Bill Berrett - Architect, Writer, poet, designer and Coventry Umbrella Club Member

Bill Berrett, born in Birmingham in 1933, was an architect. Town Planner, Writer, poet, book designer and

Bill Berrett

Lecturer and worked  in Coventry for the City of Coventry, Dept of Architecture & Planning. 1955 1961. He was an early member of the Coventry Arts Umbrella Club which was opened in 1955 in Little Park Street by the Goons, who were appearing in Coventry at that time. The Umbrella was largely founded largely by the Coventry Architects department and, looking at Bill's interesting website, he clearly has a substantial interest in the arts and while architecture may be thought of as a technical skill set, looking at his work, there is a great deal of art in his work.

I had just started primary school when the Umbrella Club opened in 1955 and so my knowledge of that period is second hand, so it's good to learn more about some of the fascinating people that were involved during that early period.

Radburn Housing Development
It was interesting too to learn that Bill lived on a Coventry estate based on the ‘Radburn’ housing development designed by Mat Wallace using ‘No-Fines’ construction. That would be Willenhall Wood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radburn,_New_Jersey and also here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radburn_design_housing.
which built and complete c 1958 / 9 and at that stage in it's history was a beautiful estate and a great place to be brought up. More recent visits show it have decline somewhat - and what a shame. The Radburn design began in Radburn New Jersey in 1929 aimed to incorporate modern planning principles, which were then being introduced into England's Garden Cities, following ideas advocated by urban planners Ebenezer Howard, Sir Patrick Geddes and Clarence Perry. Radburn was explicitly designed to separate traffic by mode, with a pedestrian path system that does not cross any major roads at grade. Radburn introduced the largely residential "superblock" and is credited with incorporating some of the earliest culs-de-sac in the United States. More can be read here

The 'Radburn' design is typified by the backyards of homes facing the street and the fronts of homes facing

each other over common yards. Willenhall Wood was just like that, with the tradesman's entrance at the back and open space with trees and lawn out of the front and french windows at the rear. It was a very aesthetic estate to grow up on. I grew up in Laneside and the front can be seen above.

I grew up on the other side of this picture but the house behind the lady was the home of Drummer Steve Harrison, who frequented the Umbrella Club c 1970 / 71 and played with The Mick Green Blues band and many others, including L'homme de Terre, c 1981, filmed at the Memorial Park in Coventry where Bill did some of his Coventry work.

Bill Berrett tells his own story very well on his own website  - Here

http://billberrett.info/coventry/

His career spans from Birmingham to Coventry to Milton Keynes and many places in between. in Coventry he worked with Arthur Ling and began work on urban design of central areas at Hertford Street, Bull Yard, Union Street, Unity Way, St John’s and areas affected by the Ring Road then being planned. Also I worked on street furniture for the cross precinct and Shelton Square. I worked ‘across the board’ with Ray Spaxman, and more. It's evident from his site that many of the coventry architects went on to share their influence on so many innovative and prestigious projects around the country, and Bill traces this. the site is full of interesting illustrations of designs and also some his many book illustrations. About 1981, Bill took up a post as senior lecturer at Leeds University and was there during the period I taught for Leeds University on the Creative Writing programme for their Middlesbrough base.

It's well worth a look through Bill's site and here's the one or two illustrations to hopefully lead the way to his website -

Part of his work for Coventry's Memorial Park -

From Bill Berrett's website http://billberrett.info/coventry/

An example Bill Berrett's Book design

Writing collection by an Architect and Environment Designer - Bill Berrett - who has worked on Cities, taught in Universities and designed for Poets and Writers. The creative process is similar whatever the medium, words are the current tools. Interest in men's current role in the world.

His book of poetry and other are avaiable on Lulu here http://www.lulu.com/shop/bill-berrett/a-man-at-work/paperback/product-16690012.html?ppn=1  for men at Work - Poems

And for his other books and Lulu profile http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/brianberrett

Gentlefolk - Norman Wheatley's Folk Podcast.

Norman Wheatley contributed to the Umbrella poetry extravaganza - Knotted Sheets - at the Belgrade Theatre, 1971 and organised by poet Geoff Pegg. Norman also took part, playing at various Umbrella Club folk sessions in the early 70's.

Moreover he ran the folk programme Gentlefolk on BBC Radio Birmingham, later on Radio Mercia and now as a monthly podcast on the internet. It's still an excellent program covering both the Midland's folk scene and more national acts with music, interviews and information. The beauty of the podcast is that you can listen to it whenever you want - you're not tied down to be near a radio at a certain time and can catch up with past shows too. Do give it a listen - Norman is an excellent and professional presenter, every word crystal clear and entertaining.

