Tour of Britain in Brighton and Lewes

'I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like' Queen
 
Cycling has always been an interest of mine, so I was delighted to learn that the Tour of Britain was coming to my two favourite places: Brighton and Lewes.

Studying the predicted race times and the railway timetable, it seemed just about possible for me to see the race in both places.

So, on my own for the weekend for once (my girlfriend Laura had to work), I went to Lewes on the train - and checked out the celebrations.

It was great to see Lewes all decked out to welcome the cyclists. The old Harveys depot, next to the station car park, I have never seen in use before (over the past dozen years). It is generally a great, gated empty building and large yard without any activity going on whatsoever. So, it was a joy to see it in full swing - turned over to the religion of cycling.

The chap at the entrance did not want any money from me. He simply needed to know how I had travelled there.

The answer was cycling from my flat in Hove to Brighton Station, taking the train to Lewes and walking the short distance to his portal. To keep it simple, I said: "cycling", which seemed to please him a great deal.

Inside was a chaotic combination of cycling and sustainability stores, kids cycling round in circles, burgers grilling, an energetic lady taking an exercise bike fitness session, and the race live on a big screen in the old Depot (with a lot of children's noise in the background). A delightful Lewes scene. 

Judging by the live coverage, the Tour of Britain was at that point tearing through a housing estate somewhere near Horsham. It did not seem real that within 40 minutes or so it would be with us, streaming past the Depot.

I went out to inspect some of the route. On Southover Road and Priory Street (my former address for 10 years), little groups were gathering. The Kings Head pub was almost empty, the barman hardly aware of the race.

However, outside, the excitement gradually grew. A chap and his friends started chalking "Viva Lewes" on the road.

People came out of their houses. Almost no one I recognised.

As the time drew on, the Tour of Britain "circus" made its first appearance: tour motorbikes that whizzed round the block at high speed, the rider sometime showing off by standing up; a tour car, a bit battered, also passing at speed; the sense of a whirlwind approaching.

When the first of the riders appeared, they were gone as quickly as they came.

It is hard to appreciate a few racing cyclists charging along at 30 miles an hour.

They are a blur as they pass.

After a surprising gap, the main group - the so-called peloton - arrived. It is easier to enjoy because there is more of it.

What you don't appreciate watching on the telly is what a circus the race is.

As well as a large group of cyclists, at least a dozen support cars and as many powerful motorcycles also pass at speed, breaking the Priory Street 20mph speed limit just to keep up with the cyclists.

And then they are gone.

It did seem incredible the Tour of Britain had just gone down the street.

I hopped on the next train to Brighton and popped on my mum's old bike and caught at least some of the race again arriving at Brighton seafront.


The crowds were bigger than the ones I had seen in Lewes (although I did not go up to Lewes High Street).

It appeared the cyclists were now in several groups, several minutes apart, so there was plenty for all.

There was a lot of flag-waving and excited commentary in Brighton.

The presentations which, strangely, took place while some of the cyclists were still racing, were an odd spectacle.

A pretty, young woman helping the grinning, victorious cyclists in jerseys of various hues. Plenty of staged kissing.

The race was a great spectacle, a real joy to watch, and it was wonderful to catch it in Lewes and Brighton - thanks the use of my mum's old bike.

As always, it has been a mixed time for me. 

What is most sad is that my Dad, Robin, is now very sick with Alzheimer's Disease and rapidly losing his memory and powers of recognition.   
 

Life goes on. I have put a lot of effort of late into building and painting an allotment fence made out of pallets.
 

What I thought might be a relatively easy job took several days and evenings to complete.

It is pretty well hurricane proof and, if I say so myself, beautifully painted, the same colour as the shed, with the compost bin enclosure also matching.

To paint around the compost bin, I had to cut down the ivy, put it into bags and take them to the nearby Lewes Dump.

Lewes Bonfire 2013

It was my 12^th Bonfire Night in Lewes. I felt unusually nervous about the event this year but, ultimately, it was memorable.  

