The Friday Five 02.12.22
It's the Friday Five: five great planning jobs, five fun place-related facts. You know the drill. Let's go:
1. SENIOR PLANNING OFFICER, DEVON COUNTY COUNCIL
Location: Exeter, Devon
The job: “We’re looking for a senior planning officer who will initially be handling planning applications for minerals, waste and the council’s own development, contributing to the mineral and waste plans and monitoring quarries and waste sites. In the longer-term opportunities will be available to contribute to the wider work of the team.
“Depending on your experience you might be working on major planning applications for minerals sites, writing evidence documents to support the mineral and waste plans or perhaps representing the county council’s infrastructure needs in response to a district council’s local plan. As an experienced planner with a can-do attitude, you will embrace the varied projects you will be responsible for from day one and take an active role in supporting and developing junior staff. In turn, we will support you through your ongoing learning and development to increase your skills and experience.”
Fun fact:
Mæg ic be me sylfum soðgied wrecan,
siþas secgan, hu ic geswincdagum
earfoðhwile oft þrowade,
bitre breostceare gebiden hæbbe,
gecunnad in ceole cearselda fela,
atol yþa gewealc, þær mec oft bigeat
nearo nihtwaco æt nacan stefnan
þonne he be clifum cnossað.*
No, I’ve not started talking in tongues. Well, I sort of have – those are the opening lines of The Seafarer, one of the greatest Old English (and therefore English) poems which can be found in its entirely in the marvellous Exeter Book in Exeter Cathedral Library.
Believed to have been produced in the late 10th century, it’s one of just four major manuscripts of Old English poetry, along with others in Italy, the British Library and the Bodleian Library.
The book was donated to what is now the Exeter Cathedral library by Leofric, the first bishop of Exeter, in 1072, and is generally considered the largest and possibly oldest known manuscript of Old English literature.
Aside from the absolute gems such as The Seafarer and The Wanderer, which are about as close as we get to really experiencing the Anglo Saxon world view, there are saint’s lives, riddles, heroic poems, wisdom poems – a whole litany of verses that would have been common currency among the Anglo Saxon people. It's a wonderful thing.
So wonderful that, in 2016, UNESCO recognised the book as “the foundation volume of English literature, one of the world's principal cultural artefacts”.
*I can make a true song about me myself,
tell my travels, how I often endured
days of struggle, troublesome times,
[how I] have suffered grim sorrow at heart,
have known in the ship many worries [abodes of care],
the terrible tossing of the waves, where the anxious night watch
often took me at the ship's prow when it tossed near the cliffs.
2. PLANNING AND ENGAGEMENT OFFICER, LONDON PARKS AND GARDENS TRUST
Location: Westminster, London/Home
The job: “London Parks & Gardens Trust seeks a planning and engagement officer to join its team based in central London. This campaigning role involves working with volunteers, providing training and leadership to help protect London’s historic landscapes.
“You will have an understanding and enthusiasm for historic landscapes and the planning (development management) process, plus excellent communication, IT and administrative skills. Recruiting and working with volunteers an advantage.
“Hours can be worked flexibly – regular pattern to be agreed on appointment. There will be occasional evening and weekend work, and an expectation of attendance at the Trust’s office regularly one day a week.”
Fun fact: On an island in an artificial lake in St James’s Park, London, is Duck Island Cottage, the offices of the London Parks and Gardens Trust. This picturesque cottage was funded by the newly formed Ornithological Society of London, which had been founded in 1837 to care for the numerous birds (some exotic) that had been introduced to the park in the preceding centuries.
It was James 1 who first laid out the swampy patch of marshland as a formal garden in the early 17th century. James had already established an aviary along neighbouring Birdcage Walk and waterfowl, both native and foreign, found refuge in the newly laid out park (in spite, apparently, of the presence of two crocodiles).
So the park became associated with birdlife, particularly ducks which nested and bred on the artificial island that became known as ‘duck island’ . By the late 17th century, there was even a formal position of Governor of Duck Island and the park even contained a pair of pelicans, given as a gift by the Russian ambassador.
