Diary 7th To 9th September 2018

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Diary Friday 7th September 2018 Having my welfare team demand that I buy myself a new Iphone I made a trip to the shops just to look at the units currently on ale, coming away mostly baffled and confused but I did see one that should be affordable. I am leaving it until closer to the date of my next welfare hearing to get one though. Much of the rest of the day was pent preparing for the big trip to Wigan tomorrow. Diary Saturday 8th September 2018 With the main train services to Wigan cancelled due to strike action, I had to go by bus, a near hour long journey. I wanted to go early to get photos of pub signs before the start of the festival I was attending and taking part in. I got a taxi at 6AM, (I phoned it up on Friday) and got to the bus station with about twenty minutes to wait for the bus from Preston to Wigan. There were not many people on the station. A homeless young man was sleeping on a bench near me as I waited. A young lad, probably about fifteen, turned up, seriously off his face on drugs. He quite aggressively asked me and others for money. We all said no. He then tried waking the homeless guy up to ask him, as if he homeless man would have any spare cash anyway. A fist shot up and punched he kid in the face. The homeless guy then caught hold of him and pummelled his head several time before the kid ran off. The boy returned a few minutes later, shouting from some yards back that he knew powerful men who would kidnap the homeless guy and take him away in car boot never to be seen again. The homeless guy ignored him and the kid was eventually chased off by bus station security. I got to Wigan about 8.30 AM and grabbed lots of photos before the rain started which coincided with the time I had to report in that I was on the readers list for the small Speaker’s Corner stage,. After the MC gave a quick introduction to the event I was the first performer of the day. I did about five poems, which got some attention and very positive feedback too. As I handed back the mic, the rain burnt out the power on one of the amps, but the equipment was quickly fixed up. Not many other poets and speakers who had promised to use the Speaker’s Corner tagging area turned up sadly. I considered performing again later but it would have repeated the same material and my notes were badly saturated. I looked around the various stalls that were trading and promoting group of ecologists, socialists, union organizations, etc. As the first performers started up on the two stage main arena, I headed in to the beer tent which not only sold great ales cheaply but also proved to the driest place to be to watch the day’s performances. Some friends from Manchester came along and I met up with several poets I know too. The rain eased off about 3pm, but returned later in the evening for a while, but attending numbers grew and the atmosphere was beautiful to experience. Highlights of the entertainments included Barnstormer 1649, a special time stamped variation of the punk-folk group Barnstormer, fronted by poet and singer Attila The Stockbroker. The Commoner’ Choir, a large ensemble group of singers presenting very well-rehearsed harmony spoofs of current political events. Other performers joined them for some songs, including folk-band Merry Hell, who later did a full set of their own. The closing headline act was the awesome Blockheads, former backing musicians to the late great Ian Dury, who brought the event to an end. I discovered that some trains were still running, which was great as the last bus would have meant me having to go three hours before the show ended. With an hour before my train home I got some food in Wigan, caught my train, and just made the lat bus home with two minutes to spare. I was very tired and went to bed within minutes of getting through my front door. The Wigan Diggers Festival, now in its 8th year (and the third I have attended) commemorates the life of Wigan born 17th century radical Gerrard Winstanley (1610-76). He was the founder of the True Levellers movement, also known as The Diggers. It had long been a recognized custom that while strips of farmland belonged to individual members and their families in the feudal system, outlying common land was an open allotment for all, to grow smaller crops, get fresh spring water, breed chickens, etc. Any food growing wild on the common ground could be picked by anyone. Enclosure acts fenced off the common ground, and unlawfully changed such rulings. Winstanley’s Digger movement, operating in Dorset, tore through fences and moved onto common land at St George’s Hill. Winstanley produced several pamphlets, based on Biblical principles, and other Digger communities sprang up in the Southern counties of England. After a time, landowners moved in and crushed the Digger communities to retake the land, often by force. Winstanley became a member of the Quakers later in life. A song, The World Turned Upside Down, which celebrates the Diggers and incorporates lyrics quoting Winstanley, has been recorded several times, notably by Billy Bragg and Chumbawumba. It was sung several times by performers over the festival today, including Barnstormer 1649. Youtube – Billy Bragg and Amanda Palmer – The World Turned Upside Down Diary Sunday 9th September 2018 A recovery day, editing photos from yesterday, and drying off the contents off my bag too. Arthur Chappell