Once again I processed as a Cluniac monk with the Southover Bonfire Society. 

I marched at the back of the monks' column, just in front of the brass band, which was excellent.

This year, so-called “rookies” – loud fire crackers used for scaring away birds in the fields – were falling far less frequently than usual which made a pleasant change.

The atmosphere was great!

I feel all should be welcome at Bonfire. It is a time and place where everyone should be able to be comfortable and get along. That’s part of what Bonfire’s about.

A great number of very happy people. 

My fellow monks were extremely friendly. Our ranks have certainly grown over the years and we are a jolly bunch of ancient religious.

Southover’s first parade was very poignant with a small boy reciting a remembrance poem at the main War Memorial in Lewes and other little children laying wreaths.

The march ended up at The Swan Inn where there was vinyl on the record deck and good food in the beer garden.

This year the Southover Bonfire Society led the Grand Procession of all the Lewes bonfire societies, I believe for the first time.   

As always it was a great experience marching down St Anne's Hill, the High Street and School Hill with the pavements brimming over with onlooker and well-wishers. 

It was not quite as boisterous as the two Bonfire Nights on Saturdays in past years (Bonfire Boys and Belles will not parade on the Lord’s Day). But there was still a lot of joy in the air and grins on the faces. 

The third march was the Procession of Remembrance to the Southover Memorial for the Last Post and two minutes' silence. 

I thought of those I have known who have died this year, particularly my beloved niece Emily, and, of course, those who have died in wars and other conflicts.

This year’s Southover theme was Bomber Command – a key part of the Second World War effort which was not honoured until recently and only then thanks to the sterling efforts of a Bee Gee.

It is an interesting historical chapter: how Bomber Command did dirty work for Churchill and were rewarded by being ignored post-war, rather like, decades on, the battered American soldiers returning from Vietnam. 

I was surprised to learn around 55,000 members of Bomber Command had died in the Second World War. 

It seemed a vast number of airmen to perish. Of course the horror hit ordinary people on both sides. 

Strangely enough, my late aunt Erica was a survivor of the bombing of Dresden, a teenager walking out of the firestorm city, tens of thousands of dead surrounding her. She lived on into her seventies but, I guess, never fully recovered from the Dresden ordeal. 

It is absolutely right that airmen of Bomber Command should be honoured for their courage; it should have happened last ago. 

We processed to the Southover fire site for a truly sublime fireworks display, followed by the home procession and midnight prayers outside the Kings Head - a good pub these days.

* It has been a strange week. The night before Bonfire I went to a work do in Parliament and bumped into the England Football Coach, Roy Hodgson, a very likeable chap. We met in the security area - he was on his way to a Football Association bash. 

It's great England made it through [to the World Cup Finals]," said I, stating the obvious like a typical journalist.Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Roy replied: "Yeah, that's the main fing." 

* For the two Saturdays before, I presented my usual shows for Rocket FM - Bonfire's radio station. My old friend, DJ E, came down from t'North to co-present the second one with me. 

He was brilliant! We have been DJ-ing together over a period of 33 years and it was a good, slick show. The best we have ever done. For anyone who's interested, here's the eclectic playlist that came out of our collaboration in a music-packed two hours:

Kiss – Tom Jones  

Pick Up The Pieces – Average White Band

Let Me Know – Roisin Murphy 

The Theme From S-Express – S-Express

My Black Wine – Benna McCartney

Doghouse – Johnson And The Believers

Nag, Nag, Nag – Cabaret Voltaire

Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor

Walk On The Wild Side – Lou Reed

Lady T – Crazy P

Sex Machine – James Brown

Simple Twist Of Fate – Bob Dylan

Yeah The Dum Dum – Splat

Teenage Dream – T.Rex

Playing Bogart – 23 Jewels

Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy – Queen

Death On Two Legs – Queen

I Know You Got Soul – Bobby Bird

The Only Way Is Up – Yazz

Temptation – Heaven 17

Crushed By The Wheels of Industry – Heaven 17

Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Teenage Kicks – The Undertones

God Save The Queen – The Sex Pistols

Rupert – The Alan Caddy Orchestra & Singers

The Pink Panther – The Alan Caddy Orchestra & Singers

La Vie En Rose – Edith Piaf

No More Heroes – The Stranglers

Bonfire Beckons!

