Sorted Magazine

Tag: Val Fraser

  • Comment: In the digital world, but not of it

    As the Sorted Magazine Team enthusiastically prepare to celebrate the one hundredth print edition, it has to be said that we’re also quietly excited about our growing online presence. Since Sorted Magazine’s Founder and CEO, Steve Legg, appointed me as the Digital Editor in 2022, I’ve watched with glowing pride as more and more new readers engage with us online. At the time of writing, the Sorted Magazine website attracts almost seven thousand visitors per month, with a current growth rate of 2.8%pcm. By my reckoning that’s potentially 84,000 visitors per year.

    Visitors to the Sorted Magazine website have increased significantly.

    The Sorted Magazine website is well populated with authoritative content and I’m particularly proud of our regular writers and columnists who work tirelessly to foster deep connections with our growing community of readers. We are in the world, but not of the world. We are not playing attention games, we are not a content farm publishing cheap outrage and culture wars, yet we do engage with contemporary culture in a measured, wholesome way. Our online readers can access exclusive writing from carefully selected thought leaders, guest writers, reviewers and dip into the occasional book extract. In addition to this, some of our regular print writers and columnists share bonus content, comment and opinion. Every now and then I jump on the bandwagon and add my own two penny worth.

    You’ll also find Motoring Editor, Tim Barnes Clay, reporting on his regular adventures behind the wheel, plus additional bonus shots of all those gorgeous cars! Tim is one of the best journalists in his field and though his obvious love for cars and driving shines through his flawless writing, you can absolutely rely on him to tell it like it is.

    Resident Sorted Film Critic, Andy Godfrey, reviews the latest movies. Readers can expect bonus content and interviews with stars such as Jonathan Roumie who plays Jesus in The Chosen series. If it’s on a screen somewhere Andy has seen it. His infectious enthusiasm for movies knows no bounds!

    In addition to the much loved Sorted menu of culture, sport, cars, health, gadgets and movies we are very grateful to J John who generously shares his deep spiritual insights with our online readers. For me personally, J John’s accessible and authentic style of writing is such a joy to read and publish. I find myself nodding enthusiastically when I digest his deeply honest wisdom, so often borne out of his own life experience.

    Join the growing community of readers at ewdpdev2.co.uk/

    If you find yourself becoming weary of the online world of click bait, shallow engagement, dopamine hacks and attention games, join the growing community of readers here at ewdpdev2.co.uk/ for a taste of something just a little bit different.

    All Photo Credits: Getty Images

  • Pam Rhodes: “I can just imagine God smiling …”

    There’s a very popular hymn which is sung with gusto in churches around the country at Christmas time. Perhaps you have sung it yourself, it begins like this:

    *Hark the herald angels sing,

    Glory to the newborn king:

    peace on earth and mercy mild,

    God and sinners reconciled!

    Much loved broadcaster and author Pam Rhodes, is the familiar face of BBC Television’s Songs of Praise, presenting programmes from tiny country churches to huge outside broadcasts with interviews ranging from Pope John Paul II to Dolly Parton. Here she unpacks the backstory of this hymn and adds her voice to the festive conversation.

    In the book Christmas Voices Pam writes: “You know that old saying, ‘If you want something done well, do it yourself’? Well this carol is proof that real perfection comes with teamwork. When the great Charles Wesley wrote this carol in 1739 the first line was, ‘Hark how all the welkin rings’. He knew ‘welkin’ meant the vaults of heaven but no one else did, so his ministry colleague George Whitefield tactfully changed that first line to ‘Hark! The herald angels sing.’

    Then, 40 years later when Tate and Brady brought out their new hymn-book, they decided that this carol would be even better with the addition of the chorus that we all now know and love. And Wesley had stipulated that this carol needed stately sombre music – with exactly the same determination as, a century later Mendelssohn insisted that the melody he wrote to mark the invention of the printing press should never be partnered with sacred words. So, both men would have turned in their graves to know that, 15 years after that, William Cummings, a young English organist, picked up those words and that melody, and created one of the most perfect and best-loved carols of all! Teamwork won through in the end – and I can just imagine God smiling at the blessing it’s given us all.”

