Sunday's spotlight - Updates

By guest blogger Pete

Over the past few weeks I have written, in this blog, about certain Lincolnshire men and the different things that they have achieved or that have happened to them.

I think that one of the first I wrote about was Peter Moore. You may remember him as the Lincoln man who had been held hostage in Iraq or Iran (or both) for a number of years. Throughout his captivity a candle has been kept burning twenty four hours each day for him in Lincoln Cathedral. Earlier this week, as I write this blog, Peter himself paid a return visit to the cathedral and there he blew out the candle that had been dedicated to him. On a sad note for Peter, he also lit four new candles for the four men who had been captured with him. These men had been his bodyguards and it is known that, over the years since the five were taken, these four men had been executed.

Here's a link to an interview with Peter Moore in Lincoln Cathedral (sorry, I couldn't embed it) - the video is at the bottom of the page.

Mic Dawson and a companion were the two who had rowed unaided across the Pacific. Mic has recovered from his adventure and in a recent radio interview said that he has begun to put on weight again. Asked if he had anymore challenges in mind he replied in the negative. He thinks that both his wife and his age are against him undertaking any new challenges. He is in the U.S. as I write this, discussing a film documentary of the crossing (which will entail a certain amount of re-enactment) and testing the waters to see if there is any interest in a book.


News came through earlier this week of a teenage girl survivor of the Haiti earthquake disaster. She had been trapped under the debris for 15 days. It makes you wonder if the authorities were a bit too quick in deciding to send the various rescue teams (from countries all over the world) back to their homes. The men from Lincolnshire who went with the U.K. team to help WERE back a work on the Monday following their return. They had the weekend off and then it was back to normal duties. Personally I think they should have had a little longer away from work and a bit more time to begin to come to terms with what they had seen and done.

Photo by Chuck Simmins

For me, my Art Group has begun again after the Christmas break. (Doesn't Christmas seem years ago already?) I have decided to work on another painting of Lincoln and have made a start on it. Like the previous painting of Lincoln I completed towards the end of last year, this one, too, is based around the Cathedral. It's from a photo I took from the Castle walls. What impressed me about this photo was the way the Cathedral dominated the intriguing foreground of roofs. Below is a scan of my progress so far and I'll show you updates so that you will be able to see how things are progressing.


Congratulations to Ruth and John, both of whom became U.S. citizens this week.

Keep on supporting the survivors of the Haiti disaster. The earthquake began the problems these people have to overcome but I can't help feeling that there is still a great deal more they've got to come to terms with before anything like normality returns for them.

Sunday's spotlight - Lincoln Christmas Market

By guest blogger Pete.

Well! It's all over for another year. I mean, of course, the Lincoln Christmas Market. The weather for the Thursday and Friday was seasonal and dry. We saw some rain on Saturday afternoon but by then the crowds were there and they put up with the inconvenience admirably. Sunday was fine again so those who went on the last day weren't denied what others had enjoyed.


A general comment from people who went to the market this year was that it had more of a seasonal atmosphere about it than it had had for the past three or four years. The city fathers, who organise the event, had worked with "Christmas atmosphere" to the forefront of their minds and didn't accept stall bookings from those whose good didn't reflect the season. For some of the shops in the uphill area of Lincoln the Market presented the last chance to survive this recessional year of 2009 and enter 2010 in the black. People came in their tens of thousands. Friday and Saturday saw huge crowds. The city reckon that it brought £10,000,000 to the city economy. It is now the largest Christmas market in Europe. I don't know where is stands in the world rankings but it must be well up if not at the top.

Mick Dawson, he who rowed across the Pacific from Japan to San Francisco, was on Radio Lincolnshire a few days ago. He and his companion are still recovering from that 189 day outing. It appears that they lived the 24 hour day by working 2 hour shifts and then having 2 hours off. Mic reckons that he still hasn't recovered his previous sleep pattern and continues to sleep at night in 2 hour sessions. He lost 50lb on the trip. If you fancy loosing weight after the Christmas festivities then why not get out that rowing boat and enjoy yourselves? If you live in the U.K. then there's always the North Sea waiting for you. If you live in the States then what about rowing the length of one of the great lakes?


Yesterday Pam and I went to the local school where I am a governor. The 1st and 2nd year pupils were producing their Christmas Play "Babushka" - these are the five and six year olds. The story of Babushka evolves around a Russian Folk tale involving the nativity. They did very well and there were a few absolutely memorable incidents during the performance. I think the parents waved to the children more than the children waved to their parents. Joseph had a little strop and produced a most unJoseph like sign to one of the shepherds. An angel decided that she didn't like the audience so turned her back on them. The prize episode, though, was when Mary handed the baby to Babushka and Babushka dropped it. With commendable aplomb she picked the baby up, gave it a quick rock and handed it back to Mary.


The photos this week are from a previous year when we attended the Christmas Light ceremonies in the city centre. Hope you like them.


Enjoy the run up to Christmas. Watch the young children and see their magic.

Sunday's spotlight - "Row, Row, Row your boat"

By guest blogger Pete.

It's quite an achievement to row across the Pacific Ocean. Yet that is just what two men recently achieved. They set off from Japan and didn't see dry land again until they reached San Francisco. In all it took them 189 days. That's dedication to a task if anything is! However, even their remarkable achievement had a disappointment near the end. They had wanted to be the first to complete such a trip without outside support. Unfortunately they ran out of food just a few days short of San Francisco and an emergency drop had to be made to them. I don't know how the folk undertaking that drop managed it but that evening on T.V. we had a shot of one of the rowers enjoying a hot burger. Perhaps MacDonalds have a floating restaurant now. They seem to be everywhere so it wouldn't really surprise me!


The names of these intrepid two men - both of whom found it rather difficult to walk on dry land again (they didn't offer the obvious reason for that inability) -are Mick Dawson and Chris Martin. Now, Mic Dawson is a Lincolnshire lad and the county is very proud of him and what he succeeded in doing. Our local radio - Radio Lincolnshire - kept in touch with both rowers throughout their trip and early morning listeners - plus those not quite so early as other early morning listeners are - were able to hear regular updates on their progress.




Thus Lincolnshire will soon welcome back a true fellow "yellow belly". That's rather a strange name but true Lincolnshire folk are known as "Yellow Bellies". A couple of years or so ago a large number of folk displayed "Proud to be a Yellow Belly" stickers in their cars. When I was a child - then living in Southampton - to be called a "yellow belly" meant that you were a coward. My father was born in Lincoln and although I first saw the light of day in the Channel Islands I claim his birth here in this city as sufficient reason to regard myself as a "Yellow Belly". No-one seems to know the true origin of this nick name, except that there are no cowardly connections. The most popular explanation was that, centuries ago, a regiment from Lincolnshire were fighting in some battle somewhere and had to make progress by crawling through newly ploughed fields. They mud that they picked up during their crawl was from a yellow ochre type of earth and thus the name "Yellow Belly" stuck to them. I take full responsibility for that awful pun.


Much to my relief the painting is finished. I was dreading attempting the trees and although I didn't leave them to the very last they did come just before the colouring of the roadway. When (and if) the picture is framed then the large block of foliage will be reduced by cutting it off parallel to the walkers on the far right. Hope you like it.


Keep on rowing -- you'll get there eventually.