online

Suffolk native to speak at church tonight

Published 11:37pm Saturday, February 25, 2012

Editor’s Note: Each Sunday during Black History Month, the Suffolk News-Herald will feature an influential black person in the Suffolk community.

After what she termed her “meager” upbringing in Suffolk, Ella P. Ward has made history in Richmond as the longest-serving member of the Virginia Board of Education.

Ward

She was twice appointed to that board, which makes decisions for Virginia schools ranging from major policy decisions to “the color of the school buses,” she said. Gov. Mark Warner tapped her to serve on the board in January 2003, and Gov. Tim Kaine re-appointed her in January 2007.

She currently serves on City Council in Chesapeake and also formerly was on the School Board in that city.

But before she accomplished all this, she had to overcome challenges in her childhood, she said.

Ward will be the keynote speaker at St. Paul RZUA’s Black History Month program this afternoon at 4 p.m. The event, located at 619 Spruce St., is free and open to the public.

She was born in North Carolina, but because her parents had separated, she was raised by a single aunt in Suffolk. She was often distressed because she wanted to be with mother and siblings.

“My childhood was pretty stressed,” she said. “I buried myself in my books. I studied and studied and made straight A’s.”

It paid off — Ward was valedictorian of the 1964 graduating class of East Suffolk High School. She since has earned five college degrees — Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Norfolk State University, a Master of Science degree in educational administration from Old Dominion University, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies and a doctoral degree in educational administration and supervision from Virginia Tech.

“I accomplished a lot with the help of God, despite my meager background,” she said.

Now retired after 35 years in education, she taught English and journalism for 23 years at Wilson High School and was an assistant principal at Waters and Cradock middle schools for 12 years.

She then was elected to School Board in 2000 and 2004. In 2006, she ran for and won her Chesapeake City Council seat.

She also was able to influence education statewide through the Virginia Board of Education.

“Very rarely did anyone of my means get appointed to the state board of education,” she said. “Usually they are really extraordinarily rich or made large campaign contributions.”

Because of her childhood, she has always been interested in giving back to education, she said.

“I just believed from the time I was 6 years old that education was where I wanted to be,” she said. When she took promotions, she said, “It was always because I would have more influence on children.”

“Education can get you out of any situation,” she said. “It got me out. It was the books and learning that got me here. I’ve used my experienced to help kids and let them know they can get out of poverty, but the only way to get it out is through education and training.”

Ward does still volunteer in Suffolk as a member of the East Suffolk High School Alumni Association. She also owns a rental property here.

It’s a shameful thing not to recognise a growing hop when you see one, especially with beer being the national drink. It’s a bit like not linking a cow’s udder to a milk bottle. But so it was – row after row of sky-high crops trailing up supports attached to a webbed ceiling. “What on earth are those?” I embarrass myself by asking out loud. “Yup, hops,” says our farmer host sardonically, “smell like hydroponic marijuana in picking season.” Himself, he’s rearing chooks and supersized beetroot and breeding miniature Nguni/Dexter bulls.

Hop-picking season, when the buds on the heady creepers turn bright yellow, is around March and then it’s all hands to the ladder on behalf of the beer-making industry giant. Right now though, it’s coming down in buckets over the hapless crops – not just rain, but chunks of hail big enough to chill a gin-and-tonic. The micro-climate of the Montagu Pass, said to be so perfectly suited to hop growing, could be suffering the effects of world weather changes along with everywhere else. But the Montagu Pass isn’t like anywhere else; it’s a forgotten tract the rest of the country seems to have grown up around.

Our beetroot-and-bull breeder friend had given us clear directions: N2 to George. Up the main drag (York Street). Top of the road veer left round circle, straight over next circle, straight past Engen. This is the beginning of the Outeniqua Pass. Take second Montagu Pass turn-off. Womble up pass, soak in views. With all the other cars flashing past on the mighty modern (well, 1950-something) Outeniqua Pass, we cut a lone swathe off onto the low-walled serpentine track.

Completed in 1847 under the surveillance of, among others, Henry Fancourt (think golf destination) White, and by the sweat of 250 convicts with the force of a great deal of gun powder, it made contemporary waggoners’ passage through the impenetrable Outeniqua mountains to the interior a breeze. To compensate for its being upstaged by the later dual-carriageway version, in 1972 the Montagu Pass was made a national monument – too late to revive the spirit of the once pioneering bijou dorp of Herold, which sits in a dip some way towards the end of the 16km pass, waiting to be rediscovered.

On a gentle amble through the hamlet, where the traffic amounts to a small pack of sweaty cyclists who’ve toiled manfully up the pass from George, we come across some tempting if derelict renovator’s-dream packing sheds, the posting agency, local school, sporadic isolated farming communities, lowing cattle, couple of ostriches, a hopeful kerk and the Over the Mountain guest farm and tea garden. This last is made up of a clutch of restored historic buildings, including the old police station and gaol in the shade of vines and blossoming jacarandas. Tranquility or what?

Other relics of the pass’s heyday are the old toll house, where once it would have set you back two pence for each wheel of the vehicle you took through the gate and half a pence for a four-legged animal. There’s also the old Keur River Bridge and Amanda’s Grave, where Amanda’s husband proposed to her and where her ashes are now scattered. Although the original old stone wall still romantically embraces the winding gravel pass, there’s been a move to harness invading aliens and one local farmer is producing rather smart wattle fencing.

