B EXCLUSIVE
CONTENTS Sum up 2018 01-06 Snowflake Interview 07-09 Old and gold Bonus 10 Poems 11-13 Upcoming movie 14 Old and Gold 15-16
amazon Rainforests 17-18 Wolf 19-20 PAT STRICKSON
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DENMARK 23 ELF REVIEW 24 ITALIAN WOMEN 20-21 Contributions and more 22
Sum Up Over 300 women working in the Hollywood industry launched an organisation called ‘Time’s up’ to fight sexual harassment in all workplaces celebrities, such as Natalie Portman, Eva Longoria and Emma Stone, wrote a letter addressed to all females suffering injustices. The Queen made an unannounced visit to the catwalk of British designer Richard Quinn, sitting next to Anna Wintour, Vogue editor.
January
Their initiative is to collect donations to assist women, who have been mistreated. They are also working on a law that will sue companies if they remain tolerant to the presence of sexual misconduct towards women.
February
She was there to give the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design for an ‘exceptional talent and originality.’
2018 Survivors of the school shooting in Florida, that saw 17 people dead in February, organised the ‘March for Our Lives’ rallies where US citizens would protest against gun violence. Over 800 rallys took part all over the US.
March
The public manifestation was funded by citizens as well as from many celebrities such as the Clooneys, Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.
“There will be no more war on the Korean peninsula” as a “new era of peace” will begin. The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953, ending with an armistice; a peaceful agreement between the two countries was never reached.
April
The North-Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South-Korean leader Moon Jaein decided to shake hands at the border between the two countries before respectively crossing the border.
Sum Up Marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
May Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in Windsor Castle, becoming, respectively, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The ceremony was held by the archbishop of Canterbury in St George’s Chapel welcoming around 600 people.
21st FIFA World Cup won by France.
June
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was held in Moscow, Russia, being the first World Cup ever held in Eastern Europe and also the most expensive one, as $14.2 billion was spent. Panama and Iceland participated for the first time ever in a World Cup.
2018 Starbucks implements a plasticstraw ban. The company decided to instead provide a straw-less lid or straws of paper or compostable plastic.
July
Starbucks is the first beverage and food company of such popularity, to make this huge change to help reduce the plastic waste in the environment, especially in oceans.
NASA launched a spacecraft, Parker Space Probe, which will complete the mission of ‘touching’ the sun for the first time. NASA’s first mission to the Sun.
August
The spacecraft is, approximately, the size of a small car and its purpose is to “revolutionise our Starbucks announced that it won’t provide, by understanding of the Sun’s corona” as NASA 2020, plastic straws in more than 30,000 of its posted in its blog stores across the world. This will widen our knowledge about the mechanisms of the movements of energy and heat in the Sun’s corona.
Sum Up The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad. Both of them have fought “to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war”.
September American television show ‘Queer Eye’ gets a revival, with four new stylists, and is broadcast on Netflix, with a second season underway for 2019.
October
Mukwege is a gynaecologist who dedicated his life to assisting abused women, the majority of them by soldiers as they come from conflict zones. Murad was held as a slave by ISIS and, after she escaped, she told her story in memoirs and became a human rights activist.
Nobel Peace Prize
2018 Khashoggi was a journalist working for the Washington Post and was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He had been campaigning for ‘Democracy in the Arab World Now’ (DAWN) where his interests were focused on countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
November Spice Girls announced a new tour in UK stadiums taking place in summer 2019. The group will be performing without Victoria Beckham due “to her business commitments”. The dates will be opened by artist Jess Glynne and will take place in Manchester, Coventry, Sunderland, Edinburgh, Bristol and London.
Time Magazine dedicates its ‘Person of the Year’ 2018 award to journalists for speaking out against injustice
December
Time Magazine recognised the important position of this job, particularly during a year where the news of the Khashoggi killing was of major importance. Selected were different journalists who were killed throughout the year for telling the truth and one of them was dedicated to Khashoggi, the first person to receive the title posthumously.
By Yasmine Moro-Virion
Helping the Homeless ABBY WILLCOCKS AND ZOE PEPPITT
The Snowflake Night Shelter, a local homeless organisation, established over a decade ago in the winter of 2005, thrives not only to eradicate the rate of homelessness in Hastings and St Leonards, but also to take care of those in need and help them on their way to a better, more fulfilling life. With the rate of homelessness up by 54% from 2017 we were interested in finding out more about this important and relevant issue. We met Lesley on what can only be described as the wettest, windiest and greyest day of the year so far. We sat down to ask her some questions about the work she does with Snowflake. What kind of people use the shelter? “They can either be rough sleepers or sofa surfers,” she explained. Lesley then pointed out that at the moment there are 42 people living in Hastings as rough sleepers, devastatingly, just a few
a place to stay and eat each morning.he still often comes back to share a meal with them in the evening, showing Lesley’s determination to keep her guests healthy. When asked Lesley said the one thing was that she wanted people to know about their guests, was that, “They are humans, they are like you and me, they are people who have fallen on tough times, and not necessarily because of their own fault.” Too often the public create their own misconceptions of why people are where they are in life, too often we judge those around us who are not like us, and yet, do we know them? Do we know what battles they have fought? What hardships they have undergone? The answer is quite simply, no. Lesley pointed out that, “It could be you who is in that situation.”
