HAIL SISTERS OF THE REVOLUTION

 It seems totally appropriate that a copy of 'Hail Sisters of the Revolution' by my dear friend writer/poet/musician Caroline Gilfillan with photographer Andrew Scott should arrive in the post on International Women's Day. They met in the 1970s when squatting was a big thing In London and shared a squat in Stepney.

During this period Caroline joined one of the very early women-only band The Stepney Sisters and subsequently went on to play with Sisterhood of Spit, Hi Jinx, The Ponytails and Crikey Aphrodite.

She writes the story of the squats and the band in poetic form and the excellent black and white shots by Andrew bring that world to life. This wonderful book is published by Cowslip Press at 9 Casson Street, Ulverston LA12 7JQ. The Poetry Society recommended it as one of the Books of the Year.

In 2001 The Stepney Sisters reassembled and made their first ever recorded album. Excellent article on all this here: www.theguardian.com/music/2021/mar/08/feminist-musical-trailblazers-the-stepney-sisters-we-changed-what-happened-next

Nebra Sky Disc

 

This is the Nebra Sky disc, believed to be the oldest surviving representation of the cosmos. It was buried 3,600 years ago and was illegally excavated by two metal detectorists in Germany and is now in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle. It is crafted in bronze and gold which originated in Cornwall.

It is the most valuable artefact yet discovered from the Únětice civilization, a large group of early Bronze Age communities in central Europe - especially Bohemia, Bavaria, south-eastern Germany and western Poland - which is believed to have survived from 2,300BC to around1600 BC. 

The dots are thought to represent stars with the cluster being the Pleiades with the circle and crescent being the Sun and Moon.

There are various theories as the purpose of the disc - an astronomical clock, a religious symbol or a work of art.