West of Centre

The names of men fade with the passage of the centuries but their creations linger. Faust is a name which was created to symbolise the constant lure of the devil. The play is considered the finest in German literature and was the prime creation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The play is in two parts and begins with the devil (Mephistopholes) making a bet with God that he can lure the well read Faust away from righteous pursuits. Faust is found despairing of human vanity and is soon approached by the devil who promises him everything he desires while on earth provided Faust serves the devil in hell. The contract is duly signed with the blood of Faust and so begins one of the most famous of all stories. The story has inspired countless pieces of music as well as various literary classics. But what place has Faust in the modern world? Faust is an allegory for the weakness of power and is relevant to any epoch in history. Watching the former Prime Minister Tony Blair desperately seeking ...

When was the last time you heard the words "Social enterprise"? Unless you have cut yourself off from mankind for the last few years, it is likely that you will have heard people mentioning social enterprise either in the media or simply by word of mouth. But what exactly is it and what's the big deal? The simple truth is that social enterprise is actually as old as the hills. In very simple terms, social enterprise businesses have a social mission at the core of their aims ahead of any potential profit. They can be "not-for-profit" or they can be a "for-profit" organisation. In recent years there has been an explosion in the growth of social enterprise and it is difficult to see any reversal of that trend. Put simply, if there was no need for them, they would not exist. To demonstrate my point, I will focus on three social enterprise projects from around the world because this business concept is indeed global. In an attempt to try and give a flav...

Britain in 1975 was significantly different to the Britain of today and for a variety of reasons. The social fabric for one thing was lacking if not bereft of what we now call political correctness. History will judge whether that was a good thing or not. Very briefly, it is instructive to reflect on the outcome of the EU referendum of 1975. 67.23% of those who voted elected to remain. In our 2016 version, that figure had dropped to 48%. It is also interesting to note that at a time when the electorate was generally considered to be more engaged, the turnout in 1975 was 64.6% compared to 72.2% two weeks ago. Then as now the incumbent government negotiated a deal and recommended continued membership. The respective outcomes could scarcely have been more different. But enough of the EU for now. 1975 was a very important year for British culture. I say this for no other reason than the emergence of a new situation comedy whose first six episodes were aired by the BBC. Written by husba...

Along with many other British people, I retired to bed on Thursday evening having just seen news channels intimating that the UK looked to have decided to remain in the EU. It's a brave man who predicts the winner in a two horse race. It's been quite a week and already the aftermath is being felt. The nastiness and personal attacks which characterised the recent period of campaigning has since moved in to overdrive. But is the UK really as divided as we are led to believe? During my school years, one of the highlights of my week became the debating society. There is nothing quite like the passionate views of youth being expressed with such energy and conviction. Of course, I would be the first to admit that many of the views and beliefs of my youth are now thankfully distant memories. But the feeling of winning a debate was like no other. I can remember debating whether Nelson Mandela should still be in prison (I'm showing my age now). I can recall a particularly dull deb...

On St. Patrick's day in 1938, a baby was born on a Trans-Siberian train near Irkutsk. The baby's mother was travelling to the Russian port of Vladivostock where her husband was stationed as a political commissar in the Red Army. Raised as the only son of a Tatar family in the village of Ufa in the Bashkir region, the boy was taken to a performance of a new Bashkir ballet entitled "Crane Song". The ballet itself is not well known today but it had a dramatic impact on the little boy taken to see it. From that first exposure to live ballet, the young Rudolf Nureyev knew what he would be doing with the rest of his life. With perhaps the exception of Nijinsky, it would be difficult to cite a more important or influential figure in twentieth century dance. He displayed a precocious style which in due course took him first to the Bolshoi and then to the Kirov. His subsequent achievements were many and British fans still savour his legendary partnership with the late Dame M...

In his excellent autobiography, the late keyboard maestro Ian McLagan recalled with great affection his time with both the Small Faces during the 1960s and then with the Faces in the 1970s. The former gave way to the latter after the departure of Steve Marriott on New Year's Eve 1968. After a brief period of uncertainty, the three remaining Small Faces (Ronnie Lane, Kenny Jones and Ian McLagan) happened upon the erstwhile bass guitarist from the Jeff Beck Group. Ronnie Wood is now far more synonymous with the guitar but it was the bass which he played in that stellar line-up. Well, almost stellar. Everyone knew about Jeff Beck following his time as lead guitarist with the legendary Yardbirds. Most people knew a lot about the drummer Mickey Waller who had first made his name with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and even Cyril Davies' R&B All Stars before that. But what of the singer Rod Stewart. Even by the time he joined Ron Wood in the Faces, he was far from well known. ...

In the autumn of 1988, I embarked on my second year of study in Biomedical Sciences in Liverpool. Having lived in halls of residence during my first year, myself and three friends from Wales decided to seek a house share somewhere in the city. We soon settled on a mid-terraced property in Curate Road, Anfield. At £8 each per week, the affordability soon swung it. In those days, the Fair Rent Commission was still in existence so students were still able to get reasonable value for their money. We lived close enough to Anfield football ground as to be able to hit it with a stone and perhaps the greatest irony was that none of us to my recollection were Liverpool supporters. Then as now, students were a large part of the population of Liverpool and we were generally well accepted by the locals and enjoyed living there. The bus to the city centre in the morning was still smoking upstairs and non-smoking downstairs. Either way, you stank of smoke when you got home but nobody cared really....