‘There are 42 people living in Hastings as rough sleepers’
years ago it was only 3, “So a big difference,” she said.
Lesley talked us through what her role as Project Supervisor entails. One of her main responsibilities is interviewing the guests in order to ensure they meet the correct criteria. “There are some people we can’t accept such as sex offenders, arsonists. People can’t come in if they have pets; there are quite a few that we can’t take because of their dependency on drugs, or they are violent,” she explained. Once they have been interviewed and if they meet the criteria, they are able to use one of Snowflake’s seven accommodation venues for up to 28 days. We learned that after this period, they find that they begin to work with other organisations and agencies that help them move on. One of the cases behind the guests that Lesley told us about was two young girls who had been sleeping outside of a police station. They started to stay at the Snowflake Shelter about halfway through the winter, and both ended up with a place at the YMCA. Another, she told us proudly, had been a long term rough sleeper, relying on the shelter every year, who had managed to get a place at a local B&B, giving him
“It could be you who is in that situation.”
Lesley explored the impressions given to those of the street community who, “have accommodation but they don’t work; it’s better for them to go and sit out begging, because that will pay for their drugs or their drink or maybe they can’t work. They’re the ones you’ll see hanging around on street corners,” she explained. Lesley spoke passionately about their guests, as she commented that, “If you came into our shelter and everyone was just sitting around a table and none of the volunteers had name tags on, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
need an address to get a job – it’s a vicious circle.” One of the most enlightening things she told us was that only 1% of all private landlords in Eastbourne will take someone on benefits.
Lesley’s love for her organisation really came through when describing the atmosphere of the shelter. She explained, “It’s just so fun and relaxed.” She paused and smiled before adding, ‘We try to make it as light hearted as possible.” She explained to us about the community, and how they sit in the evening having a hot meal and playing games, aiming to make the experience of the shelter homely, and the beginning of their journey, getting off the streets. It’s hard for them, she explained, “You need a job to get a house, you
She went on to share the commitment she has to her guests. She does what she can to support them and pay an interest in their day. She paused and then expressed her concerns for their health, and that they, “Try and support them and make sure they’re clean and healthy so that they can keep going around.”
One of the guests at the shelter reported that, “Volunteers make you feel like a person again.” She looked pleased about the effect her work was having, then explained that, “It’s just the little things that you feel,” such as waiting for the day someone comes in asking for “a cup of tea, please,” is what makes all the difference for her, and why she continues what she does each day.
Lesley described when the opportunity to join this community came up she eagerly said, “That’s the one I want.” Her dedication to the organization since she joined is inspiring as she described the job as being “exhausting.” She admitted that, “It is 24/7 getting it up and running at this time of year.” However, it is when, “Someone says that they have now got somewhere to stay, or when they thank you for having somewhere so nice to be able to be warm for the night and have a sleep,” that is what makes it worth it. “It is brilliant and so uplifting,” she proudly concluded. Although the Snowflake Night Shelter has had many developments over the last year, including a greater awareness of the charity, more donations, more staff and helping 24 people to move off the streets, they are still looking for volunteers and donations. Students over 18 are able to help, Lesley told us enthu-
siastically, by volunteering, helping make dinner and putting up beds, as well as the morning shift, preparing breakfast and packing the van. She also explained that students under 18 can help in other ways: they are unable to accept food donations, therefore they are looking for donations such as new socks, new underpants, or a Tesco’s card, or instead possibly fundraising. As Lesley prepared to go out again into the pouring rain, we thought about all the guests who were hoping to find shelter that evening, and the struggles they face. Without organisations such as Snowflake, there would be even more vulnerable people on the streets.
www.snowflake-nightshelter.org.uk
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A Century of Anecdotes
‘I remember being washed in front of a tin-bath in front of the fire; of course, we had no electricity then, only gaslighting and oil lamps. This was in Yorkshire. Every boy went down those mines. I refused, and went away to grammar-school in 1929.’ ‘I remember hearing Chamberlain declaring war HENRY, BORN 1918 on the wireless. I was sixteen, and we were living in Shoreham at the time. When the sirens went off to be tested, I ran around the garden picking my cats, because of course I didn’t want them to be bombed.’ DOROTHY, BORN 1923
‘We had a Morrison shelter, under the kitchen table, and we all had to fit in there so we didn’t get crushed. I remember after a bad raid, looking down the street toward Peckham Rye, and it was all gone, everything.’ GLADYS, BORN 1929
‘I can remember watching the first bombs falling over Bexhill. Would’ve been about 1940, I think. You never knew if they’d miss or hit you. Amhurst Road was completely destroyed.’
My earliest memory was the Christmas of 1923. I had scarlet-fever; of course, it was much more serious then. I was five, they had a Father Christmas come round the wards. He got his suit caught on a candle, went right up in flames. Had to be stomped out. HENRY, BORN 1918
MILDRED, BORN 1924
Poetry Competition 3rd
Eyes for the Betrayer Watching, watching the horizon for her slender figure is all thine eyes could do. Her elongated shadow that stealthily roams the night all in the month of June. On Hallows Eve she is there, making her presence known with her almighty stare. She broke thine heart and now my eyes watch closely for the betrayer.