But back to the crop hopping. Refreshingly, in among all the old pass’s flanking fields of beer-to-be, is Herold Winery, recently taken over by Nico and Maureen Fourie from Limpopo. Six of the farm’s 16ha are under grape, generating a range of what they call Wines of the Outeniqua. At the foot of Cradock Peak, highest point of the mountain range, with a patio restaurant, cellar tours, grazing sheep, fynbos walks and a recently discovered bushman painting, it’s a nice little place to pause and sip – or stay and drink in the scenery and the history.

Getting there

From Cape Town, go on the N2 via George, up the Outeniqua Pass and turn right to Montagu Pass. From Oudtshoorn, come down the N12, into the N9 and take a right. What’s handy about Montagu Pass is that it’s equidistant between the Garden Route and Route 62 if you plan to do both in one trip.

Where to stay

Over The Mountain guest farm has both BB and self-catering facilities, from R550 a night for two. See www.overthemountain.co.za. Self-catering farm cottages at Herold Wines are R350 a night for two. See www.heroldwines.co.za.

What to do

This is hiking, biking, birding and chilling country. Check www.capenature.co.za for info on the Cradock Pass day trail. It’s also quad-biking land – check www.quadgardenroute.co.za for info on guided Montagu Pass quad adventures from R150 pp per half hour to R650 for three hours.

By George

When you’ve had your fill of mountain peaks and undulating passes, head for the hots pots of George, less than 20km away. See www.tourismgeorge.co.za.

PORTALES — A $4 cardboard display and a few slices of Styrofoam turned out to be a great investment for Machaon Shoemaker.

Shoemaker, a sixth-grader at Carlsbad’s P.R. Leyva Elementary, was one of many who turned their hypotheses into honors during the Southeastern New Mexico Regional Science and Engineering Fair, held Saturday in the Campus Union Ballroom at Eastern New Mexico University.

The fair is one of seven held throughout the state, with berths to the state fair available in 15 categories.

The 12-year-old Shoemaker, whose name frequently gets butchered due to its unusual spelling — it’s “muh-kay-on,” but announcers called him “may-shon” and he’s even got “mace-ee-on” before — claimed first place in the electrical and mechanical engineering category.

When asked about the experience, Machaon didn’t have much to say.

“He’s playing it cool, but I think he’s over the top,” said his father, Paul Shoemaker.

Ask him about his project, though, and Machaon opens up. He wondered what shape of wing gives an airplane the best lift. To test, Machaon created different shapes out of Styrofoam, then hooked them up individually to a wooden structure at a 29-degree angle — similar to that of a plane taking off. The structure kept the wings from moving horizontally but allowed for vertical lift when met with a simulated gust of wind.

“We had started with a fan, but it didn’t have enough power,” he said. “So then we went to a wind blower.”

Fair Director Ken Cradock said participants are judged on originality and enthusiasm, along with how well they apply their understanding of science to the project.

The first-place earned Machaon $100 and other prizes, in addition to one of the fair’s 40 slots for the state science fair to be held the last weekend of March at New Mexico Tech — coincidentally, where his father graduated from college.

Students can also earn their way to an international competition May 13-18 in Pittsburgh. The state fair sends four participants, Cradock said, while the regional sends two exhibitors and two observers.

“The observers do everything the participants do except show their project,” Cradock said, “the idea being to get all the interactions and see what it takes to get a project up to that standard.”

The competition is open to grades 6-12, but only half a dozen of the participants come from the high school (“senior”) division, Cradock said.

An informal walk-through of the 90-plus projects revealed no baking soda and vinegar volcanoes, but there were plenty of concepts explored, including:

• The “birthday paradox,” which states that a list of 366 random people has a 100 percent chance of at least two people having matching birthdays (not counting Leap Day) — and that it’s a 99 percent chance when the population drops to 57 and a 50 percent chance when it’s 23 people.

• How hip-hop music elevates the heart rate and classical music slows it.

• A fast way to cool a can of soda is to place it in the freezer, in a bowl of water and ice.

• A sound wave could slow a tsunami.

• First-graders have trouble distinguishing between candy and medicine.

The experiments may lead to quick financial awards, or to calendar-year trips, but Cradock said higher success can lead to higher rewards.

“You go on to internationals, we’re talking full-ride scholarships,” Cradock said. “These awards are $70,000, $80,000. You get contacts with future employers.”

The fair featured 24 competitors from Clovis schools — 11 receiving state berths — and no participants from Portales schools.

Published on Friday 24 February 2012 10:51

THIS weekend is when the town really gets rocking, with legendary guitarist Steve Cradock taking centre stage.

The former Ocean Colour Scene member and guitarist for Paul Weller is in Wigan for one night only on his acoustic tour at the Indiependence.

As quintessential as beans on toast and a parka jacket, Steve epitomizes British cool and is constantly regarded as one of the finest guitarists and songwriters in the land.

