Monday, 7 June 2010

1937 Visting Durham,a summer concert by the beach and cricket on a summer's day and Carmen from Covent Garden

Thursday June 6th began and ended as glorious a warm and sunny day as Wednesday. But by Sunday the weather had reverted to its recent summer norm, wet and cold. Thus the four days encapsulated my present life as it has become.

On Thursday morning I took the Park and Ride from just off the AIM on the 690 road from Sunderland into the City of Durham. A field has been converted into two huge car parks just off the junction roundabout and where there has been built an attractive waiting area and automatic ticket. There is a single Decker bus every ten minutes taking the short circular route into the city stopping close by the paying multi-storey car park which has been used since it was built for visit to the city, although during those early years in the 1990‘s when Durham played cricket at Durham Riverside I usually managed to park within the grounds or along at the Rugby ground within view of the infamous Durham jail, now considerably extended to cope with the overall rise of the prison population.

There is now a congestion charge to enter the area of the Market Square and continue up to the Cathedral where there is also the former castle and the university Library. The park and ride ticket, usually £1.70 but free for concessions can also be used on a second single Decker bus to take one up the narrow winding road to the Cathedral, with shops, inns and restaurants and rooms used for university and student activities. Durham University is Colligate but with the 14 colleges spread in the city and to the southern parklands, and at Stockton where there are two colleges.

It will be fifty years since first going to the adult Education college situated at Oxford and with special links to the university and undergraduate life. Given my life immediately prior to arrival I was ill equipped to make best use of the experience in terms of the academic and social life available as then I did not understand the nature of my learning difficulties and knowledge retention. In fairness I did throw myself wholeheartedly into the experience which at times was overwhelming, at others lonely, challenging throughout as I took to notion of academic truth with great enthusiasm and then to the potential power of social case work for making fundamental changes to the lives of individuals. It remains a regret that I did not have the normal route of sixth form and undergraduate experience before jumping into the deep end of a course where all but five others of course students were first and second class honours graduates.

I am guessing that the Durham undergraduate experience is close to that at Oxford and Cambridge and other colligate universities where the student is able to participate in several levels of academic and social experience. The individual college is a total life system during term time, with the appointment of a college tutor to see them through their individual courses as well as the tutorial system, seminars and lecture system provided by the University through its faculties and departments. The college provides accommodation and food and college facilities such as a gym and bar common room, sporting teams, musical and dramatic and other social and interest activities depending on the culture and bias of the college and its size. Each college has its own budget and staff

However the undergraduate has also to be registered with a department of which there over a score within three faculties, at Oxford they are called Schools. These provide the structure, teaching and study framework as well as assessment and examination process in the chosen subject. The University is a large organisation with 15000 students of which a fifth come from overseas, and 3500 are undertaking post graduate work. There are over 3000 staff with some 40 separate administrative and organisational staffed functions, an annual budget of £160 million to cover its functions which as had been mentioned emphasised are separate from those of the individual colleges.

In addition to social and sporting activities provided by individual colleges there are a large number of university wide sporting and social activities which each having officers and a committee usually made up of representatives of the individual colleges. There is also a student union which offers information and support services as well as social. In addition some students like to participate in the life of the local community whether it is to attend a church or faith group, hang out a local bar or nightclub, undertake voluntary work, or join a political or other social group. It is easy for some who become sidetracked away from their studies although much depends on why they have come to university and if they know in advance what their occupational activity is going to be afterwards. Looking through the on line features of the university and its colleges I noted that one is now offering two scholarships for ex service men and women.

I must do some work comparing student life today and fifty years ago and whether anything has changed other than costs and student loans. My two years at Ruskin were fully paid by Surrey County Council as was the 12 month Child Care Course at Birmingham University by the Home Office, although the grant meant I was on survival rations during practical work placements outside of term time with the consequence that I was able to start work without inherited debts. To day around £8000 is required to cover tuition and live in cost during term time although there is overprovision for the provision of accommodation without food at other times.

The focus of my visit was the great Cathedral about which I wrote at length after making the first visit after several years last twelve months ago. The Cathedral is one of the most welcoming along with Beverley and Southwell Minsters and I am always affected by the sense of history, spirituality and repose. I had forgotten where the audio visual commentary is located and was just as impressed and moved. Later in the space between the Gala Theatre and cinema there is the sculpture of the monks carrying the remains of St Cuthbert after they fled Lindisfarne from the rampaging Nords and eventually settled for 100 years at Chester Le Street after going as far as the Cumbrian coast to the west. I enjoyed a four seasons pizza at an Italian restaurant just over the Elvet Bridge before making my way to Marks and Spencer’s in the hope there were some summer trousers in my size. There were not.