The legendary Lewes Bonfire celebrations are getting very close. This is always a special time of year which I really enjoy.

This year I am triply involved: presenting two shows for Bonfire’s radio station Rocket FM, processing as a Cluniac monk with the Southover Bonfire Society on The Fifth, and staging a special Bonfire Poetry session at Lewes Poetry at the Lewes Arms on Friday (25 October).

The Bonfire Poetry gig is particularly pressing. 

It is the first time I have attempted this and I really hope there is a good turn-out from the bonfire societies. The idea is that the entire evening will be devoted to poetry about Bonfire and remembrance.

I will be compering, in my monk’s habit, and also reading relevant poems. 

Matt Street, Commander-in-Chief of Southover Bonfire Society, wrote a good poem about the late Keith Austin, the Society’s Secretary, which will be read on the night. 

Other poems about Keith and the Lewes Bonfire movement that he so loved will also be read.

Remembrance is a very big part of Bonfire. In the Southover Bonfire Society, we have always majored on it, with an annual theme, commemorating those who have died for their country in wars and conflicts.

I have been working my way through books of war poetry to find suitable poems for the night. I hope the event gets the support it deserves. Doors open at 8.15pm, upstairs at the Lewes Arms, with a show from 8.45pm-11pm. A prize poetry contest for bonfire poems will take place, and there will be a late bar (till midnight).

Of course, I am a little worried that my back – I have torn a muscle – might make compering the show very painful. But whatever happens, the show will go on.

Rocket FM also beckons. 

I have been given two shows, this coming Saturday (26 October) from 7pm-9pm and the following Saturday (2 November) in the same slot, on 87.8 FM in Lewes and the Ouse Valley and also online at: www.rocketfm.org.uk

It is the fifth consecutive year of the Timewarp show – playing the best in “raves from the grave”, as well as featuring guests from the arts world.

This year, I will presenting my first show (on Saturday, 26 October) with the help of poet Laura King and artist and vinyl record expert Guyan Porter.

For the second show (Saturday, 2 November), I will be more than ably assisted by my old varsity friend, DJ E, a.k.a. John Eckersley) with whom I DJ-ed at the University of Hull in the early 1980s.

John is a superb disc jockey and did an amazing job last year when he guested on Timewarp. We chose the music between us. Playing the tunes, the memories came flooding back and the chat flowed like a river.

The Fifth is a bit of a logistical nightmare now I am not longer living in Lewes.

I have taken half a day off from work so I can get into the town easily before it is locked down, and partake in the first procession.

Processing on Bonfire Night is always a somewhat hairy experience. 

However, the bonfire societies have made a real effort this year to reduce the risk of injury by banning the horrendous blue rookies – super-powerful ground fireworks that scare the sh*t out of me.

With the recent demise of our Secretary, it will be an especially poignant occasion.

I always think that when the Fifth falls on a weekday it is particularly special.

When it is on a Saturday or Sunday, the event takes place on a Saturday (Bonfire Boys and Belles will not process on the Lord’s Day) and the town is flooded with tourists who have come from far afield.

I do not object to this as much as many Lewes folk do. Who can blame people from visiting a spectacle as enthralling and photogenic as Lewes Bonfire?

However, it is so much more of a purely Lewes and Sussex affair when the day falls in the week.

As a (re)founder member of Southover Bonfire Society and someone who was persuaded to sign up by Matt Street and Keith Austin, it is always good to see how remarkably the Society has progressed in a relatively short time.