    Photo credit: Val Fraser

    Christmas Voices is a sweet little advent book published by the Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF) with reflections by Claire Musters. Its tasteful burgundy red cover is reminiscent of a premium quality Christmas card adorned with golden holly, trumpets and a Christmas star. At 150 pages long, the compact size would fit nicely through the average letter box.

    * Words by Charles Wesley (1707-88), adapted by George Whitefield (1714-70); music by Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47), adapted by William Hayman Cummings (1831-1915).

    Main Photo Credit: Courtesy of Pam Rhodes

  • Review: Christmas Voices

    Christmas Voices is a sweet little book. Its tasteful burgundy red cover is reminiscent of a premium quality Christmas card adorned with golden holly, trumpets and a Christmas star. At 150 pages long, the compact size would fit nicely through the average letter box, making it the sort of cheerful gift I would post out to a friend along with a personalised note.

    Christmas Voices is ideal for those who enjoy pausing to reflect for a few minutes each day in the run up to Christmas Day or over their Christmas break. To that end the book is divided up into 25 daily readings which include some of the more traditional elements of Christmas such as bible readings, festive carols, poems and prayers. Each day includes a short reflection sensitively written by author, and host of the Woman Alive Book Club, Claire Musters. Claire’s writing is born out of life experience, it is thoughtful, helpful but never heavy. I can relate to every word she writes on Day 12! She says this:

    “It can be difficult to think about joy when we are going through testing times. I have wrestled with God about this myself and am now convinced there is a joy that surpasses our earthly circumstances that God wants us to experience. One of the ways that we tap into it is through honest conversation with him.

    In my own struggles I have often turned to the psalms, particularly those written by David. His writing, like the story of Hannah, seems to give us permission to be honest. David is up front about his emotions, his circumstances and his questions, but also speaks to his soul and acknowledges the sovereignty of God. He often turns to worship even in the midst of lament, which is something I have learned to do.

    So much in our world has been shaken in recent years and for those of us who have lived in relative safety and prosperity, it has been a shock. In this psalm (30:5-8,11-12), David reflects on how invincible he had felt when everything was going well, it is all too easy to forget to rely on God when all seems to be ticking along fine. Pain reminds us to cry out to him.

    David faced a range of highs and lows in his life – a successful king, he also had moments when he had to run for his life and when he endured God’s judgement. So his line ‘Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning’ seems to hold a wider, eternal perspective.”

    Published by the Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF) Christmas Voices is a warm and friendly book with additional insights and comments from 40 contributors from diverse backgrounds. Its clear, user-friendly structure makes it easy to dip in and out off between the hustle and bustle of the festive season.

    Main Photo Credit: Val Fraser

  • Review: “Gant’s writing flows with an easy, effortless charm”

    Book review: Deck the Hall by Andrew Gant

    “What’s the difference between an organist and a terrorist?”

    “You can negotiate with a terrorist!”

    It’s an old joke for sure, but it never fails to raise a chuckle! If you’re wondering how to melt the hard-working heart of your steely church organist this Christmas Deck the Hall by Andrew Gant is sure to have them drooling over every musical tale and factoid. This book would make a delightful gift for anyone who enjoys traditional church music and those who have a serious interest in the social history behind our favourite Christmas carols.

    Notable composer and conductor, Andrew Gant, teaches music at St Peter’s College, Oxford and has directed many leading choirs, include those of the Guards’ Chapel, Selwyn College, Cambridge and Her (now His) Majesty’s Chapel Royal based at St James’s Palace in London, where he led the choir at many state events. Gant’s friendly, rhythmic writing flows with an easy, effortless charm yet his voice never misses a beat and remains firmly confident and authoritative. These stories, which do gallop along at a fair old pace, are underpinned by Gant’s serious research and sound professional knowledge. For the serious reader looking for something significant to get their teeth into, it’s a very pleasing, well structured, composition.

