Chief Executive of The Parks Trust Speaks at Parliament’s Communities and Local Government Committee

By Sarah Featley

David Foster, Chief Executive of The Parks Trust, the self-funding charity that cares for Milton Keynes’ green spaces, gave evidence in Parliament to the Communities and Local Government Committee’s public parks inquiry.

This was the latest oral evidence session held by the Committee as it examines the impact of reduced local authority budgets on open spaces and considers concerns that the existence of public parks is under threat.

David was joined by Mark Walton, Director of Shared Assets and Alan Carter, Director of Portfolio Management for the Land Trust. Together, they gave their views on how to enhance and protect public parks, including alternative funding sources, and the benefits and challenges of different land management arrangements.

David commented: “It was a real privilege to be asked to give evidence to the Committee, and I believe it was a successful session where I was able to put across the advantages of a model like The Parks Trust, and the positive impact this has had on Milton Keynes as a place to live and work.

“Unfortunately, there are many other places in the UK where green space is not such a priority and public parks are in crisis. It’s therefore vital for the government to consider whether there are alternative options available for the management of parks that may be more successful.

“We believe that charitable trusts similar to The Parks Trust could work very well in other towns and cities. With vision, drive, cross party support, central government encouragement and a bit of central government money to oil the wheels, local authorities could establish successful parks trusts that could halt the decline in our wonderful urban parks. If local authorities could set our parks free, allow local people to have a big hand in how they are run and welcome others in to contribute, what a wonderful thing that would be!”

To watch the evidence session, please visit: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/5d9544c0-3c6e-4797-bc65-86cc39e373fd

The session with David Foster begins at 10.36.

For more information, please visit www.theparkstrust.com

Newsletter w/c 27th November

TALK BACK - NEWSLETTER W/c November 27th

Every Sunday we'll update you on the special shows on Secklow Sounds.

You can get in touch:

T: @secklowsounds
E: radio@secklowsounds.org
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TO LISTEN: CLICK HERE

W/c November 27th 2016,THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST SPECIALS ON SECKLOW SOUNDS...

TUESDAY November 29th, 7pm - LIFESTYLEMK with Audrey & Gill - Money matters

Is housing really "affordable", do you really need insurance if you're going self-employed, and how much does a trip to the vet really cost.  You may be earning, but you seem to be spending just as quickly.  Tune in at 7pm as we talk about the financial side of adulting!

If you've got a story to share or something you'd like to say, get in touch with them:

Audrey: @draudreyt

Gill: @gillian7751

or email: audrey@secklowsounds.org

TUESDAY November 29th, 10pm - "SOUNDTRACKS” with TONY CARTY  - NEW RELEASES and PILOTS

Another edition of new releases of CDs and films.  There’s music from TV for Planet Earth II and films like I am Bolt, Hacksaw Ridge, A Street Cat named Bob and Don’t Think Twice.  There are numbers from the past and also about pilots and fliers, because one of the new films is Sully about the pilot who safely landed his plane on the Hudson River in New York.  Happy landings!!

Soundtracks: 1 hour Tues 10pm, repeats Thursday 2pm, Sunday midnight and Mon 11am

Catch past shows on Mixcloud

A TREASURY OF FILM MUSIC:

The stock of ALL the past SOUNDTRACKS shows (over 200!) on a variety of topics RIGHT HERE

THURSDAY December 1st - Transition 3 - 4pm 

David Stimson talks business and young enterprise on Thursdays 3 - 4.

50th Anniversary restoration of 100 Million Years BC

by Tremayne Miller

100 MILLION YEARS B.C.

Warning: the synopses can contain 'spoilers,’ therefore, please don’t read on if you wish the plots to remain a mystery!

DIRECTED BY DON CHAFFEY

STARRING RAQUEL WELCH (Legally Blonde, Bedazzled, The Three Musketeers) JOHN RICHARDSON (She, The 39 Steps) MARTINE BESWICK (From Russia With Love, Thunderball)

ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. is a prehistoric adventure.

Akhoba, Chief of The Rock Tribe and his hunting party pass through volcanic wasteland.  Accompanying him are his sons,

Tumak and Sakana.

A wild boar falls into a trap, and Tumak claims its tusk as his reward after killing it.

The tribe feast on the roasted boar, and dominant member of the tribe feast on the animal.

