Avoiding Panic Attacks

The Plymouth Evening Herald

2006-11-18T16:03:00.000Z

Cuttings from the Plymouth Evening Herald, where I spent a week on the news desk (Nov 13-17).

My placement was a far more sedate experience than I had anticipated, although I did get the chance to meet Viscount Rothermere, the owner of the Daily Mail and General Trust (and the Northcliffe group, of which the Herald was a part), and Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (see previous post).

Alistair Darling in Plymouth

2006-11-17T16:10:00.000Z

A largely uneventful Monday began a largely uneventful week, although in the afternoon I did get the chance to shake hands and observe a face-to-face interview with the Trade Secretary, Alistair Darling.

He was in town to kick-start Plymouth Enterprise Week - a joint initiative between local government and the technological, industrial and commercial sectors - designed to promote the city as a centre of innovation. His was a flying visit to the Tamar Science Park, where he was scheduled (down to the minute) to meet various managing directors, project leaders and executives of companies that had been successful in both producing exportable products and raising the profile of the local economy. Liz Parks, the Business Reporter at the Evening Herald, invited me along to shadow her as she chased an interview.

10am, and we stood in a reception foyer as part of a growing press corps. Opposite us was the official welcoming party, consisting of the Tamar's chairman, his head of marketing, two prominent local MPs and their people. There was plenty of handshaking.

"They're like flies around a piece of shit," muttered a business reporter from the Western Morning News (Devon and Cornwall), commenting on the sizable entourage that swept through the door, behind Darling. (It turned out he had an axe to grind, and was gearing up for a confrontational interview). Together they really did appear as gangsters, complete with all the cliches: A sharp eyed young PR coordinator shouted into his executive mobile phone, a beautiful, olive-skinned personal secretary with immaculate hair and shining jewelry stood silently to one side, ready to second guess her boss's every movement. The two MPs began fawning, clamouring for attention, desperate to ensure that the New Labour machine in London (personified by this silver-tonged, permatanned Scot) did not forget about its provincial ambassadors.

Photographers scurried, hanging from railings and kneeling down, looking for angles and snapping. The minister acknowledged the reporters last of all. He seemed to loosen up momentarily as he waved.

"Hi everyone," he called out. "I've only got time to speak to you briefly afterwards, is that alright?"

The tour was going to last an hour. We were content to join the train and follow their lead.

The scrum squeezed through the complex to pay the planned visits. These included an engineering form that was developing health monitors for babies and a technology research company that was pioneering techniques of 3D rendering on resin. At each presentation, Darling demonstrated deep understanding and interest, engaging in conversation as the group around him scribbled notes, played with PDAs, changed lenses, relayed messages and so on.

Incredible, the political animal. Forever on the move, chained to The Party, micro-managed down to the smallest behaviour, demanding, always engaging but never engaged. When a difficult question or criticism arose, it was deflected almost subliminally. Craftsmanship, maybe, but it's easy to imagine that professional politicians are born, not made.

At interview, Darling was amiable, but vacant. As he rattled through a clutch of prepared answers, I was surprised that Liz didn't push him further, perhaps question his opinion on the proposals for Devonport (the ancient harbour was under threat of downgrading, threatening the oldest industry in Plymouth). Instead, questions were limited to - "Do you like Plymouth?", "What are your impressions of today?", "What are your priorities?", lines of enquiry which invited political tact, not the truth.

She told me afterwards that, as time was limited, she couldn't risk deflections. A printable quote was, after all, the goal. I discovered later that the reporter from the Western Morning News, who challenged him over job cuts in Cornwall food production, was discourteously rebuffed and came away with nothing.

Journalism at this level is thus something of a balancing act; between editorial freedom and freedom of access. No new lesson there, but when you see it all played out in front of you, the politician's effectiveness in turning the press into a tool for his own publicity is still surprising.

Plenty of lessons still to learn.

The Eco Warrior and the Week-Long Hangover

2006-11-09T21:49:00.000Z

Continuing the 'activism' theme, my submissions to Venue #739 included an interview with Mark Plummer, a local environmentalist who first became known for his protests surrounding the expansion of Bristol Airport in 1999. I interviewed him as he was busy preparing to lead a regional delegation of the Stop Climate Chaos campaign group to London for the major demonstration on November 4.