    The meaty hard back book is beautifully bound and, at well over 300 pages long, is not for the faint-hearted. Gant shares tales and anecdotes behind twenty-seven carols from a variety of traditions and places of origin. Chapter Six is dedicated to that much loved carol In the Bleak Midwinter. Gant writes: “One of our most hallowed Christmas traditions, alongside mince pies and a sherry at Auntie’s, is the annual competition to find our favourite carol. Magazines and broadcasters regularly run a festive countdown, voted on by readers or listeners, or by a panel of experts who probably give the exercise more or less attention depending on whether or not they’re being paid. Results vary depending on what’s included: congregational items only, or choir carols as well? Folk songs, or newly composed pieces? Sacred or secular? What about a wassail? Noddy Holder as a write-in? And how about Jingle Bells?

    “There are trends and consistencies in the results. Top of the list of favourite English carols is often O Holy Night, which isn’t remotely English but French to its Gauloise-blushed fingertips (even the English translation hails from America, not England; the words are an un-English mixture of Catholicism and Unitarianism; and it’s an aria, not a choral piece). More of that in a later chapter.

    “A Top Thirty in the November 2022 edition of the UK’s Classical Music magazine described its chosen winner as ‘nigh on perfect’. Viewers of BBC TV’s Songs of Praise at Christmas 2020 put the same song a respectable third. A 2008 poll of leading choral directors placed it first. Broadcaster Classic FM gave this carol unique honours in 2018 ranking it third and sixth.”

    Deck the Hall is published by Hodder & Stoughton.

    Main Photo Credit: Brett Wharton via Unsplash

  • That old chestnut? Take the conker quiz!

    Take the Conker Quiz! Are these statements true or false?

    1. Pig poo is the best place to find your winning conker.

    True: The great conker player, Charlie Bray, used to swear he had hardened his conkers by passing them through the belly of a pig. They were pickled in the pig’s stomach juices before popping out the other end. Cunning conkerers know that the toughest nut wins!

    2: Kids must wear goggles to play conkers.

    False: In September 2007 the Health and Safety Executive stated: “This is one of the oldest chestnuts around, a truly classic myth. A well-meaning head teacher decided children should wear safety goggles to play conkers. Subsequently some schools appear to have banned conkers on ‘health & safety’ grounds or made children wear goggles, or even padded gloves! Realistically the risk from playing conkers is incredibly low and just not worth bothering about. If kids deliberately hit each other over the head with conkers, that’s a discipline issue, not health and safety.”

    3: If you can’t find a shoelace and a conker, a crane and a caravan are perfectly reasonable alternatives.

    True: In 2008 BBC2 Top Gear presenters Richard Hammond and James Mays staged a mild ‘elf and safety gorn maad’ type of protest. They played a massive game of conkers using cranes and swinging caravans wearing, you guessed it, goggles. The Youtube video, Caravan Conkers, has generated 3.2M views.

    4: Sir Michael Palin is a conker champion.

    False: The English actor, writer and television presenter of Monty Python fame, was disqualified from the 1993 Isle of Wight Conker Championships for baking his conker and soaking it in vinegar. The first recorded game of conkers is believed to have taken place in the Isle of Wight in 1848.

    5: Eleven and three quarters is the ideal age to play conkers.

    False: This myth is linked to school boy conker hero, William Brown, of ‘Just William’ fame. In 2017 85-year-old Chelsea Pensioner, John Riley, proved that playing conkers can be enjoyed at any age when he utterly thrashed the competition and won the Men’s World Championship.

    6: ‘Conker’ is the name of a red squirrel with a cult following.

    True: ‘Conker’ starred in the graphic adult oriented 2001 Nintendo 64 computer game ‘Conker’s Bad Fur Day’.

    7: In 1803 the poet, Lord, Byron, was waiting for his betrothed in the church yard when he was inspired by an enormous conker lying among the autumn leaves. He penned the poem below, which later became a personal favourite of his friend the Earl of Bridgewater. The young Earl had the words engraved into an elaborate stone tablet located among the Horse Chestnut trees just inside the main gates of his Estate.

    “Under the chestnut tree, there waits for me, a sight so marv’llous to behold

    Amidst the Autumn leaves it gleams at me, a conker beautiful and bold.”

    False: Totally false, I made it up, but you were almost ready to believe me, right? These are the lyrics of a children’s song written by Mark and Helen Johnson, published and produced by Out of the Ark Music for Primary School Harvest and Autumn Assemblies.