Akhobas after devouring Tumak's meat has a fight with him.

Tamak falls from a cliff, at the same time Sakana makes a play for his wife, Nupondi,.

However, a bush is to cushion Tumak's descent, and as he comes to, he sets off on a journey after having been outcast by his family.

As he ventures further into the desert Tumak sees huge animal imprints belonging to a brontosaur and giant tarantula.

Bewildered he does stumble on, despite being deprived of food and drink. He makes it as far as a beach, then collapses.

The Shell Tribe women fish on this beach with spears. One of them, Loana, sees him and goes to his aide.

At which point a giant turtle appears, with the view to kill but The Shell people manage to steer it back into the sea.

The Shell tribe take Tamak back to their village where Loana nurses him back to health, so peaceful are they having learnt to pull together, and work on first principles in art and agriculture.

The film provided the world with ‘the most iconic bikini shot of all time’, which made the fur-clad Raquel Welch a star overnight.

A tale of man’s survival at the start of civilisation, where conflicting tribes - the Rock People and the Shell People combat ginormous prehistoric monsters, as well as each other, at the same time the earth continues to rise and produce bubbles of gas still in its volcanic form.

This the 100th production from Hammer was their biggest success, and the silverscreen's most notable dinosaur epic up until the release of Jurassic Park 26 years on thanks to its “stopmotion dinosaur animation” by special effects animator, Ray Harryhausen.

The 50th Anniversary special 4k restoration includes the following special features: interviews with Raquel Welch and Martine Beswick (two-time Bond girl), and the original artwork of Ray Harryhausen, as well as never-seen-before storyboards given to Studiocanal by The Ray & Diana Harryhausen Foundation.

Extras will include: Special Features • New Interview with Raquel Welch • New Interview with Martine Beswick • Exclusive Ray Harryhausen stills, storyboard and artwork • Production stills gallery Blu-ray Tech Specs: TBC / DVD Tech Specs

The film was released on Doubleplay DVD & Blu-ray on October 24th by Studiocanal. 

 

© Writer Tremayne Miller

Tremayne Miller is a guest reviewer on LifestyleMK, Tuesdays 7pm.

Newsletter w/c November 20th

TALK BACK - NEWSLETTER W/c November 20th

Every Sunday we'll update you on the special shows on Secklow Sounds.

You can get in touch:

T: @secklowsounds
E: radio@secklowsounds.org
Fb: Secklow Sounds Radio

TO LISTEN: CLICK HERE

W/c November 20th 2016,THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST SPECIALS ON SECKLOW SOUNDS...

TUESDAY November 22nd, 7pm - LIFESTYLEMK with Audrey & Gill - Seasonal Affective Disorder and Men's Health

It's still "Movember" but how easy is it to get you guys to go for a check up?  This week's show looks at Men's Health and why men don't seem to talk (is it because we don't let them, ladies?), and gives you tips to beat Seasonal Affective Disorder.

If you've got a story to share or something you'd like to say, get in touch with them:

Audrey: @draudreyt

Gill: @gillian7751

or email: audrey@secklowsounds.org

TUESDAY November 22nd, 10pm - "SOUNDTRACKS” with TONY CARTY  - BERLIN

Music for a city. We’ve got music for spies and agents; there are cabaret songs, waltzes, a rejected piece, music for an angel and from a blue one.  Come in from the cold.

Soundtracks: 1 hour Tues 10pm, repeats Thursday 2pm, Sunday midnight and Mon 11am

Catch past shows on Mixcloud

A TREASURY OF FILM MUSIC:

The stock of ALL the past SOUNDTRACKS shows (over 200!) on a variety of topics RIGHT HERE

THURSDAY November 24th - Transition 3 - 4pm 

David Stimson talks business and young enterprise on Thursdays 3 - 4.

Secklow Sounds at the Community Action:MK Employee Volunteer Awards

It was wonderful to celebrate Corporate Social Responsibilty with the Community Action:MK Employee Volunteer Awards

The event was hosted by Metro Bank, and Community Action:MK awarded the wonderful companies who have been involved in exciting community development projects this year.  David Hopkins, Deputy Mayor presented the certificates, and Secklow Sounds was delighted to speak with him, the hosts and the wonderful volunteers.

Community Action:MK links up businesses wanting to contribute to their community and project manages their volunteering.  It is an inspiring way of bringing the town together, as well as seeing the best within your own team!