However, this issue my biggest contribution was for a main feature, designed to introduce new students to the various pub crawls that can be found around town. Between us, the assistant editor (Joe Spurgeon) and I devised the routes, experienced them first hand and reviewed them, with emphasis being put on the characters we met along the way. I was responsible for three, covering my neighbourhood (Clifton Village), the City Centre and north of the city along the Gloucester Road. I think Chris Dickason's illustrations are great.

Ian Bone and The Bristolian

2006-11-07T16:08:00.000Z

Until last year Bristol had its own independently produced, subversive political newsletter called "The Bristolian", under the authorship of Ian Bone. Despite a healthy readership and critical success (it was the runner-up at the Paul Foot Awards for investigative journalism in 2005), it ceased publication following years of accusations of misrepresentation and slander. Illustrating how sharply opinion was split over The Bristolian, a visitor to the Bristol Indymedia opined at the time that it was a a "nasty evil filthy little rag" and that "the longterm effect of things like this is to put people off doing anything and to encourage everyone else to sneer and get cynical instead of getting off their arses and working with their neighbours." Bone himself, once a well known character in Bristol, retreated from the media spotlight.

This article, written by veteran BEP journalist Eugene Byrne and published in Venue #728, covers the decline of The Bristolian and the seeds of Bone's personal philosophy. I did the support work on it, and it's an interesting read, so I'm posting it here. Working with Byrne was a real education, not least because his approach to interview subjects is uncompromising and highly effective. Starting the telephone interview, he asked Ian Bone if he was ready for his first question. "Let me guess" condescended Bone, "you're going to ask me if I condone violence?".

"No, I'm going to start with the easy stuff first," he replied. "Then I'm going to find out if you really are the most obnoxious man on the planet".

Matchbox Magazine

2006-11-04T01:56:00.000Z

As part of an ongoing agreement, Mandy and I contribute a 6 page DPS covering Events to Matchbox Magazine, a free bimonthly lifestyle magazine that circulates west London.

All told, the collection of suitable events (from our own listings, PR timetables and other areas), copy writing and obtaining suitable images takes both of us about a day (notwithstanding delays caused by communication breakdowns, which are inevitable). Two example pages are below.

Upfront: Body Count

2006-10-23T21:46:00.000Z

This news article was published in Venue Magazine Issue No.737 (October 20-29).

Newcastle’s regeneration set to continue with major new museum attraction.

2006-09-28T20:47:00.000Z

500 word Newcastle local interest piece that was published online earlier today.

In recent years Newcastle has been transformed from a crumbling industrial centre into a cosmopolitan cultural city that rivals the greatest in Europe. If you need proof, just look around you – to the beautifully restored Georgian buildings of Grainger Town, to the buzzing, regenerated quayside, to the iconic Millennium Bridge, to the Sage Music Centre, and perhaps most obviously, to the Cultural Quarter where a spectacular vision of Newcastle’s future is being realized.

New landmarks being planned for this area of the city, where the town blends into the expanding university, include the creation of a ‘Culture Lab’ for the development and performance of new media projects and the digital arts, a major and overdue refurbishment of the Playhouse Theatre, a new Botanic Garden which will bring natural beauty to the heart of the city and a Great North Museum, a major co-operative venture between four of the city’s existing museums.

When the new Museum opens in 2009 it will be a flagship visitor attraction incorporating collections from the Hancock Museum and the University of Newcastle's Museum of Antiquities, the Shefton Museum and the Hatton Gallery. It will combine the natural history collection of the Hancock with the Shefton’s spectacular Greek and Etruscan objects, the significant Roman and Anglo-Saxon collections of the Museum of Antiquities and the fine art of the Hatton Gallery. Exhibits confirmed for the £26million development will include a large-scale, interactive model of Hadrian’s Wall, major displays highlighting the diversity of the local environment and habitats, mummies from Ancient Egypt, a Planatarium and a life size T-Rex dinosaur skeleton. In a nutshell, it will be a cultural landmark to rival anything that London has to offer.

It is hoped that the museum will enable visitors to follow in the footsteps of their ancestors and explore the natural history of the North East from prehistoric times through to the present day. They’ll be able to compare life in modern Britain to the ancient cultures of Rome, Greece and Egypt. Families will be able to examine amazing specimens of wildlife, as well as live insects, fish, amphibians and reptiles. The modern, fine and decorative art on display will encourage a whole generation of new artists in the region. It’s also being designed as a truly immersive experience, with staff always at hand to guide visitors through the museum, and a range of coffee shops and restaurants in which to relax after a long days exploring.

