I am Ashley Elsdon

someone who's doing some things

Category: History

I was rubbish at history at school but I these days I find it very interesting. There’s nothing wrong with looking back is there.

A tour of Spitalfields

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This is one of those ‘I’ve had this in my drafts folder for ages and meant to finish it’ posts. So I thought I would get it finished as it is kind of interesting and you may want to give this a go, and also because I actually went on this tour last summer.

I have worked around Spitalfields off and on for years. When you commute in and out of an area you think that you know a place, but actually you don’t. You have a surface knowledge of what’s there and really none of the history. At least that is the case with me. I always liked the area, or at least the bits of it I knew well and visited often.

So I went on this walking tour of Spitalfields. It was by a chap who calls himself ‘The Gentle Author’. I have to say that he knew more local history than I thought could be packed into a small area of London, and not just any history, but really interesting and compelling history and stories of real people who lived and worked around Spitalfields. It was fantastic. I can thoroughly recommend it.

You can find out more about the tour here, and if that catches your interest then it is well worth reading the blog too.

Museum of Human Rights, Winnipeg

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I didn’t have much time on my visit to this amazing building. But it was worth every minute I was there. I really enjoyed it a great deal. The architecture is amazing and very beautiful, as are the exhibits and everything about this place.

I’d love to go back, but my guess is that’s probably not very likely.

Soundhouses: The Radiophonic Workshop at 60

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I’ve been a fan of the Radiophonic workshop even before I knew who they were. Since I started watching Doctor Who. I could probably say that their music was a contributory factor to me being interested in electronic music. So whenever I can get to see them, be that a talk or a performance, I make the effort.

The best part of this evening was the talk. In fact it was the best part by far. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the performance, I did. I was just a lot more interested in their stories and hearing about how they did some of the amazing things back at the height of the workshop’s era.

The best part of the talk by far was the description of how the original Doctor Who theme was made. They had a multitrack version that showed all of the individual parts of the track and how they work together. Of course, Delia didn’t have anything like this when she made it. She had to splice individual notes for each and every track.

They had great stories too. Stuff about how they made things. How they solved problems and made incredible music in a totally analogue environment. It was awesome.

It was a pub, now what is it?

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IMG_0369

Such a shame really. Ok, it wasn’t the best pub in the world, but it was ok. It wasn’t terrible by any means. I had happy times there.

It makes me sad to see that there are so many pubs shutting down. It’s a bad sign. It says that communities aren’t finding places to be together anymore. That’s not good in any way.

Finding my first cassette recorder

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When I was about 11 or maybe 12 I really desperately wanted a tape recorder, and for Christmas I got one. It was a fergusson and it looked like this.

I found it again at a very weird museum a few weeks ago. It took me right back. I used to use it for recording myself and later on it was very handy for use with a ZX81 and then with a ZX Spectrum.

A place I really need to go to …

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This was an excellent recommendation, and one I think I might need to get to a few times. I’ve never been to the Musical Museum at Kew Bridge, and up until a few days ago, I’d never even heard of it! It sounds (pun intended) like somewhere I should be very well acquainted with, so my plan is to sort that out very soon.

When I have, expect pictures, over enthusiasm etc!

Remembering Shackleton and the Endurance

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Shackleton stamps
Shackleton stamps

I really enjoyed the dramatisation with Kenneth Brannagh some years ago. I think I’ve watched it a couple of times now and the story is one that I find quite inspiring. So it was nice to see these commemorative stamps. At some point I’d like to find out a bit more about him and his other expeditions. One day I’ll do that.