I never thought of what I would do if I ever saw her again, I only thought of the dignity lost when her presence left once more. Let light infiltrate the horizon, let darkness all be lost. When she appears thine eyes will see and then betrayer or not, my mind will lose the plot. I make myself turn away, as there is nothing for me now, but my eyes will always be there only for that one person‌ Eyes for the betrayer.
Kaia Lonergan
In the Dark
2nd
As the light of the grey day faded to leave, only total darkness the snow began to fall so thick you’d freeze, until the lamps were lit with matches held by shaking fingers, illuminating the dull trenches filled with near-dead ringers. The eve was cold; it was as if a cloak laid by the north and south had stifled all life, but left the hoax that life still existed in the devil’s mouth. No man should be made to wade through mud, snow and swathes of bodies rotten, no man should suffer the lack of life’s bud, but these men knew hell, their comforts forgotten, they followed the orders of generals on high, ‘for King and Country’ was the supposed reason, to fight against humans, their very own kind, for to do anything else would be considered treason. These men, who knew the secret hell, did not question. The cyclic blast of shell after shell, seemed to herald a bastion. These men carried their equipment and weapons, but these were nothing compared to the burden of their duty, they knew it ended in Heaven, the place which they’d earned in service for certain. As for the light faded dim, they knew their fate was sealed, yet they accepted the fact, however grim, and pushed on through the battlefield. As the light of day faded low, they waited for the mark, when they heard the whistle blow, they greeted death as a friend in the dark.
by Liam Walsh
1st
My Never - Ending Page Can you feel it? We’re connected, But our heart is transparent like invisible string, I’ll say that I miss you, But it won’t fill up my empty heart tonight, I will always support you even if you don’t know me and I don’t know you in this life, But my heart is crying out like a thunderstorm, saying that I miss you, but why, I talk to the navy-blue sky stars and make a promise with it, I search for your star when I cry out in silent, I will keep on walking no matter how harsh the road gets for me, But the pretty words which you left, Have become an encrypted sign in my heart, I want to fill the page of this story that isn’t over yet, Until the very end of my life. Rosemariya Shaji
Upcoming Movies TOY X-MEN: Dark Phoenix Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) debuts in her first solo movie. In this film, Jean spirals out of control after facing a very powerful foe with the
rest of her team the X-Men. When Jean faces a near death experience the X-Men once again come together to save her.
STORY
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Woody and his friends are back again for another adventure, however this time they are joined by a new character Sporky (Tony Hale).
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Written and directed by Queatin Tarantino this all star cast movie will be much like his other classics, this film will take us back to a time when chilling murder occured in Hollywood. Leonardo Dicapro and Brad Pitt will, for the first time, share screen time.
Charlie’s Angels
DUMBO Disney are back at it again with a another live action remake of one of its most classic films. Dumbo will hit cinemas in march 2019 this time with an all new cast and darker take
on the much loved tale. The film will actually begin at Dumbo taking his first flight in the circus, where the original film ended.
Hitting the UK cinemas on September 29th this year, the reboot will feature an all new cast. Kristen Stewart (Twilight), Naomi Scott (Power Rangers) and Ella Balinska.
Elizabeth Banks (hunger Games) not only directed the film but will feature alonside her cast. Noah Centineo (Netfilx star) and Sam Caflin (Hunger Games) are also to star in the film, but it looks like we will all have to wait till June 7th to find out more.
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Nicholas pictured in uniform, circa 1942, and in 2018
T
he past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.’ A century ago, the world was a different place. The war was still lingering in those affected, and was even influencing fashion; corsets, for example, had been abandoned to aid the shortage of metal on the Front. Women could finally vote, motorcars were still in their infancy, and penicillin was a decade from discovery. Few today can remember such a time, but I had the pleasure of meeting a few who do. One such man is Nicholas Sofroniou. Born on April 10th, 1920, in the Cypriot village of Vathilagas, Nicholas remembered
vividly the beauty of his homeland; a cluster of villages in the midst of rural Cyprus. However, the waterfalls, he said, have since dried up. Despite his age, his memory has little altered. In his early childhood, he was sent to a monastery, to be introduced to the Orthodox Church, and remembered the urbanisation of the island, himself helping with the construction of the main hospital in the capital, and the road network connecting the island, during theTwenties. Belonging to a family of peasant-farmers, he, like many, was illiterate. Aged seven, his mother forced him to attend a small school nearby. He refused, but with the threat of her stick, he con-
ceded, and made the trek barefoot, as they hadn’t the expense for shoes, to a neighbouring village for basic education. His first memory, he said, is a classmate being whipped with a thorned vine for stealing fruit from the orchard. Evidently, punishment was a little more strict in 1927, and child-welfare an afterthought. When he reached school-leavingage, he set his books alight.
