Live in Chelsea
I drove over to King’s Road, Chelsea, this evening to attend a performance by singer/songwriter Joanna Wallfisch and pianist Tom Hewson at The Pheasantry, an established venue in the Pizza Express Live network.
Labour success
I have been managing the MU stand at the Labour Party Conference for the last four days and, in partnership with my colleagues, discussed the work of the Union with ministers, MPs and delegates.
Conference set up
Following my trips to this wonderful city for the TUC Congress and Drum Show, I am now spending a week at the Labour Party Conference and managing the MU’s annual stand at this landmark event.
Classical Awards
I attended the Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2023 this evening, where I hosted a table on behalf of the MU. This is the first time the Union has sponsored an award at the event and the night was a great tribute to the genre.
Black History Month
I was delighted to arrange the inside front cover of the Black History Month magazine in recent days. My thanks to the team at SMM Media and designer Chris Stenner for creating a superb design featuring rising star Lady Nade.
Partnership recording
I met MU in-house solicitor Dawn Rodger and Tim Northrop of NMD Solicitors this morning at the studios of producer James Reynolds in Parsons Green, west London, where James has expanded his already superb facilities to include a suite of podcast and video rooms.
TUC, Liverpool
An intriguing 24 hours in Liverpool, where I had been invited to attend the TUC General Council dinner at the Hilton Hotel.
Ashridge GC
An excellent day at Ashridge Golf Club in Hertfordshire, courtesy of Peter Leathem and all our colleagues at PPL. The forecast had been for hot weather of above 30 degrees C and so it proved.
Mitch Dalton
Legendary session guitarist Mitch Dalton played the Pizza Express basement club in Dean Street this evening with his top class band, which included piano and keyboard player David Arch (of Strictly fame).
Greg & Jennie
Julie, Ben and I enjoyed a wonderful day in the stunning grounds of Swarling Manor, Canterbury, for the wedding of Greg Fitzgerald and Jennie Griffiths.
Uncle Arthur
During our stay in Scotland, my sister Janet very kindly passed us some notable family photographs. Including this picture of Arthur Ames in his school’s first XI cricket team in 1926.
Melrose week
A lovely few days in the Scottish Borders with Julie and Ben, as we visited my sister and brother-in-law in Bowden. This gave us the opportunity to benefit from a number of hill walks plus take in the Edinburgh Festival.
Secretariat return
A pleasure to invite former MU colleagues to Eden Park as we hosted John Smith OBE and his wife Sandra, Horace Trubridge, Jane Austin, plus David Ashley and his partner Sarah.
Becks at home
The new football season is marked in classic fashion by a series of pre-competitive friendlies across the country and this afternoon saw Beckenham Town entertain Leatherhead in a fiesty clash.