Steve said: “I have never played Wigan before, which is crazy as this place is the birth place of Northern Soul, although I did visit the precinct once with Russ Winstanley, who showed me the great pictures of the Wigan Casino and all the dancers.

“Russ used to DJ there back in the day.

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

Mike Vaughan, club promoter and DJ, said: “Getting names like Steve Cradock down to Indiependence is great for us.

“It is the type of thing that we are cracking on with, getting big-named acts down to the venue.

“We have got plenty more exciting things in the pipeline as well and 2012 is going to be a massive year for us.

“This is the first major gig in our new venue as well, so it will be exciting to see how in attendance reacts to the new layout, including Steve himself.”

Cradock’s stop-off at Wigan tonight (Friday) is the first high-profile gig to be hosted at Indiependence since its new premises opened.

The 16-date tour will allow the accomplished musician to showcase tracks from his two acclaimed solo albums, Peace City West and Kundalini Target.

Once his tour of intimate venues is complete, Steve will rejoin Paul Weller on stage for another round of dates.

Support tonight comes in the form of Danny Mahon, No Tokyo and Stolen Haven.

Doors open from 7pm and, after Steve’s performance, the club’s regular DJs will spin records well into the early hours.

Tickets are £11, and can be purchased from.seetickets.com.

More information can be found on Facebook.

• Email to a friend
• Print this page

Your view

Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.

Eastern New Mexico University in Portales will host the annual Southeastern New Mexico Regional Science Fair in the Campus Union Ballroom on Saturday.

The Science Fair is open to students from the 6th through the 12th grade.

Entries are being accepted for individual projects and team projects (Junior Division only). The entry fee is $12 per person for individual entries and each team member. Teams may consist of up to three members. A team project cannot be converted to an individual project or vice versa. Each team member should be fully involved in the project. Team projects should be more ambitious than individual projects.

Students can enter one of 17 categories: Animal Sciences, Behavioral and Social Sciences; Biochemistry (Senior Division only); Cellular and Molecular Biology; Chemistry; Computer Science; Earth and Planetary Science; Electrical and Mechanical Engineering; Materials and Bioengineering; Energy and Transportation; Environmental Management; Environmental Sciences; Mathematical Sciences; Medicine and Health Sciences; Microbiology; Physics and Astronomy; and Plant Sciences.

All category winners, and as many 2nd place projects as possible (preference given to senior projects and those in larger categories), will be invited to exhibit at the New Mexico Science Fair held annually at New Mexico Tech University in Socorro, N.M.

Those who enter the Senior Division (grades 9-12) will be eligible to win the trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, compliments of ENMU, held annually in a different city in the United States.

Some of the prizes include: $50 cash award for a student, a $100 cash award for a teacher, calculator, science book, camera, certificates, medallions, etc.

Judges are needed. They must be at least 21 and have some science or mathematics background. A bachelor’s degree or 5-plus years of experience are needed to judge the Senior Division.

The judging schedule begins at 8 a.m. with an orientation meeting and a morning session of judging exhibits. Before lunch, judges will interview the students at their exhibits, then a complimentary lunch will be provided. Judging duties will conclude around 2 p.m.

Sponsors are welcomed. Individuals and businesses may provide an award of their choosing for winners in any category, teachers or to their schools. Sponsors may choose a particular category (e.g. Junior Chemistry) or the finalists attending the International Science and Engineering Fair. Sponsors will receive recognition.

If donating cash, make the check payable to the ENMU Foundation and note on the check that it is for the Science Fair award and send to: Science Fair Office, ENMU-#18, Portales, NM 88130.

To volunteer or for more information, contact the Science Fair Secretary at 575-562-2309 or Ken Cradock at 575-562-2078.

The Science Fair web site is at www.enmu.edu/sciencefair.

 

 

GET there early and take your dancing shoes, The Simmertones are back at the Spinning Wheel in Paignton for what should be a memorable night on Thursday, February 23.

Apart from seeing the band in all their glory, there will also be a chance to snap up tickets for the ska boat trip down the Dart on March 30 which will feature The Simmertones plus a ‘ska au go go’ DJ set.

The boat trip was a sell-out last year.

This year has got off to a good start for the band.

With all the radio airplay they have been receiving, they have had to register their record label Windrush Recordings, which is named after the ship that brought over the first immigrants from Jamaica in the 1950s.

The Simmertones are also putting together new songs in preparation for a new EP or album that will feature more special guests to follow the appearance of Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Cradock on last year’s Everything’s Coming Up Ska EP.

Jade Wright meets the Modfather’s right hand man ahead of his Liverpool show

MOST musicians dream of selling millions of records, or starting their own hugely successful band, or even joining one of their idols in an arena-filling touring outfit.

Steve Cradock has done all three. He is familiar to most as the long-serving guitarist in Paul Weller’s band. He also founded Ocean Colour Scene, the nineties powerhouse that knocked Oasis’ Be Here Now off the number one spot.

This weekend he’s in Liverpool to play a solo gig at Eric’s.

“We always have a good time in Liverpool,” chuckles Steve, 42. “I think last time I was in town was supporting Beady Eye. Liam loves Liverpool. He had the Lennon suite at the Hard Day’s Night and he was in his element.”

When Steve plays his headline gig on Sunday, he’ll be making the most of the Cavern Quarter.