At the time, Cyprus was largely undeveloped. Nicholas and his family grew up in primitive poverty, in a house built by hand, from stone and mud. It had just one room, with a chimney and a fire to cook. For lighting, a single paraffin lamp; he didn’t see electricity until he arrived in England. His longevity may be largely as a result of his Mediterranean diet, which he continues to stick with today; black-eyed beans, homemade bread, olives, and an abundance of fruit and vegetables. He flatly refuses to use a microwave. He told me of his childhood friend, a donkey, which he talked to, which
understood him ‘better than people’. Each day, he walked miles to collect water from a natural deposit, and aged just fourteen, would load a donkeycart and travel alone over the mountain to collect wheat to grind. However, in 1938, his life was altered forever. To pay his father’s mounting debts, he was sent to England on a collected fund from other villagers, and told to send back wages to provide for his family. His father had borrowed five pounds to get married, but could not afford the interest. He remembered the night before, an enormous party was held to bid him good-
Soon came the conscription letters, which were ignored. Before long, a policeman arrived, and threatened to arrest him. To this, he replied, ‘What does Hitler want with me?’ After negotiating, he ended up working on a farm to help the war effort. It was during this time that he met his wife, Anneliese, who sadly passed in 2014. ‘I’m going to marry you.’ he said, upon first meeting, but she was not so enthusiastic. ‘He’s not right in the head,’ she said, and walked away. But his persistence worked, and by 1943, the two were married. Before long, he was drafted to work in a prisoner-of-war camp, near Essex. He lied about
his ability to speak Italian during the job interview, so took himself to the library every night and was sufficient within a week. He grew close to the prisoners, and insisted on taking them home for Christmas. ‘I promised I’d take them back,’ he said, ‘I promised, and they came back, and we had the loveliest time.’ In 1945, Britain was victorious, and the conflict drew to a close. ‘I had nothing to do when the war ended, what should I do now?’ he said. ‘So, I thought, I’ll go and learn Spanish.’ And this, he did, adding a fifth to his repertoire. Two children followed, and a successful career in osteopathy, Chinese medicine
bye, a ‘bittersweet gesture’. Evidently, he’d gotten the wrong end of the stick, believing that he was going to America. Upon arrival at the London Docklands, he said it was ‘the biggest disappointment of my life’. Suddenly finding himself in a city of nearly nine million, it was an isolating experience. He had nowhere to go, and only two ha’pennies in his pocket; ‘the poverty was just as bad’ he said, ‘and the Empire dirt-poor.’ The train-stations were filthy, and parts of the city were still slum-ridden, particularly the East End, which was Dickensian. With the outbreak of war, Nicholas and acupuncture, which he continues to practise today. He’s very adept at palmreading, follows a strictly Mediterranean diet, is a wonderful gardener, but more importantly, his positivity is immediately apparent. Despite growing up in poverty, he speaks so fondly of his childhood, of a simpler time. His memory is absolutely remarkable, and he is a joy to converse with. After my interview, which lasted almost three hours, and filled almost an entire notebook, I got up to leave, and asked NIcholas what he was going to do next. He thought for a moment, and said, profoundly, ‘I think I’ll take a nap, actually.’
recalled flocking to the Underground at night, where there was live entertainment, and the children would sleep in hammocks slung between the tracks, while the adults lined along the platform. He even remembered seeing a double-decker Routemaster bus being blown across the street in Mornington Crescent, through the walls of a boarding house. Eventually, he landed a job as a waiter in the five-star Browns’ Hotel, near Claridge’s, on twenty-eight shillings a week. With no elevators, their feet would bleed and sprain through walking up and down the stairs constantly. BENJAMIN NORRIS with thanks to NICHOLAS SOFRONOIU
The T
he Amazon is a tropical rainforest located on the continent of South America. The majority of the rainforest grows in Brazil however the rainforest also spans across the borders of Columbia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana (an overseas territory). The Amazon most likely formed in the early Eocene epoch and is estimated as 55 million years old and at this time covers approximately 2.13 million square miles. The Amazon is maintained by two main occurrences: its water cycle where water is drawn through the roots of plants and released back into the atmosphere in a process called evapotranspiration and also the transportation of 240 million tonnes of nutrient rich sand taken by the wind from the northern part of the Sahara Desert of which roughly 55 million tonnes reach the Amazon each year.
Rainforest
By Kireon Moore
Forests like the Amazon are not just homes to animals and plants, they are providers of an almost infinite variety of resources. The Amazon produces 20% of the planet’s oxygen and 1/5 of the world’s fresh water. For those into the latest tech and modern lifestyle accessories, you may believe that the rainforest does not provide or affect much of your life. However, you are wrong. A range of fruits, nuts, herbs and spices like bananas, vanilla, sugar, avocado and Brazil nuts are primarily grown in rainforests.
Did you ever wonder where your table, chest of drawers or doors came from? Teak, mahogany, rosewood, balsa and sandalwood are just a few popular woods that are used and found in abundance within the rainforests. Cleaning, cosmetics and other everyday products also have ingredients and chemicals refined from rainforests such as oils, gums, resins, rubber production (these are based on sap taken from trees), fuel, paint, varnish, soap, shampoo, perfume, disinfectant and detergents. Most important of all is the rainforest provides many medical resources through plants with natural chemicals, oils and resins that can help reduce complaints such as inflammation, rheumatism, diabetes, muscle tension, surgical complications, heart conditions, skin diseases. They can also help those with arthritis and one day could lead to the cure for Parkinson’s and cancer.
