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BBC News
09-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Churchill portrait artist Graham Sutherland gets blue plaque
Artist Graham Sutherland, who painted a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill that the wartime leader hated, has been honoured with a blue plaque in south commemorative plate from English Heritage is located at his childhood home, on Dorset Road in Merton painting of Churchill was commissioned in 1954 by the Houses of Parliament, but the former prime minister hated the depiction so much that it was taken away and secretly burnt on the orders of his wife, Lady Clementine year Sutherland's preparatory painting of Churchill was sold by Sotheby's auction house for £660,000. Sutherland trained at Goldsmiths' College in the 1920s and was commissioned as an official war artist during World War painted dozens of portraits in the 1950s and 60s and was also known for his religious artwork including the central tapestry for the new Coventry Cathedral - Christ In Glory In The Tetramorph - which he died in February 1980 aged 76. Author Rosemary Hill, former English Heritage blue plaques panel member, described Sutherland as a "master in tapestry and stained glass as well as an etcher and painter"."After his death, his reputation rose and fell - overshadowed sometimes by that of his more spectacular friend Francis Bacon," she said."It has now found its proper level, close to the heart of 20th Century British art."The London blue plaques scheme was started in 1866 and is thought to be the oldest of its kind in the world.
BBC News
30-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Eaglescliffe RAF veteran, 90, jumps out of plane for birthday
An RAF veteran has taken part in a skydive to mark his 90th Dyer, from Eaglescliffe, served from 1951 until 1969 but never got to jump from a plane during his service."I've had it at the back of my mind all these years," he said, but later added that he would only do it again if he could avoid the daughter, Clare Sullivan, said her father was a "real inspiration" and she had been trying to "put aside" any worries she had about the jump. The skydive took place at Shotton Airfield, near Peterlee, on Dyer said: "I liked the parachute bit, but didn't like the freefall as it hurt my ears."Asked if he would do it again he said he would if he could just do the parachute part and avoid what came afterwards. Mr Dyer was born in Kent, but his family moved to London when he was a baby and he was evacuated from the city during World War joined the RAF at the age of 16 and worked mostly in airfield construction so was not able to jump. Mr Dyer said his parachutist colleagues used to "wind him up" about served in Egypt, Iraq, Libya and Singapore, before leaving the RAF in 1969. Mr Dyer started to plan the jump after the Covid pandemic as a joint celebration of his 90th birthday and daughter's 50th."I thought it would be a lovely dad and daughter thing to do," Ms Sullivan said."And then I realised actually it's not for me, I'm too scared. But I also wanted him to have the moment, have the limelight."Mr Dyer, who turned 90 in January, obtained a certificate from his GP to say he was healthy and fit to do the jump, which is also raising money for the Royal Air Forces Association. "He's got a real zest for life, he's a real inspiration to me," Ms Sullivan said."He's always up for a challenge, always setting goals."Mr Dyer said he had no further adventures planned."I think perhaps I'll go for a quiet life," he said. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
25-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
'We all felt the weight of responsibility' - Covid five years on
Today marks five years since Guernsey went into lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of only one community case, the then Chief Minister Deputy Gavin St Pier told us to "stay at home".Looking back on that moment, he said he was aware that he was making a "historically momentous decision".By the end of March 2023, Guernsey had reported 35,326 cases of Covid-19 and 41 people died from the virus. St Pier said the restrictions on movement in lockdown had not been seen since the Nazi occupation during World War said: "The restrictions were arguably even more restrictive than in some parts of that period, in terms of people literally being confined to their homes and unable to move."As chief minister, St Pier was also the chair of the Civil Contingences Authority (CCA), which was the body that enacted emergency legislation to put lockdown rules into help make his decisions, he was getting advice from the Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Pier said Guernsey and other jurisdictions "were all working to the same model of the potential impact on the population and the risk of excess deaths"."I think we were working to a model that was suggesting it could have been 1,800 unexpected deaths." While making his decisions on how to react to the pandemic, St Pier said he had to think of both the health and economic implications of them."It was tricky, trying to weigh up all the factors and also not knowing the likely length of lockdown. "It ended up being longer than we expected at the outset but, obviously, significantly shorter than elsewhere."I think the consequences were quite difficult to foresee and the best we could do was make decisions with the information available and keep adjusting our decisions as we went through the process." 