Most importantly of all, the museum was conceived as a free exhibit, as a place to attract visitors and a space for Newcastle’s community to share. With the news of the commissioning of Great North Museum being welcomed across the board, there’s little sign that Newcastle’s spectacular regeneration is slowing down.

Interview: Ben Dubisson

2006-09-26T23:11:00.000Z

This is the first interview I ever did and probably, to date, the best. The subject and the words were important to me on a personal level, not least because it was a face to face that I chased from cold. Ben was, and by virtue of the fact that he is a part-owner in many premier venues in the city, still is an important figure in Bristol music and I was pleased to have the opportunity to speak to someone who knew what they were doing and how they were doing it. I regret not staying in touch with him.

In many ways it's been a busy year for the ever-busy Ben Dubisson, otherwise known as Hundred Strong.

A central figure in Bristol music for over ten years, Dubisson was in the thick of it when the beats scene exploded in the mid 1990's and has been working feverishly throughout as producer for such talents RJD2 and local lads Aspects. He has his own record label, High Noon, which exists to promote a new generation of Bristol beats. A well-received live performance at the Ashton Court festival last month and the release of a new LP, "Basement Blues" on the Altered Vibes label earlier this year marks Hundred Stong's re-emergence.

He describes "Basement Blues" as hip-hop recorded for the listener. "I'm a producer first, not a DJ. I could get on the turntables and make people dance, but people in clubs only want to hear party classics and don't want any depth to it." The result of this quest for depth is twelve tracks of soulful, down tempo hip-hop, all of them instilled with a sophistication that presumably only comes after a decade in the game. What, I asked, was the inspiration behind the album?

"It's what you're feeling really. It's sample based with live stuff over the top. It's about putting together the sound-scapes, and then hooking up with the vocalists - people I knew, people I've worked with in the past, and then they'd send back the acapellas and I'd put it all together."

Joseph Malik, Def Harmonic, Alison Crockett and several others have distance-collaborated on "Basement Blues"; it's a way of working that Dubisson seems comfortable with, recurrent technical complications notwithstanding. Despite going the long way round, there's no hint of disunity on the record, instead the track list comes across as a coherent and thoroughly listenable whole.

Every now and then Hundred Strong takes a break from the studio to do the occasional live performance. A favourite at the Dojo lounge, most recently he put on a lavish show at the Ashton Court festival, an event that he enthusiastically supports.

"It was brilliant, we had three MC's over from Chicago, a local MC who's put some stuff out on my label, and a singer as well. We had some really dynamic people on and off stage, and it was all fully live. The crowd loved it; it went down well. I've played it a lot of times, most years I do something there. It was the busiest I'd ever seen it on the Saturday actually, and I've been going for a long time. It's a good event."

Dubisson is clearly a man who loves his job, but he's keenly aware of the pitfalls; "The future's bleak - it's not like it used to be, it's difficult to shift records these days. Apart from pop, which is obviously throwaway rubbish, only Indie is selling in large numbers. You need publicity, but no one's got the budget for that. So, at High Noon, we just concentrate on getting the good music out, and we always get back the money we put in with a fair amount on top. It's basically just a hobby."

Despite this claim, his speech belies a certain pride for High Noon Records. Indeed he has every reason to be proud: things seem to be gathering pace at the little outfit, which he runs from his basement. "I've got two new 12's on High Noon coming out soon. It's mostly breaks and reggae; we've got Western Breaks who do reggae influenced beats. It's just a way to put local stuff out really; it's all Bristol acts. People might come in from elsewhere but it's all Bristol producers. We're doing a compilation in the new year - all the 12"'s and other bits and pieces."

Dubisson seems committed to the preservation of Bristol's reputation as a breeding ground for musical talent - a reputation that he in no small part helped to establish. I couldn't resist asking him what it was about the city that inspired so many talented and successful acts. The answer was surprising. "I get asked this question a lot. British hip-hop artists have always been making good music. There's good stuff coming out of Birmingham, Manchester, anything and everything's coming out of London, Liverpool's very productive at the moment. I suppose it's a fairly laid back, arty kind of place but there's nothing about Bristol which makes it unique from a musical point of view."