I then walked over the Framwelgate Bridge where the two course lunch at the Cafe Rouge was prices at close on £11, two to three pounds more than London Victoria or the Metro centre at Gateshead. Further along towards the bus station there is a Wetherspoons and a Yates Lodge both offering meal deal at a fraction. I debated taking the bus to Sunderland and then the fast service back to Shields, but it was such a fine day and feeling relaxed I mistakenly settled for the bus to South Shields, which took all of 90 minutes, thirty to reach Chester Le Street, 30 to reach Washington bus station and another 30 to Shields.

I have only taken this bus route once before and could not remember the detour just outside of Durham, close to the village of Pity Me where a new shopping development has been created with the usual mix of stores restaurants, including giant Sainsbury’s supermarket, a Frankie and Benny’s and McDonalds. In Washington the bus takes a detour to the huge government office complex and to the Nissan car plant.

In the evening I walked to the amphitheatre for the first of the season’s evening concerts with a two young female singers and then a boy band. The Council are laying a new coloured concrete designed path on the beach roadway way parallel to the coast road and continuing past the amphitheatre and covered walkway. It continued to be a fine evening and I estimate that about a thousand people attended bringing continuing custom to the fish and chips outlets, the beachside pubs, the amusement park and car parks.

The fine weather continued on Friday when in early afternoon I prepared for the first 20 20 cricket match of the new format season at Durham Riverside. By the time I returned home the ground had been renamed the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground. There were several bursts of fireworks to mark what should have been a special day in the history of the cricket club. Given the weather I had a cooked meal at midday and then prepared some rolls and fruit for later and set off to arrive some two and half hours before the scheduled start anticipating a full house and a traffic jam as every one attempted to arrive having left work as early as possible.

It was also half term which added to those spending time at the riverside park. Anticipating the evening would cool I prepared coffee but I also filled the small cooler bag with a can of Pepsi, the bottle of tap water and a pint container of milk plus an ice pack. Alas I then left the small cool bag on the kitchen work surface only realising I had done so after I had undertaken a vigorous walk to other end of the park and back.

As also anticipated is was nearly a full house and the largest crowd for a 20 20 game experienced with a greater number of young people and young adults, especially young women, drinking Pimm’s, in summer frocks and two with a flower in their hair and four near me who had hysterics when Claydon came on to bowl, could they have been related?

The moment Lancs won the toss I sensed disaster, especially as Morkell gave away nine runs in the first over, but others were even more expensive setting Durham the task of scoring no less than nine runs an over to win. As the skies became full of cloud and Durham lost two quick wickets and the writing was on the proverbial wall when after scoring 1 and facing a couple of balls import New Zealander Taylor tried to open his account with a six and was caught at the boundary. Great day, pity about the cricket. I did some walkabout and shopping on Saturday as well as viewing the Test Match and catching up on the whose got Talent semi finals before watching the final. The outcome was unpredictable with an unfancied dance troop who Simon originally disliked winning the prize. Another dance act came second.

I did not check the weather forecast for Sunday until just before bedtime so I was not surprised by the overcast start but the extent to which the temperature had lowered was disappointing. Checking the hour by hour forecast for Chester Le Street there was a sixty percent likelihood of rain from mid morning until late evening. Originally I had planned to take a picnic lunch to the Riverside park and have a good walk before the start of the first of two games which commenced at 2.30. The first, the second 20 20 match against Worcestershire to be followed by a special game led by Steve Harmison as part of a Tribute day for our forces now on active duty and those who have returned injured and the families of those whose blood now makes up a foreign field.

I decided early on making a hot lunch of two pieces of juicy steak and tined vegetables and then filled rolls and some fruit in the event that play was possible at some point in the day. It remained dry although the gloom appeared settled and it was colder than for several weeks. I got as far as the roundabout before the AIM and decided to take the road to Sunderland as the rain commenced, a drizzle which soon, became heavier and continued until late evening. It was the right decision as there was no play at the Emirates Durham with refunds advertised today less administrative costs. The decision to go towards Sunderland rather than a full retreat homeward was taken because there was the showing of Bizet’s Opera Carmen from Convent Garden at the Bolden Cineworld. This did not communicate as a live performance to the same extent as Metropolitan Opera Relays but I have to admit proved to be a more inspiring production than that from the Met which I watched at the beginning of the year, when Robert Algna proved too gentle a Don Jose for my liking and Placido Domino in an earlier Met Production viewed on the i Player too senior and experienced for the role. Bryan Hymel is ideal as the young Don Jose, entirely convincing as the soldier and as an obsessed young man capable of murder in a moment of passionate disappointment. I was also impressed by the other debut performance in the role by Aris Argiris as Escamillo, Christianinos Rice was also voluptuously wicked and credible as Carmen. Although the singing and acting of Maija Kovalevska was of the highest quality, it is still difficult to accept to someone over 30 as an innocent 17 year old village peasant girl. I have previously reported on the history of my experience of this opera in the writing 862 1862 in January of this year. I was ready to get back to work for the rest of June.

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