Birmingham Post

That's Fyfe

Snippets

Life of Brian Birmingham-born photographer Brian Griffin is the creative force behind one of two new exhibitions coming to the New Art Gallery Walsall next month. The Black Country, which opens on April 8 and runs until June 19, restages Griffin's childhood memories of living amongst the factories on Stocking Street, Lye.

The Week Ahead

School Makes Learning a Slam Dunk ; Young Athletes in Birmingham Are Making the Grade As They Pursue Their Hoop Dreams. Richard Mccomb Gets Court Side

David Grice gets up around 6am and promptly leaves his home in a north Warwickshire village for his school across the other side of Birmingham. It's a tough regime but lessons here start at 7.15am and this 18-year-old wouldn't miss them for the world. He's got an addiction, one shared by his fellow pupils. His teachers can't do anything about it. In fact, they actively encourage it because without it some of the boys might not bother turning up for class.

Harmonies of Spring ; Christopher Morley Sings the Praises of Our Region's Choirs As He Looks at the Season Ahead

We are entering a busy time for choral societies in the region, with last weekend seeing concerts from the Kidderminster Choral Society as well as the University of Birmingham Choir (see reviews, pages 8-9), and this weekend experiencing a huge burst of activity. It begins tonight (Thursday) at the high-Gothic Victorian church of St Alban the Martyr in Highgate, just outside Birmingham city centre, when Jeffrey Skidmore conducts an historically-informed performance of works by the favourite c...

Music Is Food for Fyfe ; Jon Perks Talks to Fyfe Dangerfield About Guillemots' New Album, Which Takes the Band in a New Direction

For Guillemots, "conventional" means you don't have the metronomic clattering of typewriters as part of the rhythm section. But that's not to say their third album Walk The River is middle- of-the-road mediocrity or songwriting by numbers.

This Week's Cd Releases

Pop David Garrett Rock Symphonies The gifted 30-year-old violinist has always been something of a rebel.As a teenager, without telling his parents, he moved from his German homeland to New York where he was accepted at the Juilliard music school. To pay his bills he worked as a model, appearing in Vogue and on the catwalks for Armani.

Innovation Keeps Top Festival Fresh ; Jazz Diary

A quieter week by comparison with some recent ones, so there's time to sit down with the Cheltenham Jazz Festival brochure and make some plans for the end of the month. Of course, if you did this a month ago you would still have been able to get tickets for festival guest director Jamie Cullum's gig.That sold out immediately.

Fitting Tributes to Mahler's Genius ; Classical

Orchestra of the Swan Birmingham Town Hall Sunshine streamed through a thronged Town Hall, and sunshine streamed joyously from the trumpets which were the focal point of Wednesday's matinee from the Orchestra of the Swan. Huw Morgan, one-time BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist, was the headline soloist, launching proceedings with a rare hearing of Jeremiah Clarke's complete suite featuring the famous Trumpet Voluntary, misattributed to Henry Purcell.

Charting Emotions with Wartime Hospital Drama

A wartime hospital ward has been recreated thanks to memorabilia and memories from the past for a show by Worcester-based theatre company Vamos. Artistic director Rachael Savage says the show, Nursing Lives, aims to bring alive one of the most colourful periods in nursing history.

Abbie's Happy to Show Girls Pack a Punch Too ; Interview: Abbie Cornish

In a summer filled with testosteronefuelled films like Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and Green Lantern, it's about time girls had some fun. And they certainly do in Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch, one of the highly hyped movies of the year.

Easter Fun's a Hop, Skip and Jump Away ; Graham Young and Roz Laws Review the Latest Films

Hop Cert U, 94 mins Russell Brand is still a bit of an unknown quantity as an actor, as we've yet to see him stretch himself in a role. So far he's only played versions of himself, in the films Forgetting Sarah Marshall, St Trinian's, Get Him To The Greek and the forthcoming Arthur.

Movies On Release

Singer Marti Centre Stage with His Split Personality ; Lorne Jackson Meets a Proud Scot Whose Battled His Demons and Found Salvation Treading the Boards

n 2003 Marti Pellow was named one of the most Scottish people in the world. IPerhaps that should have been 'named and shamed', depending which side of Hadrian's Wall you view the 'accolade' from.

Life's Tree-Mendous ; Abandoned Orchards in Inner City Birmingham Are Being Restored for the Community, Writes Kat Baldwyn

It was the planting of a an apple tree on an overgrown, abandoned railway allotment in a Birmingham suburb which triggered the beginning of a project to restore the city's forgotten orchards. The tree planting at Cotteridge Park five years ago marked the beginning of the final stage in the transformation of a rough patch of neglected land into a real orchard for people to enjoy - a community orchard where residents and school children could go and learn about growing, cooking and eating good ...

Vital Watch On Health of Our Great Outdoors ; Nature Notes

No doubt many of you will be out and about now enjoying the start of spring. You might spare a thought for a dedicated band of nature conservationists who spend most of their time in front of computer screens. They are the records' centre officers of the West Midlands.

Landscaping Urban Harmony ; Garden Watch

Trees have hit the headlines recently thanks to two Government initiatives. Its plan to sell large areas of forest and woodland met with strong disapproval and showed the public's great affection for trees. The change of mind was swift and welcomed by many. On a more positive note, the recently launched Big Tree Plant scheme is encouraging people and groups in cities and towns to plant trees in their neighbourhood. The goal is to plant a million trees in England in the next four years and gov...

Miracle of Mass Catering ; Food Critic Richard Mccomb Meets Paul Gould, a Chef Who Isn't Fazed by Catering for Biblical Numbers of Diners

Forget about the feeding of the five thousand - Paul Gould just about breaks sweat when he is rustling up meals for 10,000. As group executive head chef at the NEC, Gould might have to cater simultaneously for conference delegates, show visitors and concertgoers.

Carters Is a Culinary Breath of Fresh Air ; Dining Out Carters of Moseley 2c Wake Green Road, Moseley, Birmingham. T: 0121 449 8885 Verdict: 6/10 with Richard Mccomb

An assessment of value for money is bedevilled with caveats and restaurant dining is no exception. One man's nine-course menu degustation is another man's weekly supply of KFC bargain buckets.

Hall Grand Enough to Please a Town Council ; Chris Upton Looks at How West Bromwich Celebrated Its Town Status in a Grand Hall Built for the Occasion

he year 1882 represents a major milestone in the history of West Bromwich. TIt was in this year that the ratepayers of the town successfully petitioned the Queen for a charter of incorporation under the Municipal Corporations (New Charters) Act of 1877.