Latest news with #Entwistle
BBC News
22-04-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Memories of Hebden Bridge floods 10 years on
On Boxing Day in 2015, the town of Hebden Bridge was under water; thousands of homes and businesses were submerged when Storm Eva battered the north of England, causing significant damage in the Calder a new play which depicts the community's efforts to "rebuild their sodden town" opens at Leeds Playhouse, the BBC has been to meet the people affected by "The Flood". "Water was cascading off the hillside and literally rising in the town centre," Andrew Entwistle 81-year-old flood warden had spent the days prior to the storm warning people to brace the water came, he was going to try and lay out sandbags in an attempt to delay the deluge surging through streets, but it was too late."My wheelbarrow was floating down the street," he tells the BBC."Nobody had the flood defences then that we have now."Everywhere you looked there was just water, people were trapped in buildings; it was up to my armpits."It literally climbed up the walls." Evidence of the water levels are still visible in Hebden Bridge 10 years later. In The Albert, a pub which regularly hosts the flood wardens' bi-monthly meetings, a sign marking the depth hangs high on the walls above a chalkboard displaying drinks deals."It was catastrophic, the worst in living memory," Mr Entwistle continues."The water came and it stayed for around 48 hours and we were on our own."There was no electric; everything had gone off, there were no communications, it was so quiet."Mr Entwistle and his wife had just celebrated their golden wedding anniversary when the floods candles left over from their celebrations, he attempted to light the way for the community in the inky darkness. "Everybody rallied round," he adds. Among those to rally was Deborah the owner of The Albert, the 60-year-old was living in nearby Luddenden when Hebden Bridge spent hundreds of pounds on cleaning supplies to help the community when the water finally drained, and opened her back room as a creche."It was the first time I ever saw men cry," Ms Collinge tells the BBC."Two guys told me they saw a lady that had been in the water all day and all night. "It was around her waist and she was just holding her husband's ashes." The Flood, written and directed by Lucie Raine, focuses on the spirit displayed during the Raine had friends and family living in Hebden Bridge and remembers the "apocalyptic" images, taken of places she walked around regularly."The memory is quite powerful, it still touches me."After deciding she would write a play about the events that unfolded, Ms Raine began chatting to anyone she could. "What was unusual was the amount of pride people had; they immediately talked about what happened afterwards, the way they came together."People waded through sludge to make sure others got groceries."The Flood has been described as "a love letter to the town that refused to give in to the volatility of nature". Walk around Hebden Bridge today and evidence of that defiant spirit can still be in plain sight along almost every door and window are brackets that floodgates can be attached to the moment a flood alert escalates to an urgent shops have signs which can transform into barriers, others have valuable goods and electrics raised more than a metre from the could be mistaken as decorative cladding in The Albert can be turned into shelving strong enough to hold detachable table tops and stores have replaced carpets with hard materials such as wood or stone so mud and mess left behind by the water can be swilled away. Having endured six major floods since 2000, for people in Hebden Bridge, preparation is part of every day adds Mr Entwistle, no lives have been lost to the flooding, but living under the threat of heavy rain has taken its toll on the community."The records that people had, photographs, ashes, mementoes; they all disappeared."People's lovely possessions were contaminated; they're all gone and irreplaceable."He has since experienced PTSD since the 2015 flooding and says the anxiety in the town is "palpable" during heavy Entwistle hopes the play can teach people how "massive" the impacts of a flood are. "Talking about it sends shivers down my spine."It eats into your soul, we live on a knife-edge."The Flood is touring theatres in Yorkshire and the north, including Leeds Playhouse and the Hebden Bridge Little Theatre until 17 May. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Wall Street Journal
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘Hope I Get Old Before I Die' Review: The Music Never Stops
The saddest story in David Hepworth's superlative chronicle of the phenomenon known as 'heritage rock' takes in the later years of the Who's bass player, John Entwistle. The members of the Who had begun their careers in the molten heat of the early 1960s. Two decades later, as their LP releases and live appearances became sporadic, Entwistle retreated to his 55-room Cotswolds mansion. During the arid years that followed, as Mr. Hepworth records in 'Hope I Get Old Before I Die,' Entwistle idled away his time in 'a lampoon of rock star excess,' drinking, smoking and spending vast amounts of money on a fleet of cars and a 250-piece guitar collection. On the eve of the band's 2002 U.S. tour, the 57-year-old was found dead in a Las Vegas hotel room, in the company of a woman who recalled that his last acts before joining her in between the sheets were to fold his pants over a chair and remove his hearing aid. Seventeen years before, the Who had already become a vintage act, one of many bands that had been going for a very long time and, in middle age, were nervous about what the future might hold. Mr. Hepworth's book helps explain how the music business came to unlock the enormous potential of legacy acts—and eventually to become dominated by them. According to Mr. Hepworth, it was Live Aid, the globally televised concert fundraiser organized by Bob Geldof for African famine relief, that sent heritage rock into orbit. A cynic might think that the concert's real beneficiaries—alongside the millions of starving Africans—were bands such as Queen, which boiled its act down into a succinct set of well-choreographed crowd-pleasers, and solo performers such as Paul McCartney. Today, 40 years after a concert at which he was already being marketed as a gnarled veteran of an age gone by, Mr. McCartney is still playing to packed houses the world over and has some claim to be the most successful musician on the planet. Rock 'n' roll used to be thought of as a young person's game. How is it then, that, with the exception of Taylor Swift's world-bestriding achievements, much of the serious money now gets made by the over-70s, and that many publications devoted to popular music have their faces on the cover?
