The Arts Society Alton
With Christmas in the air, the recent meeting of The Arts Society Alton caught the mood perfectly.
Visiting speaker Barry Venning gave an interesting presentation on the life and work of Giles, one of the most well-known cartoonists from the second half of the 20th century, entitled Christmas with Giles, Grandma and the family.
Born Ronald Giles in 1914, from humble beginnings in north London he left school at 14, going to work as an office boy at a studio commissioning animated advertisements.
A serious motorcycle accident required a long convalescence with his grandmother in Suffolk, and he never left the area.
Following his recovery, he worked at an animation studio in Ipswich and, despite having never attended art school, in 1937 he got a job as a cartoonist with Reynolds News, a Sunday newspaper.
From there he joined the Daily Express and Sunday Express, with his first cartoon appearing in the October 3, 1943 edition of the Sunday Express.
Exempt from war service because of the long-term effects of his motorcycle injuries, he became a war correspondent in Ipswich, although he was sent to Europe in 1944 with the Coldstream Guards and witnessed the horrors of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Much of Giles’ work had been cartoons featuring the typical tommy, well-known British generals and ridiculing leaders of the enemies, topics which had been extremely popular with the newspaper readership.
With the end of the war he introduced the Giles family, a better-off working-class family who were deemed patriotic but suspicious of authority.
In a single panel cartoon published daily in the Express from 1945 right up until 1991, he commented on a topic headlining the news of the day, but with much more than a single joke.
The ages of the family remained the same throughout the 46-year series, but their home, dress and hobbies reflected changing fashions and standards of living.
The speaker introduced the family, comprising the main character Grandma - a curmudgeonly character loosely based on Giles himself - the extended family, characters based on people he had known, and his own dog.
The highlight of the evening was a selection of the cartoons, including several which gave a sideways look at Christmas, and there was much mirth and laughter from the audience at the ones featured as the content was still amusing today.
Giles annuals were produced every year from 1946, and until his death in 1995 he chose the cartoons for inclusion.
They were a popular Christmas gift in the families of many of the audience, and complete editions are sought after, with some of the early ones quite expensive to buy today. Later ones are more modestly priced as so many remain in circulation.
Giles was a life president of the RNLI and it produced charity Christmas cards featuring his work. He also contributed Christmas cartoons for The National Institute for the Deaf.
He left the Daily Express in 1989 but continued with the Sunday Express for a further two years. The last decade of Giles’s life was plagued by failing health and he died in Ipswich in 1995.
For further details of the lectures please visit www.TASAlton.com
Surrey Border Movie Makers
This year the Annual Club Competition attracted 15 films from ten different Surrey Border Movie Makers members, some of whom were new club members showing films to an audience on a big screen for the first time.
The judges for the evening were Pip Critten, chairman of the southern counties region of the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers, Peter Hiner, chairman of Teign Film Makers, and Betty Nott, a member of Teign Film Makers. This year’s films are mentioned below in their running order on the night:
Norway Cruise 2024 Day 1 - Leaving Rosyth by Gillian Gatland, Collide by new member Marcus Henning, Counter Feet by Paul Ashworth, An Editor’s Struggle by Jim Reed, The Strange Photograph by John Hawthorne, Barren – A Drone Dance by Paul Ashworth, Jabberwocky by new members Kathy and Hugh Le Fanu, Norway Cruise 2024 Day 3 - Olden by Gillian Gatland, Taking Fitness to Heart by Mike Sanders, Joey’s Cookies by Paul Ashworth, A Paddle Trip Now by new member Cameron Gilroy, Norway Cruise 2024 Day 4 - Lysefjord by Gillian Gatland, The Gas Man Cometh by the Le Fanu Family, Not Real by Jim Reed and Full Moon Festival by Peter Stratford.
The following films were given awards:
An Editor’s Struggle – Ron Clements Shield for best creative film.
Taking Fitness to Heart – Pat Doherty Award for best sound and also voted highly commended.
Not Real – Penny Johnson Trophy for best editing.
Full Moon Festival – Sir Paul Holden Trophy for best commentary and the David Good Trophy for best holiday film.
A Paddle Trip Now by Cameron Gilroy won four trophies: The Dick Hibberd Trophy for best camerawork, the Arthur English Trophy for best photography, the Jack Stribling Trophy for first time winner and the coveted Jackson Trophy for overall winner.
Some of the above films are available to view on the club website www.surreyborder.org.uk
In November members of Surrey Border Movie Makers were privileged to experience a tour around the amazing Farnborough International Studios where many blockbuster films and TV programmes are made. Find out more about the studios by visiting https://farnboroughinternationalstudios.com
If you are interested in any aspects of filmmaking, the club always welcome new members. You can find out more by visiting the website www.surreyborder.org.uk or emailing [email protected]
The club meets on the first Friday of each month at St Joan's Centre in Tilford Road, Farnham. Visit www.facebook.com/SurreyBorderMovieMakers/timeline for more information.