“I’m really looking forward to playing Eric’s,” he says. “I’ve got pictures of The Jam playing there. It’s a really iconic venue for the city, and I was honoured when they asked me to play.”

He’ll be performing a mixture of old and new songs. But with two bands and a solo career, how does he find the time to write?

“I did two months on tour with Paul (Weller) and I’d built up a bank of songs,” he explains.

“I played them to Andy Crofts (also in Weller’s band) while we were away and he really encouraged me to get it finished. He ended up helping me out with some of the lyrics too, which was great. He made me feel that I was ready to do another record.”

It was recorded over a fortnight at Deep Litter Studios in Devon.

“It’s quite a mellow record, which is probably a reflection of where it was recorded,” explains Steve. “It’s a barn on a farm in Devon. It’s very rural and it’s full of magical instruments.”

It’s a very personal record, notably Only Look Up When You’re Down.

“That was written for my mum because she hasn’t been well,” he explains. “But it can be taken in general terms as a way to look at life. I didn’t want it to be too maudlin.”

While My Scooter Sits Idle boasts one of Steve’s finest couplets to date (“My scooter sits idle/Just like my Gideons Bible”, while the barnstorming Last Days Of The Old World will delight long term fans. It also features a certain Mr Weller.

“I recorded that in three hours at Black Barn and Paul asked if he could play the bass. After that he did some backing vocals too, which was great, obviously. I wrote the chorus and Andy Crofts wrote the lyrics on the verse. It’s a rough mix but it’s got a good message.”

Born in Birmingham and raised on a teenage diet of The Who, the Small Faces and lashings of Jam, Steve’s first band The Boys were a ferocious power-pop outfit. His next band, Ocean Colour Scene (formed with ex-Fanatics singer Simon Fowler) reflected the new technicolour gestalt. Within a year they were at the vanguard of a second wave of bands, only for label wrangles to delay the release of their debut album.

Recruited by Paul Weller for his band in 1993, the guitarist’s infectious enthusiasm soon kick-started OCS back into life, and second album Moseley Shoals spawned four top 20 hits including karaoke perennial The Riverboat Song. Follow up Marchin’ Already cemented the band’s place at Britpop’s top table with an appearance at Oasis’ Knebworth gig.

Alternating between OCS and a role as The Modfather’s guitarist ever since, Steve only got round to making his solo debut, the splendid Kundalini Target, three years ago.

“It’s taken a while but I’m pleased with the results,” he smiles. “The best things come to those who wait.”

The Steve Craddock Band play Eric’s on Sunday February 26

‘);

tm.siteLife.daapi.getArticle(
“21-99623-30377540”,
function(article){
tm.siteLife.display.displayCommentCount(
article,
‘sitelife-commentsWidget-middle’,
false,
‘Comments’,
true,
false
);
}
);
})();//call anonymous function
//]]

The recent reprint of the Chronicle page featuring Fanny Cradock, brought back memories for Marilyn Barnfield, of Glenfield.

“I was at that demonstration with my husband-to-be,” Marilyn recalls. “What was not mentioned in the article was the fact that when Fanny Cradock was due to start, the sound system failed to work. I vividly remember the engineers rushing around the stage, attempting to solve the problem – initially without success.

“Fanny was obviously somewhat irritated and wanted to get on – so started her demonstration. What a powerful voice!

“She filled De Montfort Hall and people at the back of the balcony heard her words.

“Whatever your opinions of her as a cook, no-one could doubt the volume of sound she was able produce.

“Fortunately, the microphones were soon fixed and the programme proceeded normally.

“At the end of the show, samples of the dishes were distributed as tasters. Where we were sitting, our sample was a piece of a gateau jalousie which had been demonstrated earlier. Having tasted it there was a bit of a stage whisper from my fiance saying: ‘Well, that was a lot of fuss over a jam tart!’

“I think that summed tip the evening!”

A RANDOM meeting on a train has resulted in one of Britpop’s biggest songwriters scheduling an intimate concert in Plymouth.

Jon Fulton – who owns Plymouth hairdressing salon David David – bumped into Ocean Colour Scene’s frontman Steve Cradock earlier this month on a train from Plymouth to Paddington.

The 30-year-old from Oreston recognised the performer and chatted to him about his future bookings.

When Jon explained that he recently organised a sold-out ‘Northern Soul’ club night at Plymouth Guildhall, Steve expressed an interest in performing at a future date.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw him at first,” said Jon.

“He got on at Torquay and I immediately recognised him. He’s a legend and I went to say ‘hello’.

“We ended up talking for most of the journey and I asked him if he’d be interested in performing at the Guildhall.”

Ocean Colour Scene were a huge act in the 1990s, and were one of the founding members of the Britpop scene. They were famed for their hits ‘The Day We Caught The Train’, ‘The Riverboat Song’, ‘The Circle’ and ‘Hundred Mile High City’.

Steve Cradock will be appearing at Plymouth Guildhall on Saturday May 26. As well as the main man himself, Northern Soul DJs from London and Bournemouth will also be on the bill spinning an eclectic fusion of Mod, Indie and Northern Soul tunes. Tickets for the concert, which cost £15 each, are on sale from next Monday.

