If only we had a suitable place for a theatre...

Several lifetimes ago, I lived in Worthing, Sussex. For part of that time, I was associated with the Connaught Theatre, where I stood in for a time as temporary night watchman.

At other times, I took the production photographs for use in their front of house advertising. My job was to take the photographs (black and white) at the final dress rehearsal, rush home, develop and print them, return them to the director of the play who would select the ones to be used and then make large prints of these and return them to the theatre before morning. This was one of my favourite jobs of all time.

Last weekend, I asked my friend Google whether the Connaught was still going. To my great pleasure I saw that it is not only still going but has branched out to become a vibrant cultural hub for the town.

Of course, Worthing council’s grant, along with the Arts Council, and the government’s

Cultural Emergency

Funding, kept the whole thing going throughout the pandemic, providing live performances, cinema shows and various workshops.

If only a suitable building could be found in the centre of

Ashford - an old cinema or Bingo Hall, say - that could be converted and used to promote similar cultural activities in the town. If only...

To my great pleasure, I saw that it is not only still going but has branched out to become a vibrant cultural hub for the town

I have a granddaughter preparing for her A-levels. She suffers from occasional panic attacks. Although she doesn’t put them down to the pressures of her work, I believe that is at least partly the cause.

Constant pressure to attain high marks in many different subjects, along with the assumption that careers should be decided upon at such an early age, hangs a Damoclesian sword over young heads. More and more, youngsters are driven by the assumption that without high scholastic attainment followed by ‘a good career’ they will be failures in life. But then, I’ve always believed that a good life isn’t solely dependent on such measures of success.