So there you have it, take it from one who knows. Maybe it's best to focus on the future.

"'Dream on Delay' is the next 12", and we're putting a couple of little mixes on that including a Break Reform mix. I've been making new tracks for a new EP, which is also coming out on Altered Vibes in February. We've picked up licences in Australia, France and America; we're going to be putting something out on Geoff Barrow's label, Invader, in Australia. We're also getting the live stuff ready for a tour in February, I could have done one this October but I'm a bit busy with other things at the moment. Hopefully we'll pick up some festivals going into next year, the Big Chill and things like that."

He says that the future looks bleak for the industry, but I doubt the same can be said for Hundred Strong. If "Basement Blues" is anything to go by, his live tour should be a showcase of solid, authentic chilled-out beats. Just don't ask him if he takes requests.

Review : 'CSA: The Confederate States of America'

2006-08-06T14:39:00.000Z

The docudrama bus rolls on apace with the release of Kevin Wilmott’s ‘CSA: Confederate States Of America’ – a film which attempts to examine American society from a fresh perspective by constructing an alternate timeline in which the South won the civil war.

After British and French intervention at the Battle of Gettysburg secures victory for the Confederate Army, southern institutions, businesses and families come to dominate American politics in the following years. After the slave economy is reinstalled in the northern states, the American government, in league with Hitler’s Germany, begins an imperialist campaign throughout the countries of South America. The Civil Rights movement is crushed following the assassination of JFK, leading to a popular uprising going into the 1990’s.

The most striking thing about this film is its style. It’s convincingly shot as a PBS documentary, complete with serious voice over, mock footage, phoney experts and ad breaks. It’s these moments, when products ranging from toothpaste to the latest shackles are peddled, which provide the most effective satire. The “Slave Shopping Network”, with its smiling presenters, streaming offers and product demonstrations seems lifted straight out of real life. CSA is infused with such moments to great effect. Unfortunately the rest of the film is not so sharp.

At times Wilmott’s manipulation of history is extremely clumsy. To take one example, America’s “new imperialism” is portrayed as a singular consequence of the confederate victory in the civil war – the fact that the antebellum government made a bid on Cuba in the years leading up to the war is not mentioned. More fundamentally, the notion of “cause and effect” upon which the story is based is highly questionable and often at odds with the abundant use of historical figures within the narrative. Why would the southern army rampage through the northern cities after their victory? Is it plausible that Henry David Thoreau would elect to live under a monarchy? Does the Elvis phenomenon make sense when not set against the backdrop of post-war America? And how can the presence of Jack Kennedy be explained when in actual fact the black vote was crucial to his 1960 election victory? The film feels very unhistorical, and for me that proved enough for its strong points to be somewhat undermined.

But then, I must remember that this is a film not about the past, but a film about America today. And indeed, in an age when absolutist morals are back on the political agenda, it made for eye-opening, sometimes chilling viewing. In this world, the NAACP is an organisation which, with echoes of fox news punditry, is described by one of the film’s central characters as “terrorists, pure and simple”. There are other allusions to controversial aspects of America under the present administration, including the Mexican border wall and the war in Iraq. There’s plenty to entertain the Bush basher here, and for many that will be enough.

Unfortunately for the viewer, the film increasingly tubthumps whilst failing to persuade, so that by the end we’re buried beneath a pile of stale sentiment. It’s a shame, because the idea is such an interesting one and the attempt is made with some style, but ultimately, a lack of substance makes what should have been an important, great film into a moment of passing interest.

The Closing Door

2006-08-01T23:52:00.000Z

A few Fridays ago I decided to head to Pam Pam in Bristol with two friends for a few drinks. Although there was no queue outside, we were turned away by the stoic door staff who, when pressed, muttered something about the fact that we were all male. I told this story to the management, who explained that the door staff were simply adhering to their door policy; “Sometimes we don’t let groups of men in to balance out the numbers. It’s something [the door staff] like to do, because you don’t want one woman to seven men inside the club.” She added that they had never experienced any trouble coming from admitting groups of men, so it seems that the policy is in place to maintain a sophisticated ambience inside the venue. It seems that my friends and I just happened to turn up at the wrong time. Such a practice is typical at venues with pretensions of exclusivity.

