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ANTWERP BRITISH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION vzw Maandelijkse Newsletter – november 2015
Verschijnt niet in juli Verantwoordelijk uitgever:
Mary Ann Marinus, Oude Beurs 33, 2000 Antwerpen Afgiftekantoor 2000 Antwerpen 1
POO8284
CONTENTS
Dates for your diary ................................ 2
From our Chairman ................................ 3
Thought for the month ............................ 3
Membership matters ............................... 4
Change of address ................................... 4
Backstage at the Opera .......................... 5
Advance Notice ........................................ 5
Christmas lunch ....................................... 5
Once More Unto the Breach ................. 6
Submarine Warfare in WWI .................. 7
Train World .............................................. 8
Caligula at the Bourla ............................ 9
Fantômas ................................................ 10
All Change at the Ballet of Flanders . 11
Autumn Leaves ....................................... 12
SuDokus .................................................. 13
November Quiz ...................................... 14
November Crossword ........................... 15
Useful Information ................................ 16
Belgie-Belgique
P.B.
2000 Antwerpen 1
8/4322
2
Dates for your diary
ABCA events in BOLD type
7th November ABCA : visit with guide to the Opera backstage
8th
November RBL Remembrance Sunday church service at St Boniface
11th November Amuz Kammenstraat :Vredes concert by “Revue Blanche”
25th
November ABCA : No open evening – Highlander closed !
Advance Notice: 6
th December RBL Christmas lunch
11-13 Dec Theatre Het Appeltje : play “Blind Water”
13th
December ABCA : Christmas lunch, de Basiliek hotel
23rd
December ABCA : Christmas drinks and mince pies at the Highlander
17th
Jan 2016 ABCA : New Year brunch at “d’Aa Toert”
23-25 Jan ‘16 BATS panto “Little Red Riding Hood”
ABCA Antwerp British Community Association: For payments, call Margaret du Maine on 03 651 32 24 For membership matters, call Nadine Hechtermans on 03 480 34 77 (evenings) Open Evenings: The Highlander, Stadswaag 21, 2000 Antwerpen (03 226 91 80)
ABIW Antwerp British & International Women: contact Valerie Carroll on 03 254 03 73 MtS Missions to Seafarers: contact Rev. Brian Millson on 03 605 41 88 RBL Royal British Legion, info Bob Chambers on 0474 282843 St.Boniface St Boniface Anglican Church: contact Fr Wagstaff SSC on 03 239 33 39 BATS British American Theatrical Society: contact Tom De Beckker:
email: [email protected]
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From our Chairman
Dear Members,
The Challenge Quiz was good fun with 7 teams participating. Well done to the “Green Ferry” team, this year’s winner of the Antwerp Challenge Quiz trophy and a big thank you to Jill for organising the event. The poppy boxes are out – you’ll find them not only at the Highlander and the British Shop but at a large number of other venues too. Look forward to seeing you if not in November then surely at the Christmas lunch in December.
With best wishes,
Mary Ann Marinus
Chairman
Thought for the month
Decide to be HAPPY when you start your day !
(RVM – India)
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Membership matters
Change of address Gust Van der Steen Home St Jozef, k.357 Grote Steenweg 112 2600 Berchem and unchanged: tel: 03 449 39 06 mobile: 0494 918 019
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Backstage at the Opera 7th November
ABCA’s next outing is on November 7 and will be a backstage tour of the Vlaamse Opera. During the guided tour of the Antwerp Opera House you will see impressive paintings, take in breathtaking heights and surprising nooks and crannies along with learning historical facts and hearing funny anecdotes. The tour will be an introduction to 400 years of opera history, the social codes and goings-on behind the scenes. Cost is €12 per person, payment in ABCA bank account (details on the back page ) confirms your booking – please let Margaret know you are coming. We meet in front of the opera on the Frankrijklei at 14.45.
Advance Notice
Christmas lunch
Sunday 13th December 2015, Hotel de Basiliek in Edegem
Guest of Honour: Father Christmas
price follows next month.
