Springkell Live 2021

It’s no secret that I have an eclectic mix of interests, plus a number of ongoing projects which champion or link with at least one of these in some way. I’d already worked on various community events and been one of a team who saved an art deco cinema. However, the first event which I organised which made my work public was the Vintage Computer Festival GB, or VCF as it became known, at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire. The whole purpose of doing that event was to raise the profile of the National Museum of Computing, but more specifically to help make it financially secure. It was an interest in historical buildings and heritage in general which helped drive me to do something. I was motivated and inspired by the late Tony Sale who, aside from being one of the original saviours of the site, was also a very good and dear friend. When Andy McCluskey offered to come on board with an OMD event it was a complete gamechanger because I brought my love of music into the project.

Ten years on and with many other events and small festivals under my belt (including Silicon Dreams Festival) I had the impulsive idea that it would be amazing to do a small music festival on a Scottish estate. I’ve always loved Scotland anyway, so running any event up there seemed like a perfect idea. However – the idea of running it on an estate carried a far deeper motive. It’s easy to say that being a Lord, Baron, Laird or property owner is a privileged existence but I know all too well that properties like that are a big mouth to feed, financially. They need to earn their keep to survive which is why so many become wedding venues. Within a couple of weeks I found myself visiting Springkell and meeting James, the owner (who is also partial to good electronic music), and the initial seeds of Springkell Live were sown. From my perspective, this isn’t just a music event. I’m putting together something which will help a beautiful house and grounds earn its keep, as well as providing something for the community. Most of the suppliers and external stakeholders are local businesses. It’s a small event on purpose – it’s privately financed, we are using someone’s private property which I want to see respected, but more significantly because small events provide an intimate atmosphere which we love. Aside from which there are at least two other festivals in the area and we don’t want to tread on their toes. This is about complementing what they do for the region, not competing against it. The last thing I want is to make someone else’s job more difficult.

Of course, things don’t always go to plan and shortly after we announced the event the Coronavirus pandemic brought much of the world to a halt. I had hoped to spend more time getting to know the local community before the event itself, but unfortunately travel restrictions rendered that impossible. The planned road map out of restrictions is less defined in Scotland than it is in England, so we’re working with difficult odds. We want this to work for the area, we want to get our musicians back out there performing after a difficult year and we want other businesses to prosper too – but we can only do it if people support it. That means the relevant authorities being clear with guidelines and people buying tickets. Whatever happens we will comply with it. Aside from Plan A, there is a B and C as well.

I will be bringing several of my trusted and reliable team with me. Jill Wells has managed our hospitality side for many years and is very good at giving me a push if I forget something. Mark Taylor has been front of house for a number of events (aside from being a friend for over thirty years) and Mark Carter is a successful promoter having run several events in London. There are a list of others involved, both locally and from around the country, but if I try to mention everyone here I’m bound to miss a name off!

Finally, if there are other local businesses who may wish to open a stall or be a part of the event then please do get in touch. With every event we always set out to welcome musicians, other promoters and even organisers of other festivals – this is a difficult business trying to get up and running in difficult times. If we can help each other then we all stand to benefit in the long run.

The website is of course www.springkell.live which has links to our social media. If there’s anything else you’d like to know or ask then once again, please do get in touch. Fingers crossed that we get to welcome you all in June.

Simon.

(Photo credit : Duncan Ireland Photography for Springkell)

The Manchester Superheroes

It’s 2020. Britain is in the middle of a viral pandemic and the country is in lockdown. Streets are deserted, shops are closed and people are staying at home to protect their lives. Meanwhile, something has started to happen in Manchester… help is at hand…

A group of superheroes have risen to the challenge and are going out on the streets. Their mission is to bring some cheer to the city’s children who are stuck at home, often sick or self-isolating to protect themselves from illness – like little Ava who is battling with leukemia. Batman, Wonderwoman, Spiderman, Captain America and others have been joined by Disney and Pixar characters such as Snow White and Woody. Every day they have been going out to visit young children who await them from a safe distance – often from a front window or across the garden. Many greet their heroes with drawings or have dressed as their favourite character themselves.

A rumour circulating is that these superheroes are in fact ordinary Manchester people working under cover, raising funds for the NHS as they go. One of my friends is a spokesperson for the heroes. Emma Ainscough (who looks suspiciously like Wonderwoman – the two have never been seen in the same place at once), told me what it was about. “They do it for the children.”, she says. “Most of them are really fed up with being unable to go out and enjoy the sunshine as they would normally. Some are quite poorly, so they’ve been really excited to see their favourite hero. It makes their day”.

It is hoped that these acts of heroism in Manchester will inspire other towns and cities to call upon heroes of their own. That way, they may bring a smile to their children as well.

Some people who give to their community do so for what they can get out of it themselves. With Emma there is no agenda and her involvement is purely altruistic, done for no other reason than to bring happiness to young children. It’s all done for the smiles – not for rewards or adulation. Hopefully it’ll make lives easier for parents who have been struggling to keep families happy during the lockdown. However, that doesn’t mean a friend doesn’t deserve a shout out when she’s doing something great for others.

To support the cause, or know more about what the Manchester superheroes have been up to, then you can read all about it at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stockport-spiderman.

A Christmas Gig in a Chapel

How do you fancy a Christmas night out with live music in a converted chapel? We’re not talking hymns here though…

A special Christmas show at The Hermon Chapel, Oswestry in Shropshire is on Saturday the 3rd of December. It will be headlined by Bluetones front man Mark Morriss, featuring support slots from Mike Wilton of The Standard Lamps and Mark Dennis along with a few other guests.