'I expected legal challenges' Sir Richard Collas was bailiff at the time, just weeks away from the bailiff is not a permeant member of the CCA, Sir Richard said he was invited to be part of the said: "It was hugely impressive, people usually criticise the States for being slow, indecisive and not doing things, but when it came to it decisions were taken quickly." During lockdown, the island's community adopted the "Guernsey Together" attitude and heeded the advice from Richard said the level of compliance took him by surprise."I wasn't sure that people would comply, I expected that there might be legal challenges to those, and those challenges would need to be dealt with very quickly."One of the law changes the CCA put through at my suggestion was to enable the Court of Appeal to sit remotely - most of the barristers and judges are practising in the UK who come over to Guernsey and the law requires that they are required to sit in person."That would've been impossible in lockdown, we wouldn't have gotten barristers to come over here for a court sitting on the basis they'd have two weeks in a hotel room." After St Pier had made the announcement that the islands were to lockdown, Sir Richard addressed the bailiwick in an online video. Looking back at the video Sir Richard said: "I was nervous doing it because I was conscious of the importance of it. It didn't feel like I had sufficient time to prepare."I think with the knowledge I had from my son about how serious this could be, I think that helped me to be quite stern and say 'you've got to comply' because that was the sort of lecture I was getting from my son [who worked in intensive care in London]."That video address would be the final time Sir Richard would be in the bailiff's office as its holder. 'So many acts of kindness' Dr Brink played an important part of Guernsey's pandemic was the person giving the politicians the facts and forecasts to help in their the days leading up to lockdown, Dr Brink said the island "didn't have the tools" to deal with the virus."Our on-island testing hadn't yet been fully developed, it came online about a week later. Our swab-to-result was about a week so our ability to respond in real-time was very limited."We all felt the weight of responsibility at that stage," she public team worked unrelenting hours during lockdown, Dr Brink remembers, getting into work at 06:00 and not leaving until about 23:00, seven days a week."There were so many acts of kindness that it's so difficult to quantify them all."I can remember one night when we were working at 11pm, none of us had had any supper and we were absolutely exhausted and there was a bang on the window outside Le Vauquiedor - and someone had dropped off a whole pile of food for us."
BBC News
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Tommy Cooper's last fez sells for £7k at auction
A fez owned by comedian and magician Tommy Cooper has sold at auction for £7,000 - more than twice its hat, believed to be the last one owned by the entertainer, was one of eight items of Cooper memorabilia that went under the hammer at The Woburn in Bedfordshire on vendor Clive Greeenaway - who is a Cooper impersonator - said he was given the fez by the comedian's wife Butler, from Hansons Auctioneers, said "it was the fez that made the show". The hat - an iconic feature of Cooper's performances - was estimated to fetch £2,000-£3, Butler said Mr Greenaway would use the proceeds of the sale to fund his laughter yoga sessions, which would involve training carers at a children's hospice and in the NHS."So [it's] full circle for Tommy - his fez has then gone to make people laugh," she told BBC Three Counties Radio. The other items being auctioned included an evening dress suit Cooper wore to meet Elizabeth II in 1977 - complete with a letter of authenticity from his daughter Vicki - a set from his famous bottle-glass-glass-bottle trick and his classic magic Butler said the "bidding was fierce" but that Mr Greenaway "had people rolling about laughing" during the prop comedian was born in Caerphilly, Wales, and was in the Armed Forces during World War became a familiar face on tour and on television - with his catchphrase "just like that".Cooper died after suffering a heart attack during a live TV broadcast at Her Majesty's Theatre in London in April 1984, aged 63. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
