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The New Season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Bramley-Moore Dock, Liverpool, starts with hope!
It always does! Trevor and Helen are joined by Keith to watch the final build-up match against Roma in the new stadium. Football aside, it is an impressive stadium courtesy of architect, Dan Meis and construction company, Laing O'Rourke. Better still, they won their first Premier League match there against Brighton 2-1!
The walk from the Pier Head is not too bad but would improve greatly if Liverpool City Council finish the intended walkway along by the extended Liverpool-Leeds canal to the old docks!
Howard's current composition schedule
Howard will be composing two large-scale works over the summer months: one for solo piano
and the other for vocal ensemble. William Howard will premiere what is likely to be an extended
sequence of short piano pieces at the Hay Festival early in November. Three weeks later, Theatre
of Voices, directed by Paul Hillier, will give two performances, in Denmark, of settings of four
poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Also in the pipeline is a setting of the ‘Te Deum’ for Chester
Cathedral.
Poster above is for the Folkestone Festival earlier this year
Battle of Mons Commemoration 24 August
There was a short commemoration of the part The Cheshire Regiment played in the Battle of Mons 1914, at Chester Cathedral. The short wreath-laying commemoration took place at 12:00 at The Regimental Chapel in The South Transept. The event was organised by Peter Gresty, Chairman of the Cheshire Regiment Association. Canon Rosie Woodall presided and Major General Keith Skempton laid a wreath at the Chapel altar
Cheshire Regiment Memorial Service at the National Arboretum
On Sunday 31 August 2025, eighty one members of the Cheshire Regiment Association attended a service at the National Arboretum to commemorate those who had given their lives during the two World Wars and on operations since. Major General Keith Skempton read a Psalm and Major General Andrew Sharpe gave a short summary of the Regiment's activities in August 1914 at The Battle of Mons (See Thinkpiece 1)
Kyra takes up new Appointment
Kyra was appointed Chief of Staff to Redgrave based in their London office in April. Redgrave is a leadership advisory firm specialising in executive search, interim leadership and leadership assessments to advise business owners, investors and leaders, helping them build high performing leadership teams and boards by connecting them with exceptional global talent. Kyra has joined in a multi-faceted, newly created role, as a key part of the leadership team, to help build and improve the business.
Richard Dunn Sports Centre - National Skateboarding Centre?
Trevor was the architect for the Sports Centre in Bradford. Built in 1974, it has recently been given Listed status. One of the proposals for its future use is by The Twentieth-Century Society, who are promoting the concept of a National Skateboarding Centre. Follow link below:
The Twentieth Century Society shop are advertising 'screen prints [Architect signed]':
http://shop.c20society.org.uk
Howard's Preludes & Fugues now recorded by Matthew Owens
Matthew Owens has recorded both Books of Howard’s 50 Preludes and Fugues for organ. The two organs used for the recordings were the same as for the premières in 2022 and 2023: St George’s, Hanover Square, London; and Merton College, Oxford. Some short, occasional pieces were also recorded; and all this music, amounting to two albums (or a double-album), has been released by Resonus.
See Resonusclassics.com.
The album includes 'The Wedding March' played by Carson Cooman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLIXUKwwZeM
Thinkpieces
The latest "Thinkpiece" (No 4) has been produced by Howard is on "Movement, Form and Meaning" and is an extract from a lecture given at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on 17 December. Check out our Thinkpiece Page.
Trevor produced Thinkpiece (No 3.) is about Bramley-Moore: "As good as it can be?" Have Everton got it right?
Trevor covers the background to how Everton have reached the point at which a new stadium is at last a reality, and draws attention to its size and shape in comparison with other major football stadia. Will Bramley-Moore deliver for the Club with its significant location on the historic Liverpool waterfront and its promise of excellent view, sound and atmosphere? Again, Check out our 'Thinkpiece' page.
Thinkpieces 1 & 2. The threat of war involving the UK increases. With war in Ukraine and the threat of escalation to the Nordic or Baltic States, NATO could easily be drawn in. The Israeli-Hamas/Gaza conflict is escalating with US and UK air strikes on Houthi installations in Yemen, a country already involved in civil war. International trade is affected and a broader middle east war involving Iran is a real possibility. Russia and China could take advantage of the situation.
"Twenty Days, What Now?"' is worth a review and has been joined by Thinkpiece 2: "Civil Defence and National Resilience" How prepared are we in the UK? Are we doing enough for our future defence?