    8: To go first at Conkers you must bow, then take off your hat, balance on one leg and shout out: “Hail the Chestnut Tree! Grant me victory!”

    False: Absolutely false, but I had a lot fun making this one up too! Regional rules and verbal declarations vary but the traditional (not World Championship) rules state that “a conker is more likely to survive if it is the striker not the stricken. Secure the first strike by calling out “first” or other traditional terms such as “hobily, hobily nonker, my first conker!”

    9: Anglers launched the World Conker Championship.

    True: The World Conker Championships began in Ashton in 1965 when a group of villagers unable to go on an organised fishing trip decided to play conkers instead.

    10: The location of some conker trees is a closely guarded secret.

    True: To keep the competition as fair as possible, the Ashton Conker Club (World Conker Championship organisers) collect over 1,000 conkers from horse chestnut trees in the village and from secret locations. During years when local supplies are low they import conkers from elsewhere.

    11: No one cheats when playing Conkers.

    False: In friendly competitions getting away with cheating appears to be an integral part of the fun! Artificial hardening techniques are even passed down through the generations. Famous cheats include: Stuffing your conker up the chimney to dry it out, baking it in an oven, leaving it on a radiator or in a pocket. Other traditional cheats include pickling in bat urine, vinegar, salt water, soda or paraffin, painting with varnish, injecting with superglue, filler or resin or leaving in the dark for a year. The Ashton Conker Club (World Conker Championship organisers) supplies all conkers for the World Championships in order to rule out any cheating!

    Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Geoff Sutcliffe, Ashton Conker Club and the World Conker Championships.

  • How to play conkers!

    Why go bonkers for conkers? What’s it all about? A conker is the fruit of the Horse Chestnut Tree. It’s a glossy brown nut about the size of a small tomato. The conker develops in a prickly case, ripens in September and October and falls to the ground. Conkers is a traditional game involving knuckles and nuts; the conker is threaded onto a shoe lace and swung hard, with the aim of thwacking and smashing your opponent’s conker. For generations it’s been a sound which quickens the heart of the young, and the young at heart.

    How to play conkers

    Ditch the comfy chairs, touch screens, buttons, controllers and fantasy worlds. Exit the super safe, centrally heated, untouchable, two dimensional, temperate world of gaming and virtual reality. The night’s may be drawing in but it’s time to kick off your slippers, slide off the sofa, log off the laptop, go out on a limb and experience the risky cut and thrust of actual reality. It’s elementree. All you need is a shoelace and a few nuts. You also need conkers. Cast iron knuckles and nerves of steel are optional. May the forest be with you.

    In a nutshell: The traditional (not World Championship) rules (courtesy of Ashton Conker Club at worldconkerchampionships.com).

    • Make a hole with a drill or a skewer exactly through the middle of the conker (adults only, and even then, take care!)

    • Use a strong piece of string or boot lace long enough to be wound twice round the hand with at least eight inches length after tightly knotting at the bottom.

    • A conker is more likely to survive if it is the striker not the stricken. Secure first strike by calling out ‘first’ or other traditional terms such as ‘my firsy’, ‘firsy jabs’, ‘first swipe, ‘first donks’, ‘first hitsy’, ‘bagise first cracks, ‘iddley, iddley, ack, my first smack’ or ‘hobily, hobily honker, my first conker’.

    • The other contestant holds his conker still, at whatever height best suits his opponent, while he attempts to strike it using a swinging downward movement.

    • If he hits it the other player has his turn. If he misses he may be allowed two more tries, If the strings tangle whoever is the first to shout ‘strings’, ‘clinks’, ‘clinch’, ‘plugs’, ‘tangles’ or ‘twitters’ has an extra shot. Some play for strings to get extra shots but it is considered bad form!

    • The victorious conker adds to its score all the winnings of the other conker plus one so a ‘tenner’ which beats a ‘fiver’ becomes a ‘sixteener’.

    This Autumn thousands of ‘conkerers’ invaded the English village of Southwick to experience the World Conker Championships. Conker enthusiasts from across the globe competed in the event, which has so far raised £420,000 for charities which support the visually impaired.

    For more information about playing conkers visit World Conker Championships

    Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Geoff Sutcliffe, Ashton Conker Club and the World Conker Championships.

