Finding modest tributes to great composers in Lichfield

Oakley Close … a modest and misspelled tribute to Lichfield’s great but forgotten hymn-writer (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

I am carrying out some more research for features next month on Canon Frederick Oakeley, the author of the English version of ‘O Come all you faithful.’

Oakeley spent his childhood in the former Episcopal Palace in the Cathedral Close in Lichfield, and later was a canon of Lichfield Cathedral. But while there is a memorial to Oakeley’s father in the North Transept of Lichfield Cathedral, the only monument to the writer of one the all-time favourite Christmas carols is a street name in which his name is misspelled.

I went in search of Oakley Close at the weekend, and found myself in what can only be called the “Musicians’ Corner” of Lichfield.

Oakley Close has no street-sign of its own, and I might have been forgiven for missing it altogether.

Purcell Avenue … recalling the greatest English composer until Elgar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Purcell Avenue is a lengthy road on the north-east side of Lichfield. Perhaps it is named after Henry Purcell (1659-1695). He is considered to be one of the greatest English composers, and no other native-born English composer approached his fame until Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934).

Appropriately then, one of the small streets off Purcell Avenue is Elgar Close, named after Edward Elgar.

The entrance to Elgar Close and Oakley Close off Purcell Avenue (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

At the entrance to Elgar Close, the sign reads: “Elgar Close, leading to Oakley Close and Pearce Court Flats.

I walked along Elgar Close, passed by Pearce Court Flats, but when I found myself in Oakley Close there was no sign or plaque recalling Lichfield’s great carol writer. Not only was his name misspelled at the entrance through Elgar Close, but it was forgotten by the time I had arrived in this small corner of Lichfield.

Handel Walk … remembering a German composer who is often regarded as English (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Behind Purcell Avenue, a walkway linking many of the houses is called Handel Walk, although I could find no houses that have Handel Walk as their address.

Despite being German-born, Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759) is quintessentially English, with his coronation anthems, his choral works and his water music. But then, Dublin has a claim on Handel too.

Verdi Court … the Italian opera writer is also referred to in Penelope Lively’s book ‘The Road to Lichfield’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Close by is Verdi Court, recalling the Italian composer of operas, Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901). In her first adult novel, The Road to Lichfield (1977), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Penelope Lively has the character James Stanway asks Betty, who has developed a taste for opera that he has started to share: “I bow to your superior judgment, but I remain unconvinced that Carmen is a major work. What about Verdi, now? How do you feel about Verdi?”

Gilbert Road … WS Gilbert collaborated with Arthur Sullivan on 14 comic operas (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Lighter opera has its place in this area too, though, in the names of Gilbert Way, Sullivan Way and Sullivan Walk.

The librettist Sir William Gilbert (1836-1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900), who was born to Irish parents, collaborated on 14 Victorian comic operas between 1871 and 1896, including HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado.

But Sullivan seems to have done better than Gilbert in Lichfield, with two places named after the composer and only one after the librettist.

Sullivan Way and Sullivan Walk … two place names remember the composer (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

But two composers with Lichfield connections go without naming in this corner of Lichfield, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958) and Muzio Clementi (1752-1832).

Caroline Sarah Darwin, the maternal grandmother of Vaughan Williams, was the eldest sister of Charles Darwin and a grand-daughter of Erasmus Darwin, whose house near Lichfield Cathedral is one of the major visitor attractions.

In the 1830s, Clementi lived at Lyncroft House, on the north-west fringes of Lichfield. In his time, he was a celebrated composer, piano-maker, conductor and music publisher. Although much of his music is forgotten today, he was once considered second only to Joseph Haydn as a composer. He was a friend of Mozart and it is said he had a notable influence on Beethoven.

Today Lyncroft House is the Hedgehog, a restaurant and bar in the Vintage Inn chain and one of my favourite places to stay in Lichfield. It is just a short walk there from the musical corner of north-east Lichfield.

From Bartimaeus to Bettystown as the evening lights begin to close in

Autumn lights on the beach in Bettystown this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

I served as the Deacon at the Choral Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, this morning [25 October 2015], the Fifth Sunday before Advent, reading the Gospel and assisting at the administration of the Holy Communion.

This morning’s Gospel reading [Mark 10: 46-52] recalled the story of the healing of blind Bartimaeus at the gates of Jericho:

46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 49 Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ 52 Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

It brought me back to yesterday’s story about the pilgrims who died outside the gates of Lichfield and whose mass graves have recently been unearthed in shallow ground in Saint John’s Hospital, Lichfield.

And it brought me back too to my meeting in the Diocesan offices in Birmingham with volunteers with the Anglican mission agency Us (previously known as USPG), where there was an interesting reflection on the meaning of this Gospel story by Davidson Solanki, International Programmes Manager of Us.

Speaking about the support Us gives to programmes using the Church and Community Mobilisation Process (CCMP) and encouraging local Anglican churches to be the Christian response within their own local communities.

In his reading of this story of Bartimaeus, Davidson positioned the crowd as representative of the Church, and Christ challenges the crowd to focus on the marginalised and those on the outside. Us is helping groups to reflect on how the Church should work with the poor and those on the margins.

In his sermon in the cathedral this morning, Archdeacon Ricky Rountree related the plea of Bartimaeus to the tradition of the Jesus Prayer, which he encouraged people to pray regularly.

The beach at Bettystown, close to Relish, this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Later, two of us drove north to Bettystown, Co Meath, for walks on the long sandy beach before and after lunch in Relish.

It is a few months since I have been in Bettystown for either a walk on the beach or for lunch in Relish. Since then, the restaurant has been fitted out with new floors and new chairs. And the food is still excellent.

On the beach, there were clusters of families going for long walks, and one solo cyclists was traversing the length of the beach, back and forth, cycling along the wet ridges left in the wet sand by the receding tide.

A lone cyclist on the beach at Bettystown this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

In a local supermarket, we bought some locally-grown strawberries. It is interesting how late the Irish-grown strawberries have continued on the shelves this year, considering the poor summer meant they were late arriving on the markets.

From Bettystown we drove back through Laytown and Julianstown, and then west towards Duleek, and found ourselves unexpectedly at Kennedy’s Pumpkin Patch.

Although this is a free event, it is so popular that free tickets are snapped up well in advance, and there is a waiting list for the remaining few days. It all began in 2011 and has grown in popularity since. This year’s event began yesterday [24 October 2015] and continues until Wednesday evening [28 October].

Down on the farm … enjoying Kennedy’s Pumpkin Patch near Julianstown this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Visitors are invited to pick their own pumpkins at Kennedy’s Pumpkin Patch and to enjoy Halloween treats and tea, coffee and hot chocolate.

The Halloween theme runs through the whole area, with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour.

The clocks went back an hour last night, and the evenings are closing in much earlier. As we drove towards Navan it was getting darker.

The late strawberries show how autumn is lingering. But the pumpkins are a sign that winter is not far away.

Pumpkins in the field at Kennedy’s Pumpkin Patch near Julianstown this afternoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)