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Once More Unto the Breach
This year saw the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. October 25th was the 600th anniversary of another equally famous battle – that of Agincourt,. Henry V's famous victory against a numerically superior French army. This battle is notable for the use of the English longbow in very large numbers, with English and Welsh archers forming most of Henry's army. The battle was fought in the narrow strip of open land formed between the woods of Tramecourt and Agincourt (close to the modern village of Azincourt). The French army was positioned at the northern exit so as to bar the way to Calais. Early on the 25th, Henry deployed his army (approximately 1,500 men-at-arms and 7,000 longbowmen) across a 750-yard (690 m) part of the defile. It is likely that the English adopted their usual battle line of longbowmen on either flank, with men-at-arms and knights in the centre. They may also have deployed some archers in the centre of the line. The English men-at-arms in plate and mail were placed shoulder to shoulder four deep. The English and Welsh archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden stakes, or palings, into the ground at an angle to force cavalry to veer off. Henry made a speech emphasising the justness of his cause, and reminding his army of previous great defeats the kings of England had inflicted on the French. The field of battle was the most significant factor in deciding the outcome. The recently ploughed land hemmed in by dense woodland favoured the English, both because of its narrowness, and because of the thick mud through which the French knights had to walk
Accounts of the battle describe the French engaging the English men-at-arms before being rushed from the sides by the longbowmen as the mêlée developed. The English account in the Gesta Henrici says: "For when some of them, killed when battle was first joined, fell at the front, so great was the undisciplined violence and pressure of the mass of men behind them that the living fell on top of the dead, and others falling on top of the living were killed as well." There had been heavy rain and the French monk of St. Denis describes the French troops as "marching through the middle of the mud where they sank up to their knees. So they were already overcome with fatigue even before they advanced against the enemy". Some knights actually drowned in their helmets. The mud also increased the ability of the much more lightly armoured archers to join in hand-to-hand fighting against the French men-at-arms; the French monk of Saint Denis described "a terrifying hail of arrow shot".
Henry was eventually recognised by the French in the 1420 Treaty of Troyes as the regent and heir to the French throne. This was cemented by his marriage to Catherine of Valois, the daughter of King Charles VI. However, Henry died at the age of thirty-six, two months before King Charles, thus he never actually became King of France.
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Submarine Warfare in WWI
The first successful submarine was built in 1620 by Cornelius Jacobszoon Drebbel, a Dutchman in the service of James I of England.. It was propelled by oars and is thought to have incorporated floats with tubes to allow air down to the rowers. The precise nature of the submarine type is a matter of some controversy; some claim that it was merely a bell towed by a boat. Two improved types were tested in the River Thames between 1620 and 1624. Although the first submersible vehicles were tools for exploring under water, it did not take long for inventors to recognize their military potential. During the 1870s and 1880s, the basic contours of the modern submarine began to emerge. By the eve of World War I all of the major navies included submarines in their fleets, but these were generally intended for coastal operations. The most significant exception was the German Deutschland class of merchant U-boats, each 315 feet long with two large cargo compartments. These submarines could carry 700 tons of cargo at 12- to 13-knot speeds on the surface and at seven knots submerged. The Deutschland itself became the U-155 when fitted with torpedo tubes and deck guns, and, with seven similar submarines, it served in a combat role during the latter stages of the war. In comparison, the "standard" submarine of World War I measured slightly over 200 feet in length and displaced less than 1,000 tons on the surface.
Submarines also were fitted with deck guns. This permitted them to approach enemy merchant ships on the surface and signal them to stop for searching (an early war policy) and later to sink small or unarmed ships that did not warrant expenditure of torpedoes. The Germans constructed several specialized submarines with vertical mine tubes through their hulls; some U-boats carried 48 mines in addition to their torpedoes. British submarines sank 17 German U-boats during the conflict; the early submarine-versus-submarine successes led to British development of the R-class intended specifically for this role. These were relatively small craft but once submerged; large batteries permitted their electric motors to drive them underwater at the high speed of 15 knots for two hours. (Ten knots was a common speed for submerged submarines until after World War II.) Thus, they were both manoeuverable and fast. Advanced underwater listening equipment (asdic, or sonar) was installed, and six forward torpedo tubes made them potent weapons. Although these submarines appeared too late to have any actual effect on the war, they pioneered a new concept in the development of the underwater warfare.