Listen here -                  http://www.gentlefolk2.co.uk/

Norman Wheatley in the 70's 

The Umbrella Club - Who Gives a Jot?

Jot do! Jot is blogger site to "A place to record information. Facts, Data,Trivia, Ephemera, Knowledge from any source - Letters, Diaries, Manuscripts, Journals, Notebooks, Recipes, Anecdotes, Reports, Art, Files, Snapshots, Documents, Formulas, Catalogues, Press cuttings, Memoirs, Tales, Eyewitness accounts ('I was there'), 'I once met...', Quotations, Found Objects & Total Trivia" and can be found here http://www.jot101.com/2014/07/the-umbrella-club.html with this link going specifically to their post on the Umbrella Club.

Nice that Jot have given space to the Umbrella Club. The article focuses on an issue of Umbrella Magazine, the pdf of which can be found on this site (along with some other issues of the Umbrella's Literary magazine from the late 50's / early 60's. 

It describes the early incarnation of the Umbrella Club at Little Park Street in the 50's as -

 In 1960 it described itself as:

‘an independent, non-political, non profitmaking organisation for encouraging interest in art music, music, literature, the theatre and kindred subjects. It arranges lectures, recitals, dramatic performances and many related activities’ 

and the editorial policy of the magazine as stated in the magazine as requesting material that ‘paints a portrait of life in the Midlands, and which reflect or interpret: such problems as labour relations, race relations, the world of the teenager, the changing patterns of family life in a mobile society and the attitudes of the citizen of today to the established institutions of the past’.

Interesting article in itself and interesting and potentially useful site in general for researchers or anyone who is just curious about all manner of things!

Full text from Jot

The Umbrella Club

Let no-one accuse Jot 101 of being Londoncentric. We at Jot HQ welcome quirky Jots on provincial goings-on and just to prove it here is one issue of the quarterly house journal of a Coventry-based arts organisation called The Umbrella Club.

The club, which was opened by The Goons in 1956 operated first from humble premises in Little Park Street, bang in the city centre, a three minute walk from the controversial new cathedral. In 1960 it described itself as:

‘an independent, non-political, non profitmaking organisation for encouraging interest in art music, music, literature, the theatre and kindred subjects. It arranges lectures, recitals, dramatic performances and many related activities’ 

Its house journal was a well produced quarterly anthology of poetry, short stories, reviews and art work entitled, rather imaginatively, Umbrella, which by 1960 was already into its second volume. In the Spring issue, editor T.C.Watson, a local English teacher, urges potential contributors to submit material that paints a portrait of life in the Midlands, and which reflect or interpret:

‘such problems as labour relations, race relations, the world of the teenager, the changing patterns of family life in a mobile society and the attitudes of the citizen of today to the established institutions of the past’

An earnest ambition this, at the start of a decade which saw sociology take over from English as the coolest degree option. However, it seems that many of the contributors to Umbrella were English graduates, with a strong bias towards that coolest of all English Universities in the sixties, Keele. Of the wannabe Amises, Drabbles and Larkins who contributed to  two of the 1960 issues, only two names stands out---local wunderkind novelist Susan Hill, then just 18, and Keele graduate Zulfikar Ghose, who handled the magazine’s poetry review pages. Hill, now 72, went on to become a sort of heir to Daphne du Maurier, while Ghose, a little older, is an acclaimed poet now based in the United States.

We should add that Hill, whose first scandalous novel had a theatrical background, was also a budding playwright, and must have attended many a production at the Umbrella Club while a sixth former at Coventry’s Barr’s Hill School, while Philip Larkin who, after all was born in Coventry, had at least one poem published in Umbrella. As a jazz nut he may also have heard some pretty cool notes in Little Park Street.[RH]

Umbrella Magazine Volume 1 No1 October 1958

Thanks go to Coventry musician Cliff  Wagstaff for purchasing and donating his copy of the 1st Umbrella Literary magazine for this site. An excellent production and i've made it available as a PDF file. If anybody has any other copies of Umbrella Magazine that are not on this site and are willing to scan them for the sight or loan them to us to scan and share on the site, please get in contact.

Contents are - 

And the pdf of the Magazine to view or download free,

John Smedley's Hydropathic Institution - Matlock. Link to Umbrella Article

http://www.wirksworth.org.uk/B57-SMED.htm

This is a link to an article from the 1st issue of  UMBRELLA on the Matlock site - 

In searching for something else, I came across a wonderful article from the first ever issue of  Umbrella -the literary magazine produced by the Umbrella Club and first published in October 1958. The article, which deals with John Smedley's Hydropathic Institution in Matlock was written by Geoffrey Saunders (a resident of Coventry) under the pen name of  Geoffrey Demdike and contributed to the Andrews Pages - Matlock and Matlock Bath website by one of the former editors of Umbrella  - Jim Runnalls.

