rhythm and boozeBrews, News, Bands & Reviews - Issue 21 - September/October 2013

Plans to demolish The

Ploughman in Werrington

have been mothballed

following a change of heart

by Tesco. The supermarket

chain originally wanted to

demolish the pub and

Werrington Centre, which

it bought part of in 2010,

in order to extend its store.

However, due to ‘a change

in shopping behaviour’ the

company now believes

that the store’s current size

is sufficient.

Andy Simmonds, landlord

of The Ploughman, had

been behind a campaign

to persuade Tesco to revise

its plans.` Delighted that

the pub’s future is assured,

he hopes that the centre is

quickly rejuvenated.

ntheploughman-werrington.co.uk

A Saving That Really Adds Up

Hand & Heart12 Highbury Street. Peterborough PE1 3BE

01733 564653

A traditional back-street pub withup to six real ales at any time

nBeer garden and stage for live music

nTraditional pub games

nTraditional cider and perry available

nCAMRA Cambridgeshire Pub of the Year 2010

nCAMRA Gold Award Winner 2010

nLocAle Accredited

nListed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide

nCheck our Facebook page ‘Friends of the Hand & Heart’for updates on beer festivals and live music

The Surrealist Sportsman’s ClubIn this issue, David ‘Dai’Roll remembers Walter Cornelius.

Walter Cornelius (1923 –

1983) is a name familiar to

many residents of

Peterborough. Walter was

born in Latvia and came to

the city as a refugee during

the Second World War, living

initially at Sibson aerodrome

with other partisans.

For many years his

employment included being

a lifeguard at local swimming

pools, but is best remembered

for his strongman activities.

Anglia News filmed him in

1960 bending nails and having

concrete slabs broken on his

head. In 1963 he was

photographed by the press

preparing

for a 50-

mile

walk –

which he

did on his

hands.

Among the World Records he

earned were eating sausages,

30 2oz cooked sausages in 10

minutes 11.8 seconds, 47 2oz

raw sausages in 8 minutes 30

seconds and a 5.36 metre

chain of raw sausages in 5

minutes 34 seconds. He

pushed a double-decker bus

with his head a half mile in 15

minutes, later he pushed a pea

up Castor Hill with his nose

and a cannonball for a mile,

also with his nose (which

apparently carried the callous

for many years).

He skipped with a 48lb iron

chain for an hour and a half

and a couple of times

attempted to fly

across the River Nene from

the roof of Brierley’s store

(opposite where Charter’s is

now). When asked if he’d had

any special diet to prepare for

the flight he said he’d been

eating raw grass, “because

cows eat grass and they were

strong, weren’t they?”

His last stunt, in 1982, was

an attempt to jump a bus over

14 parked motorbikes at a

village fete. All of which

together earns Walter the title

of Surrealist Sportsman. From bonkers to conkers

After a gap of a couple of

years the World Conker

Championships is back this

year and

will be

held

at the

Shuckburgh

Arms in

Southwick (PE8

5BL) on Sunday 13

October. For further details,

visit http://bit.ly/QP3gT

749 Lincoln Rd, New England PE1 3HD

www.thecrownonline.co.uk

Tel: 0843 523 5181

4 Real Ales and Cider~

Log Fire Every Evening~

Great Music Every Day~

Pool Table & Dart Board~

Whisky Rack~

Lagers - Bitters - Ciders~

Bottled Real Ales~

Choice of 9 Wines~

Covered Heated Smoking Patio~

Free Parking~

Hot Drinks – Costa Coffee& Twinings Tea

~Big Screens - Live Sports

~Bar Food & Snacks

~Free Function Room

OPENING TIMESMonday - Thursday 12 - 3pm & 5 - 11pm

Friday - Sunday 12 - 11pm

what’s onMondays – Free Pool

Tuesdays – Food Night

Thursdays – Twisted Tunes

Fridays – LIVE NIGHT

Saturdays – Party Night

Sundays – Free Pub Games

8pm Free Pub Quiz

Pub ScrawlAs part of the Peterborough

Festival there will be a

Writing Workshop at the Key

Theatre over the weekend of

6-8 September. Friday night

sees local novelist Tim

Wilson talking about story

telling (tickets £7), Saturday

afternoon is on Writing for

Publication (free) and Sunday

is about What Publishers Want

(also free). Places are limited

so you’ll need to book with

the Key Theatre. There will

also be a Literature Tent on

the Saturday and Sunday on

the Embankment. Pint of

Poetry should be starting each

day, followed by Fenland Poet

Laureate Leanne Moden and

Peterborough Poet Laureate

Simon Stabler plus others.