They will be available from David David and from John Brown Outfitters, both based in Mayflower Street.

Parliament wants Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s intervention team to resume its administration duties in the Eastern Cape education department, where it was forced by “general hostility” to abandon the drive.

The Mail Guardian has learnt that the select committee on education and recreation will spearhead efforts to have the team return to the province to carry out its duties in line with constitutional edicts of section 100 (1) (b), invoked early last year. The committee says it is necessary for the officials appointed by Motshekga to “take over” administration of the provincial department.

“Constitutionally, the national department has to take over administration of the provincial department,” the National Council of Provinces’ Eastern Cape representative, Zukiswa Rantho, told the MG this week. Rantho, an ANC MP, is a member of the select committee.

She told the committee last week that “the minister has been chased away from Eastern Cape … her team is no longer part of the intervention”.

Structures in the province will apparently accept only President Jacob Zuma’s task team, comprising five provincial MECs and five national ministers.

Rantho told the MG that the education minister’s team was rejected because of fears that provincial public servants would lose their jobs.

“They do not understand what the intervention is about. They think people will be taken out of offices,” she said. “The same is happening in Limpopo. People tend to resist it.”

The intervention did not extend to investigating officials but to sorting out administrative and financial problems, Rantho said.

Meetings facilitated by the minister were tense and “because of that misunderstanding, the minister decided to withdraw” her team.

CONTINUES BELOW

Recovering
Zuma and the province maintain that the education department is now recovering, but Rantho said national intervention must still be implemented.

“The [minister’s] intervention should carry on until the situation is stable and everyone is confident of the department’s administration and finances,” she said.

The select committee on education and recreation will visit the Eastern Cape next month. Part of its mandate will be to negotiate the return of national education department administrators, the MG has learnt.

Although the provincial education department had “made significant progress” in reinstating scholar transport and school nutrition services, Zukiswa Kota, an education researcher at the Public Service Accountability Monitor, said these were still not reaching every pupil.

“There are scholars who are still not able to get to school because of problems with transport in their areas. Late delivery of meals in schools is also the main challenge,” said Kota.

A preliminary report compiled by members of the provincial legislature reveals various problems hampering education in the Chris Hani district, the seat of which is Cradock. Legislature members visited schools throughout the province in the second week of January.

Zwelixolile, Gobinamba, Mtirara, Lavelilanga, Sovuka Sikhanye and eChibini secondary schools in the Chris Hani district still either had no scholar transport or had transport that did not ferry all qualifying scholars. Some scholars at Zwelixolile “have to walk long distances [and] there is a river crossing leading to the school with no bridge”, according to the report. “It is a dangerous crossing that has led to deaths of scholars.”

The MG understands that the national education department has requested that the provincial education department create a “conducive environment” for its officials when they resume their duties.

But the structures that opposed Motshekga’s intervention last year appear ready to oppose it again. The provincial Young Communist League is one of the groups that vocally opposed the intervention, labelling the leading administrator, Mathanzima Mweli, as the “self-proclaimed accounting officer” of the provincial department.

The league’s secretary, Mluleki Dlelanga, who is also employed as a parliamentary liaison officer by the Eastern Cape education department, said it remained opposed to a Motshekga-led intervention. He said it “would take us two steps back to a situation where there is confusion about who is superintendent general of the education department” and that the league would not “allow anyone that will destabilise the current [Zuma’s] intervention here”.

Ocean Colour Scene guitarist and sharp dresser Steve Cradock will be unspooling some of his Britpop hits in Hull, next week.

Steve, who splits his time between being Ocean Colour Scene’s mod-inspired musical director and Paul Weller’s right-hand man, will play The Piper Club, in Newland Avenue, Hull on Saturday, March 3.

1. ?

   Steve Cradock

2. ?

   CHORD SHARP: Steve Cradock.

Despite his commitments to OCS and Paul Weller (he’s performed on all of the Modfather’s solo records), Cradock has found time to record two solo albums of his own.

The latest, Peace City West, was released last year.

He’ll be playing tracks from both his solo offerings, plus a selection of his 1990s hits at the Piper.

“It’s quite a mellow record,” says Cradock of his new album.

“Which is probably a reflection of where it was recorded.

“It was in a barn on a farm at the southernmost point in Devon. It’s not air-conditioned, it’ svery rural and it’s full of magical instruments.”

Ocean Colour Scene achieved huge success in the 1990s, scoring two million-selling albums with Moseley Shoals and Marching Already.

Marching Already even knocked Oasis’s Be Here Now off the chart’s top spot. The Birmingham based outfit is still probably best-known for the songs The Day We Caught The Train and The Riverboat Song, which served as the theme tune to Chris Evans’s TFI Friday TV show, but the group have gone on to record a further six albums, including 2010’s Saturday.

Cradock’s acoustic band supported Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye on tour last year.

Where when: Piper Club, Newland Avenue, Hull, on Saturday, March 3. Entry £15. Call 01482 498931. Visit www.stevecradock.com

But he’s made another great album in Sonik Kicks, out next month, helped by a cast of friends and family including his children.

Noel Gallagher, Graham Coxon and Ocean Colour Scene’s Steve Cradock feature on the record.

