New Paths music festival 2024

Councillor Linda Johnson and I are patrons of the New Paths Festival which is a festival of mostly classical and jazz music held in Beverley and nearby venues. We were glad to be able to attend the Spring 2024 festival.

My first event was a free morning concert ‘Breakfast with Bach’ at the venerable St Mary’s Church in Beverley. Violinist Fenella Humphreys played a wonderful rendition of ‘Toccata and Fugue in D minor’ and ‘Partita in E major’.

Next I attended a talk by Dame Gillian Weir the celebrated organist. She talked of how she became established as an organist and how the performance of classical music has changed over the many years she has been a performer.

Dame Gillian was very critical of pop music. Evidently a lot of the audience agreed.

Well I love pop, rock, dance, disco electronic and ambient music and I am sticking with that. I also like jazz and classical when the mood takes me.

Next was an organ contest at Beverley Minster, judged by Dame Gillian herself. All the contestants were excellent and we agreed it must have been difficult to choose a winner.

Friday evening saw us in St Mary’s again for a performance of Ian Venables’ ‘Portraits of a Mind’, Bartok’s 3rd string quartet and several other pieces. The musicianship was fine and the performances set very well in the fine surroundings of the church.

After a break the final performance of the night was by Christian Forshaw and Grace Davidson, performing ‘Sanctuary’, which is seen as a contemporary masterpiece.

My day at the festival was marvellous and a I could see that a lot of preparation had gone into it.

Catching up over recent months October 2022 to January 2023

My activities over the past few months, since the proclamation of the new King, are detailed here.

On 6th October we had the visit of our friends from the German town of Lemgo, who represented our longstanding twinning arrangements with this historic town. The local fire brigade and police put on displays for the visitors.

The local fire and police services gave a fine display for ur visiting German guests.

Police dogs showed us how they can search and find contraband.

There was then a display of the capabilities of the latest drones used by both fire and police services. These are not the drones used by hobbyists! They can stay in the air for over an hour, carry securely networked surveillance cameras, and can hover in the same place even adjusting for wind currents.

On 8th October the Mayor and I attended the internal Army annual competition held at Leconfield Army base. In this event units of the Army compete in such activities as military vehicle and helicopter recognition, and endurance events. Here are the Mayor and I after presenting some awards to winning competitors in one of the events.

The Mayor and I after presenting awards to winners in an Army inter-unit event

In November we had the annual Remembrance Day event where we all pay our respects to those who gave their lives to fight for our freedoms.

Remembrance Day display in Beverley Minster

The Mayor laid a reef at the cenotaph at St Mary’s Church.

The Mayor of Beverley views the reefs laid in Beverley for Remembrance Day

A less sombre day came in December when the Mayor and I attended the Beverley Festival of Christmas, which is now emerging from lockdowns as the vibrant and fun-packed day it has always been.

The Mayor of Beverley and actors from the East Riding pantomime

At the very end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 the Mayor and I attended the ringing in of 2023 in the bell tower of Beverley Minster.

The bell ringers at Beverley Minster ring in 2023!

As we ascended then descended the spiral staircase at Beverley Minster I noticed several examples of Graffiti including this one from 1696.

Finally on 28th January The Mayor and I attended the Breakfast Club’s Burns Night dinner in honour of the Scottish poet and the founders of the veterans’ Breakfast CLubs which have now been founded all around the world. These organisations assist veterans in their adjustment to civilian life and its challenges.

The Mayor of Beverley and Consort at the Burns Night dinner. held by the Veterans' Breakfast Club of Beverley — The Mayor of Beverley and Consort at the Burns Night dinner. held by the Veterans’ Breakfast Club of Beverley

So these have been my activities over the past few months as a Beverley Town Councillor and Consort of the Mayor of Beverley.

Concert in Hull Minster by Band of HM Royal Marines Collingwood

As the Consort of the Mayor of Beverley I was privileged to be invited to the concert given by the band of HM Royal Marines, Collingwood. Both the Mayor and myself enjoyed the concert, and it showed how much musical talent there is in the Armed Forces bands.

A fine performance by the Royal Marines band

The whole evening was pleasant and included a visit to Hull Minster’s new cafe, which is well worth a visit and serves its own brand of fresh coffee!

Beverley and East Yorkshire: Proclamation of the accession of King Charles III

The proclamation of King Charles III in Beverley

I was recently privileged to be invited, in my capacity as Mayor of Beverley’s consort, to the Proclamation of King Charles III in Hull. There was a procession of Hull and East Riding civic dignitaries from the GuildHall to the square in front of Hull City Hall followed by speeches from the balcony of the City Hall by the Lord Lieutenant of East Yorkshire and the High Sheriff of East Yorkshire. The once in a lifetime nature of the Royal proclamation and the favourable sunny weather made for a pleasant and fascinating event for the many hundreds of spectators who attended.

Mayor of Beverley and myself on the balcony at Hull City Hall

After the event the civic guests enjoyed tea, coffee or orange juice in the City Hall and then in most cases journeyed to other proclamation events in the region.

Me trying on a hat in the Mayor's dressing room in the Hull Guildhall. — Me trying on a hat in the Mayor’s dressing room in the Hull Guildhall.

Linda and I hurried back to Beverley to take part in the procession of civic guests from Beverley GuildHall to the Saturday Market Cross. There again the Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff proclaimed the accession of King Charles III.

From left to right the leader of East Riding Council, The High Sheriff, Lord Lieutenant, Mayor of Beverley and bagpipe player. Beverley Saturday Market 11th September 2022.

So we enter a new era with a new King and coincidentally a new Prime Minister. Wherever Britain goes from here, we are all breaking new ground. The international tectonic plates of geopolitics and economics are shifting. Technologies such as artificial intelligence are set to transform life and society. Resources such as food, minerals, energy and even water are starting to become scarce. Climate change, whether we choose to deny it or prepare for it, will start to hit us head on.

Charles III and his new Prime Minister will have a lot to think about.

Snaith Civic Service

On Saturday 23rd July I had quite a busy day accompanying the Mayor of Beverley to a couple of events.

First we were lucky to be invited to attend the Police Open Day at Melton, near North Ferriby. We chatted to a number of officers about their work including firearms officers. These highly trained officers showed us a collection of guns, some real, some replica, some illicit which had come into their possession over the years.

After the Police Open Day we were lucky to attend the Snaith Civic Service and a lunch afterwards. We learned a lot about Snaith, which was once a very important medieval centre for church administration and an RAF base during the Second World War. The link to the RAF was apparent with several former and serving officers present at the service.

Snaith Priory itself is something of a gem; one of the oldest churches in the region with Saxon remnants remaining here and there. There is some good stained glass too; most of it Victorian but some fragments surviving from the middle ages.

A tasty selection of sandwiches and a cream tea, Snaith style.

Overall the Mayor and Myself returned to Beverley much the wiser about the small but attractive town of Snaith and its people.

Cllr Graham Johnson

Elected Liberal Democrat Councillor on Beverley Town Council