Hosted by Keely Mills and

Toby Wood, the Talkactive

Tent will run from midday.

This year’s We Love Words

festival will be held in and

around Peterborough from

20-28 September. Names

lined up include Michael

Portillo, Alexi Sayle,

Benjamin Zephaniah, the poet

Ian McMillan and cartoonist

Tony Husband, Germaine

Greer and Simon Armitage.

For full details, go to

www.welovewords.org

Over in Stamford they are

having their first Georgian

Festival over the weekend

of 27-29 September including

Dan Cruickshank, a

performance of Pride and

Prejudice, poetry from Teresa

McLean and a talk about

undergarments by Rosemary

Hawthorne. Full details at

www.stamfordartscentre.com

The King’s Lynn Poetry

Festival will be held over the

weekend of 27-29 September.

Full details of all guests,

times and prices go to

www.lynnlitfests.com

Jack Sheffield will be

talking about his latest book

School’s Out on Friday 11

October at the Central Library

in Peterborough. Set in the

early 1980s, when Jack was

a head teacher at schools in

Yorkshire, this is sure to

delight fans of Gervase Phinn.

Tickets are £5 (£4

concessions) and available

from both the Central Library

and Waterstone’s bookshop on

Bridge Street.

A new writing group has

started meeting at Orton

Library on the 2nd and 4th

Saturday of the month (14

& 28 September, 11 & 25

October) between 10am and

11am. The group

(Peterborough Writers

Anonymous, find them on

facebook) is open to writers

of all styles and abilities.

As an SF nerd I’ll looking

forward to the John Kippax

Archive going on show at

the Central Library through

September. This local author

wrote loads of short-stories

and a handful of novels before

his death in the mid-1970s.

This is part of the Space: Fact

& Fiction, as are the series

of lectures to be held at

Peterborough Museum that

continue on Thursday 5

September when Victoria

Lonnon talks about satellite

technology. On Monday 23

September Dr. Sanjeev Gupta

talks about the Curiosity rover

on Mars and then the lectures

end on Wednesday 2 October

when Dr. Simon Roberts talks

on the Apollo legacy. The

talks start at 7.30pm and

tickets cost £5 for adults. To

book (and you’ll have to as

these will sell out) ring 01733

864663 or email museum

@vivacity-peterborough.com

Cardinal Cox will be

contributing to the We Love

Words festival as part of the

Journey to Islands event on

Friday 27 September at the

Central Library when he will

be reading from the journal

of his great-uncle Bill.

by C

ard

ina

l C

ox

The Cardinal’s Calendar 11 September/9 October - Pint of Poetry, Dash of Drama @

Charter’s. The evenings now start at 8pm, and you have to be

there early if you want to read.

25 September/30 October - Stamford’s Pint of Poetry takes

place from 8pm at the cellar bar at the Arts Centre on St

Mary’s Street.

1 October/5 November - Poets United meet on the first

Tuesday of the month at the PCVS building on Lincoln Road

(roughly opposite Geneva Bar). Usually they have a loose

theme for poems for the first half of the evening and then

general readings for the second. For full details ring Viv on

01733 340560.

Left to Right: Captain Sensible at the unveling of his nameplate; Jessi Eastfield with an Eastfield IPA pump clip; Bambi Eas

named after him. Catch Jessi, playing an acoustic set of Eastfield (www.eastfieldrailpunk.co.uk) songs in support of The De

As you know from the title of

this magazine, real ale and

music are perfect bedfellows.

Add a love of railways to the

mix and you can have a pretty

decent weekend at a number

of heritage railways and

transport museums across

the country.

Being into old school punk

rock, a genre that prides itself

on stripped down simplicity

and raw power, its no wonder

that I, like so many ‘Urban

Rail Punks’, prefer diesel

to steam.

The Damned’s Captain

Sensible is just the same, an

opinion formed after being

stuck just outside Carlisle for

six hours when the steam

locomotive transporting him

from Glasgow back to Euston

broke down. Then aged eight,

Sensible and his fellow

passengers were ‘rescued’ by

a diesel locomotive. Ever

since then, the real ale loving

guitarist has been a fan of

diesel traction, even going as

far to name his ill-fated

record label, Deltic Records,

after the more successful

Class 55 locomotive.