Image (c) The Intimate Gig Company

This will be the first outing at the Herman for the Intimate Gig Company. As the name implies, only a limited number of tickets are on sale for what will be a very special evening of  live music, laughter and Christmas socialising. All of the artists are genuinely nice blokes and will be around for a chat (and a drink!) during the evening. Now isn’t that much more appealing than a big arena gig where the artists are far away in the distance?

Tickets are on sale now at £15, but be quick as they are selling fast. More details are on the Facebook event page and Hermon Chapel website. If you see me there, please say hello!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1122178371171357/

http://www.hermonchapel.com/

Merry Christmas Once Again

Another year is almost over, and what a year it has been. It has been something of a roller-coaster ride as I started the year feeling like a computing events organiser, but finished up wearing the tag of music promoter for real. I know I’ve been responsible for a couple of pretty special gigs previously, but this was the first year where the music took the focus and computers took a back seat.

No matter where your interests lie, there is in all likelihood a community of like-minded individuals who share your passion. From this friendships are made, and I’m fortunate to have made some very good friends from the vintage computing fanbase. This year, I made many more friends from the electronic music scene and this is what makes all of the hard work from every event worthwhile. There were a couple of steep learning curves – some friends came and some friends went, but overall the experience was a positive one.

Hopefully there will be some things to look forward to in 2015. The ROM charity computing event will be back next year in Oxford. It was the only computer gaming event I was involved with this year, but the atmosphere was just right – a lot of fun and raised a lot of money for a good cause too. My own Silicon Dreams happened in June, and it was the most enjoyable event I’ve organised in a long time. It was a pleasure to finally do something in my home city of Liverpool, and I am pleased to say we’ll be returning to do it all again next year. However, due to the success of this year the format will be changing and the event itself will be much bigger with a few surprises. As for something new, well, we’ll see…

I’d like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2015. I hope to see many of my friends new and old again next year – and I look forward to meeting many more!

Merry Christmas

It’s been a few months since I’ve updated this blog, mainly because other life events have got in the way. This year has seen great highs and lows, but on the whole it has been a challenging year. For me, anyway. If 2010 was an impressionable year that ended on a low ley, then 2012 was its annoying ugly sister.

In March, Beeb@30 was an achievement that I can be proud of. There was only one BBC Computer Literacy Project, and the 30th anniversary celebration party was a unique day. I couldn’t have done it without the team of dedicated friends and volunteers who helped make it happen.

Later in the year was blighted by a deeply personal loss, sadly. As the year draws to a close I’d like to thank the friends whose support has been invaluable. A special thanks go out to Phil Foulkes, Pete Leckie, Rob Ager, Sarah Marlow, Emma Wrighton, Richie Ling, Steve Bennett, Lynsey Bennett, Rachel Kelly, Bee Ballantyne, Sarah Sheridan and Karen Moss. I know I’ve missed a few, and a huge thank you goes out to you all.

On a more positive note, I can confirm that my team and I are working on a major new event for July 2013. This will take shape in the form of a new festival, although this will incorporate the second Vintage Computer Festival GB. We are all very excited by this news as it will be something very special! I’ll release more information very soon.

In the meantime, I’d like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas – here’s to a bright and prosperous 2013!

The Morgan Motors Tour

A few days ago, a small group of us gave in to our petrol-headed side and went on a factory tour of the Morgan Motor Company, tucked away near the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. For those of you who think fun motoring means drooling over the latest supercars, you’ll be closing your browser window in horror at this point.

There are no high-tech production lines here. No rows of robots (unless you count the CNC lathe machines, and they are hardly space-age), no cutting-edge wind tunnels, and no plus skyscraper offices housing floor upon floor of white-collar designers, IT engineers or finance administrators. This is a small, family-owned factory which still makes cars by hand. More to the point, the cars are British built, engineered and owned (although the engines come from the likes of Ford and BMW).

There are essentially three model groups. The traditional two or four seater sports (which still has a wooden frame), the Aero – slightly more contemporary, and could be described as the steampunk offering of sportscars, and the three wheeler. Yes, you read correctly – the traditional Morgan three wheeler went back into production in 2011 with an engine related to the one you’d find on a Harley Davidson.  It looks fun, in a retro, bonkers kind of way.

Who buys these things? There’s still a healthy market out there. The cars are in demand – not so long ago there was a ten year waiting list for a brand new Morgan.  At least that would give you time to save, as the entry-level models are around the £30,000 mark. Then again, ten years ago that was enough to buy a small terraced house in Liverpool.  These are traditional cars which you really need to drive – no computers to do it for you. The owners are lovers of real, traditional, wind-in-the-hair British sports cars with (I suspect) a high tolerance for back pain. We’re talking big engines and leaf-springs here…

The Morgan Company prides itself in being one big family. Not just the Morgan family themselves, but their employees and customers too. Our tour guide, Colin, is clearly an enthusiast and told us about the cars which he himself has owned. There were some anecdotes which raised a smile, such as the story of how BMW feel about having the Morgan logo on one of their engine blocks.  Somehow it wouldn’t seem as amusing coming from an engine supplier which wasn’t, well, German – especially given the air of patriotic pride you get by just looking at one of these cars. Incidentally, Morgan-branded bomber jackets and goggles were on sale in the shop. Think traditional biker or RAF flight commander.

Yes, the employees pride themselves in their work and love what they do… apart from the guy in the body shop who was clearly trying to sort out an argument between a newly-cut aluminium bonnet and a power drill. Maybe he was just having a bad day… I’m sure he loves his work really.

There was a thinly veiled degree of hope that we’d place an order for a car at the end of the tour. Sadly that was never going to happen. Not until I win the lottery or am adapted by a rich widow. Besides, I’d be too frightened to park the thing anywhere.

Maybe one day. In the meantime, I’ll have to settle for the 1/18 scale model car in the living room.