The Amazon is the most biodiverse habitat on earth containing an estimated 2.5 million insect species, 40,000 plant species, 205 bird species, 3000 varieties of fruit, 16000 tree species, 400 mammal species, 400 amphibian species and a quarter of a million people. This accounts for over half of the world’s animal population. According to stone points, pottery and fertilisers the indigenous people known as Indians (named by Portuguese explorers when Brazil was discovered in April 1500) settled in the Amazon rainforest as far back as 11,000 years ago, migrating from North America 12,00012,500 years ago. When the first Europeans arrived in the regions, original estimates place the population at around 100,000. However, diseases like influenza, cholera and even measles (brought over by the western settlers) gave a mortality rate of 87% and the introduction of slavery and conflicts between western settlers and the native tribesmen reduced the population still further. At present, the population is distributed over 400-500 tribes of which around 50 remain uncontacted by the outside world. There are a few nomadic tribes but most prefer to stay in a village where they grow some crops, although they mostly rely on hunting and gathering. The hunter-gatherers use naturally occurring poisons like curare to tranquilise animals by smearing small amounts on the ends of spears and arrows.
Despite an infinite variety there is only a finite quantity of trees and due to deforestation the rainforest could disappear in a little over 40 years. Before roads and highways formed it was mainly local farmers and land owners who chopped down trees for fire wood, and agricultural land (primarily crops and small pastures). This was not to last. After the trans-Amazonian highway (traversing 4000km of ground) was built on September 27 1972 many of the obstacles around transporting lumber through thick undergrowth were removed which allowed more parts of the Amazon to become accessible to large scale business. By the year 2000 trees were being cut down on a large scale at an alarming rate for cattle ranches, towns, minerals and many of the products mentioned above. Already
If the rainforest were to disappear, so would a lot of the products we use. Imagine a world where soap, shampoo and chocolate is sold at a premium and can only afforded by the rich. We would not have enough fresh water or clean air as the Amazon contains a large depository of carbon dioxide. This is used in photosynthesis to produce oxygen which would then raise the temperature possibly melting the polar ice caps. The resulting rise in the water level would cover a large percentage of the lower ground of our already overcrowded planet. Although this is just speculation, what is not speculation is the importance of the Amazon rainforest and its preservation. So please where you can recycle as much as possible and waste as little as possible. If you wish you can even buy acres of the Amazon which would then be added to the animal reserve set up by the World Land Trust. Every £100 is one acre of rain-
forest saved.
Just visit Worldland Trust Buy an Acre protects threatened dry forest in Ecuador
‘20% of the rainforest has been lost in just under 50 years.’
Pat Strickson
The author of “Time Stood Still In A Muddy Hole” came into college to share her thoughts on becoming a writer and to discuss what her newly released book was about. By Seb Pyka & Matt Andrews So who was John Hannaford, the subject of Pat’ s book? Pat enthusi-
astically launched into her explanation: “I discovered a painting of a local landmark in a charity shop and when I took it to the framers I found out that it had belonged to a local war hero. John was very charismatic and in an interview with the Imperial War Museum he actually sounded very lively despite his age.” Pat laughed. “He was a bomb disposal officer and was told during his first day that he would only have 10 weeks’ life expectancy fulfilling this job. Later, he rose up through the ranks and became a lieutenant. However, he was never allowed to talk about his work as it was feared that it would cause a decrease in morale. He even saw his mentor killed. He survived but 350 of his colleagues didn’t and he believed that they had been forgotten. I wrote the book Time Stood Still In A Muddy Hole to make sure that the bomb disposal officers were not forgotten. John did not think he was a hero and only used that term to describe the 350 men that lost their lives when trying to defuse bombs. He died on Armistice Day 2015; he was 98.”
We wondered what relationship John Hannaford had with his family members. Pat explained his daughters gave her permission to access all of John Hannaford’s notes. The number of notes he had written about his job as a bomb disposal officer was incredible; they were all over cereal packets or in notebook margins. It must have been hard trying to understand each one! After the war his family didn’t know what John’s role had been until Bonfire Night one year when he spoke to his daughter about his work as he tried to stop a lighted firework from exploding. He also told his daughter at the end of this life that he was all “bomb disposaled out.”
What role did a bomb disposal officer have during WW2?
“We soon realised what a vital role these brave Royal Engineers had to play. When Winston Churchill commanded that the beaches should be cleared of bombs, they had to get the Royal Engineers involved very quickly as the police were not able to deal with such dangerous weapons. Most of the 350 bomb disposal experts were killed trying to find these mines, which often set off chain explosions; it was how one of the divisions died when clearing mines at a beach in South Wales”. Pat passionately pointed out that eight men were killed on that occasion and John Hannaford always wondered whether they would’ve died if he had been with them, as he was particularly careful and cautious.
Did Pat ever think she would become an author? Pat explained that as a teacher
and later head teacher at Pebsham School she had to write lots of reports; her favourite part was getting to the last page where she could write something about the child to their parents. But then she added, “I am not scared to write anymore. When I retired I never thought that I would become an author. I was determined to do everything that I could never have done with children including painting and creating patterns from glass.” Pat is certainly a very creative individual.
How was it writing a book? Pat laughed as she remembered how she would often write
through the night. “It took me two and a half years as I followed John’s story. I even went to Wales in order to look for bombs but I wasn’t sure whether they would like me looking for such items! I could not, however, find where Hannaford had been training as so much time had passed and records were constantly changing.” We were surprised at how committed Pat was and the lengths she had gone to in order to provide the most detailed account of John Hannaford’s story.