Highlights are opener Green, When Your Garden’s Overgrown and single That Dangerous Age.

His children Mac and Leah both sing on the album closer Be Happy Children while little girl Jessie “accidentally” co-wrote a song called Dragonfly.

Paul said: “My youngest daughter Jessie had this poem she wrote for school.

“I just took the first line from each verse and built on them.

“She does get credited, yes!”

Paul’s month-old twins Bowie and John Paul will have to wait a bit longer to help out their dad.

Though with names like that the kids are bound to be up for it…

PORTSMOUTH — “Just the way that I saw her, like, you can’t even, like, I can’t get that picture out of my mind,” said Nona Watkins, fighting back tears.

Sunday, Watkins’ stepfather stepped outside their home on Allen Road in Cradock to bring her 2-year-old Blue Pit Bull, Storm, into the house. A few hours earlier, Watkins had left the dog in a fenced area, hooking a chain to Storm’s collar. The chain was not long enough to reach the fence, but somehow it managed to make it there that night. Watkins and animal control officers believe someone pushed or pulled on the chain link, clipping Storm’s chain to it.

“When I saw her hanging there, I was just like there’s no way. I broke down,” Watkins recalled. “I was mad. I had, like, all kind of emotions, like if you would lose a child. I was angry, you know. I wanted to know who did it. I wanted to hurt them right then.”

No one seemed to hear any unusual noise Sunday night when it happened. Storm would have died somewhere in the range of 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

Watkins and her family buried Storm just behind the fenced area where she died. Days after her death, a rose, left by Watkins, sticks out of the grave.

“There’s nothing will ever replace her, but she was definitely loved while she was here. She was a happy dog,” said Watkins. “I’ll just remember her in happy ways, you know.”

• Previous article
  Vigil planned for children who died from abuse
  

• Next article
  Parents arrested after one of twin girls dies
  

The Saw Doctors. Pic:- Ray Burmiston

By Kernan Andrews

The Saw Doctors are about to undertake their biggest tour of the USA and Canada to date, taking in 29 shows across 27 cities throughout February, March, and April.

On Tuesday February 21, The Docs will fly to Orlando in Florida to start the tour. The tour also marks the debut of the band’s new drummer, 21-year-old Rickie O’Neill from Claremorris, Co Mayo. He has taken over the drum stool from Eimhin Cradock who retired on New Year’s Eve after five years.

The six week tour was booked out by leading US agent Keith Naisbitt of the APA Agency in West Hollywood and features headline concerts by The Saw Doctors in Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, and Philadelphia, as well as debut performances for the band in North Carolina, Norfolk in Virginia, and Des Moines in Iowa.

The Docs will play two New York shows at Irving Plaza in Lower Manhattan on March 10 and 16. They will also play two dates in San Francisco at the Slims venue. For their Boston concert the will return to the 2,400 capacity House of Blues which they sold out last March. On St Patrick’s Day The Docs will play the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“It’s our most ambitious US tour,” says Doc’s vocalist Davy Carton. “I love playing such great American venues as the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and the Vic Theatre in Chicago.”

A highlight of the upcoming spring tour will be the US release of the band’s recent studio album, The Further Adventures of The Saw Doctors which will get a nationwide distribution via RED Distribution with a street date of Tuesday March 13.

Following their north American tour, The Docs will head to the Middle East in April for shows in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In August, they will headline the Cropredy Festival in England along with Richard Thompson and Joan Armatrading.

More Stories

Most Popular

• Draft of new Oranmore Local Area Plan to go on display
• Major €14 million initiative to develop seaweed as biofuel
• Labour opposes proposed Westside Tesco hypermarket
• Connemara chosen for EU’s Local Digital Economy project
• IFTA win for Galway TV company
• Grealish calls for change in Sports Capital Grant Procedures
• Man to serve extra month for keg theft
• Duo charged with taking car for dangerous joyride
• SF to hold public meeting on septic tank charge and turf cutting ban
• Site being sought for new Knocknacarra primary school
• Public lecture on Pádraic Ó Conaire
• Men charged with stealing valuable aluminium bike racks
• Adopting a gold standard
• Man pleads not guilty to threatening woman with knife
• Public meetings on opposing the household charge

• Popular celebrity beauty treatment now available at Therapie
• Leading Scandinavian natural hair colour now available in Ireland
• Forty five homes in Galway found with high levels of cancer-causing radon gas
• Football icon to be mourned by thousands
• Would-be college laptop thief gets four months
• Brid Ní Neachtain on belief and Doubt
• Galway to sign cultural agreement with Stirling
• Mini declared the cleanest brand in Ireland
• Brothel accused remanded in custody
• Brazilian carnival for Galway

An international foundation is planting its feet in Vancouver with plans to construct a six-foot-tall gardening wall.

The My Arms Wide Open Foundation, in collaboration with the Ray-Cam Community Centre, has proposed the idea of creating a pair of sister vertical food walls — half a world apart — to educate youth about collaboration.

The plan calls for one wall to be built in the town of Cradock in South Africa while its sister would be constructed in the Downtown Eastside.

The 40-foot-by-six-foot garden wall, consisting of more than 1,900 plants, would be harvested by local youth and yield twice as many vegetables and fruits as a normal plot of land.