Perhaps I shouldn’t complain. Access is arbitrarily denied to innocent clubbers every weekend, throughout the country, even at venues known for the inclusive attitude. Last year the attention of the liberal media fixed on the case of two lesbians who were turned away from Soho’s G.A.Y. club because, they were told, they didn’t “look dyke enough”. There was a modest outcry, and Peter Tatchell’s OutRage! gay rights campaign group voiced its concern. Looking back now, David Allison, a spokesman for the organisation, expresses only bemusement.

“It was very unusual, which was why it attracted such a lot of publicity at the time. G.A.Y, like anywhere else, is out to make money, and you don’t make money by turning away punters on the door… in reality, we rarely get complaints from people who were turned away because they look too gay, or too straight, or whatever. What happened to the two lesbians was exceptional.”

Perhaps the story of those two unfortunate women just shows that all it takes to ruin your night is one bouncer in a bad mood. The moment you join the queue, you capitulate to the whim of the guys at the door with black coats and walkie talkies, whether you like it or not. It remains the managements legal right to refuse entry, a fact often repeated when allegations of mistreatment are made by customers.

In September 2005 the Revolution bar in Edinburgh successfully deflected allegations of racism on the door when a British born Chinese student, Michael Lee, complained after being told by door staff that the venue was admitting “no Chinese tonight”. Two Edinburgh councillors championed Mr Lee’s case, pointing to similar incidents at the venue and calling for swift and appropriate action to be taken. A spokesperson for Luminar Leisure, which owns Revolution, defended the doormen’s actions in a statement to the Scotsman newspaper by explaining that they were in response to a violent incident involving over 30 Asian youths in the club earlier in the week. She highlighted the fact that when Lee was being turned away 30 Asian people were inside the venue, before making it clear that the powers of the management to refuse entry to anyone suspected of causing disruption or antisocial behaviour remain protected by law.

That being said, the privilege of the management extends only so far. There are limits to what is acceptable, and the law serves equally to protect us against discrimination and harassment. The Race Relations Act is one piece of legislation which exists for that purpose, and is strictly enforced by the Commission for Racial Equality. Despite this, indicators are that unfairly discriminative door policies along racial or ethnic lines are widely employed throughout the leisure industry.

There are watchdogs in place to safeguard against such behaviour and the first port of call for those who decide to speak out is often the local regional Racial Equality Council. Anne Matin, from the Norfolk and Norwich REC, explains their role. “We help clients to take their complaints to the civil courts when they feel they have been discriminated against, not just in cases where access has been denied but also if they have been mistreated when inside the club. Racial harassment is actually a criminal offence, and we refer those cases on to the police for consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service.” Matin is herself currently monitoring closely several such cases being brought against well-known venues in Norwich, and explains that racism on the door remains a serious concern. “We have been dealing with cases like this for over ten years since we started our “Not In Norwich” initiative… It’s still a very serious matter, because the UK is developing more of a leisure culture all the time. I don’t think some venues realise how seriously people take this issue.”

It is regrettable that such complaints are made against clubs and bars every single week. A proportion of these are of course unwarranted, but too many are made legitimately, after real offence has been caused and real upset felt. Nightclubs should be places where we can let our guard down, relax, socialise, and have fun. From the industry’s point of view, it makes no sense to discriminate against social groups. With competition within our expanding bar culture hotter than ever, venues can ill afford to write off entire sections of the market. It is simply prejudice, exercised by individuals, which keeps turning us away.

No, Thanks

2006-08-01T00:05:00.000Z

There’s an advert on television at the moment which deserves mention. It features the Kodak art gallery (which, as was explained in a preceding spot, is a wonderful, magic place where President Kennedy landed on the moon and the civil rights movement graduated from college, or something), wherein a fat man helps an impossibly innocent ginger kid to a new type of automated photo kiosk.

During the advert the fat man asks the kid if he wants any help three times. At each step the value of the relationship between the two characters is increased. First, the kid can’t do up his shoelaces. So the fat man sides up to him, and from the corner of his mouth asks him, “do you want some help?”. The audience’s deduction is that the man has seen the kid trying to do up his shoelaces and, remembering how much trouble he had with the same problem when he was small boy, is empathising with him in a room full of indifferent, busy adults. Then the fat man ties the boy’s laces for him. It’s a touching fraternal gesture.