Arab News
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
UK government urged to condemn Taliban over arrest of elderly Brits
LONDON: The daughter of an elderly British couple being held in Afghanistan has called on the UK government to publicly condemn the Taliban over the detention. Peter and Barbie Reynolds, both of whom are also Afghan citizens, were arrested in February as they returned to their home in Bamiyan province. They are accused of traveling on fake passports. An American woman, Faye Hall, who was detained along with the couple was released last week after US officials reached a deal with Afghan authorities. Sarah Entwistle, the daughter of the Reynolds, told The Telegraph newspaper that the family wants UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to make a public statement condemning the Taliban for detaining her parents 'without any evidence of wrongdoing.' She said that if US authorities were able to secure Hall's release, the UK government should be able to do the same for her parents. 'We understand that there have been reasons for caution over previous weeks but now that America has Faye back, we are desperately hoping there is more the British Government can do,' Entwistle said. She added that her 75-year-old mother is suffering from malnutrition, while her father, 79, has had a chest infection, an eye infection and severe digestive issues. The family previously warned that his life is at risk. 'We continue to hope that the Taliban will embrace all that is decent and just by granting clemency during this meaningful time of Eid,' Entwistle said. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: 'We are supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan.' The couple, who have lived in the country for 18 years, run a company there that provides education and training programs. The Telegraph reported that they were arrested by members of the Haqqani network, a powerful Taliban faction, in an attempt to gain concessions from the governments of the UK and US. Last week, the US lifted a $10 million bounty from Sirajuddin Haqqani, a senior figure in the network.
Telegraph
01-04-2025
- Telegraph
Men, this is how much culinary ignorance could cost you
You can count on the divorce courts for a sense of the frontiers of gender equality. Last month, Simon Entwistle found himself in the papers when he appealed the sum he'd been awarded following his split from his ex, Jenny Helliwell, on grounds of 'gender prejudice'. She is an heiress with an estimated fortune of £61.5 million. Entwistle's argument is basically that he is so useless he ought to be given lots of money. He tried hard in the original hearing. Glossing over his career as a City trader, his lawyers argued he was a kind of innocent fledgling, plucked from the nest and sold into gilded marital servitude. Having grown used to luxury, he could hardly be expected to support himself. He claimed for all sorts of spurious concessions; he wanted £36,000 per year for flights alone. Most outrageously, Entwistle wanted £26,000 a year for 'meal plans', as he was hopeless in the kitchen. 'I can't even cook an omelette,' he pleaded. Perhaps not, but you'd have thought he could run the numbers. Even given today's prices, £500 a week will buy a man a lot of breakfast. I realise it was for a noble cause, but in completely denying any kitchen prowess, Entwistle has let the man side down. Jamie Oliver has been on TV for a quarter of a century. As with tax fraud, ignorance is not an excuse. Nobody is saying you need to memorise the entire Larousse Gastronomique, but in 2025 every man ought to have at least seven pairs of pants and the same number of recipes up his sleeve. A minimum of two should be midweek dinners that do not involve piling up every pan in the kitchen and kicking back to glug the claret while one's partner sets about the washing up like Hercules approaching the stables. Speaking for myself, I have found cooking at home a good way not to feel like a spare part. This time five years ago, my wife and I had our baby daughter at home. Caring for a one-month-old in a lockdown was a good lesson in gender essentialism. Cooking was one of the few things I could do. (I am told 'making some money' would also have been popular.) And it is not hard. Put a chicken in the oven for 45 minutes*? Brownie points. Huge batch of pasta sauce? Brownie points. Bake some brownies? You guessed it – a pat on the back. An irony for Entwistle is that if he had bothered to get his head around a couple of one-pan dishes – and even washed them up afterwards – he might have come off better in the original ruling. Traditional divorce awards were a reflection of sacrifice as well as need. Women gave up their own careers to devote themselves to their husbands and children; it was right they shared the pot. Martyred apron guy is a more persuasive vibe than entitled whinger. Instead, the judge was having none of it, and awarded Entwistle just £325,000. It must have stung all the more given Helliwell had previously offered £800,000. Mr Justice Francis commented: '[Entwistle] said to me, 'I can't even cook an omelette.' Well, my answer to that is, 'Learn.' It is not difficult. You do not have to be a master chef to learn how to eat reasonably well.' And then there was this zinger: 'Being married to a rich person for three years does not suddenly catapult you into a right to live like that after the relationship has ended.' As Entwistle had spent £450,000 in legal fees, his pleading culinary ignorance left him down £125,000 net. I wonder how he likes them eggs.
The Independent
24-03-2025
- The Independent
Daughter of Taliban-imprisoned British couple fears for health amid court delay
The daughter of an elderly British couple imprisoned in Afghanistan has spoken of her serious concerns about their deteriorating health. Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were arrested as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, in central Afghanistan, in February. Sarah Entwistle said the continued detention of her father 'poses a serious risk to his life'. Mr Reynolds is 'experiencing tremors in his head and left arm', Ms Entwistle told The Times, adding Mrs Reynolds was 'collapsing due to malnutrition'. Mr Reynolds has had a chest infection, a double eye infection and serious digestive problems since he was moved to a maximum security prison, she said. 'We remain extremely concerned for Dad in particular. Without access to the medication he needs, his continued detention poses a serious risk to his life,' she has said previously. Court proceedings for the couple were scheduled for Saturday but they were returned to their separate prisons after the hearing was delayed. Ms Entwistle said she was 'devastated' by the delay but added guards had 'indicated that a different judge would be handling the case'. 'We continue to hope they will receive a fair hearing,' she added. Mr and Mrs Reynolds have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years, where they run school training programmes. They were arrested alongside Faye Hall, an American friend who had rented a plane to travel with them, and a translator from the couple's Rebuild training business. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said on Monday: 'We are supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan.' However, the UK Government has said its ability to provide assistance was 'extremely limited' due to the closure of its embassy after the Taliban's takeover in 2021.