  • Opinion: Should real crimes be dramatized?

    The Long Shadow drama series tells the story of the five-year manhunt for the serial-killer who was known as the Yorkshire Ripper. It boasts a familiar line up of high-calibre talent. Toby Jones, Lee Ingleby, David Morrissey, Katherine Kelly, Daniel Mays, Jasmine Lee-Jones and Jill Halfpenny all deliver quite remarkable performances. There are seven one hour episodes in total, each one more compelling and gripping than the last.

    While The Long Shadow has generated a bit of grumbling among some of us northern-based media peeps, there has also been much praise for it. Writing and producing a drama, which is based on an unprecedented true story of this magnitude, is such a sensitive exercise that some here in the north may have viewed the idea as a “poisoned chalice”. Leeds and Manchester are cities with thriving media industries and yet The Long Shadow was primarily powered by the south. Were questions raised about whether the north was just too close to the subject and unable to deliver a fresh perspective?

    The Long Shadow is a drama which is based on a true story; actual crimes which actually happened; and the worst kind at that. The creators attempt to help us get our heads around that potential paradox by issuing a fairly direct statement at the start each episode. But, like a home-made no parking sign swallowed up by a ten foot hedge, if you blinked, emotionally or literally, you might just miss it. In fairness, it clearly states that some characters and scenes have been created for the purposes of dramatisation.

    But the story of the Yorkshire Ripper is so badly burned into the British psyche, that the dramatisation aspect of it cannot be emphasised strongly enough. Some of us may need reminding that we’re watching a drama, not evidence for use in courtroom proceedings, not a factual documentary or a journalistic account of events. A drama. The creators have fabricated some fictional characters and scenes, they’ve been made up, they’ve said as much, right from the off. The sensible viewer must keep this fabrication in mind. The literalists who roll their eyes and protest that “ah yes, but such-and-such a thing never actually happened” have missed the opening statement and possibly the entire point of television drama.

    Photo credit: Sam McGhee via Unsplash

    Should true crime stories be dramatised for public consumption?

    This is a tough ethical question. Rembrandt’s famous oil painting The Return of the Prodigal Son is one artist’s interpretation of a fictional story, made up by no less than *Jesus himself. Much commentary has been made regarding the authenticity of Rembrandt’s scene. Characters have been included which were not mentioned by Jesus. Rembrandt’s art is not a photograph of reality, it’s his interpretation and representation of a powerful story. In a similar way, it seems reasonable to me, that television dramas might transcend the precise literal truth of events, while taking great care not to sensationalize the facts.

    Drama invites the viewer to step outside of time and place. Viewing confirms acceptance of that invitation. By continuing to watch, the viewer passes through a sort of portal where there are risks. We risk expanding our horizons, we risk stepping outside of known narratives, comfort zones, mindsets, prevailing cultures, attitudes and agonies. Like the hundreds of people who line up to witness The Return of the Prodigal Son at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, we risk stepping right into the flawed human representation of a powerful story. To engage with creative works of art is to risk changing and expanding our views about the known and the unknown.

    For a story as horrendous as The Long Shadow, is that transcendence of literal reality, much more than creative license? Is it essential to the telling of the story? In a case such as this, if we were to demand the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth would we have to witness the re-enactments of terrible crimes which really happened? Acts so evil, so cruel, that some hearts may not be able to recover from the witnessing of them, and that can’t be right can it?

    While watching The Long Shadow I was struck just as much by those parts of the story which were left out, as by those which were left in. I limit my viewing of crime dramas, mainly because of gory murder scenes and compulsory conversations around post mortem examinations. As a visual thinker, these scenes are packed with high-impact, high-res images which can soak up too much precious data capacity. Some scenes in The Long Shadow gave me shudders. The creators cleverly capitalize on the true-story-terror and convey a chilling sense of foreboding without depicting any violence and without the shedding of a single drop of blood on screen. The killer himself is not the centre of the story, he’s not glamorised as with some true crime dramas, in fact he barely makes an appearance, and I’m fine with that.

