History is full of ironies; one of its recurring themes is that, however powerful, however sucessful nations and individuals are, in the long run they lose the ability to adapt, decline and disappear altogether. Often the only evidence that they ever existed is the physical artefacts they erected round themselves, which end up like empty shells on the seashore.
Such a place is Great Witley Court, originally developed by the Foley family and then by the Dudleys. Instead of the small army of people who were once needed to keep it going, today it houses only one person – Steve McCarron -a mason who is gradually refurbishing parts of the fabric, in what could be a job for life. He is doing similar work at Bolsover Castle, once a retreat for Henry VIII. He calls it: “touching history”.
Few people can now remember who or what the Foleys and the Dudleys were; we are much more likely to have heard of one of the tradesmen who worked there, Edward Elgar, who came as a boy in a pony and trap,with his father, to tune the pianos.
In the end, it seems that it is the ordinary people who survive, not those who originally stood on their shoulders, to reach their fleeting moments of fame.
Hiya. I enjoyed this recording very much, too. When was it made? I assuming it’s from a while back, or else he’s working on a very long schedule to get that work finished by the end of the millennium
Sharp boy, Matt. Ed said that would be a problem. As far as I remember it was done in 1998 or 1999. It was originally made for our BBC local radio who are very happy to let you on air as a amateur, provided you don’t expect any payment. I have done 100s of pieces for them on that basis.
Looking on the bright side: I learned a lot about programme-making in the process and I was honoured to get a piece as long as this on air. The usual guillotine is 2′ 30”. By implication local radio believes that anything longer than this will damage the listeners in some way; it must be something to do with EH & S