Although punk rock was

once considered a threat to

society, Sensible and his

contemporaries are now part

of our national furniture. So

much so that he and The

Clash’s frontman, the late Joe

Strummer, were honoured by

spot-hire company Cotswold

Rail who named two Class

47 locomotives, 47810 and

47828 respectively, after the

punk pair.

When Cotswold Rail was

placed into liquidation, the

locomotives were acquired

by Direct Rail Services, the

freight arm of the Nuclear

Decommissioning Authority.

Given that The Clash’s

London Calling references

the Three Mile Island

accident, it’s doubtful that

the irony would have been

lost on Strummer.

Although both locomotives’

plates were removed and

sold at auction, Strummer’s

name lives on through a 3.8%

session ale, brewed by Shortts

Farm Brewery.

While the pair had locos

named after them, there are

some in the movement who

took their names from the

railway itself. In 1983 Joseph

Porter quit as drummer of

anarcho-Punk band The Mob

to form Blyth Power, a group

that has been described as ‘a

cross between Steeleye Span,

DAMNED DAM

tfield checks on his beer at Potbelly Brewery; The Clash’s Joe Strummer (top left) has had both a locomotive and a beer

structors, The Astronauts and Pennyless at The Met Lounge, Bridge Street on 24 September.

The Rubettes and The Clash.’

Porter’s band shares its name

with not one, but two Class

56s. The original, 56076, was

named in September 1982 to

mark the opening of Blyth

Power Station’s ‘Merry go

Round’ coal delivery system.

When the loco was reallocated

to Cardiff its nameplates were

transferred to 56134. Both

locos were later scrapped.

Although the band covers

aspects of English culture

such as cricket, village life

and railways, it is

Birmingham’s Eastfield,

named after the former

Glasgow Traction

Maintenance Depot, who

out-rail any of the acts

mentioned above. Formed in

1996 by guitarist Jessi Adams

and bassist Bambi – both

unashamed rail enthusiasts

who later helped their friend

Porter to record the Blyth

Power album The Bricklayer’s

Arms – Eastfield’s playful

three-chord thrash covers the

decline of the British rail

network, the introduction

of ‘plastic units’, train

companies with ridiculously

made-up names and the loss

of so many locos at Vic

Berry’s scrapyard.

In 2006, Kettering’s

Potbelly Brewery brewed

Eastfield IPA in honour of the

band. At 7%, and quite unlike

an IPA, it took me an hour to

drink a pint, which was one

more than most of the band.

As vegans, Jessi and then

drummer Oddo couldn’t drink

it, while co-singer Trina

Vodkapunk’s name sums up

her preferred tipple. Bambi,

on the other hand, had no

qualms about sampling

the ale.

Jessi has travelled the

length and breadth of the

country to pursue his interest,

while Sensible calls himself a

‘trainspotting Punk’, and

acknowledges, “there’s quite

a few of us.”

When asked why he thinks

this is, Jessi says, “In the

late 1970s a lot of youths

were into both music and

trains but as we got older

a bit of a power struggle

broke out with music often

winning hands down due to

its seemingly rebellious

nature. While the whole

sex, drugs and rock ’n’roll

thing can become tedious,

you can never tire of diesel

locomotives...they look,

sound and smell better than

any band ever could.”

MNED DIESELS

OOnn tthhee ((TTiimmee)) llaasshhA semi-regular visit to the pubs seen, however briefly, in Doctor Who.

The Dartmouth Castle,

26 Glenthorne Road,

Hammersmith, London

W6 0LS

020 8748 3614

www.thedartmouthcastle.co.uk

The plot

The beginning of the 1985

Doctor Who story Attack of

the Cybermen sees a group

of criminals, led by Maurice

Colbourne of Howard’s Way

fame, pull up outside the

pub to discuss robbing the

diamond merchant’s (in

reality the glass-fronted

UCI House) over the road.

Planning to raid the building

via the sewer, half of the gang

are killed while Colbourne

and Brian Glover’s

characters are captured by

the Cybermen. Forcing the

Doctor (Colin Baker) to take

them to the planet Telos,

the Doctor defeats the

Cybermen but not before

Colbourne and Brian

are killed.

The pub

Had the gang realised how

badly their day would turn

out, I’m sure they would

have sunk the first of many

pints in The Dartmouth

Castle. A single-room,

high

ceilinged

gastropub, it has the usual

bare wooden floors, tons of

blackboards and

board games but most

importantly, real ale. On

my visit, two of the three

handpumps were in

operation, serving Sharps

Doom Bar and Timothy

Taylor Landlord. At £4 per

pint, it’s a little steep for this

area of London but nowhere

as bad as the price of food.

