‘Stop appeasing woke morons’
FEATONBY’S Auctioneers and Valuers will be reopening its doors in September, in its brand new location on Bedford Street in North Shields.
In the last few months, Featonby’s has taken its auctions online using the easy live auction and the saleroom platforms.
Established in the 1920s by Charlie Featonby in Whitley Bay, Featonby’s moved to bigger premises on Little Bedford Street in North Shields in 2016.
The auctioneers is now moving to an even larger premises nearby – previously Pound Stretchers in North Shields’ town centre.
The bigger site - with two levels, a lift and loading bay - will allow Featonby’s to scale up its auctions and provide better access to customers.
Due to the auction house’s reputation for collectables like Lladro, Rolex, rare coins and jewellery, Featonby’s has attracted buyers and sellers from all over the world.
It also provides local services such as house clearances, liquidating stock and valuations.
Featonby’s has also been featured several times on BBC’s Antiques Road
Trip and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.
Featonby’s auctioneer, Mark Lane, said: “The appeal of the auction house is down to the extensive and diverse range of products on offer, as well as the huge mix of stock meaning no two weeks are the same.
“The vast majority of Featonby’s stock is from local people. In the current climate, a lot of people are taking time to clear out their garages and lofts and encouraging them to get in touch for valuations as they may overlook something that’s extremely valuable.”
Featonby’s move was originally planned for earlier in the year, but was postponed due to the lockdown and the pause in auctions.
After the auctions successfully launched online, the team have been working very hard to make the move happen in September.
The first auction date on the new premises will be announced on the website soon.
For more information, visit Featonby’s website at www.featonbys.co.uk.
Political Reporter
THE BBC has been accused of appeasing “woke morons” as the row over the Last Night of the Proms continues.
Richard Holden, the Conservative MP for North West Durham, said: “At every turn the BBC just dig the hole they’re in a bit deeper. Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory are the Last Night Of The Proms.
“They need to stop with this attempt to appease the woke morons. Just let the people sing!”
The two anthems are a traditional feature of the BBC Proms, an annual classical music festival broadcast from London’s Albert Hall.
They are usually sung with gusto by the crowd in attendance, but coronavirus restrictions mean there will be no live audience this year and it had been reported that the BBC might use this as an opportunity to drop the song, due to its perceived association with colonialism and slavery.
The reports sparked a backlash, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman suggesting Boris Johnson would oppose axing the anthems.
The BBC has now announced that they will be performed after all – but as orchestral versions, without lyrics. The decision is supposedly linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, as singing (like shouting) can encourage the spread of the virus.
However, the national anthem will be sung at the event, which will air on BBC Radio 3 and on BBC One, and feature soprano Golda Schultz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
There’s some debate about whether the announcement marks a climbdown or not. Father Marcus Walker, rector at Great St Bartholomew’s in London, wrote on Twitter: “Hilarious that people are dressing the BBC promising ‘orchestral versions’ of Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia as a retreat.
“It’s nothing of the sort, it’s gutting the songs of their words – of their meaning. You may think that’s a good thing or not, but it’s no retreat.”
Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska had reportedly been pushing for the songs to be removed from the programme, and the BBC said there had been “unjustified personal attacks” against him on social media.
“Decisions about the Proms are made by the BBC, in consultation with all artists involved,” the broadcaster said.
The BBC said: “The Proms will reinvent the Last Night in this extraordinary year so that it respects the traditions and spirit of the event whilst adapting to very different circumstances at this moment in time.
“With much reduced musical forces and no live audience, the Proms will curate a concert that includes familiar, patriotic elements such as Jerusalem and the national anthem, and bring in new moments capturing the mood of this unique time, including You’ll Never Walk Alone, presenting a poignant and inclusive event for 2020.”
A new arrangement of Jerusalem will be performed, along with orchestral versions of Land Of Hope And Glory and Rule Britannia!
The BBC said: “The programme will include a new arrangement by Errollyn Wallen of Hubert Parry’s Jerusalem alongside new orchestral versions of Pomp And Circumstance March No 1 Land Of Hope And Glory’ (arr Anne Dudley) and Rule Britannia! as part of the Sea Songs, as Henry Wood did in 1905.”
Earlier, a Number 10 spokesman said Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes in tackling the “substance”, not the “symbols”, of problems.
“This is a decision and a matter for the organisers of the Proms and the BBC,” the spokesman said.
“But the PM previously has set out his position on like issues and has been clear that, while he understands the strong emotions involved in these discussions, we need to tackle the substance of problems, not the symbols.”
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that “confident, forwardlooking nations don’t erase their history”.
He wrote on Twitter: “Rule Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory are highlights of the Last Night of the Proms.
“(I) Share concerns of many about their potential removal and have raised this with (the) BBC.
“Confident forward-looking nations don’t erase their history, they add to it.”