The most notorious U-boat attack took place on 7 May 1915 when the liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed by a U-20, 21 km off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, and sank in just 18 minutes. Of the 1,959 people aboard, 1,198 were killed.
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Train World
The National Rail Museum Belgium has a new museum dedicated to the world of trains. Situated in Schaarbeek in the middle of the Belgian railway network, it lies on the route of Belgium’s very first railway track between Brussels and Mechelen. It’s a gem of Belgian railway architecture. The railway garden connects it with a new industrial hangar. The new hall is connected to the city and through the glass window you can catch a glimpse of Le Belge, the first locomotive to be built in Belgium. From the mezzanine there’s a wonderful view over the city and the tracks. Trains were invented by George Stephenson who was a maintenance engineer at Killingworth coal mine. His managers allowed him to experiment with the steam engine and in 1814 he built his first steam locomotive which could transport 30 tons of coal at 4 miles per hour. In 1825 he designed The Locomotion, considered to be the first serviceable locomotive. It transported 80 tons of coal at 24 miles per hour, a speed unheard of at that time. Despite some opposition in Belgium the engineers Pierre Simons and Gustave De Ridder created plans for the new Belgian railway and went to England to see how things were done. Finally on May 5, 1835 the grand moment arrived and Belgium was the first country on the European mainland to open a public railway, Brussels, the first capital in the world to have a rail connection: a 22 kilometre long railway line to Mechelen. 900 guests travelled from Brussels to Mechelen in a convoy consisting of three trains, each pulled by a new steam engine: passengers were seated in 30 carriages adorned with the national flag. There were simple open and covered bench wagons with some more luxurious carriages for VIPs. Trains could reach speeds of 60 kms per hour. The museum has a host of stories to tell. For instance about the lady’s maid who took her first trip on the Orient Express and was overwhelmed by its opulence and, in contrast, the story of the railway worker who lived with his family in a simple cottage near the tracks.
Rail museum: Tel: 02 224 74 98
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Caligula at the Bourla
The Toneelhuis is staging Caligula by Albert Camus. Finished during WWII, Camus’ Caligula differs somewhat from the standard version of the mad emperor’s life, portrayed so brilliantly by John Hurt in the Seventies’ BBC TV series I Claudius.
In 1957 Camus said of the play: "Caligula, a relatively kind prince so far, realizes on the death of Drusilla, his sister and his mistress, that "men die and they are not happy." Therefore, obsessed by the quest for the Absolute and poisoned by contempt and horror, he tries to exercise, through murder and systematic perversion of all values, a freedom which he discovers in the end is no good. He rejects friendship and love, simple human solidarity, good and evil. He takes the word of those around him, he forces them to logic, he levels all around him by force of his refusal and by the rage of destruction which drives his passion for life. But if his truth is to rebel against fate, his error is to deny men. One cannot destroy without destroying oneself. This is why Caligula depopulates the world around him and, true to his logic, makes arrangements to arm those who will eventually kill him. Caligula is the story of a superior suicide. It is the story of the most human and the most tragic of errors. Unfaithful to man, loyal to himself, Caligula consents to die for having understood that no one can save himself all alone and that one cannot be free in opposition to other men."
The historical Caligula or Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August AD 12 – 24 January AD 41), to give him his full name, was Roman emperor from AD 37–41. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most beloved public figures. With the death of Tiberius in AD 37, Caligula succeeded his grand uncle and adoptive grandfather. As emperor,.Caligula was described as a noble and moderate ruler during the first six months of his reign. After this, and following a severe illness, the sources focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance, and sexual perversity, presenting him as an insane tyrant. Caligula famously is supposed to have made his favorite horse Incitatus a senator. In early AD 41, Caligula was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers. The conspirators' attempt to use the opportunity to restore the Roman Republic was thwarted: on the day of the assassination of Caligula, the Praetorian Guard declared Caligula's uncle, Claudius, the next Roman emperor. Directed by Guy Cassiers and with Kevin Janssens in the title role, Caligula is on at the Bourla from November 19 through 28.
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Fantômas
From one villain to another, albeit this time a fictional one, Fantômas is the second offering of the of the season from the Théâtre Royal du Parc. After opening with a hugely popular, swashbuckling The Three Musketeers, featuring a live horse on stage, the Parc has turned to Fantômas the evil fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain (1885–1969) and Pierre Souvestre (1874–1914).