Southover is quite a big chunk of the town and the Southover Bonfire Society’s reformation filled a need and a longing among all the residents of Southover, many of whom, myself included, would otherwise have never joined a bonfire society. (Some other members of the Society are pictured before embarking on the recent Seaford Bonfire Out Meeting.)

 
And, so, I will proudly and with peace and dignity be playing my part in this year’s Lewes Bonfire celebrations. 

* My NUJ (National Union of Journalists) branch meetings in Brighton used to be attended by one man and a dog! Over the past two years, there have been times when we have struggled to get even half a dozen members together in the back room of the Iron Duke. Now that seems to be changing.

The last meeting, on Monday, 21 October, was attended by more than 80 people, thanks in no small part to the guest speaker, investigative journalist Nick Davies (incidentally, from Lewes), who spoke brilliantly. 

I was particularly fascinated by his take on Julian Assange, currently holed up in the Ecuadoran Embassy, near where I work. A great meeting! It was a great meeting but can we turn an evening like that into a far more thriving branch for regular meetings?

·       * I have a new favourite public house in Brighton – the Foundry, on Foundry Street. I chanced upon it because I was walking back from my guitar lesson last week and needed a rest from the pain of my back. So, I dropped in. 

      There are incredibly friendly and pleasant in the Foundry and play Scrabble at the bar. Even an old bloke with a stick and a crook back seems to be welcome. The beer is really good and there is an acoustic group on a Monday night. If you don’t fancy an alcoholic drink, they are happy to make you a very pleasant coffee.

E me 

Life in Lewes

These have been the strangest and the loneliest months of my life.

I cannot write about it.

Suffice to say I have been living on my own in a flat in Lewes and trying to make the most of my life, and finding the going tough.

It has been a time of reflection.

I have lived in Lewes for 10 years; I love the town but, I am afraid, it has not been a lucky or a particularly happy place for me.

Some nights I feel so intensely sad.

Now I am on St Nicholas Lane, smack-bang in the centre of the town, and yet it is so incredibly quiet.

No traffic sound, no overhead flights, no passers-by. It feels like a spot the centre has forgotten.

Sometimes I feel I am in hiding in this flat. My secret bolthole.

I don't really know what to do or say any more. It has become so very difficult.

Of course life goes on.

Sunset at Earwig Corner is of great beauty, even in the winter months.

On the South Downs, the grass glows at dusk.

At St Thomas a Becket's, I listen to George's words of a Sunday.

During the week I read, and I listen to music.

Sometimes, I see the Angel of Hove and have a cuppa.

Or a passing biker with his missus and begoggled dog.

It is day after day.



I look on the bright side, if I can, but my star is low in the sky.

The Launch of The Commuter's Tale by Oliver Gozzard

The Commuter's Tale by Oliver Gozzard is launched. It is in bookshops, selling online and being written about.

The past month has been one of the busiest of my life. I imagined that getting a book off the ground would be hard work, but had no idea what a mountain of tasks it would create for me to do. Without a doubt, I would say it is the most difficult thing I have ever attempted.

I have written hundreds of emails about it to people and organisations, personally visited as many bookshops as time allows, written and distributed a flight of different press releases, phoned dozens of journalists, and done all the interviews that have come my way. And all this in my spare time, as I am working full-time in a demanding job. It has been tough.

The launch event - at the Runaway buffet at Lewes Station - was on Saturday, 22 January, which would have been Lord Byron's 223rd birthday. It went well. The publisher Nick Awde (of Desert Hearts) and I greeted a good crowd, and The Commuter's Tale was selling well even before the event started.

I read a few stanzas and signed books, and the guests enjoyed the wine. It was great that esteemed poets John Agard and Grace Nichols came along, as well as Frogmore publisher and talented poet Jeremy Page, and many of the gifted performers who come to the Lewes Poetry evenings I run at the Lewes Arms.