Catherine Rose (Classics from Scratch) and Stephen Whitton (Everyday People) captured the excitement with interviews which will be broadcast soon, and Audrey Tang (Lifestyle MK) presents the video.

TriForce Short Film Festival launched November 9th!

by Tremayne Miller

The TriForce Short Film Festival (TFSFF) line up took place at the bfi, Stephen Street on November 9^th.

Opening the festival was After The Storm, the directorial debut by Jessica Oyelowo.

‘A Short film about when you’re caught in the push and pull of love.’

The film’s actual working title was “Love”,” and although a short film, it doth hold a full story within it, where life is negotiated after tragedy has struck. A storm of life, whereupon strength and courage is tested in order to maintain an excellence, whether it be in a parent, son or wife.

After The Storm, which was  inspired by current social events stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Beyond The Lights, 2014) and Chiké Okonkwo (The Birth Of A Nation, 2016), alongside newcomer Caleb Oyelowo,  the director’s son,.

It is shot by Cinematographer,Sam Sullivant whose extensive experience in production is evident.

 ‘Every good film has a distinct point of view. This perspective is entrusted into the hands of the director of photography. Each lens, film stock, digital sensor, studio light, and camera movement forms the subconsciousness baseline from which a viewer perceives the emotions of a filmmaker’s story’ – Sam Sullivant.

I love his use of sped-up photography on the mother, in contrast to the stillness around the father, who appears in “real time.”

An animosity visible surrounds what are lining shots, the most notable of all being the clouds, a mixture of a thundery bluey-grey, placed against those you would catch at the peak of summer.

A philosophical sum-up of the film might be where hearts bleed, so do they continue to love, until there’s nothing left to give.

A promising debut from Jessica Oyelowo, and I look forward to discovering any future creations she makes.

All shortlisted films for The TriForce Short Film Festival 2016 are as follows:

·I Believe In Pink

      ·Glow

·The Good Son

·Foot In Mouth

·Lucky Chicken

·Ferguson, Missouri

·Living With Monkey

·Huey & Louis

·Take The Chocolate

·Believe

·Hall Of Mirrors

·SAVE

·The Night Shift

·Lil’ Benny

·The Dead Sea

·Harriet and the Matches

“the TriForce Creative Network and all they do is about partners and relationships, working together, discovering mutual ambitions and figuring out how to make it happen.”

---

The TriForce Film Festival takes place December 3rd at BAFTA.
For more information on the festival and to buy tickets go to tfsff.com

Writer c. Tremayne Miller

Tremayne podcasts for LifestyleMK, Tuesdays 7pm

Celebrating Employee Volunteers with Community Action MK

On Thursday Community Action MK will be celebrating their Employee Volunteers who have all demonstrated an abundance of corporate social responsibility by contributing to the Milton Keynes Community.  As well as a certificate presentation, there will be a wonderful opportunity to network with local businesses in an audience comprising of entrepreneurs, business profiles, and volunteers.

Secklow Sound's Stephen Whitton will be presenting his experiences, having had the wonderful opportunity to meet with the organisers, as well as local dignitaries in support of the event.

Stephen, a training consultant and speaker is also working with businesses to offer an unusual Team Experience - producing your own radio show "Live at 3", and can be contacted HERE
Find out more about Stephen's show "EVERYDAY PEOPLE" HERE

Sit up for this 60's Soho Classic: The Small World of Sammy Lee discussed by Critic Tremayne Miller

THE SMALL WORLD OF SAMMY LEE

RELEASED ON DVD FOR THE FIRST TIME ON BLU-RAY ON 14th NOVEMBER 2016

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY

KEN HUGHES

STARRING

ANTHONY NEWLEY (Oliver Twist, Doctor Dolittle) WILFRID BRAMBELL (A Hard Day’s Night, Steptoe and Son) JULIA FOSTER (Dad’s Army, Alfie)

The Small World of Sammy Lee based on a BBC television program is set in London's Soho district, where a seedy milieu of strip clubs, billiard halls, smoky Jazz clubs and East End markets lie.

Andrew Newley plays Sammy Lee, a strip-club compere who owes a large amount of money to Fred (Kenneth J. Warren), a bookie, which he must produce within the space of a day. He acts with determination with the aide of his brother, Lou (Warren Mitchell), who owns a deli.

