Byron festival finale

Hucknall Today
16 July 2004

HAILED as a symbol of faith and hope, an Armenian stone cross has been
put up on an outside wall of Hucknall Parish Church tower.

The cross, known as a khachkar, was dedicated on Sunday as a climax to
the seventh International Byron Festival.

It marks a friendship agreement between Hucknall’s Holgate
Comprehensive School and the Lord Byron School in Armenia.

The ceremony ensured that the ten-day festiival finished on a high
note after a series of disappointments.

No fewer than six of the 33 scheduled events proved non-starters for
various reasons.

Co-organiser Maureen Crisp said it was a big setback that those
festival mainstays, actor Ian Frost and playwright Bill Studdiford,
could not take part this year because Bill suffered a freak accident.

“But the second weekend of the festival, which involved Armenian
visitors, was an important feature and I am pleased that it went
extremely well,” said Maureen.

The khachkar was formerly in the quadrangle at Holgate School but was
broken into two by vandals.

The ceremony was in memory of former Hucknall rector Canon Fred Green,
who wanted the act of damage to be seen as a strengthening of faith.

Special guests at the service included the Armenian Ambassador to
Britain, Dr Vahe Gabrielian, and the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire,
Henry Machin.

The khachkar was given to Holgate as a symbol of gratitude for the
support Britain gave to Armenia after a devastating earthquake in
1988, particularly the building of the Lord Byron School in Gumryi.

It was vandalised four years ago – possibly by football hooligans who
might have mistaken Armenia for Albania at the time of the Euro 2000
tournament.

But it has now been replaced at Holgate by another khachkar made by
the same stonemason in Armenia.

Holgate deputy head teacher Tina Brace said Armenia had a tragic past
and, in the last two decades, it had been ravaged by the earthquake,
war and economic collapse.

“But these setbacks have not crushed the spirit of the people, who
remain determined to overcome their difficulties,” she added.

Lillit Hovsepian, who was formerly a schoolteacher in Gumryi and now
lives in Moscow, also spoke at the service.

Tears filled her eyes as she recalled the death and devastation
wrought by the earthquake.

Before the Lord Byron School was built, pupils were having to be
taught in a tent with just a stove to keep them warm in freezing
winter weather.

The new school is so popular that, although it was built to cater for
400 pupils, it is teaching 1,400 children in three shifts from 8.30 am
to 6.30 pm from Mondays to Saturdays.

it was a “wonderful occasion” when Margaret Thatcher visited Armenia
to open the new school, said Lillit. She added: “The link with Holgate
has made us realise we are not alone in the world.”

During the service, which was conducted by rector the Rev Linda
Church, Shakeh Avanessian danced a Gumryi prayer and Haikuhy
Harutyunyan, of the Lord Byron School, sang the Lord’s Prayer in
Armenian.

The Holgate wind ensemble also took part and there were readings from
Newstead Abbey Byron Society chairman Ken Purslow and society member
PamelaLewis.

Wreaths were laid at Byron’s tomb by the Armenian Ambassador, the High
Sheriff, Shakeh, Haikuhy, Notts County Council chairman Coun Nellie
Smedley(Lab), Ashfield District Council chairman Coun May Barsby
(Lab),representatives of Holgate and Lord Byron schools, and Maureen
Crisp on behalf of the International Byron Society. There was also a
candle-lighting ceremony.

New name for community centre

HUCKNALL Community Centre – described as “the heartbeat of the town”
for nearly a century – has been given a new name.

A ceremony to rename the Ogle Street building as the Lovelace Centre
was the final event of the 2004 International Byron Festival.

The new name commemorates Byron’s daughter, Ada Lovelace, who was a
gifted mathematician and is regarded as ‘the mother of computers’.

The ceremony was to have been performed by former Labour leader and
ardent Byronist Michael Foot.

He could not be present because of an eye infection but sent his best
wishes for the continued success of the centre.

Deputising for him at the ceremony, Newstead Abbey Byron Society
chairman Ken Purslow paid a tribute to the foresight and courage of
those who had built the Godber Memorial Hall, as the centre was
originally known.

The hall was constructed by Thomas Fish and Son, of Nottingham, and
opened on November 16 1907 by the Duke and Duchess of Portland.

It was the brainchild of Canon John Hankin Godber, who sadly died
without seeing his dream realised.

Among rules drawn up by the management committee of the time were that
there should be no gambling, foul language, drunkenness, shouting or
noise of any kind on the staircases. The name of any offender was to
be fixed to a noticeboard.

A youth who threw stones at the front of the hall during the building
work received “the punishment he deserved” from his father.

Mr Purslow said the Byron Festival was a fine example of the key role
which the centre played in the life of Hucknall.

He went on: :”Byron and Ada are both powerful marketing names in their
own right. Hucknall is their spiritual home and it is right that we
should record and acknowledge their achievements.

“Every child, adolescent and adult is aware that we live in an age of
high tech and computers.

“The name of Ada is synonymous with these and the centre’s new name
has been chosen to reflect the times.”