SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE BOATHOUSE.....

Nov 28, 2023

There were three Boathouses on that stretch of the riverbank. The City and the Univarsity Rowing Clubs for the Hoi Poloi shared a bunker which still stands, empty, as it’s watersteppes collapsed decades ago. But being a Staunch Northern Labour City the Trade Union Congress took umbrage and built another, next door, for the working classes, but the whole thing fell down. Well before It’s demise, local middle class neighbours, feeling left out, bought the old farmyard in 1900 and added their own watersteppes, thus allowing all societal divides to get wet together. This latter club was also, from the start, a Cultural Venue, performers from all over the world came to do their stuff. According to Legend, Jack Benny included. Exactly 100 years later, Paul and Harry bought the site from the last two living shareholders and while the boats were mostly unusable, the party rocked on. Harry left within the first year, leaving Paul to develop the finest Free Underground scene in the Northeast. I finally joined the mayhem in 2008. It changed my life

The original sign hanging on what used to be the farmhouse which we called our Clubhouse. It stood in a large garden, tended by Brian, next to Paul’s caravan, across from the massive Boatshed. Hence the site was collectively named The Boathouse.

The site was secluded, surrounded by a copse within playing fields plus a lake, that had been gifted to the city. The owner of the land had been a farmer who sold half his land to developers for a large new industrial estate. Being secluded, we only once ever received any complaints about the volume of heavy metal we played ‘til sunup. One night around 3am a local chap walking his dog past the lake, misinterpreted the screeches of our experimental pure electronic music - as a chain saw massacre in progress !! The cops crashed the copse, the gate and the shed door. The heavy gang had arrived, weapons, dogs, helmets, the lot. Within minutes we and they were sharing tinnies & laughing together at the ludicrous mistake. The youngest uniform related how, as a kid he had spent time within our garden on an arts project, led by Jayney, creating paper boats that they all had sent, burning, downstream. A practice run for Paul’s own envisaged Viking funeral…….

Paul Burwell was a creator extraordinaire. He had laid two sets of pipes under the garden to a metal tree sculpture, so that with the flick of a switch the branches would simultaneously shoot jets of flame and water into the night sky. After his death nobody could figure out how it worked. Many of his friends were also visionary talents, who have created and performed around the world, and they continued to visit the site after his passing. Paul was also the founder of Bow Gamelan. Google them, learn how he inspired so many of us. One of his friends, Lee Merrill, an extremely talented musician, received exploratory funding for a millennium project to build Britain’s highest man-made hill, at 39 meters high. He would need a lot of land, I found him a friendly farmer who agreed to allow the construction on his land.

Original artwork for Lee Merrill’s project, the inspiration for Rise Island. I was raised midway between two small E.R. villages, one named Rise, t’other Sunk Island…..

During those heady, wonderful days I was busy creating a 5.5 Meter Dragon Sculpture for the UK Olympic Torch Route, and was the chair of a group trying to buy an old church to turn into an international art gallery. These two projects were inspired by my involvement with the Boathouse. Although GYD, my Dragon came to full fruition, and in turn inspired authors to write Dragon Tales, circumstances prevented completion of both the hill and the gallery. Each of which is a story on it’s own…… which will be published here along with afore mentioned Dragon Tales.

Enter the Dragon, or at least his tail…… First bit of the sculpture in my workshop. 6 ft high.

As the sculpture would have eventually have crowned the Hill, and thanks to nasty nigel we were about to loose the Boathouse, GYD needed an alternative residence. The temporary solution was to create a mezzanine floor to raise my workshops a level, leaving space for the Dragon to sit, when not on tour……… But the Hill and Gallery continued to disturb my sleep…. until a Eureka moment !! AHA !! Build my own Hill, or rather Rise Island, with endless caverns to display multitudinous works of art, simultaneously becoming a retirement home for the Great Yorkshire Dragon. IN VIRTUAL REALITY !! …. erm…. The only problem left to solve was that I had no IT skills, Hhmmmm. But y’know life is a journey…… so I’m working on the IT bit. First thing, tho’ was to build a scale model of my hill, and it had to look kinda Ancient, after all one cannot expect an Ancient Dragon to be comfy in a modern apartment, N’est ce pas ? Of course I had to think about how to make the model appear truly ancient, so I based it on equally ancient illustrations of that Legendary first central repository of knowledge. Yes That One…

GYD’s Chinese head looking over the neck of his European head. (Sculpture). The real dragon had problems as a youngster. “Too many for me” he was thinking. Just then he overheard the expression “two heads are better than one”. “Oh ! if only !” he mused as he dozed off. Then when he awoke…………..

Now if you are thinking…. “Hey is this Sculpture now taking on a life of it’s own ?” Well whaddaya expect ? I’m a storyteller, n’est ce pas ?

There’s other stories I have about dear Boathouse friends. Adie J, a painter and kinetic sculptor with whom I created a sculpture of a crippled cat who road a Victorian Bicycle in the Tour DifFrance. After which we built the prototype of Victorian Bathing Machine together. Jeff who creates topographical Moon and Mars Spheres, that are so good that NASA are amongst his customers. Jayney who now runs a live music bar full of ex-Boathouse Relics. Her place and Paul’s memory continue to inspire not just those of us who were involved, but also those who listen to our tales. Rock On….. Grok On…..

Paul’s creative friends are evidenced in his library which I inherited on condition that I should use them to further his creative spirit, which is what brought me to the idea of LIBRE LIBRIS. As I catalogue the books I often find that the authors have signed a personal dedication to Paul. Clearly he was well loved and respected. I often find extra bits of related info he tucked within the pages. I point none of these out when listing…. So when you receive your requested books, you may have a pleasant surprise…..

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Apropos - My Guru has now created a PDF listing of said books, which will be sent to Paid Subscribers in a week or so with instructions on how to request.

GROKOPEDIA. Karel and I are still busy with this promise. Unfortunately due to a debilitating accident last summer, we have not been physically able to progress at the speed originally intended. Recovery is well under way.

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