With sandwiches starting at

£9, you’d want to rob a

diamond merchant’s before

dining here.

R E V I E W SA London Trilogy: The Films

of Saint Etienne

(DVD, BFI, BFIVD944)

Despite taking their name

from a French football club,

and coming from the Home

Counties, Saint Etienne’s

heart belongs to London.

Working with director

Paul Kelly, their three full

length collaborations, plus

five shorts, are united on

this DVD.

Finisterre (2003), which

takes its title from the album

of the same name, pays

homage to Geoffrey Fletcher’s

The London Nobody Knows

and features a narrative

by Michael Jayston and

comments from those

who have made the Capital

their own.

What Have You Done Today

Mervyn Day? (2005) tells the

history of the Lower Lea

Valley through the voices of

local residents, and David

Essex and Linda Robson who

play the grandfather and

mother, respectively of the

titular paperboy. Having

been a place of industrial

evolution during the 19th

century, followed by decline

during the 20th, many of the

residents are concerned about

the then forthcoming

Olympics which will change

the place forever.

This is Tomorrow (2007),

which was commissioned by

the Southbank Centre to mark

the restoration of the Royal

Festival Hall, combines

archive material with new

interviews to tell of its

history. People interviewed

include Jim Cadbury-Brown

and Jean Symons who were

part of the design team for the

Festival of Britain, and the

conceptual artist Jeremy

Deller. While the restoration

work introduced retail units

to the front of the building,

it’s reassuring to know that

only traditional equipment

was used to replicate the

Moro designed carpet.

Short films on the disc

include Seven Summers

(2012), which returns to the

Lea Valley on the eve of the

Olympics, and Monty the

Lamb (2004) showing a

day in the life of Hendon

FC’s Mascot.

Three shorts for Channel 4

about London’s disappearing

traditional cafés are also

included as extras and like all

BFI releases, the DVD comes

with a booklet of essays about

the films.

Unusual Railway Pubs

Refreshment Rooms and

Ale Trains

By Bob Barton, Halsgrove,

hardback, £16.99

Given Barton's fascination for

travel and real ale, it was only

a matter of time before he

wrote a book like this.

Split into two sections, the

first half tells of the history of

railway pubs and refreshment

rooms, from the inns that

found new use as waiting

rooms to the grand station

platform tearooms and the

birth of the buffet car.

Surprisingly, as these

facilities received

unsympathetic overhauls as

Travellers-Fare outlets in the

1970s, the newly formed

Campaign for Real Ale

persuaded British Rail to

replace the keg bitter with a

drop of the proper stuff.

One of the few benefits of

rail privatisation is the

increase of independently

owned station buffets and

this is where the second half

of the book comes in, with

Barton offering his opinion

of station pubs (and in some

cases stations no longer

attached to the rail network).

The York Tap, which has

seen a sympathetic makeover

of the former Great Eastern

Railway’s refreshment rooms,

is the furthest south Barton

goes on the East Coast Main

Line. Given that he visited the

Betjeman Arms at St Pancras

International, the Parcel Yard

next door at King’s Cross is

conspicuous by its absence.

So too is the Great Northern

Hotel here in Peterborough.

Still, if Barton’s planning a

second volume, I’ll be happy

to give him a guided tour of

our real ale hotspots.

LISTINGSCharter’s Bar, Town Bridge,

Peterborough PE1 1FP

01733 315700

September

01 - Paper Soap Street (3.30pm)

02 - Charters Unplugged (8pm)

06 - Be Bop A Lulas (10.30pm)

08 - The Nuggets (3.30pm)

11 - Pint of Poetry & A Dash

of Drama (8pm)

13 - Eddie Manson & The

Disciples (10.30pm)

15 - Pennyless (3.30pm)

19-22 - Anniversary Beer Fes

20 - Children of the Revolution

(10.30pm)

21 - Shake Hands Eric (10.30pm)

22 - Liz ‘n’ Joe (3.30pm)

27 - Groove Cartel (10.30pm)

29 - Grounded (3.30pm)

October

06 - Nick Corney & Guests (3.30pm)

07 - Charters Unplugged (8pm)

09 - Pint of Poetry (8pm)

11 - The Tom Wright Band (10.30pm)