Did Pat have more books planned since her first had been so successful? Pat
smiled. “When I was a teacher I had a little boy who hated indoor school but loved getting out on the playground. He loved history and stories. One day I remember was when he had dressed up as a Saxon and was participating in a re-enactment of the 1066 battle.” The mother of the boy suggested that it would be a lovely thing if she could write a book about her boy meeting a Saxon. “So I am writing about a meeting between a modern Sussex boy and a Saxon boy. It’s a far-fetched scenario but the children never thought about it in that way. It was me who had to get over this hurdle.” Pat has a new and exciting chapter ahead in her writing career.
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THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW ABOUT
DENMARK
In Denmark all education is free; when you turn eighteen, the Danish state will pay you to study. The amount of money you are paid depends on your parents’ income, what type of education you’re in, or if you live at home or abroad. This money is meant to help you pay for any expenses that you may have while being a student. If you don’t live with your parents, it is meant to help cover your rent. Keep in mind that you have to pay taxes from your SU money and that Denmark is a country with very high taxes! Denmark is a very flat country! The tallest point is only 172.5 metres, and is called ‘Yding Skovhøj.’ Denmark is also a very small country, and you can never be further than fifty-two kilometres from the sea. In Denmark (and the rest of Scandinavia) there is something called ‘The Law of Jante’ or in Danish ‘Janteloven’. It’s a code of conduct, written by the Danish-Norwegian writer Aksel Sandemose in a novel where he portrays a Danish fictional town. The code of conduct prevents people from thinking too highly of themselves. There are ten rules in total, two of the being; ‘You’re not to think you are anything special’ and ‘You’re not to think you are good at anything.’ The oldest amusement park in the world is located in Denmark and called ‘Bakken’ or ‘Dyrehavsbakken.’ ‘Bakken’ was founded in 1583, and is located ten kilometers outside Copenhagen. Did you know that Lego was invented by a Dane, called Ole Kirk Christiansen. The name LEGO is a combination of the two Danish works ‘leg’ and ‘godt’ which means ‘play well, and in the Danish city of Billund, there is the first legoland.
ME JOHANNE PETERSEN
Elf THE MUSICAL
If the acting hadn’t been any good, their well-coordinated, amazing choreographies and their singing would have saved the play. The dances were well put together and it was a pleasure to see how they were using the whole stage – there is nothing worse than seeing a play where the performers only use a little space on the scene – the dancing were well rehearsed, entertaining to watch and grabbed the audience attention. The music too was wonderful – not only because it filled the room with a festive spirit – but also because it was lovely to see how the performers stayed so well in character whilst singing. Especially the characters Buddy and Jovie who succeeded in making the songs humorous because of their gestures whilst singing and their facial expression; they had the audience
laughing multiple times. The way people moved on stage, how they used the scenery - jumping over chairs, throwing things and catching them was so flawless that you nearly forgot it was a play and not a taped programme. But luckily the choreographies and music did not need to save anything…The acting worked well and the lines were said with so much life that it had the audience laughing at a funny remark, but at the same time had them weeping when Buddy the Elf got rejected by his father. From large to small every role was remarkable. Every character had taken on an American accent, to match the setting of the story, and it was truly impressive that they were able to speak so clearly and comprehensibly and not break into their own accent. It was a true pleasure to watch the musical and I’m sure it left the audience, as it did me, in the right festive spirit all ready for Christmas.
Me Johanne Petersen
I’ve watched a couple of school plays in the past, but never a production like this! It was truly the most professional thing I have ever seen put together by a school.
3
MOST INFLUENTIAL ITALIAN WOMEN
Franca Sozzani
The first time I heard about
her was when I read her article in my mum’s Vogue magazine. Franca Sozzani was, in fact, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia from 1988 until 2016, when she died. She came from Mantua, in Northern Italy, which is the same part where I come from: I guess that this nearness made me feel closer to this inspirational woman.
Sozzani's career began as an assistant at the children's fashion magazine Vogue Bambini in 1976. Then she started working for the Italian edition of Vogue: ‘top fashion magazine in the world’. In the 1990s, Sozzani helped create the phenomenon of the supermodel with Steven Meisel, one of the most important photographers in the fashion industry. This helped her achieve the position of editor-in-chief in Condé Nast Italia. It’s admirable how she obtained these important roles in such a big and controversial industry.
She experienced the fashion industry in all of its forms, working as well for Vogue l’Uomo (The Man) and launching Vogue Curvy. With this last creation Sozzani demonstrated that she doesn’t see women beautiful only for their small sizes - as she contributed to the creation of the supermodel figure - but all females can be beautiful in their own way. My admiration for her is due also to her interest in topics which fashion magazines often avoided: she talked about serious issues, such as domestic violence, drug abuse and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. She wrote about things which she believed were worth reading about.
Sozzani became very famous but managed to not be blinded by her social status as she tried to help young people achieve their dreams. In fact, she said: “I think the Internet is great for the way it communicates but not necessarily for the way it provides opportunities. I see that many young people create blogs, which are interesting sometimes, but they have few users of their age and it ends up leading to nothing. It would be more interesting if those who have major sites helped these youngsters.” As a result, she created the project Who’s on Next, a contest to find and promote new Italian talents.
Rita Levi-Montalcini
She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor. She’s one of the most influential women in the world thanks to her scientific contributions.
Levi-Montalcini was born in Turin, in 1909, into a Jewish family. She considered becoming a writer, but after a close family friend died of stomach cancer, she decided to attend Medical School. Based on her experiences, she tried to find interest in something that would save peoples’ lives and for this I admire her. Even though her father discouraged his daughters’ education, as it would damage their potential as wives and mothers, he eventually supported their aspirations.