Fast forward: the park fell into disuse and became neglected. It was re-landscaped, the Ornithological Society of London founded to care for the park’s birdlife and they needed a home. Architect John Burges Watson was commissioned to design a ‘birdkeeper’s’ cottage and clubroom for the Society and did so in a Swiss style intended to provide a homely contrast to the monumental architecture that was going up in nearby Whitehalll.
Duck Island cottage itself has had a patchy history, falling into disrepair at various times somehow surviving demolition plans. Since restoration in the 1980s, it’s served as a store for confiscated bicycles, as a birdkeeper’s cottage (again) and, since 1994, as the home of the London Parks and Gardens Trust. There are no longer crocodiles in St James’s Park, by the way, but there is a scoop of pelicans, the descendants of the original pair that arrived in the 17th century and which live on duck Island (where they’re known to eat pigeons whole).
3. REGIONAL PROGRAMME MANAGER CABINET OFFICE
Location: York, North Yorkshire
The job: “Are you someone who enjoys autonomy, driving collaboration between stakeholders, and seeing tangible outcomes to your work? Do you want to work directly with public partners supporting a range of key government priorities, including levelling up, economic recovery and helping communities to build back better?
“If you have experience in a senior property role and are effective at building strong relationships to unblock barriers, influence stakeholders and offer challenge, then we’d love to hear from you.
“You will work to oversee, support, and challenge local partnerships, proactively identifying opportunities for cross public sector property projects through the use of data, property information, strategic assessment and opportunities workshops. You will also act as a lead on strategic engagement with a number of central government departments, building relationships, holding partners to account and helping to deliver the government property strategy.
As part of the One Public Estate programme, you will work in a blended team across the Office of Government Property and the Local Government Association, supporting ambitious cross-public sector property projects that create local economic growth, integrate public services and drive efficiency savings.”
Fun fact: There’s a small patch of the city of York where it’s simply not done to burn a Guy on Bonfire Night on account of it being considered to be in extremely bad taste. The reason? Guy Fawkes was born and educated in the city, at St Peter’s School – and it’s here where the burning of a Guy is definitely not de rigeur.
Born in 1570 to an ostensibly Anglican family, Guy Fawkes attended the school from 1575 and it was probably here where he became a Catholic – the school was basically run by ‘recusant’ Catholics and Fawkes’ own mother came from a family of recusant Catholics (ie, those who rejected the English Reformation of the Church under Henry VIII).
As an adult, Fawkes became a mercenary soldier fighting for Catholic Spain against Protestant Holland. By 1604 he was involved in a plot to assassinate Protestant King James (he of Birdcage Walk fame, above – just think, if Fawkes had succeeded THERE WOULD BE NO SUCH THING AS DUCK ISLAND) and replace him with his Catholic daughter Elizabeth.
The rest is history and Fawkes, who was supposed to light the fuse that would blow up Parliament, became the most notorious of the plotters and thus the one burned annually on fires to celebrate the discovery and thwarting of the plot.
Except at St Peter’s. A BBC story from 2014 cites local historian Hugh Murray, himself a pupil at the school: “During the time I was at St Peters, just after the war, guys weren't burned because the headmaster, John Dronfield, had decreed that we should not burn effigies of old boys.” Sedition!
4. PLANNING OFFICER IN DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT, GREATER CAMBRIDGE SHARED PLANNING SERVICE
Location: Cambourne/Cambridge/Hybrid
The job: “We currently have an exciting opportunity to work within the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service, to work in a vibrant and busy development management department as a planning officer.
“You will have the chance to progress and determine a wide variety of planning applications, appeals and pre-application enquiries, working on some of the most innovative developments in the UK. In addition, you will have an enthusiastic, supportive team around you to help you grow and develop your career in planning.
“What sets us apart from other organisations is our range of projects, including meeting the planning needs of Europe’s most important biotechnology cluster, regeneration schemes providing new low carbon districts and developing the first joint local plan in an area that has the fastest-growing city economy in the country.”
Fun fact: It's just possible that Cambourne is the least eventful place in Britain. So we go to Cambridge, where lots of interesting things have happened and where can be seen the incredible Corpus Clock, a timepiece that runs backwards and features a monstrous locust-like creature that ‘eats’ time.