Vic Elsey, who runs The Runaway was on great form and I presented him with a present of a bottle of malt whisky for his support. My patient publisher Nick Awde got a less alcoholic gift for his unerring efforts.

And it was great to see people I had met on the train also coming to the launch, particularly 'The Tennis Girls' who have asked me to talk about The Commuter's Tale at their reading group.

All the same, promoting a book is pretty daunting, because you have to take on the vast majority of the work yourself.

You have to sell it to the public, the media and the booksellers. If you fail in any category, your book will not succeed!

Despite my strategic approach to the task and all my experience at promotion, I still sometimes lie awake in bed wondering if the publisher and I are going to be left with a huge stack of unsold books!

The press coverage so far has been very good. It has been written about in The Scotsman, Scotland's quality national newspaper, and in the Brighton Argus and the Sussex Express, which has taken a picture of me at Lewes Station for a second piece.

I have been interviewed by Metro, Britain's third largest national newspaper, and on Bright FM and BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey.

The Coventry Evening Telegraph and The Hull Daily Mail have both promised to run pieces about The Commuter's Tale. And a piece is due to appear in The Stage newspaper.

I have spent the evenings of the past week speaking to national newspaper contacts and sending out review copies of the book. A couple of cracking national newspaper reviews would do it a world of good.

The reviews have been coming in on the websites. The Commuter's Tale has had four reviews on Amazon.co.uk - all excellent, three five-star reviews and one four-star one - and a five-star review and a four-star one on the W H Smith online bookshop, and a five-star review on Waterstones.com

Waterstone's says it will stock it in its UK city and large town branches, which is great news! I am now targeting all the relevant media in those areas.

I am overwhelmed by the positive comments and enthusiasm of most people. It boosts my confidence. Of course there are also set-backs and negative people, but I really try to rise above them.

From the outset, I have gone for a 'clicks-and-mortar' approach to promoting The Commuter's Tale, using the new media and traditional media in equal measure.

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, this has meant me setting up Twitter and Facebook pages for The Commuter's Tale. A weird experience!

I have to admit I really like Twitter. It is easy to build up a decent-sized, relevant group of people and organisations in your network.

I use it to keep a running journal of how the promotion of The Commuter's Tale is going, and to keep its name out there.

I now have 333 followers, and am following 1,993, which I am pretty happy about. What they say can be useful information!

I confess that Facebook I have always avoided and dislike the sound of. Now my book is on it, my suspicions have been confirmed. Like a bad friend, Facebook constantly encourages you to befriend other people and when you try, it tells you off!

It is like the bully who says: 'Go and talk to her (or him). Go on! GO ON!!! You'll always regret it if you don't.' Then, when you get the cold shoulder, the tune has changed to: 'Why did you hassle her? Are you a weirdo or something! Get a life, saddo!'

Currently, after encouraging me to make countless new friends, Facebook has summarily banned me for FOUR DAYS for following its advice.

I preferred it when the geeks just hung around the university computer centre, steaming up their glasses when a pretty girl (or man) walked past!

All the same, Facebook is deeply addictive and The Commuter's Tale by Oliver Gozzard currently has 292 people in its group of so-called 'friends', a few of whom I know or could vaguely recognise in bright sunlight.

Even though I am in the sin-bin until at least next Thursday, Facebook is still insanely suggesting 'People I may know', with whom I am supposed to share up to a 100 friends when I have never seen or heard of them!

Perhaps all Facebook did when it came on the scene was expose the meaninglessness of modern 'friendship', and now it is deeply embarrassed about it, and wants 'friends' to be 'genuine friends' and is trying to execute an oxymoronic U-turn.

I don't care a fig. I know my real friends and don't need Facebook's help to identify them. Besides, it was the book who joined, not me! And to add to my woes, I also hurt my right foot and I have been limping around like Lord Byron!

Reflection time over! I must get on with my letter-writing and emailing!

Back the book! You won't regret it!

