CUIHEROEADVERTISER&HMES I + 24 I CUTHEROEADVERTISER&TIMES VALLEY ENTERTAINMENT annual music feast


ByEricBeardbworth eric.beardsworthsjpress.co.uk ©ClithAdvertiser


The annual Ribchester Music Festival is launched tomor­ row, Friday March 20th, with the traditional free concert.


This year’s big event in June, which will showcase fine young music talent, will be launched at 7-3opm in St Wil­ frid’s Church, Ribchester, with


afluterecital bytop American flautist Kathryn Williams with


piano accompaniment by Egle Sarmaviciute. Kathryn, originally from


Ohio, is currently studying on the prestigious International Artist Diploma course at the Royal Northern College of Music. She recently appeared with The Halle and Sinfonia Cymru. Egle is from Lithuania and


started playing the piano at the age of six. She is current­ ly in her second postgradu- ateyearofstudyattheRNCM. Both appear by kind permis-


This y e a r ’s e v en t is tb e 23rd an n u a l R ib cb e s te r Festival


sion of the RNCM. This is a re­ laxed, informal and free e vent and everybody is welcome to come along. At the concert, the line up


forthe20i5Festival will be an­ nounced. This year’s event is the 23rd annual Ribchester Festival and will be held from Wednesday to Sunday June 24th to 28th. The Festival will continue


the theme of recent years in showcasing the best young creative talent that the coun­ try’s top music colleges have to offer and also help show­ case some localartists too, re­ gardless of age, and add a few ‘fringe’ concerts so there is something for everyone. The festival promises a


wider choice of music styles with concerts, as well as clas­ sical, including blues, folk, swing, opera, jazz, street thea­ tre anda village wide initiative for the children. The 2015 Festival will, as


usual, be centred on StWil- frid’s and St Saviour’s Church­ es and Ribchester Village Hall, and this year there will be some new intimate venues that really lend themselves to quality music, such as The Glass House, Stydd Gardens and Potters Barn. - •


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‘Breathtaking’ Beethoven from a talented duo


Clitheroe Concert Society’s


' extraordinary season con­ tinued with “Beethoven plus” - a partnership of the leader o f the internation­ ally acclaimed Dante Quar­ tet, Krysia Osostowicz, and


. the equally respected pian- istDanielTong.leaderofthe


London Bridge Ensemble. The concert started with Beethoven’s Violin Sona­


ta No 2, a cheerful, tuneful piece which had many fin­ gers and toes tapping qui­ etly! Surprisingly, it is not played a lot, which is hard to understand as it made a


superb start to the concert. Janacek’s Violin Sonata was ‘Beethoven Plus’ - Krysia Ososto- next, attractive, enjoyable wiczandDanielTong. but a little more challenging. A f te r th e in te r v a l , ten for Krysia and Daniel’s


Beethoven’s KreutzerSona- project o f presenting the tawas played. It’s considered whole series of Sonatas to- to be one of the finest pieces gether with a modern com- of music ever written and poser’s musical comment on is certainly one of the most listening to them. The full se- popular. Starting slowly, it riesofsonataswillbeplayed soon turns darker and fhri- during the summer at Kings ously angry, stretching the PlaceinLondon.buttheClit- ability of the players to the heroe audience was lucky to limit.


hear some of them first. The second movement The quality of the playing


starts quietly, but becomes was breathtaking and aston- more lively, especially after ishing, clearly showing why


the violin steals the tune both players are regarded from the piano! Five dis- as the very finest on a world


tinctive variations on the basis, tune lead to a dramatic cli- Enquiries about the so- max,butendingwithacare- ciety can be made on 01200


free feel. The last piece was writ- 423474- Ken Geddes


A Grand gig-by George Reynolds


At7pmonFriday,March6th, ^dressed in a floor-length


The Grand was the place to black number, and her co- be as Chantel McGregor and hortstreatedustooldfavour-


herband made a triumphant . ites such as Like No Other as return to the town.


well as a few newer songs Setting the scene with a from her forthcoming disc,


polished opening, another adding to an already impres- homely northern lass, Lucy sivesetlist.Theirplayingwas


Zirinp, entertained the ear- exemplary throughout, on­ ly, growing crowd with her antel proved that despiteoe- beautiful voice and excellent inglessthanioo%mhealtnat


acoustic guitar work. the moment, she is nonethe- Performing mainly self- less master of her task,


penned numbers and full of Going solo mid-set, on- pathos, she endeared herself antel treated the crowd to- to an appreciative crowd, . Anaesthetised, played in a


who were treated to the “drop D tuning, plus Home, FleetwoodMacclassicDon’t showing excellent acoustic


. Stopasanencore.Thanksfor guitar work, whilst the lads entertaining us Lucy-hope took a well-earned break, to see you again.