It’s called the Corpus Clock because it’s mounted on Corpus Christi College; unlike much of the university, however, it’s a modern confection, funded by John C Taylor, who Wikipedia describes as an entrepreneur, inventor, horologlst and philanthropist “best known for his extensive research into electric kettles”. And unusual timepieces, it would seem.
To the clock: its face is a 24-carat gold-plated ‘rippling’ stainless steel disc 1.5 metres in diameter. But this is no ordinary clockface: it has no hands or numerals. Rather, it displays the time by opening individual slits which are backlit with blue LEDs; these slits are arranged in concentric rings displaying hours, minutes, and seconds.
Complicated enough for you? It gets better. The clock is entirely mechanical and its pendulum is driven by a traditional ‘escapement’ (a device for keeping pendulums swinging, obvs). In this case the escapement is a locust-like creature that seems to ‘eat’ time with great satisfaction as it carries out its work.
Taylor himself calls the creature a ‘chronophage’ (literally a ‘time eater’). The college’s students call it more affectionately Rosalind or Hopsy.
Although it functions pretty well as a clock, the Corpus Clock is actually a work of public art, described by Taylor – cheerily – as a way of reminding us of the inevitable passing of time: “I view time as not on your side. He'll eat up every minute of your life, and as soon as one has gone he's salivating for the next.”
Life is short. Beware the chronophage.
5. SENIOR PLANNING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNCIL
Location: Yate, South Gloucestershire
The job: “As a senior planning enforcement officer you will make a difference by enabling South Gloucestershire to be a safe place to live, visit and work in. You will work as part of a team playing a key role by contributing towards a high-quality built environment for the enjoyment of all residents and our visitors.
“What will you be doing:
- This is a varied role, so you will not be limited to investigating allegations of breaches of planning control, you will also determine planning applications, defend appeals, and pursue legal enforcement proceedings through court proceedings.
- It will be your responsibility to manage 60 – 80 case assignments at all levels of complexity, working towards resolutions effectively and efficiently and will support others in your team as required.
- In the role you will respond to internal and external enquiries, carrying out investigation of enforcement complaints, interviewing complainants, conducting site visits, analysing, investigating, assessing the facts of the case and prepare case and committee reports.
- Participate in formulation of service objectives and policies, monitoring, and review of performance to ensure targets are met.
- Support the team leader in the management of the Compliance Monitoring Service and deputise for the Team Leader when necessary, providing day-to-day support and management of the staff team.
Fun fact: Superficially, rather like Cambourne, there’s not much of interest to say about Yate in South Gloucestershire, where this job is based. On closer inspection, however, we find that it’s home to the ‘road to nowhere’ (covered recently) and also the birthplace of incognito street artist Bansky.
If you accept that Banksy is Robin Gunningham, that is.
Over the years, the identity of Banksy has been attributed to a number of public figures. These include:
- Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack, a former graffiti artist who is known to be a friend of Banksy.
- Former Art Attack presenter Neil Buchanan
- Billy Gannon, a councillor in Pembroke Dock in south-west Wales. He subsequently resigned because the speculation was affecting his ability to carry out his duties.
The name that sticks, though, is Gunningham’s. Born in Yate in 1973, Gunningham attended Bristol cathedral school and school friends have apparently corroborated his identity. Geographic profiling by St Mary’s University in 2016 (that’s weird, right?) apparently linked Banksy’s work with the known movements of Gunningham (yeah, that’s weirdly stalkerish). The Sunday Times has reported that Gunningham began using the name Robin Banks, which became Banksy.
But, frankly, who cares? Surely, we already know everything we need to know about Banksy from his work. Everything else is just noise, right? Flim-flam, gossip and silly distraction. Unless he's actually a serial killer or in some other way a very bad man, then, surely, the only thing that matters is the work.
Image credits | iStock; Rachael Martin, Shutterstock; George Cruikshank, Shutterstock; Pajor Pawel, Shutterstock; EQ Roy, Shutterstock