After graduating, she continued studying the nervous system, but her work was interrupted by Mussolini's laws barring Jews from professional careers. When the Germans invaded Italy in 1943, her family survived the Holocaust, under false identities, protected by some nonJewish friends. In her hiding place, she set up a laboratory in a corner of their shared living space which shows her determination and bravery.
After the liberation in 1946, Levi-Montalcini obtained a research fellowship at Washington University. It was there that she discovered the nerve growth factor. In 1986, Levi-Montalcini and collaborator Cohen received the Nobel Prize in Medicine. She was the fourth Nobel Prize winner to come from Italy's small Jewish community (fewer than 50,000 people). The next year she received the National Medal of Science, the highest American scientific honor. Upon her death (2012), the Mayor of Rome stated that she represented "civic conscience, culture and the spirit of research of our time." Italian astrophysicist Margherita Hack said in tribute to her death that "she is really someone to be admired" and I fully agree with her statement. She was born in 1964, in Bologna, the same city where she later graduated in 1993, at Accademia di Belle Arti, and began her career.
Sabrina Mezzaqui She’s a contemporary artist who has her works currently exhibited in Italy, China, France and Cuba. She tries to embody the passage of time and uses simple processes to create complicated pieces of art: it fascinates me how she combines these two oppositional concepts.
One of my favourite pieces is Le Parole tra noi leggere (The light Words between us) (2007) where she refers to Lalla Romano’s book by the same title, one of the most famous ones of 20th century Italian literature. The book focuses on the relationship between a mother and her son. The parent has this inner conflict as she wants her son to be independent, but she doesn’t know how to let go of her role as guiding mother. The art piece is composed by 500 folded origami – made with pages of Romano’s book – that are placed on a glass surface, suspended from the ceiling. She gives the words an artistic meaning by transforming them into projected images with the light illuminating the glass surface. In the majority of her pieces she involves this fascinating contrast of lightness and heaviness. We can see that the artist is heavily influenced by literature, as she combines written language with visual arts. To create her work Le Mille Gru (A thousand cranes) (1988), she covered the walls of MoMA PS1 (New York) with 999 paper cranes. She is recreating a popular children’s story by Karl Bruckner which talks about the tragic story of a Japanese girl trying to survive the nuclear contamination in Hiroshima by making 1000 cranes. Once made, all the cranes together will allow her to have a wish come true and hers was to survive, but she didn’t manage to fold all 1000 of them. The art piece leaves the story in a state of openness and a feeling of timelessness, as she does with most of her works.
Yasmine Moro Virion
Wolf
TALISIN WALLACE
A
hundred leaves covered the The sheep plodded along, travelling through the thicket floor, concealing any thicket towards food, hoping he would discover unearthed roots that may sustenance. He followed the trees, he followed threaten to trip up any unthe leaves and he followed his nose until, lying suspecting beast. The colours in a circle of bushes, a tuft of grass stood, each they bore were similar, akin to the bark of the blade standing as if no leaf had touched them. trees from which they fell, merely skeletons of The young sheep wasted no time and went to their former selves, their naked branches reach- work, skipping to the exposed turf and chewing ing into the weak blue sky. A carpet of orange on it without hesitation. and brown upon which stood the thin, fragile Suddenly, as he chewed, a rumble in the air scaffolds holding up a pale blue sky. It would distracted the sheep mid bite, freezing him in be winter soon, making food scarce and prey place. Raising his head, he nervously swallowed scarcer. The cycle upon which many beasts of the last of the grass, looking side to side to find the land sustained themselves on would become out what it was. To the right, there was nothing. thin and withered against its summer counTo the left, there was nothing. Merely bushes terpart. The landscape would accustom to the sat there. Behind him was clear too, as he had weather around it, much like the beasts. checked before entering the woods. The sound A rustling disturbed the thicket, leaves brushed came from dead ahead. from their resting places as two pairs of legs He looked forward, seeing nothing. Then a pair made their way over the brittle decay. In the of sharp, dagger-like eyes the colour of prehisdeafening silence of the wood, the commotion toric amber gleamed at him from the bush. The could be heard from a league away. From be- same rumble across the air began again, but this hind a bush, a black sheep appeared, trotting time it was louder and more akin to a growl. Bealong nonchalantly amidst the waving statues. fore he could escape, the wolf pounced on him The entire length of the creature were black, from behind the bush, pinning him down. The blacker than any coal or coke manufactured. animal tried to escape, but it was useless. It was all over soon.