Back into power-mode,


. Enter Chantel and the the remainder of the set, in­ rest of the “power t f io"'- eluding newer work Your te- drummerKeithPartlingand ver and Progsong brought to


new to Clitheroe, bass play- - a conclusion another great er Colin Sutton. To a rousing Chantel experience. See you


American flautist Kathryn Williams willplayaccompaniedbyLithuanianpianistEgleSarmaviciute. Grand welcome, Chantel, nextyear. VALLEY ENTERTAINMENT - www.clithoroeadvertiser.co.uk Thursday. March 19,2015 Thursday,March19,2015 vraw.clithoroeadvertisor.co.uk


25


Bob’s here anc1 th e !foing is good


Legendary jockey set to give talk about life in and out of the saddle and at The Grand National INTERVIEW


Champion had never


By TonyDewhurst wvra.thegrandvenue.co.uk Box office: 01200 421599


Lodge Hotel, a furlong or two maybe from Newmarket’s famous Warren Hill Gallop, when he greets me with a welcoming smile and a solid handshake. Bob Champion looks tanned and in rude health; hard to imagine then that this was the man who needed ruthless determination to survive when he was diag­ nosed with cancer, endured the remorseless ravages of chemotherapy, before his subsequent victory on Aldan- iti in the world’s greatest steeplechase. “It’s funny what you re­


T


member isn’t it?” recalls Champion when he winds back the clock to that balmy April afternoon in 1981 and one of the great triumphs of


the human spirit. ' “We stayed at Southport


before Grand National Day. I’d taken a big fall at Aintree that afternoon, the first time I’d got buried at the wa­ ter jump in my career. I got kicked from head to toe on the ground, bruising all over


my body. “The doctor gave me some


painkillers and for eight hours I was in and out of the sauna and cold showers, wasting down my weight. Yet, never for a second, did I doubt that Aldaniti would win the Grand Na­ tional.”


he most famous jockey to win the Grand National is sipping a mug of frothy cappuccino in the lounge of the Bedford


given up on what he still calls “the old horse” as a Grand National contender, despite the animal’s serious tendon injuries and fractured hock. “He’d broken down so


many times they wanted to put him down,” said Cham­ pion of Aldaniti, who lived to the ripe old age of 27. “But he was such a brave


horse, a warrior with an iron heart. He was also a nice, kind horse who loved the attention. I won on him at Leicester early on, a two-and- a-half mile chase, and I said to the owners that he’d win a Grand National one day. For once in my life I got some­ thing right. “1 just sat on him in The


National, a complete passen­ ger. He was brilliant - 1 knew he’d deliver.” In front at the last fence,


Aldaniti was challenged on the long run in by Spartan Missile, the four miles-and- a-bit of Merseyside behind them, but Champion’s horse had that extra fuel in reserve to hold on by four lengths. “I had no perception


whatsoever how my life was going to change, winning the Grand National. I had no idea what I’d set in motion, be­ cause suddenly I was public property. Things changed from the moment I passed the post and they had to change. I was very shy then- still am with people I don’t


know. “I do recall this incred­


ible din going into the winners’ enclosure, though. It was al­ most dreamlike really. Every time I tried to have a glass of cham­ pagne the press tookitoffmefora


photograph. “The first drink I


Bob (left) shares ajoke with a fellow jockey at one of the many charity events he supports. ity of Aldaniti’s trainer, Josh


Gifford, who offered a lifeline that his job as stable jockey would be waiting for him. “Josh always said myjob'


was there and I never forgot his kindness. Mind you, at


the time, Josh didn’t believe I’d live, but he gave me some- ^ thing to cling on to when w things looked hopeless." But don’t expect Champi­


on to be anywhere else than Aintree on April 11th - Grand National Day- the scene of thathugelyemotionallyvic- tory in Liverpool four dec­ ades ago now.


had was a can of Coca-Cola on the motorway going back. If I have one regret in life, it is that I didn’t retire when I won the Grand National. As I went by the post, I said, ‘That’s the way to go out Bob’. Two seconds later, I thought, ‘Blimey I’d like to do that again’. I rode for another sea­ son, but I should have gone


then.” He added; “My winning


showed, though, that there is always hope, and all battles can be won. I hope it has en­ couraged others to face their illness with fresh spirit.” Champion’s a composed


and modest man who talks quietly about that bare­ knuckle dust up with cancer and the epic journey that followed from the intensive care ward to winning post.


People like to have a word with Champion, even if it is a simple “How it’s going Bob?” No wonder. They go away


feeling better about life, and why shouldn’t they. He’s a true sporting hero and god knows he has earned it. The public reaction to


Champion’s achievements was so great it helped him establish his own Cancer Trust, raising millions of pounds. One of the trust’s vice-presidents, John Hurt, played Champion in the film about his swashbuckling life. “When I was diagnosed,


they gave me sue to eight months to live,” he said. “If I’d had the cancer 18


months before there’d have been no cure anyway, so I’d


have been a goner. It was eight months to live - or a


35 to 40% chance of living, with the treatment. The odds weren’t particularly bright.” Regular chemotherapy


left him constantly sick, hopelessly weak, bald and shedding stones in weight. Champion was lucky to be alive, never mind jumping Becher’s Brook. “The chemotherapy was


very barbaric," he recalled,_ “It was horrendous treat­ ment, but without the chemo I wouldn’t have lived. In a way I didn’t see the point of living if I couldn’t ride again. “Through all that time, I


kept thinking about Aldaniti because I felt he was made for the Grand National. That kept me going.” In his darkest hours, he


admits he was also sustained in his dreams by the generos­


“I’ll be there, even if S- V they have to carry me there on a stretcher,” he smiles.


|


- .< !


“I’ve ridden in ten and only £ . ; ■ missed one in 40-odd years.


-J


Nothing will keep me away and the hairs still stand up on the back of my neck when I walk down on my own and 0 - lookatCanalTurnorThe Chair. The Grand National al- ways has a great story tell. “You’ll see, this year will


n • *


• \ ;


be just the same. It has that magic and it is the people • •it--' of Liverpool who make it. They go there and they enjoy 9 ' ' themselves and that’s what life should be about.”


Bob Champion: My Life, at


grandveme.co.uk Grand National tickets from www.thecrabbiesgrandna- tionaLco.uk


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The Grand, Clitheroe, on March 25th. Tickets £15from 5 Oi20042i599orunvw.the- .


j


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