In the midst of raising the money, under threat of being beaten up by Fred’s lads he finds himself helping Patsy (Julia Foster) who shows up at the club he manages ready to strip.

The film is shot in a most distinctive black and white by cinematographer Wolf Suschitzky (Get Carter, Ulysses).

In an interview Mike Hodges, director of Get Carter is asked what films influenced him, and he mentions Brighton Rock, along with lost gem, The Small World of Sammy Lee.

He says “I only saw it once but I remembered it and I remember being impressed by it and indeed, when I was asked to make Carter I sought out the cameraman, Wolfgang Suschitsky who had shot that film in black and white and I thought he was the only person I would want for my film.”

It’s a race against time, with Newley providing a seemingly effortless, yet important performance as Sammy.

Patsy follows closely behind as he goes about his sadistically humorous schemes amidst a graphic portrayal of a more dingy side of 1960s Soho,

The Small World of Sammy Lee. was given an X certificate when it came out . No film like it had been released before, and it was a coming-of-age film for the then young star, Anthony Newley, whose engrained Hackney hustling style fit the role perfectly.

It could very well be the best pre-Mod Mod film in existence, directed by Ken Hughes (who would later find fame with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). Its Music should also be noted.

 “love coming cheap,” “money coming hard.”

The opening sequence, for example, is accompanied by a most melancholic jazz track, which speaks the light of Soho at that time, whilst echoing sensations of ‘the morning after.’

The composer Kenny Graham, like many a Jazz mavericks was too ahead for the time. A true forward-thinker; and whilst this film may not have reaped the rewards it deserved, likely because its star was not known, it certainly did pave the way for programmes like The Sweeney. This lost gem of 1960s British cinema, however, is finally given a  re-release in the form of a brand-new 2k restoration, with extended special features including new interviews.

The Digital Film restoration was funded by STUDIOCANAL in collaboration with the BFI’s Unlocking Film Heritage programme (awarding funds from the National Lottery).

Special Features:

*  New Interview with Julia Foster

*  New Interview with Mike Hodges

* New Locations featurette with Richard Dacre

Blu-ray Tech Specs: Running Time: 107min approx / Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1 / Region B / Black and White / English / SDH Subtitles

DVD Tech Specs: Running Time: 103min approx / Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1 / Region 2 / Black and White / English / SDH Subtitles

Music score:

 

The unreleased jazz score to the classic ‘60s Soho underworld thriller, recorded in 1963 is now available for the first time ever on vinyl, CD and download. The CDs come with an 8-page booklet and rare stills from the film.

Writer c. Tremayne Miller

Newsletter w/c 13th November

TALK BACK - NEWSLETTER W/c November 13th

Every Sunday we'll update you on the special shows on Secklow Sounds.

You can get in touch:

T: @secklowsounds
E: radio@secklowsounds.org
Fb: Secklow Sounds Radio

TO LISTEN: CLICK HERE

W/c November 13th 2016,THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST SPECIALS ON SECKLOW SOUNDS...

TUESDAY November 15th, 7pm - LIFESTYLEMK with Audrey & Gill - THE NIGHT SHIFT

This week we're thinking about the "gig economy" and shift work.  How easy is it to maintain a healthy balance when you work nights, or when you work odd hours?  Do you find miss regular work, or do you prefer to be the master of your own time? ...and how do you separate home and work if working from home!?

If you've got a story to share or something you'd like to say, get in touch with them:

Audrey: @draudreyt

Gill: @gillian7751

or email: audrey@secklowsounds.org

TUESDAY November 15th, 10pm - "SOUNDTRACKS” with TONY CARTY  - NEW RELEASES

New releases of music for movies and TV series. The TV music includes Outlander, Scream and Narcos.  There are movies like Before The Flood, Moonlight and a cracker of a score for an animated film called Bilal A New Breed of Hero.  There’s also some excellent music for a video game and concert music by probably film music’s most respected composer.

Soundtracks: 1 hour Tues 10pm, repeats Thursday 2pm, Sunday midnight and Mon 11am

Catch past shows on Mixcloud

A TREASURY OF FILM MUSIC:

The stock of ALL the past SOUNDTRACKS shows (over 200!) on a variety of topics RIGHT HERE

THURSDAY November 17th - Transition 3 - 4pm 

David Stimson talks business and young enterprise on Thursdays 3 - 4.