue if there was no play and refunds made. Play commenced around five and Australia after winning the toss and with a new opening pair and much pride to salvage scored freely on the notorious Warwickshire wicket made more lifeless but the latest lake creating downpour of the endless torrents this summer.
Durham have been awarded an Ashes Test for 2013, the year after the Olympics. Newcastle Managed a home draw in their friendly against Leeds after being thrashed 6.0 at Spurs, There is talk of Ashley having to rake the club into administration. There is also the story of those making a bid withdrawing it after hearing nothing further from the club. What a scandal? What a disgrace?
I watched the last Question Time of the political season with the sensible and ration Shirley Women’s possible the best Prime Minister we never had alongside the positively wicket George Galloway who formed his own party Respect, both refugees from the hierarchical infrastructure of the Labour Party. Geoff Hoon was then embarrassed and doing his best to dig himself and his Party of the ever increasing political Black hole they have dug for themselves. There was also Clive James representing us who have reached the end of our lives, possibly, so we look at things differently from you young folk brigade. There was also the young Conservative Asian Member of the House of Lords trying to put a good spin on a Conservative Front bench full of old Etonians and Oxbridge. I don’t mind this aspect of our government. I have never believed that because a large chunk of the population are political morons, they should therefore be represented in government, no more than criminals, anti monarchists, atheists and non democrats. What I do object to is that people with ability and contributions to the development of British society and prevented because of their parental and family circumstances while others gain footholds because of family and who the family knows. Apparently the latest method is for families to sponsor internships which is a fancy name for young people with the right education and background gaining practical experience in the professions and government for a year or two working for free. They then have a substantial edge when it comes to applying for vacancies which have to be advertised. Shirley Williams made the point that apart from Tony Blair recent Prime Ministers have not gone to public schools and John Major for examples was brought up in a small flat in Brixton.
I also enjoyed the latest New Tricks, the series about aging policemen resurrected to examine long standing unsolved serious crimes. Although the main story usually has flaws sometimes significant ones such as in this episode where a bullied wife uses the opportunity of someone who takes her car and possibly commits suicide to enable her daughter to stay in the UK, to fake her own death and live with the man she loves, bringing up the child of the husband as their own and then goes into a public place in the area of where the husband works and lives. People can do stupid things like that but the majority would take every step to prevent discovery. On touch I liked was that a vicar having disclosed that he knew that a character was running a sweat shop with illegal’s migrants, he was given the opportunity to warn them that the Home Office was being informed so hey were able to disappear. Another was the Albanian migrant worker who pretend to be Polish to fit into the present popular belief that the overwhelming majority of Polish workers are all dedicated and efficient, which they are, while Albanians have in their midst gangsters who are providing girls for Europeans Brothels, organising illegal migrations and the supply of illegal substances
Kate presented herself in this programme as self assured, vivacious, open, lovable and adventurous devoted to nature and to animals. Before being introduced to her mother and father I assumed she was privately educated and with a comfortable to wealthy middle class background. She met her father in the garden of the local pub and her mother in home to discuss their respective ancestors and both confirmed my first assumption. They were both interesting people in their own right about whom I wished to know more about.
Kate admits she was part of a family who did not discuss their emotions and personal experiences and that although she knew something about her two male grand parents in fact she knew little of them and was concerned less she discovered they had done remarkable things and would spend the rest of her life wishing she could live up to them. That this was signalled at the commencement of the programme suggested what was to follow rather than something different.
The first remarkable individual was her paternal grandfather who was a distinguished second World War Test pilot and before then a flamboyant air show performer who owned his own aircraft and whose work both as a performer and Test Pilot is well recorded and admired. There several hints of his being something of a ladies man and photographs indicated a Hollywood appearance and personality. It was another example of grandchildren finding admirers and fans of their ancestors among the specialist public while they were unaware of their the fame of the individual.
He had trained as a mining engineer whose father had been the major owner of a Northumberland coalfield and this led to an interest in his background and to the discovery that his grandfather/father had been a mine viewer, originally put down and hewer although the two roles could not be further apart. The hewer is the individual who goes into the bowels of the earth to bring out the coal and which in the era of the ancestor involved families including children as young as 11 years. The Viewer and Assistant Viewer of which her ancestors was one were the managers and assistant managers of the pit employed by the owners. It is assumed that whereas the mine owners need not have direct mining experience or technical knowledge the Viewers would. I would like to know more but cannot devote the time.
Moreover her relative had been one of those in charge of the New Hartley pit in Northumberland which suffered the most terrible of disasters and which changed the way mines were established thereafter.