13 - Agi Jarocka (3.30pm)

18 - Stone Pony (10.30pm)

20 - Isiah (3.30pm)

25 - Blackout UK (10.30pm)

27 - Adam ‘n’ Jane (3.30pm)

The Ostrich Inn, 17 North Street,

Peterborough PE1 2RA

01733 746370

September

06 - Glass Heart

07- Rocket Jump

13 - Code Red

14 - Psych-O-Bombs

20 - Sterling

21 - The Guards

27 - Malingerers

28 - Steeler

October

04 - Easyersaid

05 - The Kurmujen

11 - Beats Working

12 - Porky Pig

18 - Kickback

19 - Electric Warrior

25 - Les Woods Band

26 - Black Rosé 220

The Crown, 749 Lincoln Road,

Peterborough, PE1 3HD

0843 523 5181

September

06 - 2Acoustic

08 - Joe Solo

13 - Be Bop A Lulas

20 - Ian and Kat

27 - Zeb Rootz

October

04 - James Edmonds

11 - The Veltones

18 - Rock & Roll evening including

Johnny Cash Tribute

25 - Electric Warriors

The Prince of Wales Feathers,

38 Peterborough Road, Castor,

Peterborough PE5 7AL

01733 380222

September

07 - Mistreated

21 - The Claimed

28 - Comedy with Steve Best

& Guests

October

05 - The Band of Four

19 - The Claimed

The Palmerston Arms, 82 Oundle

Road, Peterborough PE2 9PA

01733 565865

September

04 - 02 - Drink& Draw

05 - Ukulele Night

12 - Ukulele Night

14 - Life Music (Kat & Ian)

19 - Ukulele Night

26 - Ukulele Night

27 - Vinyl Night

October

02 - Drink& Draw

03 - Ukulele Night

05 - Ramshackle Serenade

10 - Ukulele Night

17 - Ukulele Night

24 - Ukulele Night

25 - Vinyl Night

31 - Ukulele Night

The Swiss Cottage, 2 Grove St,

Peterborough PE2 9AG

01733 568734

September

07 - Riff Raff

14 - The Pulse

20 - Cutting Loose

21 - 101 Proof

27 - Control Band

28 - Rocket Dogs

October

04 - Children of the Revolution

05 - Jimmy & Pep (High Rollers)

The Woolpack, 29 North Street,

Stanground, Peterborough PE2 8HR

01733 753544

15 September - Shane Poole (4pm)

Whittlesey Festival @ The Market

Square, St Mary's Yard, St Mary's

Church & Quinns Bar.

15 September - Live music and

demonstrations from 11.00am-

5.00pm. Parade 10.30am. Classic cars

Bikes - stalls, exhibitions, sport and

activities, Baby Show and more.

Open Mics in September

10 - The Bull, Newborough

17 - The Boat Inn, Whittlesey

26 - The Cherry Tree, Oundle Road

27 - The Boat Inn, Whittlesey

All listings given in good faith,

Rhythm & Booze cannot be held

responsible for any discrepancy.

All events are listed free of charge, to

ensure inclusion in the November/

December issue, or have any other

news included in the magazine, please

email simonstabler@aol.com before 7

October 2013.

Rhythm & Booze, Issue 21 - Sept/Oct 2013. All written material, unless otherwise stated, © Simon Stabler

The Palmerston Arms82 Oundle Road, Peterborough

PE2 9PA Tel: 01733 565865

Vinyl Night(Last Friday of the month)

Bring your favourite record along.

Philosophy Night(Dates TBC via Facebook)

Share ideas about life's big questions in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.

Drink & Draw(First Wednesday of the Month)

Practice your drawing over a pint.

Ukulele Night(Every Thursday)

See our band and join in.

For more live music and events,please see our Facebook page

O p e n i n g T i m e s : Monday - Thursday 15.00 - 23.00

Friday and Saturday 12.00 - 00.00 Sunday 12.00 - 23.30

n Open all day, every day

n Up to four real ales available

n Food served Tuesday to Sunday

lunchtimes and Monday to

Saturday evenings

n Quiz on Sunday evenings with

cash prizes

The WoolpackNorth Street, Stanground,

Peterborough PE2 8JF

(01733) 753544

Stanground's Best Kept Secret- A 15 minute walk from the centre of town

LLiivvee MMuuss iicc 1155tthh SSeepptteemmbbeerr

SShhaannee PPooooll ee ((44ppmm))