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Coleridge etching

Friends of Coleridge AGM and Covid

The Friends of Coleridge AGM will be held on 20 March via Zoom in a reduced form because of Covid. The Charities Commission guidance says this is acceptable, as long as the Society places a written record of this in its files.

Coleridge statue

Coleridge Memorial Statue Commissioned

An impression of the statue in place

Mike Ferguson of the Ottery St Mary Coleridge Memorial Trust writes:

'With the success of our recent Crowdfunder campaign and other donations from fundraising that began in 2017, we have now been able to commission the making of our Samuel Taylor Coleridge memorial statue by the sculptor Nicholas Dimbleby.

With sincere thanks to each and every person who donated to this cause. We have further costs and will continue to fundraise, but we have reached that key point where we have truly begun making this project a reality.

With huge thanks to all who have donated. This is much appreciated. Without these donations providing a backbone to our fundraising, we would not have been able to receive our extra funding of £5000+ from East Devon District Council, and we therefore also offer our grateful thanks to them.'

It's excellent news, and the Friends of Coleridge would like to offer our sincere congratulations for all the hard work that the Trust has put in to securing the funding.

AncientMarinerPosterE

Performance of 'The Ancient Mariner' at Alfoxton

All Friends of Coleridge members are welcome to attend.

Alfoxton02

Alfoxton, Wordsworth’s house at Holford saved by a Buddhist community

I am delighted to report that Alfoxton, the house at Holford lived in by William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, would seem to have been saved. It has been bought by a Buddhist community (they are members of the Triratna Buddhist Order). As you will know, the building has been allowed to deteriorate down the years, and is in a very poor state.

We were invited to visit the house a few days ago. We were met by Jayaraja, a highly experienced Buddhist teacher and leader. He is in charge of the project and gave us a full tour of the building, inside and out. They were gifted the purchase money by a supporter who has close childhood connections with the area. He has also promised a considerable sum of money towards the continued restoration, to be available in increments as the work progresses.

They are approaching the restoration very much as a long-term project, and starting slowly, restoring the house room by room. They have a major job on their hands! There are holes in the roof causing water influx, rotting timbers everywhere, general building chaos, and a roof to repair and restructure. They are aiming at having a number of guest rooms ready by next spring for retreats and other arts events. As much of the work as possible will be carried out by volunteers from the Order to help save money.

We were introduced to other of his colleagues, all of whom came over as pleasant, committed people, determined to make the Alfoxton project work.

At a recent open day they apparently received considerable support from local people, who are pleased that Alfoxton is now in new hands.

I have agreed to give a short talk on the two poets at a September meeting day. The community are intensely conscious of the importance of the house to the two poets, and to the creation of ‘Lyrical Ballads’ and the birth of Romanticism. The Order is particularly keen on promoting the arts, especially poetry.

Below is a link to the Community’s website.
https://sites.google.com/view/alfoxtonpark/home

Terence Sackett

Coleridge and slavery

Coleridge, Bristol and the Slave Trade in 2020

The ripples of the controversy surrounding the figure of Edward Colston in Bristol have reached Coleridge.  An article appeared in the 'County Gazette' for Tuesday 9th June reporting a speech by Ian Liddell-Grainger, Conservative MP for Bridgwater, Somerset, strenuously opposing the toppling of the Colston statue.  He went on, neither logically nor accurately, to express his fears,

"What about Samuel Taylor Coleridge? On the quay at Watchet there is a fine statue of this famous English poet whose best-known work, the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, describes in horrific detail diseases which were rife on slave trade ships," Mr Liddell-Grainger said.

"Should his effigy meet the same fate at the hands of a mob?’’

There is, in fact, no statue nor ‘effigy’ of Coleridge in Watchet, although on the quay there is a bronze figure of the Ancient Mariner with albatross. In addition, the similarities of the suffering of the mariners in the poem to that of slaves may be purely coincidental, although, as William Empson suggested as long ago as 1972, the poem may contain implicit allusions to slave ships.

Coleridge was, as is well known, a life-long and fierce opponent of the slave trade. In 1792, at Cambridge, he won the Brown Gold Medal for Greek verse for 'Ode on the Slave Trade', which was an attack on this trade. On 16th June 1795 he gave a public address 'On the Slave Trade' in Bristol itself, which the Bristol Observer reported as 'a proof of the detestation in which he holds that infamous traffic.' He later became a close friend of Thomas Clarkson, Vice-President of the Anti-Slavery Society.

Subsequently, a letter has appeared in the  'Western Morning News' for Tuesday 9th July from Richard Carder of Bath proposing a new name for Colston Hall, Bristol’s major concert hall:

‘Following the recent dramatic deposition of the Colston statue into the docks, we clearly need a new name for the concert hall, preferably some local who was firmly against the slave trade.’

He goes on to propose ST Coleridge as the ideal candidate. Watch this space …

Justin Shepherd, Chair, Friends of Coleridge

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