Buy here

Here are quotes from reviews and comments so far:

‘Oliver Gozzard approached this challenge with initiative and a sense of humour’ Chocolat author Joanne Harris

‘I just couldn't do it justice!’ Jeremy Paxman

‘I am delighted to supportThe Commuter’s Tale, and wish it every success’ Transport Minister Norman Baker

‘A rollicking odyssey of joy’ Radio 4 poet Elvis McGonagall

‘Belloc meets Byron meets Chaucer’ Veteran performance poet Attila the Stockbroker

‘A dramatic yarn’ Tim Cornwell, The Scotsman

‘Penned entirely on the train’ Brighton Argus

‘The iambic pentameter of his stanzas neatly calls to mind the reassuring rhythm of the railway’ Viva Lewes

‘Challengingly set in 200 stanzas, all inspired by the life and work of Byron, and all written by Gozzard on his daily commute’ Lewes People

‘In an age of celebrity trash books and misery memoirs, this is a brilliant and truly stunning piece of work that did what the greatest work always does - transported me away totally from the mundane and every day and put me back in touch with joy of language and story telling. Gozzard plays with us and plays with language too - just for the joy of it. And it really is a joy!’ John Eckersley, World of Urko

‘I enjoyed your book very, very much – it’s clever and witty and kept surprising me’ Girl on the 7.42, blogger and Viva Lewes columnist

‘An epic ballad’ The Poet Laura-eate

‘Definitely one not to be missed!’ Tom Quinn, Amazon

‘It had me hooked and wanting more’ Daily Star’s John McJannet

‘A rattling good yarn in poetic verse’ L. King, Amazon

‘A burst of light for commuters during these dark days and troubled times. . . commuters reading it will chortle and may even sigh, inspired as they face another day in the office, and more game for a laugh as they leave it. Thank you, Oliver Gozzard, for bringing Chaucer to life in the 21st century. I much enjoyed this work, and want to to see more’ Lucian Hudson, Amazon

Southover Bonfire Society 2010

Another year, another memorable Lewes Bonfire celebration!

My old friend Melanie Knight, who grew up in Lewes in the 1970s and early 1980s, emailed me while I was doing my Rocket FM show to say that the bonfire societies used to blow up controversial figures such as Margaret Thatcher, but she guessed it was not allowed any more!

I am not so sure. Some of this year's effigies seemed more extreme than ever!

There was the disgraceful business of a Lewes bonfire society (not Southover, I stress) blowing up an effigy of the judge who rightly jailed the firework factory owner and his son who were found to be "grossly negligent" in relation to the disaster in which two firefighters died.

I was shocked to read about that. The society involved was even claiming that there had been a miscarriage of justice, and the factory owner and his son should go free (although its chairman later apologised and an investigation has been launched within that society).

I would certainly not have been very happy if I'd been a member of that society.

Fortunately, I am in Southover - and the Southover Bonfire Society's celebration were very enjoyable. It was an excellent night.

I was slightly puzzled as to why the current pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, was chosen as the subject for an effigy.

Although a Roman Catholic, I was not offended.

But it was hard to see how the current Pope could be regarded as an "enemy of bonfire". He is never down the King's Head causing trouble!

It was easier to understand why a journalist, who had suggested that Lewes was an intolerant place, had been chosen, although no doubt he had been only expressing what he felt at that moment, rather like the tableaux makers.

Lewes is a peaceful and pleasant place to live, and the steam that Lewesians let off on the Fifth is undoubtedly part of the reason for that.

So, provided the tableaux are not totally crass and insensitive (such as the one by Firle Bonfire Society a few years back or this year's judge one), it is probably best not to take the tabs too seriously.

I think what is great about Bonfire is the spirit of comaraderie between the people involved and the people watching, and its rememblance of those lost.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Southover's celebrations this year (with some of the Cliffe marching through my manor!)

I feel our little part of Lewes can feel proud of its Bonfire Society and the way it marched on The Fifth 2010.

Advance, Southover!