The New Hartley mine is South of Blythe and I had seen the village signposted on my recent trip to the area but had no knowledge of the shocking history. The village is now part of North Tyneside with North Shields regarded the principal town of the area outside of Newcastle at the time. 204 men and boys, nine in one family, with some 600 dependents died because the pumping mechanism broke and fell down the main shaft sealing it for several days until sufficient of the fallen mental could be raised for the bodies to be brought to the surface. Only 25 men remained in the surrounding villages. The inquest found that it had been an accident and that the managers had acted courageously. He ancestor had left the industry and opened a drapery store in County Durham at Seaham. One wonders to day if the management would have been so regarded, The disaster led to Parliament deciding that all pits had to have two shafts in future.
Although the ancestor left mining, although as his son or one of his grand son became a coal field owner confirms that the family had wealth and position. As with the Test pilot one felt considerable editing about the men had been undertaken by the programme and their legal and other advisers to the families involved. More on this later.
Attention was then directed to her maternal grandfather who she knew as a quiet man sitting in a corner with a pint and tobacco. He was known to have been World War Two air crew in bombers and to have been shot down a few months after he met and married her grandmother. He made several escapes before the family believed he had been moved to Colditz when in fact he was sent to Stalag Luff Three, as famous as Colditz because of the Great Escape and the Wooden Horse. The Great Escape film with Steve McQueen and a host of others actors masks the story of 50 men executed because they escaped at the same time from a camp designed to prevent escapes, with only three reaching freedom and the rest some 23 were returned or sent to other camps including three to Colditz. Some 600 men were involved in the construction of three tunnels with 200 planning to escape in Harry, the tunnel which was not discovered. From the journal record book of her grandfather it is established that he had a role in planning the escape and may have been one of those waiting to depart when the escape was discovered. This is because at the back of the book there was a brief note of significance in that it is known that the valuables of the executed men were auctioned among the prisoner so that they would not fall into the hands of the Germans and the money raised set aside to be given to the dependents after the war. There were ten thousand officers in the camp and of those executed 21 were from the UK, 16 from the Commonwealth and the rest other Europeans. The three who successfully escaped were Norwegian and Dutch.
This morning I looked up Kate Humble on the Internet (born 1968 and therefore 41, she comes across as younger) and discovered that her site has been withdrawn for updating. Wikipedia is both revealing and secretive. The site says nothing about her parents and if she has brothers and sisters for example.
After leaving school where she describes herself as a poor student she travelled through Africa from cape Town to Cairo working her way. She then established herself as an explorer and writer. For the past ten years she become an A list TV presenter involved in some 40 programmes. The article mentioned that she is married having moved from Chiswick to Wales, that she has not had the inclination to have children and that she is a private nudist all which make a colourful and interesting character in her own right.
There are vast blanks in the story of her ancestors and herself which the new website or website changes might address or possibly information is being removed which is no longer wished to retained now that the extent of public attention on her life has increased. This is an excellent example of the point I have had made several times that it is possible to individuals to lead public lives but to retain degrees of privacy and to control the extent to which examination of aspects of their history does not adversely affect the lives of relatives who wish to retain their privacy.
On one hand people like me would love to know lots more about Kate and family because of the completer finisher instincts which require the fullest possible information picture before coming to conclusions. On the hand there are others only too willing to exploit any negative or dark aspects for their own interest, often occupational and financial without regard for the potential impact on individuals and their families. It is a difficult balance, more difficult for someone naturally open and honest. The broadsheet media has an important role to play in holding the balance.
The programme is one of the best of all the series to-date because it generated viewer interest in the lives of three men and in particular the wider role of test pilots during World War 2 with one in four losing their lives, in the nature of coal mining in Victoria times through to the creation of the National Coal Board, and in the ingenuity and bravery of those who became prisoners of war.
As the war came to an end the Germans moved the prisoners from their camps as they retreated from the advancing enemy, using the prisoner as Shields from air attacks. Kate travelled by car the 800 kilometres from the Stalag to Lubeck where they were held until the town was surrendered to the allies. They were expected to march 30 kilometres a day in freezing weather conditions with no food until possible something in the evenings. They became like automatons. At one stop Kate was joined by a survivor from the camp and march who found the return difficult as it reminded of the darkest moment of his life. They had tried to do their best he said with genuine modesty a living reminder of the great debt present generations have, Kate mother mentioned that when her father returned her parents were strangers who did not recognise each other. She was four and half years old when they met for the first time. There is one good family biography, an autobiography, and films to come within the story of he Humbles and Carters.