“Stay safe, Tannin. I’ll be counting on you to keep the yard clear tonight, boy.� Tannin watched sleepily on as his Master rubbed his head one last time, before disappearing into the farmhouse. The Border collie stared at the foggy windowpanes, watching for signs of movement before giving up and settling down for the night.It had been a long day, of herding cows and sheep to their pens and fields. It had rained lightly during the afternoon, making the ground a slippery, muddy hazard. However, for now, Tannin had done his work, so he laid his head snugly in his paws, waiting for the night to pass. Another uneventful night would soon be over, the sheep nearby waiting patiently for the sun to rise. But something was not right. Despite his fatigue, Tannin was restless. No matter how hard he tried to calm down, thoughts and worries kept bouncing around his head. Agitation rose up, pushing him further from sleep than was bearable. Perhaps a stroll around the grounds would settle him, as it often did on long shifts. Departing from the warm glow of the farmhouse, Tannin slipped into the tight space between the fences and made for the fields ahead. The sun had completely set now, with only a few orange strands left in the darkening sky, but that did not deter Tannin. He followed along the path by the old wall, hopping over the ditch and finally made it to the fields. A surprising sight greeted him, as scattered across the field were the sheep, who had escaped from their housing. Milling around, they chewed at grass and mindlessly wandered about. It would not do to keep them out here, so Tannin set to work recapturing them, barking loudly to get their attention.
Making for the sheep furthest from the rest, a good distance away from any other beast. Tannin approached, cautiously. He was almost upon the sheep when he heard a rustling from a bush in the nearby thicket, a light brown fur covered paw stepped out of it. Recognizing the danger before it struck, Tannin sprinted to the sheep, bounding along the field as the wolf leapt towards it. Just as the wolf was almost upon the sheep, Tannin leapt at the wolf, tackling him from behind. A wrestle of snarling snouts and swiping claws ensued, the dog struggling to subdue the wolf without losing an eye. A paw thrust hard into his chest, pushing him away. Tannin landed on his side, quickly rolling back to his feet against the predator. Before him, the wolf stood with its paw raised, growling as it paced from left to right. The sheep had vacated the nearby area, opting to return to the shelter they had escaped from. Soon enough, the field was completed bare save for Tannin and the wolf, but it did not stay that way for long.
More wolves joined their injured friend, pressing on the dog with their swelling numbers. They pushed him back to the middle of the field, where five wolves outnumbered Tannin. Then they pushed him back to the end of the field, where the sheep dog let out a panicked bark. He hoped that someone heard that. A wall met Tannin’s rear, his tail pressed right up against the stones. He let out another panicked bark, and another, and another, until he was silenced by a wolf pouncing on him, pinning his snout to the ground. He twisted and turned, struggling to get free amidst a soup of growls and whimpers, but it was no use. He was stuck. With his energy spent, Tannin went limp, the struggle in each of his muscles ceasing. Then, the wolves before him parted, allowing a wolf with greying fur and worn eyes to enter. He looked down at the dog with weary eyes. Lowering his head to the ground, until their gazes were level. “Good evening, dog,” he began, slinking closer until his breath tickled Tannin’s nose, “Faring well?” “Don’t patronize me, wolf,” Tannin growled back, taken aback by the flawless communication from the predator. “You’ll pay for this.” “Ah, I apologize. The pack is quite desperate these days, as the cold is here, and good food is scarce. But since we have you, I’d like to make a proposition,” said the wolf. “I’m listening.” Tannin growled back. “If you lead us to where those sheep went, we will spare you.” “And if I refuse?” “Well, I expect you can assume what happens next,” he said, raising his head to the sky. In unison, the wolves around the grey fur began to growl before transitioning into a howl, the cry echoing across the growing night sky and traveling far. The moon was not even out and yet they howled until their lungs ran out. Then they turned back to Tannin. Tannin kept silent, mulling over the question in his head as he was looked on. He already knew what he was going to answer with, of course. He
was just stalling, waiting for a moment to escape. He just needed to be free, first. “Get off me and then I’ll answer,” he ordered, getting ready to flee. He stared intently at the grey fur, watching for minute movements of his eyes. When the old wolf spoke, the response was heavy with conviction. “No.” Tannin watched as the grey fur drew closer, his head lifted off the ground as his throat was exposed. The old wolf drew his snout close to the sheep dog, opening his maw to finish Tannin off. Suddenly, a bang startled the beasts, the grey fur recoiling and Tannin’s body dropping to the floor in a frightened panic. In sudden desperate fear, all the wolves fled the field in a sprint. In less than a minute, they had disappeared. Tannin picked himself up on wobbly legs and turned to the wall behind him, finding his Master there in his nightclothes and brandishing his gun in a secure grip. The barrel was still smoking by the time he had vaulted over the wall. “Are you okay Tannin? Did they hurt you?” he asked worriedly, putting a hand to the dog’s ear. In response, Tannin jumped up on him and began to lick his cheek, smothering him with his tongue. “Come on, let’s check on the flock. That bang will have scared the life out of them and we don’t want them escaping,” Master said, heading towards the sheep pen. Tannin moved to follow, but hesitated, facing the thicket with uneasy eyes. From the shadows cast by the trees, he imagined a slew of larger, more dangerous beasts stood waiting for the prey of the field, waiting for their opportunity to pounce. Dragging his gaze away from the shifting shapes of the wood, Tannin followed after his master, eager to finish his job and sleep at long last. From within the undergrowth an unblinking pair of dark amber eyes watched them leave…
Contributors Matthew Andrews Jemima Critchlow -Whittaker Coralie Louis Kaia Lonergan Kieran Moore Yasmine Moro Virion Benjamin Norris Zoe Peppitt Me Johanne Petersen Sebastian Pyka Rosemariya Shaji Talisin Wallace Tristan Wallace Liam Walsh Abigail Willcocks
Sarah Harris Catherine Bagley Katherine Rush Snowflake Shelter Pat Strickson Nicholas Sofroniou
Till next time.