    Photo credit: Al Elmes via Unsplash

    Some of the filming of The Long Shadow took place in and around a home belonging to a friend of a friend; a real bricks and mortar house which I have actually visited. This added a strange dimension for me personally, bringing a surreal grounding effect to some episodes. Trendy homes back then were about a million miles away from the open plan, grey-beige minimalism of today. The bizarre fashions, the contrived hairstyles, the Deidre spectacles, the wacky wallpaper, they all shout of an uneasy time of turmoil and uprising. The Long Shadow highlights the shocking practices of an era where societal attitudes towards women were even more outrageous than the zany trends of the day. Blatant misogyny abounded. The intensity of these prevailing attitudes are sensitively conveyed by David Morrissey as DCS George Oldfield, the police officer who led the manhunt, a determined but thoroughly misguided individual.

    The women in this story weren’t heard, believed or valued. It’s the kind of relatable, conflicted viewing that can make you nod in recognition at the telly, whilst wanting to throw an ugly vase at the screen in protest. Somehow we are spared the most obvious details, at the same time as being smacked square between the eyes with the relentless horror of those five years. I am grateful for the careful omissions, at the same time as being desperately, desperately sad for all those who died, lived, and continue to live with the impact of those crimes.

    The Long Shadow highlights a disturbing time in history, a shameful period where many women were badly let down. Many consider it to be a critical turning point regarding women’s rights and women’s voices. My prayers have to be with all those women associated with this story, their families and all the people who love them. The Long Shadow is a modern day work of creative art, as powerful and compelling as any Rembrandt, and as such I hope that the sensitive delivery of it might bring some measure of peace to those who need it most. All in all, it’s very clever telly, and this northerner must doff her metaphorical flat cap and give the creators credit, where credit is indeed due.

    The Long Shadow is available on ITV1 and ITVX from 25th September 2023.

    *The story of the Prodigal Son is recorded in Luke 15:11-32.

    Main Photo Credit: Courtesy of Daniel Mays via Twitter/X

  • Faith: “nothing short of miraculous”

    International Christian Development Agency The Leprosy Mission has set up eleven Hubs of Hope in Cabo Delgado, the most northern province of Mozambique. The residents have lived amid escalating violence since 2017. More than 4,000 people have been killed. The United Nations states that almost a million people have been forced to flee their homes.

    The Hubs have been built as a result of the Unconditional Campaign in 2021, which was awarded UK Aid Match funding. This meant every pound donated was matched by the UK government. The appeal raised £4.4 million, including £2 million from the UK government.

    The Hubs of Hope are often the only place in a village with electricity and an internet connection. People once banished from their communities because of leprosy are welcomed in the hubs. Members of the community have been trained as Leprosy Changemakers. As a result more than 1,300 people have been cured of leprosy since the project began. This has happened because 43 government health workers have received leprosy training. Leprosy Changemakers refer people to these vital health workers. The training ensures no leprosy case is misdiagnosed or missed through ignorance.

    Chief Executive of The Leprosy Mission England and Wales, Peter Waddup, said: “I am incredibly thankful to our amazing supporters for changing the lives of tens of thousands of people in Northern Mozambique for the better. And we are only halfway through the roll-out of this incredible project!

    “I am also in awe of my tenacious and selfless colleagues in Mozambique. The fact that this project has been able to go ahead, let alone be so successful, in such circumstances is nothing short of miraculous. Not only have they risked their own lives by working in areas of violent attacks, but they have also sacrificed their own family time. Since the project began, many staff families have left Cabo Delgado for safety as the insurgents moved south towards Pemba. Yet Leprosy Mission teams have remained resolute and steadfast. Their bravery and sacrifice have provided a lifeline to people who have been through unspeakable trauma. I am so thankful for and inspired by the hope radiating from these special Hubs seven days a week.”

    Main Photo Credit: Ricardo Franco

  • Bank of Dave: Standing between the powerful and the powerless

    Bank of Dave: Standing between the powerful and the powerless

    The tiny Gardeners’ Cottage boasted a very comfortable king size bed, a massive walk in shower and generous home made scones with lashings of jam and cream. However, the TV in the corner of the lounge, was about the size of a postage stamp. This crushing disappointment was nicely off set by the discovery that access to Netflix was included in the cost of the accommodation. Twenty minutes of head scratching and a fairly intense scrolling session followed.