The majority of food will be donated to Ray-Cam’s food bank.

The project’s price tag is estimated at $25,000 — $20,000 to construct the wall and another $5,000 to develop a curriculum for youth.

Warren Te Brugge, project creator, hopes the wall will be constructed by fall 2012 and continue to be maintained for the next decade. The project, however, is still $20,000 shy of its goal.

Te Brugge believes it is well worth the money.

“We want to enable communities,” he said. “(Kids) really have a vision for what the Downtown Eastside can be, and I think it’s pretty darn amazing — in kids as young as 14 (you can see it), but other people can’t. I really believe that they will change their community.”

IF YOU love old skool reggae and ska, the Junction on Mutley Plain is the place to be tonight, when the Simmertones roll up.

Last year was a great one for the band with many highlights. For starters they released their EP Every Thing’s Coming Up Ska featuring Ocean Colour Scene and Paul Weller guitarist Steve Cradock on three of the tracks.

1. ?

   Last year was a great one for the band

“In July last year, we held a launch party for the EP to a crowd of over 500 fans in a Torquay club,” says band member Del Anning. “Steve Cradock joined us on stage. It was a superb night.”

The EP was particularly well received by a couple of Radio 2 DJs, Alex Lesters and Gideon Coe, who both gave self-penned track Bring Your Lovin’ To Me an airing, while BBC 6’s Hughie Morgan and Steve Lamaqc also gave it a spin on their shows.

“Another highlight for us last year was working with the actor Phil Daniels,” continues Del. “Phil came to one of our gigs where we asked him if he would do a voiceover for a promo video for the EP.

“He agreed to help us but in return asked if we would record a song that he had written.

“This was very exciting for us when you think that the last song he featured on was Blur’s Parklife!”

This year has got off to a flying start with rehearsals throwing up new material for another EP of tunes which will hopefully see the light of day later this year, featuring some more special guests.

Meanwhile all the radio airplay they’ve been receiving means they have got to take themselves even more seriously.

Del says: “We have now had to officially register our own label which we’ve called Windrush Recordings.

“We named it after HMS Windrush that brought over the first immigrants from Jamaica in the 1950s. It was these folk, with a little help from Chris Blackwell, of Island Records, who first brought ska music to these shores.”

H e’s been the guitarist in Britpop band Ocean Colour Scene since he was a teenager and he’s also a mainstay of ‘modfather’ Paul Weller’s live band. Considering his reputation as one of the best guitar players of the past 20 years, it’s strange it’s taken Steve Cradock until recently to go it alone.

A true mod-revivalist, known for his retro guitar sound, the height of Steve’s fame came in the early 1990s when there was a second wave of mod-influenced music blending into the indie scene. In 1996 Ocean Colour Scene’s second album Moseley Shoals was a massive chart success and from it sprang the singles the band will always be best known for; The Riverboat Song and The Day We Caught The Train.

Now, almost two decades later, Steve still divides his time between playing for Paul Weller and for Ocean Colour Scene. But to add to his hectic schedule, he also released a solo album in 2009, with a follow-up last year, and he’s recently been supporting Liam Gallagher’s solo project Beady Eye.

Go! caught up with Steve, who counts Oasis’ Noel Gallagher and Mani from The Stone Roses among his best friends, on his way to play at the Brixton Academy.

How did you start out in the music business?

“I’d been in bands all through my teens but I started seriously with Ocean Colour Scene when I was 19. And a bit later on I met Weller at a recording studio and we got chatting there; he remembered me as a fan. So he gave us a few support gigs and that’s how Ocean Colour Scene started to get big. And he also asked me to join his band at the same time as second guitar player. So I’ve been playing in both bands ever since.”

Does that ever get confusing?

“I’ve been doing it for the last 18 years and it’s really confusing. I’ve got hundreds of songs going through my head at once. It’s like having a split personality.”

But your solo stuff is taking up most of your time at the moment?

“It is yeah, I’ve released a couple of albums and I’m halfway through another one. I’ve only been doing solo things since 2009 and I’m really enjoying it. I’m really enjoying songwriting, I’d never done that before. And singing! I have to sing all the time now.

“But I’m not a big fan of being the centre of attention on stage. I’ve never been that comfortable on stage anyway.”

And the tour that you’re bringing to Tunbridge Wells is with an acoustic band?

“It is an acoustic tour. As in I don’t play an electric guitar and we don’t have a drummer. And we sit on stools – does that define it as acoustic?”

You have a backing band with a revolving cast we hear?

“Yeah, I’ll be bringing with me my wife Sally, who plays keyboards – she’s my Yoko. And then I’ve got the guitar player from Ocean Colour Scene and another keyboard player who also plays with Paul Weller.

“So there’s the four of us on this tour but my albums have got guest performances from all sorts of people; Weller, Andy Crofts, James Buckley…”

James Buckley – seriously? The actor who plays Jay in The Inbetweeners?

“Yep. He came and played on a couple of tracks on my second album which we recorded in a studio that’s quite far out, in many ways. It’s in the far reaches of Devon and it’s on a farm there.

“Him and his girlfriend came down there for a week and just chilled out really. He used to be in a band before he was a TV star so he I think he likes to still tread the boards in that way.

