Georgina Phillips, Penicuik & District u3a
Scotland
Open Minds
The boy stood on the burning deck … and then? Do you recall at school learning poetry by rote, but how many of us can remember past the opening lines? How about I wandered lonely as a cloud … – what comes next? It’s much the same with hymns. We sing some wonderful music in our church, but can I remember all the verses by the time I return home – just the opening lines, but at least that’s enough to track them down!
We have a talented friend with a wonderful singing voice. She has often treated us at church concerts to songs by Gershwin or from the shows. Many of these have instantly recognisable lyrics, but have you ever really listened to the introduction – few could name the song from just that opening section.
Beethoven’s iconic opening bars of his 5th symphony – da-da-da-dum – apparently began life with a totally different purpose according to a leading musical scholar. He recently proposed that it was a subsidiary theme meant for a forgotten piano fantasia. This instantly recognisable, yet ominous, introductory theme has been used in films and notably during the Second World War as a symbol for Victory. The motif echoed the rhythm used for the letter V in Morse code (short-short-short-long), and was frequently heard on the BBC wireless during the war.
Many of us probably enjoy quizzes; you know the sort of question – give the title of the book that begins It is a truth universally acknowledged … . You really only need to conjure up the image of a drenched Colin Firth emerging from the water, so that’s ok!
I’m intrigued by the concept of time travel, and have a quirky list of events I’d like to have witnessed. Our book group recently read Lady Almina And The Real Downton Abbey by the current Countess of Carnarvon, wherein she recounts the story of Highclere during World War 1, and the life story of the 5th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. He was the man who pay rolled Howard Carter’s Egyptian excavations which eventually discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.
In 1922, they effected a small opening into an antechamber. Carter must have been trembling with excitement. The hot air escaping from the chamber caused his candle flame to flicker, preventing him from seeing anything. As his eyes became accustomed to the light, wondrous artefacts emerged through the mists of time, the glint of gold pervaded the chamber. When Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, Can you see anything? Carter struggled to get out the words: Yes, wonderful things.
The following year, they broke through into the innermost chamber, and the party had their first view of the great gilded shrine which protected the royal sarcophagus. Perhaps the greatest thrill of all was when he was able to look into the blue faience sarcophagus in which the body of the Pharaoh rested.
I love writing about historical events and people, and do a lot of research for family history and our church history. I’ve come across references to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in both factual and fictional accounts and would have loved to have been a fly on the wall that opening day! The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition, was an international event, staged in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October, 1851. It was the inspiration of Prince Albert, husband of Victoria, and organised by him and Henry Cole.
The great and the good from Science and the Arts, royalty and politics attended en masse. Now, I would have not been in that class, but what is so significant and wonderfully innovative was its appeal and accessibility for the working class. Admission was eventually reduced to one shilling, and was most successful amongst the industrial classes. Two thousand five hundred tickets were printed for the opening day, all of which were bought, and the average daily attendance was 42,831, peaking at 109,915 on 7 October; many had repeat visits. A total of six million people – equivalent to a third of the entire population of Britain at the time – visited the Great Exhibition. To attract future customers from the working classes, the newly expanding railways offered greatly discounted tickets enabling folk to travel from distant parts of the country; on offer were special rates for parties, often led by the local vicar. Those too poor to travel lined up by the rail tracks to watch the long trains of open carriages steaming past.
What would I have seen to astonish and amaze me, to open my mind to such wonders previously undreamed of? Numbering 13,000 in total, the exhibits represented the Colonies and Dependencies, and forty-four Foreign States in Europe and the Americas. The Koh-i-Noor diamond, then the world's largest known, was one of the most popular attractions of the India exhibit. William Chamberlin Jr, from Sussex, exhibited what might have been the world's first voting machine, which counted votes automatically and employed an interlocking system to prevent over-voting. Excitingly, and so important in our senior years, the first modern pay toilets were installed, with 827,280 visitors paying the one penny fee to use them. The toilets remained even after the exhibition was dismantled, and spending a penny has entered our language!
The opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb and the Great Exhibition were grand events of significant historic importance. From the sublime to the not ridiculous, but less wide-
reaching. Imagine the excitement: a lovely day just after Easter, many folk, probably in their best clothes, streaming along the road, anxious to get a seat inside for this event. Is this a concert, a match? The year is 1882, and some folk in this small town are about to see the fulfilment of their hopes for their own church building. Their permanent place of worship is now officially open! I have been much involved in the 140th anniversary of our church, researching the history – a continuing project – and organising exhibitions. I found out that the visiting choir processed from a nearby house, along the road, into the church. I doubt many of us in today’s choir could manage that now! We revere the past generations, but strive to look forward with minds ever open to new thoughts and ideas.
Coming home to the personal, do we still experience that mild thrill of anticipation when opening a birthday or Christmas present? I think we’re never too old to receive a gift. My husband and I really appreciate the thought that our family put into finding wee delights for us. Flowers always go down well with me, and chocolate for him. We just don’t know how they manage to match birthday cards – some rather cheeky! – to us as individuals.
However, often opening the envelope reveals a voucher for an experience day. Recently, we managed to redeem the voucher, given two years ago, for a cream tea on a steam train. It was a lovely day and it was satisfying to be able to tell the family about it and share the photos. We don’t need things at our age, but both our son and daughter do have the knack of ferreting out a special gift related to one of our several hobbies – very esoteric ones in my husband’s case! One birthday, he sniffed the package, imagining chocolate, carefully slit the sticky tape and unwrapped the paper, (which is carefully smoothed and
set aside to repurpose). On opening the packaging, he was delighted and surprised to reveal a chocolate lock and key to add to his collection!
Opening the front door isn’t always rewarding, but oh, the delight of seeing a friend, smiling, with arms ready to hug after this dreadful distancing we have long endured. Equally important are the opportunities to meet again in the flesh, and restart the activities we all enjoyed before Covid struck. I’m thankful for the u3a, which has opened up many new interests, and fostered wonderful new friendships. Opening equates to opportunity, which we should seize with both hands and march forward together.