    Given an unlimited choice, selecting a film can be a lengthy random exercise. Have we heard of it? Have we heard of anybody in it? How many stars does it have? How many people have rated it? What rating did it get? And an important but heavily biased question, is it British? And of course the ruthless fifteen minute rule applies. With very few exceptions, if we don’t get drawn into the plot line within the first fifteen minutes the selection process reluctantly restarts.

    When I watch a film I want to like the characters. I want to care about the characters and what happens to them. If possible, I want to relate to the characters. I want them to be real and convincing. These requirements can sometimes limit my ability to sit all the way through to the end of a film. After all, why would I spend my Friday evening with folks I don’t even like? These lengthy deliberations finally resulted in a unanimous decision to settle down with the heart warming British comedy Bank of Dave.

    Bank of Dave is based on the true story of Dave Fishwick, a businessman who takes on London’s elite bankers. Full disclosure: Bank of Dave is set in the northern town of Burnley. I’m familiar with this part of the world and visit there frequently as some of my nearest and dearest live there. With my northern bias fully ramped up, and my interest piqued, I was raring to go and open to liking the characters in Bank of Dave from the very beginning. In fact, I liked nearly all the characters, plus extra bonus points, I cared about what happened to them too.

    Hugh Bonneville pulled off the role of the deliciously detestable villain, Sir Charles, in perhaps his poshest part ever.

    It took me about three seconds to get used to seeing Rory Kinnear playing the northerner Dave Fishwick, but I was soon rooting for him all the way. Was I rooting for him because I too am a northerner? Maybe a little bit, but mostly I was rooting for his character because he’s the archetypal good guy in the archetypal battle between good and evil. He’s a modern day Robin Hood, a David taking shots at Goliath. He’s a working class bloke taking on the London establishment, and northerners are always up for watching that kind of sport especially if there’s the faintest chance we might actually win.

    It was fun trying to spot familiar places in Burnley, even though I understand that much of the filming actually took place in Leeds and Bradford. Hey ho. The friendliness and warmth of the north was portrayed to my complete satisfaction. I was also drawn into another satisfying sub-plot. Two of the supporting characters engage in a gentle will-they-won’t-they romance story. This is a welcome non-banking related distraction which trundles along at a pleasing pace throughout the movie.

    Bank of Dave is an easy watch. It highlights that much lamented north south divide, the need for outlaws who will stand between the powerful and the powerless, while reminding us that greed is bad and kindness and generosity are good. You can’t really argue with that can you?

    Bank of Dave is available on Netflix and DVD.

    All Photo Credits: Courtesy of hughbonneville.uk

  • Faith: A legacy lives on

    Faith: A legacy lives on

    A charitable trust which broadcasts the audio sermons of the late Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones recently celebrated almost 20 million hits online.

    Tim Keller, who died earlier this year, said: “Dr Lloyd-Jones’ preaching was based on deep reading and scholarship, yet it was accessible to everyone. It was close, instructive Bible exposition, yet it stirred the affections and changed the heart.”

    Greg Jones, President of the Martyn Lloyd-Jones Trust said: “Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones was used mightily by God during his ministry and his recorded sermons are treasures for the church today. Many believers are unaware of the continued existence of these sermons. Our goal is to keep sharing them as widely as possible so that more people from across the world can hear the life-changing message of the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ via Dr Lloyd-Jones’ sermons.”

    Born in Cardiff, many believe he is one of the most influential preachers of the 20th century. He was touted to be the next King’s physician, but rather he felt called to be a ‘physician of the soul’ and worked as the pastor of Westminster Chapel from 1939-1968 after ministering at Port Talbot for over a decade.

    Alistair Begg, Senior Pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, said: “Dr Lloyd-Jones was riveting to listen to, he didn’t carry people with the force of his personality, but with the force of his conviction. He was the embodiment of the belief that there was no greater privilege than to serve God, and that there was no ideal place to serve God, except the place he set you down. He was very clever, but his intellect did not intrude upon his preaching, his humility was the key to his sense of authority.”

    The sermons are available free via the Trust’s website, app and YouTube channel.

    Main Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Martyn Lloyd-Trust