Winchester City Hand Back Keys To Ground

Just eight months ago, 20 August 2012, Winchester City were top of the league. The Twitter interaction between Winchester Today and Winchester City was one of immense pride. 

Let's face it, all of the editorial team here are nuts about football. All of us here thought this would be a fantastic year for the club. Indeed, for a while, the wins kept coming.

Just eight months later, City are rock bottom of the league, on the wrong end of a 10-0 hammering by Merthyr, points deducted - and now the keys of the ground have been handed back to Winchester City Council.

The City Council itself hopes the move will give the club breathing space to plan its future.

As landlord of the site at the North Walls Recreation Ground in Winchester, the City Council will now see that power is restored to the site, enabling the team to complete its fixtures for the season and also allowing the nursery that uses the buildings to return, much to the relief of local families which depend upon the service it provides.

The immediate cause of these problems was that the club has not been able to pay an electricity bill which led to power being shut down.

Keith Wood, the Leader of Winchester City Council, says they have been monitoring the situation at Winchester Football Club closely: "In view of the problems they have had I am pleased to say that the leaseholders have decided to hand back possession of the ground to the City Council. This enables us to take swift action to restore power to the site, allowing the club to finish the season and the nursery to use the premises again.  We are particularly concerned to ensure the nursery, on which many local parents depend, can reopen for the new term and this should now be possible."

He says they have been working closely with local MP Steve Brine and everyone has had to move quickly to resolve a difficult situation:  "Looking forward, we want to see a new community-based football club emerge which has its roots firmly in Winchester and which lives within its means.”

Winchester City Council will now be talking to interested parties about the future of the football club for next season and beyond.  

Go, Go Joseph!

Beccy Conway discovers THAT coat is still a dream ticket!

Review: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – The Mayflower, Southampton, 2 April 2013

Go-go-go Joseph! The dreamer is back and is taking his ‘coat of many colours’ on tour around the UK in director Bill Kenwright’s production of one of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s oldest and most successful musicals.

Starring Keith Jack, runner-up of the 2007 BBC television programme Any Dream Will Do, I defy anyone attending this dynamic production not to find themselves singing and dancing their way through some of the catchiest songs in show-business.

Jack first began playing the role of Joseph in 2010, and his performance demonstrates why he came so close to claiming the role six years ago; from his enormous smile and undeniable charisma, to his marvellous vocal control, he is a rightful leading-man.

Lauren Ingram guides us spiritedly through the narrative of the all-singing show, the varying pace of the score allowing her to present her voice’s wonderful range. 

Luke Jasztal’s satirical depiction of the Elvis-style Pharaoh has us all chuckling at ‘The King’ in his characteristic white Elvis suit with added Egyptian oomph.

The casting of Joseph’s eleven brothers has been done with great care, each brother exhibiting a different personality, in particular Benjamin played by the enthusiastic Benjamin Pomeroy, from Southampton.

For Benjamin and several others in the cast, this production of Joseph has seen them make their professional debuts, and it is great to see performers relatively early on in their careers helping generate such a fantastic show.

The show provides many comic moments, particularly the sheep which inflate rapidly onstage during the depiction of Joseph’s farming family, but sometimes struggle to remain upright, to big laughs from the audience. 

The one-liners from Jack and other cast members maintain the witty element of what is in part a rather brutal Biblical tale.

Designer Sean Cavanagh’s clever set with ascending steps on either side of the stage allows for a superb view from all angles, and the vibrant costumes, overseen by Felicity Jones, of course include Joseph’s intricate coat for the show’s conclusion.

The orchestra, under the direction of James McCullagh, pulls this exciting production together in a manner that only live musicians can.

Finally, the Joseph children’s choir provided by Salisbury and Downton Stagecoach, has the audience captivated from start to finish with their delightful voices and charming stage-presence.

Whether you’ve seen Joseph before or not, you’ll love this kaleidoscopic production, and will be humming its infectious tunes long after curtain has fallen.

4 stars out of 5

Joseph continues until Saturday 6th April, with 2 shows on Friday, and 3 shows on Saturday

Snippitty-Snip... David, This Won't Hurt At All!

There's taking art to its very extremes - and there's living your character - just ask Daniel Day-Lewis. Okay, maybe Cheriton isn't quite as big, but the sentiment is the same, and David Cradduck of the Cheriton Players is doing both too.

He's about to play a bald person in the Players' forthcoming production 'A Bolt From The Blue'  - and has taken the decision to shave his head to enjoy the role to the full and raise money for a worthy cause at the same time:

"I absolutely intended to go down the false latex bald cap route. But they only last one or two performances. It also takes an hour to do, you have to cut them to shape, then you have to do the make-up as well. Now, on a big stage, that's fine. But when you're sitting on top of the audience, like we are, they're going to see the join! Besides which - it's actually quite expensive and would probably have reached about £150 for all the performances. So I kept thinking about it, and that maybe one option was shaving my head. I discounted that immediately, but then kept coming back round in a loop over and over, so there we were."

David Cradduck goes under the shaver!
Kirsty Attrill from Chaps does the honours.
Picture: Miranda Johnson RM Communications

Winchester Today is of course delighted that David is raising money for Naomi House and jacksplace - which is the newspaper's nominated charity: "It costs millions of pounds a year to run the charity and it takes lots of little events like this to raise the money."

I ask David if he's regretting the decision: "Of course! Hugely. I've regretted it since I made it! But I can't let people down. My own daughter is sponsoring me, and I can't back out. I can't let her down; I just think that she wants to see what I look like bald! I don't think my wife is particularly enamoured about living with a snooker ball. But everyone in the play is proud of what I'm doing. The cast and crew, that is. Some have yet to dig deep. Come on guys!"

He explains why being bald is particular to his character: "That's the big joke... he's a hair specialist - and he's bald! You can actually have the character not being bald; the author has very kindly written the play with this opt-out. But then you lose all the good lines."
David has no idea how long it will take to grow back: "Just as long as it does!"

'A Bolt From The Blue' can be seen at Cheriton Village Hall from 24-27 April 2013 at 7.30pm. www.ticketsource.co.uk/cheritonplayers