we 14 my 08

1817  Mary Shelley finished writing Frankenstein

sa 03 my 08

1953  Dylan Thomas gave the first public reading of Under Milk Wood

The Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh was crammed today with all sorts of crafty things for Top Crafts 2008 and television personality John Bly was taking an active interest in this lady working with glass.  The show continues all weekend including Monday and it's free to get in ...

... meanwhile up the road in the Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery John Bawtree told us that the first visitor at his Zanzibar exhibition was the widow of Zanzibar's last British resident.  From 1913 to 1963 Zanzibar was a British protectorate and had a resident rather than a governor.  Cinema manager Sue Harrison arrived and there had been returns for Daughter of the Regiment; the cinema expects to repeat the live New York Metropolitan Opera House link ups this autumn.  The Zanzibar exhibition continues until Thursday 8th May and it's free too.

fr 02 my 08

1519  Leonardo da Vinci died

mo 28 ap 08

1789  Fletcher Christian led the mutiny on the Bounty

sa 26 ap 08

1564  William Shakespeare was baptised

th 24 ap 08

1961  Bob Dylan's recording debut playing harmonica on Harry Belafonte's Midnight Special

tu 25 mr 08

1975  King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by his nephew

A John Western watercolour living in Knodishall and depicting sail boats at Slaughden Quay, Aldeburgh is for sale on ebaY with a starting price of £800.

March's pics as prints, mugs and t-shirts at photoboxgallery.com/NearTheCoast

tu 18 mr 08

1965  Aleksei Leonov took the first walk in space

You know how racks of those terribly fashionable Crocs always stop at size 8?  Well not in Alde River they don't, they go up to size 13; find the shop, not surprisingly, in Aldeburgh High Street 01728 452476.

The odd little off license in Aldeburgh with the equally odd but charming Adnams metalwork has been shut certainly since last spring?  It's now a Darcy B dress shop (there are other Darcy Bs in Framlingham and Woodbridge) and the metalwork has gone, they could have painted it to match the wall and retained the little oddity.

tu 11 mr 08

1810  Napoleon and Marie-Louise of Austria were married by proxy in Vienna

Despite the recent weather Aldeburgh still appears to be there but don't know what happened to the bathing huts ...

fr 29 fe 08

1956  Muffin the Mule made his tv debut

we 27 fe 08

1939  Borley Rectory, reputedly the most haunted house in England, burned down

The Sudbourne Park Printmakers are having their Easter show at the Peter Peers gallery in Aldeburgh.

mo 11 fe 08

1891  The first Cruft's Dog Show opened at the Agricultural Hall, Islington

To use the old joke some films seem to escape rather than be released.  On occasion undoubtedly it's because the film's rubbish, sometimes you suspect the producers didn't get their sums right and there's nothing left for promotion, in the case of Kenneth Branagh's The Magic Flute it is in English (a new libretto by Stephen Fry) but it's also a French production:)  On at Aldeburgh Cinema until Thursday.

sa 9 fe 08

1824  At the age of twelve Charles Dickens started work in a blacking factory

fr 1 fe 08

1971 Wireless licenses abolished in the UK

Perhaps because we rather liked The Chronicles of Narnia film (always loved the novels) the desire has been rising to see The Golden Compass but Lady KRJ says it's rubbish ... and she liked Lord of the Rings!  Either way Golden C's on at Aldeburgh for a week starting tonight.

tu 22 ja 08

1972 The UK became part of the European Economic Community

January's pics as prints, mugs and t-shirts at photoboxgallery.com/NearTheCoast

fr 18 ja 08

1701  Frederick I become King of Prussia

One of the nice things about coastal Suffolk is when the new year begins with the weather is at it's most miserable and you're still paying for

 Christmas so do the Friday lunchtime concerts at the Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh.

As we arrived somewhat early today the single remaining seat was being sold so in the second week of the 2008 season the Heath Quartet played to an absolutely full house.  Violinist Oliver Heath ironically introduced Frank Bridge's Three Idylls for String Quartet as "an English piece for English weather" and we were off with the quartet revealing a lyrical, engaging and confident style that can be heard at the Halesworth Cut at the end of October.

Even though it's out of season you still can't park in Aldeburgh because one side of the High Street has been dug up.

th 13 de 07

1903  Italo Marcioni patented the ice cream cone

As you probably know it's the law in France that Gérard Depardieu has to be in all films.  He certainly knew how to hold a big gun in 36 (Quai Des Orfevres) and despite another dodgy bi-lingual title we rather fancy The Singer (Quand J'Etais Chanteur).  It starts tomorrow for a week at the Aldeburgh Cinema (there'll be sub-titles).

th 6 de 07

1988  Roy Orbison died

The garage in Aldeburgh on the High Street has been knocked down, no doubt so designer flats can be built.  Is our memory at fault but didn't the garage still serve petrol at the roadside with very long hoses?

sa 1 de 07

1822  Peter I was crowned Emperor of Brazil

As a war correspondent Sir Max Hastings is the real thing, first man into Port Stanley in the recent Falklands unpleasantness ... well actually it was a quarter of a century ago.  It was slightly disconcerting to hear Radio 4 coming out of the middle aged lady introducing him at the Aldeburgh Documentary Festival but then the middle aged lady was Libby Purves who presents Midweek.

fr 30 no 07

1931  Columbia and HMV merged to form Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI)

The Aldeburgh Documentary Festival starts tonight with John Sweeney talking to Francis Wheen.  It continues until Sunday.

th 8 no 07

1895 The German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X rays

The Environment Agency has issued a Severe Flood Warning for the coast Lowestoft to Shingle Street including Aldeburgh.  The tv news is saying the risk is high tide tomorrow morning.   Floodline  0845 988 1188

su 14 oc 07

1972  Pope Paul VI abolished the tonsure for monks

Lovely weather for boulevardiers in Aldeburgh this afternoon.  This handsome fellow had clearly been enjoying a swim, a display of Minis, and on the new piste cunningly placed right outside the White Lion petanque was being played.  The match was a

friendly between the newly formed Aldeburgh Club and the Meadlands club from Stowmarket.  The action was certainly attracting interest from passers by and it would seem part of petanque's point is sociability.  More pics here.

su 8 jl 07

1942  Cary Grant married the Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton

Aldeburgh may be up itself but on a sunny summer's afternoon Crag Path can be a sort of café society ...  

 fr 6 jl 07

1983  Failed Hackney councillor Tony Blair made his maiden parliamentary speech.

Though Paul Verhoeven's Hollywood films may be rather slight (RoboCop, Fatal Instinct, Starship Troopers and no we can't help being pretentious) but we rather like his glossy, ironic style and so were considering the rather more serious Black Book, but it's nearly two and half hours long!  You don't so much need popcorn as a survival bag and a whistle!!  But then it's back for a second time at Aldeburgh Cinema next month by popular demand ... in the meantime its La Vie en Rose (140mins) for seven days from tonight.