Looking back ten years to a memorable night at the Grand Opera House and the gala opening of Dancing Shoes the Marie Jones and Martin Lynch musical about George Best, I met Harry Gregg. He was part of my growing up, a hero for many reasons mainly because of the Munich Air Disaster and how he pulled passengers from the burning wreckage of the aircraft which crashed in a snowstorm as it was taking off. My Dad thought highly of him and that was good enough for me. Listening to Dad talking about Harry established my interest and admiration which was for the man himself, the way he spoke, his modesty and his honesty. To meet him was a highlight as I wrote at that time:
“Ask me who walked straight into the arms of actor Sean Bean. Me! I’m not easily impressed but he’s a bit of all right! He told me he was drinking in the Crown Bar when some of the cast popped in for a well-earned jar and they invited him to come along and, to the delight of everyone, he accepted. Mind you, that was nothing, my night was made when I met Harry Gregg, ‘H’ to his friends. “I knew George Best the child when I was training the kids at Old Trafford. One day he said, ‘Harry, this is my daddy,’ and I met Mr. Best.” He went on to talk about those days and the decline of the player he loved. “I spoke to him the Friday before he went into hospital, we’d a chat and a laugh; then I picked up the paper on Sunday to read he’d gone into hospital and he never came out. He was a shy child from a back street and I miss him sadly.”
And we’ll miss Harry, a man of integrity and the highest of standards. His legacy is his Foundation be established for young footballers to enjoy the sport. What a man.
Thank goodness the Masked Singer is over. What a spectacular nonsense of a programme. Such good sets and costumes but the panel? Imagine one of them thinking Elaine Page would take part in such a chaotic concoction let alone Princess Bea or Tom Cruise although surprisingly Katherine Jenkins did. As long as you can shout ‘amazing’, ‘who is it?’ and ‘take it off’ and have a well known name, you qualify as a judge. Jonathan Ross is creepy, Davina McCall is thin, Rita Ora is my favourite and as for the man at the end of the line, Ken Jeong, well what a …. words fail me.
I was always up for the Bee to win purely because the costume was so brilliant. However, winner Nicola Roberts has a fine voice.
Judges are a strange group of personalities just look at The Voice all saying things like “I made a mistake, I should have turned” what did the poor old singer think hearing that after walking away deflated and disappointed. And Tom Jones going HA! brings the house down!
Am I a grumpy old couch potato?! Don’t answer that!
I wasn’t able to be along to the Lyric to join the tributes to Sam McCready but Houston Marshall was there and, as usual, his account of the evening is detailed and enthusiastic. The theatre was packed and the performers all friends of the writer, actor, teacher and artist. Directed by David Grant and the mastermind of Sam’s wife Joan, it was a triumph and a fitting celebration of Sam’s life.
“All the contributions were incredible and it seems unfair to mention any one in particular but special mention must be made of the very personal reminiscences of Neil Shawcross and Moore Sinnerton, the humour of Martin Lynch’s introduction to the professional theatre under Sam’s guidance and the incredibly moving and epic poem by Brian Keenan. There were people from all over as well as filmed contributions from around the world, even a contingency of friends and neighbours from Baltimore. There were some beautiful moving renditions and Joan’s re-enactment of Sailing to Byzantium accompanied by Richard her son was stunning and heart breaking and the real highlight of the evening. The lady did her man proud.
The evening finished with Richard McCready and Kyle Riley leading a sing along of Belfast folk songs pure theatre and passion. I know Sam was up there somewhere singing and clapping along with us all with sheer delight.”
In Praise Of Midwives Everywhere
Jessica Raine who played midwife Jenny Lee in the early episodes.
“When I was a student midwife and saw the miracle of my first birth, I said to myself, My God, how great Thou art”.
Dame Mary Uprichard is now over 80 but would love to start all over again even though a modern nursing career has its difficulties. “It’s not a job,” she says, “it’s a vocation and I am still in love with my profession. I used to say to my students, yours is a privileged position never to be betrayed.”