One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11 volumes written by Allain alone after Souvestre's death. The character was also the basis of various film, television, and comic book adaptations. In the history of crime fiction, he represents a transition from Gothic novel villains of the 19th century to modern-day serial killers. Fantômas was introduced a few years after Arsène Lupin, another well-known thief. But whereas Lupin draws the line at murder, Fantômas has no such qualms and is shown as a sociopath who enjoys killing in a sadistic fashion. He is totally ruthless, without mercy and is loyal to none, not even his own children. He is a master of disguise, always appearing under an assumed identity, often that of a person whom he has murdered. Fantômas makes use of bizarre and improbable techniques in his crimes, such as plague-infested rats, giant snakes, and rooms that fill with sand. The Fantômas novels and the subsequent films were highly regarded by the French avant-garde of the day, particularly by the surrealists. Blaise Cendrars called the series "the modern Aeneid"; Guillaume Apollinaire said that "from the imaginative standpoint Fantômas is one of the richest works that exist." The painter René Magritte and the surrealist poet and novelist Robert Desnos both produced works alluding to Fantômas.
Fantômas has been filmed many times, the most famous actor to play him being Jean Marais in the 1964 version.
On from November 19 through December 31.
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All Change at the Ballet of Flanders
This season the internationally acclaimed Antwerp choreographer, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui takes over as artistic director of the Flanders Ballet. In 2008, Sadler’s Wells named him as an Associate Artist, and since 2010 he has been artistic director of the Festival Equilibrio in Rome. While Cherkaoui’s initial work was produced when a core member of the Belgian collective les ballets C de la B, he also expanded his oeuvre to include the mentally disabled actors of Theater Stap, and during his stint as associate artist at Het Toneelhuis in Antwerp, he produced Sutra (2008), a dialogue with the warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple and Dunas (2009) alongside flamenco dancer, Maria Pagés. In 2010, with the founding of his company Eastman (in residence at deSingel International Artcampus) in Antwerp, Cherkaoui began a new phase resulting in the multiple-award-winning Babel, co-choreographed with Damien Jalet and designed by Antony Gormley. This was followed by, among other works, Bolero co-created with Damien Jalet and Marina Abramovic, for the Ballet of the Opera of Paris) and m¡longa (for Sadler’s Wells). He continues to work with a variety of theatres, opera houses and ballet companies from around the world such as the Dutch National Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet and the Los Angeles Dance Company. Cherkaoui also received great international acclaim for his choreography in Joe Wright’s feature film Anna Karenina (2012). Cherkaoui directed and choreographed Shell Shock (2014), an opera for La Monnaie (Brussels) with music by Nicholas Lens and text by Nick Cave.
His first work as Artistic Director of the Flanders Ballet, Manen/Cherkaoui, is an evening of short pieces. Hans Van Manen, who led the Dutch National Ballet for many years, created Solo (1997) to Bach's Violin partita for three dancers, because the tempo is so fast and the movement is so abrupt that a single person could not accomplish it. Also in Four Schumann Pieces Van Manen gives centre stage place to a male soloist who is shadowed, so to speak, by five pairs of dancers. Faun by Cherkaoui – a great success when premiered in 2013 by the Royal Ballet of Flanders – offers an alternative view of the legendary solo by Nijinsky to Claude Debussy's ‘Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune’. Larbi’s Faun meets his female counterpart.
Where? Vlaamse Opera
When ? October 30 to November 10
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Autumn Leaves
“Come little leaves,” said the wind one day “Come down to the meadow and we shall play
Put on your dresses of red and gold, For summer is past and the days grow cold.”
Soon the leaves heard the wind’s loud call
Down they fell fluttering one and all Over the brown fields they danced and flew
Singing the soft little songs they knew
Dancing and leaping, the little leaves went
Winter had called them and they were content Soon, fast asleep in their earthy beds,
The snow laid a coverlet over their heads.
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SuDokus
November puzzles
October answers
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November Quiz
1. What Eurasian winged-fruit maple tree is named after the Greek words sukon (fig) and moron (mulberry)?
2. What Native American Apache Indian chief's name became an exclamation of exhilaration?
3. What note is produced at the 5th fret of the 5th string (ie the 2nd lowest pitched) of a conventionally tuned guitar: A; B; C; or D?
