rhythms of the world

yes i will come with you

Last week I spent a couple of days filming with a small crew of skilled and enthusiastic folk for a project by Eddie Carey around the story of Catherine Hayes the last woman who was burned at the stake for Petty Treason. Back then when a good horse was worth more than a sickly woman, any servant, slave or wife who murdered any man, might be tried and executed. We had much debate about the trial during filming around the very likely possibility that the trial was rigged by the social values of the day and that then , the rights of a man were always paramount. The story is a very sad tale however you might look at it.

During filming I became interested in finding out more and came across a list of defendants tried and sentenced at the same time as poor Catherine and her alleged accomplices. The following is an extract from the court record.

The sentences varied from 2 burning of the hands – 1 whipping – 4 hangings – 3 burnings – 1 defendant too unwell to receive punishment – 1 who would be bound to show remorse and a degree of repentance – 12 shipped to the colonies

Life has been especially interesting lately. The exploits of the SKY Cycling team at the 2012 Tour De France have been fascinating. The guys are golden and I expect they will get more gold at the Olympics. It shows what can be done when the best people get a realistic budget to work with. Congratulations to all involved. My dad would have loved this. He was a time trialist specialist like Bradley Wiggins. Though not quite as quick as Brad he did some times over10, 25and 50 miles that were fast in his day. The second world war put a stop to his cycle racing but he always rode a bike through out the rest of his life. When he was 75 he rode from Warwick to Steve’s place in Barnet to meet up with Ramblin’ and me. Next day we rode to Malvern then to Aberystwyth to check out the then UK Milk Race ( Tour of Britain). We cycled back to Malvern the same day and then back the way we had come. He never lagged behind once and we all had a wonderful time on and off our bikes. An English TDF winner! Yeah Dennis would have loved it.

I had a great time at the Hitchin RHYTHMS OF THE WORLD Festival. Tucked away on a small stage in the dry part of the field I was surprised by the turn out and warmth of my lovely audience. This is really special event for any family or anyone else. There is a great atmosphere and everything is very well run. The set went down very well and the organisers would like a return performance. Job done.

While watching the unfolding saga of the fall of the Assad regime my thoughts go back to the beginnings of what became the Arab Spring. I remember a fierce debate about the ethics and morality of violent opposition to the Mubarak regime. Although there is a long way to go before Egypt is a free country the trend towards the development of a robust culture of popular protest, enhanced judicial independence, and an increase in political pluralism, in connection with the ousting of long time president Hosni Mubarak, can be seen as real improvement. Though political corruption at all levels is high and the Army have tried to keep a hold on power, the deadlock on political expression by the people is over. Is it reasonable to want and to fight for freedom, to have the expectation that you will have a voice in a civil society and that the cost of the struggle is always worth the effort? I hope so though we know getting rid of the tyrant can often pave the way for a new tyrant in slightly different costume / uniform. It is difficult to change the culture of many years practice. However there must be hope that the way forward will bring a better quality of life for the children of the opposition forces and that their sacrifices will ultimately result in a fairer society.


I hope to see some of you at THE MUSICIAN in Leicester on Friday. I've got a few new changes on the go and Luke will be playing support with a selection of his own songs so it should be a bit special. 

peace