I realised I needed a blood test for my health check appointment next week and this involved a 12 hour fast. The Hospital now charge £1.20 for the privilege of parking. This meant I did not have the change for the car parking at Asda. I left a note at the window and bought the rolls and pastries for the cricket changing a £20 note at the DIY check out and then after getting the car park cricket went tot he bank to pay in the cheque from Northern electric, now N power before calling in at Marks and Spencer’s for cherries, three packs of chicken pieces for £5 and two packs of crispy bacon with a pack of salmon pieces again for £5. The crispy bacon was delicious with a lunchtime salad and I could not resist eating the rest later in the afternoon. It became something of a bad food day as I had a soup and roll with the salad followed by the rest of the sweet melon and later anchovies with crackers for afternoon tea. Calling in at Wilkinson they not only had more of the blue display folders but a new supply of black. They are nearly giving away the 20 page variety at half price or two for 1 more accurately. I had gone for the washing up pads where a large packs costs under £1 so I used each only for a couple of days before discarding. It was then back to the supermarket where I completed the purchase with a fresh supply of the prawns in shell, salami and Greek olives with feta cheese. I forgot to reclaim the £1 parking charge so had to go back up to the customer services counter. The assistant was upset because previously she had been shouted out.
Back home after the meal I rang regarding the camera and it was ready on the 15th which surprising because it could have been returned before the London trip and would be released now after I had asked it to be held until the 28th. I am still convinced the hold up was because I had he renewed subscription as this seemed pointless until it was confirmed the charger could be replaced.
Rain held up the Test match and everything pointed to no play to day but everything was being done to start the match so that the spectators had something for their time and money, although one felt the authorities were anxious because of the loss of revenue if there was no play and refunds made. Play commenced around five and Australia after winning the toss and with a new opening pair and much pride to salvage scored freely on the notorious Warwickshire wicket made more lifeless but the latest lake creating downpour of the endless torrents this summer.
Durham have been awarded an Ashes Test for 2013, the year after the Olympics. Newcastle Managed a home draw in their friendly against Leeds after being thrashed 6.0 at Spurs, There is talk of Ashley having to rake the club into administration. There is also the story of those making a bid withdrawing it after hearing nothing further from the club. What a scandal? What a disgrace?
I watched the last Question Time of the political season with the sensible and ration Shirley Women’s possible the best Prime Minister we never had alongside the positively wicket George Galloway who formed his own party Respect, both refugees from the hierarchical infrastructure of the Labour Party. Geoff Hoon was then embarrassed and doing his best to dig himself and his Party of the ever increasing political Black hole they have dug for themselves. There was also Clive James representing us who have reached the end of our lives, possibly, so we look at things differently from you young folk brigade. There was also the young Conservative Asian Member of the House of Lords trying to put a good spin on a Conservative Front bench full of old Etonians and Oxbridge. I don’t mind this aspect of our government. I have never believed that because a large chunk of the population are political morons, they should therefore be represented in government, no more than criminals, anti monarchists, atheists and non democrats. What I do object to is that people with ability and contributions to the development of British society and prevented because of their parental and family circumstances while others gain footholds because of family and who the family knows. Apparently the latest method is for families to sponsor internships which is a fancy name for young people with the right education and background gaining practical experience in the professions and government for a year or two working for free. They then have a substantial edge when it comes to applying for vacancies which have to be advertised. Shirley Williams made the point that apart from Tony Blair recent Prime Ministers have not gone to public schools and John Major for examples was brought up in a small flat in Brixton.
I also enjoyed the latest New Tricks, the series about aging policemen resurrected to examine long standing unsolved serious crimes. Although the main story usually has flaws sometimes significant ones such as in this episode where a bullied wife uses the opportunity of someone who takes her car and possibly commits suicide to enable her daughter to stay in the UK, to fake her own death and live with the man she loves, bringing up the child of the husband as their own and then goes into a public place in the area of where the husband works and lives. People can do stupid things like that but the majority would take every step to prevent discovery. On touch I liked was that a vicar having disclosed that he knew that a character was running a sweat shop with illegal’s migrants, he was given the opportunity to warn them that the Home Office was being informed so hey were able to disappear. Another was the Albanian migrant worker who pretend to be Polish to fit into the present popular belief that the overwhelming majority of Polish workers are all dedicated and efficient, which they are, while Albanians have in their midst gangsters who are providing girls for Europeans Brothels, organising illegal migrations and the supply of illegal substances
No comments:
Post a Comment