After that we see the boy waddling across the polished wooden floor with a big black crate that is just slightly too big for him to carry. Suddenly, the man is behind the boy once again offering help, and the offer is once again accepted. Fulfilling a paternal obligation, the man takes the heavy burden from the boy, who quickly scampers away, full of joy. The fat man watches the boy run as he bends to lift the crate, and murmurs that it’s “ok”. At this point the recording level is turned so high on the fat man’s microphone that it sounds to the audience as if he’s physically very close; almost as if he’s talking directly into their ears.

Finally, the boy reaches the impressive, high tech kiosk and the purpose of the crate is revealed – he is too small on his own to place the card into the machine. One final time the man asks the kid if he wants help. The kid looks into his face and says “Nah, I think I got it”. We’re shown in close up how easy the machine is to use as a picture of the boy’s dog emerges from the slot. “Hey, great picture!” says the fat man, a touch patronising but full of warmth. “Thanks!” says the boy, pleased that he’s earned recognition from his new friend. Another happy story in the Kodak art gallery is drawn to a close.

The central message of this advert is clearly intended to be that the new photo kiosk is childsplay to use for customers, but it’s obvious what’s really going on here. The fat man is Kodak, and the boy is us, the prospective customer. The basic assumption is that we are ignorant and confused, so we need reassurances and reminders as to where to spend our money. In this case, the benevolent conglomerate just happens to wrapped up in the character of a condescending, obese, white American man.

Presumably, some people will find this advert cute and touching, and be inspired to trust Kodak in their new line of products and services. Conversely, some will take this advert as hard evidence of the swaggering self righteousness of a bloated company that’s sitting on an assured market and entertaining the delusional notion that it gives customers more than simply the functional, temporary, empty, costly thing that it’s selling.

I wonder where they found their test audience.

The Bad Boy of Stately Homes

2006-07-30T20:39:00.000Z

Despite being hedonistic, tremendously wealthy and one of the most renowned womanizers in history, in many ways it wasn’t easy being King George IV. From a relatively young age he suffered from extremely painful gout. He was also inclined to fall in love with the wrong sort of woman. One of these was Mrs Fitzherbert who, as a Catholic, was strictly off limits in the eyes of the law. His solution to these two problems? In 1786 he set up a hideaway in Brighthelmstone on the south coast, where he could enjoy the health benefits of salt water baths and some privacy, far away from the talking shop of the Royal Court in London. And so began the modern history of Brighton and the construction of its famous Pavilion.

Originally, the Royal Pavilion was a simple rented farmhouse. As the Prince grew fonder of his little cubby hole, he decided to expand it to include all the creature comforts that a person of his disposition was used to. After all, what’s a holiday home without acres of land, an enormous polished glass dome and a riding school? He hired two famous master craftsmen, Henry Holland (who had trained under Capability Brown and designed vast tracts of Kensington and Chelsea) and William Porden (the Royal Assessor who went on to reconstruct Eton Hall) to thus transform the modest house into a grand palace.

When he redesigned the palace between 1815 and 1822, John Nash (architect of Buckingham Palace and Marble Arch, amongst much else) kept and expanded the Indian touches of the original building. Ornate walkways, domes and minarets came to entirely dominate the exterior design. In an interesting reaction to the classicism that defined the contemporary Regency style, Islamic and Moghul influences ran riot through the interior, creating magnificent, distinctly Chinese and Indian living spaces. If such a thing were possible, the Pavilion would be the rebellious bad boy of English stately homes.

In 1866 the dome was given up as a manor house and converted into an opulent concert hall; the most fashionable and well healed cultural venue in the south of England. Later, during the First World War, it was used as a hospital for injured Indian servicemen, the familiar surroundings presumably being considered of some health giving, calming benefit.

Weather-beaten and crumbling going into the 20th Century, the Pavilion was given a major refit in 1935. The interior was almost completely restyled along art-deco lines. The biggest names in entertainment, such as Paul Robeson and Richard Tauber, were once again attracted to the stage at the dome. The art deco interior was faithfully and comprehensively restored during its most recent refit in 2002.

Today, the Pavilion is looking more splendid than ever in its history, with the integrity of both the Grade 1 listed Regency exterior and the 1930s Grade 1 listed interior skillfully maintained. The site is both an important historical landmark and a working public space, complete with a museum, educational facilities, top of the range concert venue, theatre and exhibition space. Not bad going for a 220 year old.