We arrived last night in Bournemouth not knowing whether we were in the right place or not. But when we saw several 40 something men dressed all in black, with jet black died hair getting out of their cars we absolutely knew we had found the right place. Yes! They, like us, had travelled there to see the 53 year old music legend and hero Gary Numan.
The queue leading us into the venue was a mixture of Numan lookalikes, Goths, Mum’s and Dad’s with their teenage kids and all of us waiting with sheer excitement for this man who has continued through the years to put out album after album of brilliant music.
Once inside we found a brilliant little spot on the Balcony so that we could capture these wonderful moments on photographs. Standing next to us was another couple of our age with their Daughter who had travelled from Eastbourne. They were equally excited to be there and we chatted like old friends for a while, completely at ease in our mutual admiration for Gary Numan.
After the first Band, Jayce Lewis, who was also fab, the audience were cheerfully impatient and so much wanting this great man to take to the stage. Every now and again we could hear grown men shout “Nuuumannnn”, urging the star to take to the stage and end our ever increasing anticipation.
Clad in all in black, Gary took to the stage amidst a mystical darkness and sounds of deep pulsing bass-ey synthesiser sounds ……and I was immediately mesmerised and taken right back to my Numan school girl crush days. The wait was so worth it! He totally owned the stage throughout the concert and the look on my 15 year old sons face said it all…. “Awesome” he said and was so chuffed when Gary sang one of his favourite new songs ‘Haunted’ early on in the set.
Gary showed relentless energy on stage and gave us the most amazing performance that would have put a 23 year old to shame, let alone a man of his age at 53. Gary performed for one and half hours of what I would describe as atmospheric, raunchy, Gothic metal, synth style music that had all of us returning to our eternal youthfulness. He continued to wow us all every second of his time on stage. Somehow, I could only describe his ability to move to his music as sensual, as he reached up and slowly moved his body. It’s perhaps not how we would usually describe a man moving, but truly for those ladies who were there I am sure that they would agree! Though he has said in previous interviews that he wishes he was taller than his 5ft8 and a quarter, he definitely appeared larger than life on that stage with his presence. I was in awe of this musical genius and I know I wasn’t the only one as I glanced across at my partner standing next to me with a beam from ear to ear all evening. Gary has the most wonderful gift in bridging the gap between generations and his success, where others have fallen, is his innate talent to evolve and reinvent himself and his music. It is sheer genius!
I glanced down from the Balcony a few times during Gary’s performance to see a united and hypnotised audience. There seemed to be a tangible camaraderie amongst everyone there, a far cry from my recent experiences within the Pagan world. Our newfound friends had told us that Gary is taking his family to live in America because of the unrest in the UK with the riots etc and also someone had been quite unpleasant to his wife Gemma. I sincerely hope that this doesn’t happen…. and I so hope that the Numan fans of our Country throughout Gary’s Tour change his mind about leaving and show him that there is a lot of good in the UK and that it is a minority that behave like that.
Gary came back on stage for his encore to a rapturous applause. He ended the night with two favourites….. ‘Cars’ and ‘Are friends electric?’ His version of those two songs left me feeling humble and grateful for the chance to revisit good times and to share them this time with my son and partner. The song ‘Cars’ played a significant part in my latter school days and reminded me of what I used to be!
If you ever have the chance to see Gary Numan live, I can whole heartedly recommend that you go ~ you will not be disappointed I promise you!

Photo courtesy of Trisrian Doe...all copyrights reserved!

Ramblings from Sherborne Castle

A few weeks ago we visited the very beautiful Sherborne Castle and its absolutely wonderful grounds.
There are actually two castles in Sherborne. The ‘Old Castle’ was built by Roger Bishop of Salisbury in the 12th Century to serve the western part of their large diocese. The Bishop also built a small Hunting Lodge in the grounds of the adjacent deer park. During the Civil war the ‘Old Castle’ was garrisoned and suffered two sieges but after the second siege in 1645 the ‘Old Castle’ was systematically demolished.
The ‘Old Castle’ was acquired by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1592 but he decided against modernising it and built a new Castle in the deer park instead. I can really understand why they would want to build the Hunting Lodge and then the new Castle where they did because the grounds are so beautiful and tranquil. Surprisingly, Sherborne Castle doesn’t resemble a castle as we imagine but is a rather grand stately house. During his time there Sir Walter made a number of changes to his new Castle over the years, seemingly to keep up with the times. The Digby family acquired Sherborne Castle in 1617 just before Sir Walter met with his demise in 1618 when he was executed. It remains the stately home of the Digby family to this day seeing further modernisation over the years.
Our stroll around the grounds was an absolute delight. Acres of grounds set in the heart of the Dorset countryside with wonderful surprises around every corner. We savoured moments of simple pleasure and gratitude to be able to take in the splendours of an old folly, majestic trees towering over us, a meandering river with its natural water-fall, the beautiful silvery lake with the reflection of Sherborne Castle glimmering in the afternoon sun, the antics of wild life unknowingly providing pure entertainment for us and an old bridge leading the way to glimpse the Old Castle.
We came across an alcove seat named ‘Pope’s Seat’ which I of course had to sit on for a while. The inscription plate was of great interest:

“The poet Alexander Pope visited Sherborne Castle in 1724 and was so impressed with the gardens that he wrote a long description of them. He particularly liked the shaded walk to the ‘venerable broken walls’ of the Old Castle by the river, the ‘natural cascade with never –ceasing murmurs’ and the views of the ’glimmering waters’. Here there was a ‘rustic seat of stone, flagged and rough, with two urns in the same rude taste upon pedestals on each side’.
The present structure dates from the late eighteenth century and was probably designed by Henry Holland, who was paid £30 10s in 1778 for a ‘covered bench in the garden’. In 1780 the estate accounts record the castle mason putting the finishing touches to the ‘Alcove in the Grove’. The Digby family called it Pope’s Seat in honour of the poet”

On my return home I patiently set about finding the description that Pope wrote. It took a while but to my absolute delight I came across the most beautiful gem of an old book that would not have been known about had it not have been for our visit to Sherborne Castle. The book entitled, “Gleanings on Gardens: Chiefly Respecting Those of the Ancient Style in England” written by S Felton in 1897, is a reprint from the original publication in 1829 and can be viewed free of charge on-line. I turned eagerly to Chapter 7 which revealed the treasured description of Popes visit to Sherborne Castle in a letter to his friend Martha Blount. He wrote with such admiration of what he had seen and indeed his description remains timeless; having seen what Pope saw and sat in the exact same place as he had, I could visualise perfectly the image that he lovingly wrote about.
My imagination was captured by what Pope had written and I could not resist turning to the first page of “Gleanings on Gardens” and proceeded to read it from cover to cover….. What a magnificent find!
I hope that you will also feel compelled to visit Sherborne Castle one day and lay witness to all the joy that it has offered those who have trod before us. I hope that also I have shared something lovely with you in the form of an old book that most of us would not have known existed until today