This is the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife and for the first time in history there will be a global celebration of the benefits that nursing and midwifery bring to the health of the population. Without doubt they have a vital role to play in our lives and for women giving birth and looking back on a positive experience, a caring midwife is essential – I know that myself.
Women who nurse those in need seem to have no difficulty in going the extra mile after their shift is over, literally some on their bikes. At a Ukulele Jam I met Michele Gordon and Mary Rose Scott who told me of their fund raising plan to cycle from Vietnam to Cambodia. Now they’ve completed the challenge and so far have raised over £12,000 for the NI Hospice.
Many people are realising the importance of these professionals with the programme Call The Midwife the story of members of an Anglican religious order working out of a convent in the East End of London in the 50s and 60s. It draws record viewing figures and Mary Uprichard can identify with the women as her own history matches that of Jessica Raine who played midwife Jenny Lee in the early episodes.
A Woman Of Faith
Mary’s original calling was into nursing but she was guided towards midwifery.
In terms of her career path, she quotes the story of Moses, how Pharaoh was concerned that the Israelites were becoming too numerous and powerful so he instructed the midwives to slay every first born male. They didn’t carry out the command instead explaining that women had given birth before they arrived.
“Our family GP was the late Dr. Elizabeth Robb and her interest in my career was important and when I went to the Ulster Hospital for Children and Women, even at 17 I knew very definitely that God was directing me but it was the story of Moses that eventually led me into midwifery.
“I enjoyed the Ulster Hospital but there were sad times when you lost a child to ailments like kidney diseases, children in for months with respiratory infections. I remember one little boy with severe rheumatoid arthritis who was about four when admitted and died the he was around eight. There were none of the effective treatments that there are today.”
After nurse training in Edinburgh Mary became interested in midwifery and took up a post back home at the Royal Maternity. In 1965 she qualified as a midwife with a teaching diploma and was immediately out in the community coping with many challenging situations,
“North Queen Street was my first posting going out with the district midwife to poor homes where conditions were difficult. I lost a lot of weight as I cycled to all four quarters of Belfast, hilly territory much like the television programme – it’s very accurate and some of the situations I can identify with my time in Belfast in the early 70s; the television programme brings back a lot of memories.” One of those special memories was her first unsupervised baby born at 12.30 p.m. in Turf Lodge on a bitter Christmas Day. “The baby arrived before the doctor could get there so it was all down to me. What an experience!”
During her career Mary was director of Midwifery Education, for this she received a Lifetime Achievement of her contribution to the development of midwifery nationally and internationally. She was first president of the UK Central Council and chairwoman of its Professional Conducts Committee, chairwoman of the National Board for Nursing and Midwifery NI, member of the EC Advisory Committee and vice-president of the Royal College of Midwives. In 1998 came the honour of becoming a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (pictured above) which she accepted on behalf of all carers.
Since those early days, the developments in health care have been profound. We discuss the NHS situation. “This is serious,” she said. “You never have been able to adequately resource the health service because of the demands, the expectation of the consumer and that brings about litigation which is costing the health service millions with little attempt at mediation. Finally I would say education is all important for those who dare to practice and those who dare to teach, they must never cease to learn. Also the information and technological explosion, the major advances in scientific knowledge, the development of sophisticated equipment and machinery that enables surgery and medical treatment of the highest degree. The pace and profundity of change is going in the right direction but wages and conditions need to be addressed urgently. Then you have the development of consumerism; the ‘www’ has revolutionised the way patients can access information and the increased knowledge they gain has changed the doctor patient relationship.”
Her advice? “Consulting the Internet is not necessarily a good thing, it can be frightening, so there’s always the need to discuss your situation with a professional.”
STORM IN A TEACUP
Why is everyone going overboard about Phillip Schofield ‘coming out’. Brave, courageous, guilt ridden? For goodness sake. He’s an experienced broadcaster so just get on with it. Being gay or straight doesn’t matter, he’ll still be professional in his work so leave him alone. People are circling like vultures pecking away at him and his work, jealousy is a very unpleasant emotion. My only surprise is he isn’t having a wild old time with Holly after all, a lovely example of ‘just good friends’.