4. Which old English King is associated with having burned cakes? 5. The old English tithe, was a tax taken for the church/clergy equating to a? 6. IPO - referring to the flotation of a company - stands for what? 7. Strongly scented toilet water is named after which city of its origination? 8. Le Coq Sportif is a famous French corporation/brand for what? 9. What word makes new words when prefixing: Rule, Projection, Guitar, Valve and
Fastener? 10. An opsimath is a person who begins to do what later in life? 11. The literary/dramatic description 'redivivus' refers to someone who does what? 12. Neolithic refers to which age? 13. Olibanum is the medieval Latin alternative English word for which Biblical
aromatic resin? 14. Poplin is a type of 18th-century what? 15. Phylum porifera is the technical name for what organic cleaning device?
October Answers 1. Flowerpot Men; 2. De Lorean ; 3. Tantalus; 4. Alabama; 5. Redskins; 6. American War of Independence ; 7. Four years; 8. Fenn Street ; 9. Ivanhoe; 10. Beaver , 11. Piccolo; 12. Blofeld ; 13. Nutmeg; 14. Cheviots; 15. Gold; 16. Shirley Williams (SDP = Social Democratic Party)
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November Crossword
Across
1. Head rest (6); 4. Atomize (5); 8. Capital of Switzerland (4); 9. Town in NE Scotland (8); 10. Confined within limits (7); 12. Pond scum (5); 13. Eurasian crow (4); 14. Apportion (5); 17. Senior (5); 20. Person in authority (4); 22. Existence (5); 23. Strong liquor from Mexico (7); 24. Legible (8); 25. Amusement (4); 26. Eats (5); 27. Run aground (6)
Down
1. Small stones (7); 2. Taller and thinner (7); 3. Less strong (6); 5. Share (7); 6. Exacted retribution (7); 7. Poker stake (4); 11. Distrust (5); 15. Give life to (7); 16. Country of the United Kingdom (7); 18. Person that lounges (7); 19. Hindmost part (4,3); 21. Cuts off (6); 22. Relieve gas (4)
September solution
16
Useful Information Patron: HM Ambassador to Belgium Committee for 2015/2016:
Chairman Mary Ann Marinus Oude Beurs 33 2000 Antwerpen tel: 0486 646 941 (pm only) [email protected]
Vice Chairman Penny Law Geestenspoor 113 2180 Ekeren tel: 03 542 20 71 [email protected]
Hon. Treasurer Margaret du Maine Miksebeekstraat 104 2930 Brasschaat tel: 03 651 32 24 [email protected]
Secretary Nadine Hechtermans Lispersteenweg 219 2500 Lier tel: 03 480 34 77 [email protected]
Committee Member Jill Barnard Baggenstraat 14 2140 Borgerhout tel: 0474 432191 [email protected]
Committee Member Stephanie Hughes Maarschalk Gerardstraat 21, bus 1 2000 Antwerpen tel: 0484661331 [email protected]
Newsletter Editor Madeleine Richardson Prins Boudewijnlaan 84/3 2610 Wilrijk tel: 03 230 49 47 [email protected]
Benevolent Matters Dora Jolly Hollandstraat 38 2060 Antwerpen tel: 03 232 71 15 [email protected]
Anglican Church St Boniface Church Grétrystraat 39 2018 Antwerpen tel: 03 239 33 39 [email protected]
Webmaster: [email protected] ABCA Website: www.abca-antwerp.be e-mail address: [email protected]
ABCA recognizes the diversity of belief in contemporary British society and accordingly directs members wanting to contact other faith groups to the “Gids Levensbeschouwingen Antwerpen”/Multifaith Antwerp guide, published by the Stad Antwerpen. Information on www.antwerpen.be - tel 03 338 3115.
ABCA Bank Account number is BE11 2200 3243 8048. Annual subscription: Single: € 20, Double: € 34. Donations towards our benevolent work are welcome. Please feel free to submit items for inclusion in the newsletter, such as poems you particularly like, anecdotes, stories about Antwerp, hints, suggestions. Items must be submitted to the editor by the 20th of the month for inclusion in the next edition.
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