“I don’t know what else I can say about him. He’s a good bloke. He’s a keen mod and you can tell just by looking at him. He’s not as funny in real life though!”

Who comes to see your solo gigs? Are there Weller fans and Ocean Colour Scene fans?

“I suppose so yes. But it’s very popular among mods. You get the fat old mods who’ve been going to gigs forever, no disrespect, but we’re also getting a young crowd as well.

“Mod culture was quite underground when I was growing up but it’s still going very strong. And once you’re a mod, you’re always a mod.”

You played with Ocean Colour Scene at the Hop Farm Festival last year but have you ever played at The Forum before?

“I think Ocean Colour Scene played there in about 1996. Have I got this right? Is it an old public toilet or something?

“In that case I remember it quite well actually. Once seen never forgotten. Oh yes, I have fond memories…”

Mawande Jack

Names of liberation struggle heroes such as Steve Biko, Mlungisi Griffiths Mxenge as well Xhosa kings will soon replace colonial, racist and offensive names of places in the Eastern Cape.

There are already proposals to rename East London Airport after the great Xhosa king Zanzolo (Hintsa) or Steve Biko, the black consciousness leader who died in detention.

The name change process is expected to start in the next two months when members of the provincial geographical names committee crisscross the province holding public hearings and gathering views from different communities on the proposed names.

Since the process started in 2003, the committee has received submissions on what towns like Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, Grahamstown, Alice, Cradock, Queenstown, East London, Port Alfred and Fort Beaufort, including their suburbs, should be called.

A shortlist has been presented and advertisements have been placed in local newspapers announcing forums for discussion during the hearings.

Geographical names committee member Mlawu Tyatyeka said the exercise was not merely about changing names but to “standardise them to their original names”. “We are trying to do away with imposing names that do not have relevance to the history of communities,” Tyatyeka said.

Some of the names communities have found offensive include Boesmanfontein, Boesmanriviermond, Kaffirskraal and Kaffiershoek, which designate small towns of marginalised Xhosa and coloured communities.

The process has not been smooth, however. There have been strong disagreements among communities about the proposed renaming of Grahamstown to Nxele, after the great Xhosa warrior who fought against the British.

Names like Port Elizabeth could change to Ibhayi, Uitenhage to Qhagqiwa, East London to Gompo and King Williamstown to Qonce, depending on whether consensus has been reached among the various stakeholders.

Tyatyeka said once the process had been completed, new names would be gazetted and declared official within a period of five years. He said dates and venues for the public hearings would be published soon.

mawandej@thenewage.co.za

Published on Wednesday 8 February 2012 12:11

Some quality acting talent was on display last week as Watergate Productions presented Marina Carr’s By the Bog of Cats, even if the at-times too complicated script let them down in places.

Michelle O’Flanagan will long be remembered for her passionate portrayal of lead role Hester Swane, and those in the more minor roles didn’t let her down either, from Mary Cradock as the bold and eccentric Mrs Kilbride, Colette Brown as the blind-but-seeing Catwoman and blood-dripping Fergal Miller as the Ghost of Joseph Swane.

And in Watergate Productions’ tradition of highlighting emerging talent, one of the true stars of the show was 12-year-old Rachel Leydon as Josie Kilbride. Well able to hold her own among the adult actors, she fearlessly delighted audiences with her vocal ability and her superb portrayal of Hester’s defiant yet caring daughter. She certainly is one to watch.

• Email to a friend
• Print this page

Your view

Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.

Long-serving guitarist to the Paul Weller, and former lead singer of Ocean Colour Scene Steve Craddock is to play Plymouth Guildhall as part of his upcoming UK tour.

Following on from his recent success with Northern Soul club night, ‘Souled Out’, club promoter Jonny Fulton has booked Steve Cradock to play an exciting set at the ‘Soul Rider’ club night on Saturday 26th

May 2012.

Also guaranteed to satisfy the musical cravings of eager mod and indie fans will be the bevy of renowned Northern Soul DJs spinning an eclectic fusion of Mod, Indie and Northern Soul tunes all night long.

Steve Cradock is widely regarded as one of the finest songwriters and guitarists of his generation. His achievements with Ocean Colour Scene and continuing global successes as Paul Weller’s guitarist have made

Cradock one of the modern day giants of British rock.

The Plymouth show will see Cradock fresh from his stint supporting Liam Gallagher and his band Beady Eye on their April tour dates.

Jonny Fulton said: “I have always loved and embraced the mod scene of the sixties, it’s become a way of life for me.

“I noticed that there was a glaring gap in the market which needed filling. The scooter rallies and meets

around the country which I am regularly part of always have an electric buzz about them unparalleled in clubs and pubs around the city

“The music is paramount to the success of a Northern Soul night; people come from far and wide to soak up the atmosphere and be part of something very raw and very real, it’s set to be a corker of a night and I’m

delighted that the people of my home town have elcomed it so warmly.”

Fulton met Cradock on a train from Plymouth to London in January. The two men got chatting over a few beers and instantly connected over a shared passion for great music and their dedication to the mod music scene.

Tickets go on sale on Monday February 20th 2012 and cost £15 each.