Industrial background of John Smedley

It's an interesting article and worth visiting the site for. Smedley's was a family business in Matlock, and founded in 1784 by Peter Nightingale ( a relation of Florence Nightingale). The mill specialised in the production of muslin and spinning cotton to send out to local cottages with hand frame looms. Towards the end of the 18th century the company had extended its activities to include knitting and hosiery manufacture - said to be the origin of  Long Johns. . By this time, John Smedley was running the business alone, although the Nightingale family retained an interest in the property. As Lea Mills remains open and an operational building to this day, manufacturing the company's range of designer knitwear, John Smedley claims to be world's longest running factory manufacturer over four generations." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smedley_%28industrialist%29

Hydrotherapy

http://matlockbathonline.co.uk/documents/john_smedley/

"John Smedley's success and growing wealth enabled other grand projects. He developed an interest in hydrotherapy, and built Smedley's Hydro in Matlock, a spa resort that attracted patrons from around the world. As a family home he also built the massive and ostentatious Riber Castle on a hilltop overlooking Matlock. This is now one of  Derbyshire's most famous landmarks. It was built on Matlock Bank in 1853 when it was the largest hydro in the town. Matlock had developed as a spa town after thermal springs were discovered. John Smedley was not the first to recognise and exploit the effects of water treatment on various illnesses."

And it is here that Geoffrey Demdike's article begins, entitled Smedleys Hydro and you can read it on this site, where you will find lots of other fascinating material on the Matlock area.

Screen shot of the Matlock website.

View the Umbrella article in full on the Andrews Pages - Matlock and Matlock and Bath site Here - 
http://www.andrewsgen.com/matlock/mag/umbrella_smedley.htm

And for more information on the Hydro - see here on the same site.

http://www.andrewsgen.com/matlock/pix/matlock_smedley_1906.htm

For Research - Material to be Found in Coventry History Centre.

For anyone wishing to research the Coventry Arts Umbrella Club or any aspects of - the following types of material are held there - Note - this list may not be all the material held.
Coventry History Centre

Programmes.
PA 1884 / 5 / 11 Programmes of the Umbrella Club April 1968 - Nov 1974
PA 1884 / 5 / 10 Programme of the Umbrella Club June 1967 / Feb 1968
PA 1884 / 5 / 103 Newsletters / Programme Sept 1970
PA 1939 / 9 (Also 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14) Umbrella Club Programmes 1960
PA 1939 / 16 Notice of Poetry Reading at Umbrella March 1969

Function and Structure of the Umbrella Club
PA 1884 /1 / 18 Outline of functions and structure of Coventry Arts Umbrella Club late 1960's / Early 1970's

Umbrella Magazine
PA 1884 / 5 / 3 Umbrella Magazine 1959

Umbrella Magazine 1959

PA 1884 / 5 / 5 Umbrella Magazine 1960
PA 1884 / 5 / 2 Umbrella Magazine 1959
PA 1939 / 8 Umbrella Magazine 1959
PA 1884 / 5 / 1 Umbrella magazine Oct 1958
PA 1884 / 4 / 5 (ALSO 7 / 8) Umbrella Magazines 1960 / 62 / 61


Publicity Materials and Press
PA 1884 / 6 / 13  Correspondence and papers relating to publicity for 8th Jan 1962 - 22nd May 1967
PA 1884 / 5 / 14  Advertisement posters for 'Umbrella' - The Magazine  18th Oct 1958 - 18th Oct 1959.
PA 1884 / 1 / 2 Leaflet advertising the Umbrella Club Feb 1960
PA 1884 / 5 / 163 Photo Copy of press cuttings re- Umbrella Club activities 1960 / early 1970's
PA 1939 / 2 Two Volumes of press cuttings 1960 / 67
PA 1939 / 3 Loose Press cuttings 1960 / 69

Material from Little Park street 1955 - 1960
CCD / CES / 1 / 28    97,Little Park Street - History of 1960 - 61
PA / 1184 / 5 / 75 Photos of Spike Milligan 1955

Material from 18, Queen Victoria Road 1960 - 72
PA 1884 /5 /18 Newsletter regarding plans for the Umbrella 1 Aug 1961
PA 1884 / 5 / 44 Programme for building an Arts Centre in Coventry May 1965
PA / 18884 / 5 / 155 Programme for the Importance of Blues and Jazz 1967

Material after 1972 - including The Charterhouse.

Photographs of the Umbrella
PA 1884 /5 / 176 Photograph of exterior of the Umbrella Club 18, Queen Victoria Road 1960's.
PA 1884 / 5 / 193 Photograph of rear of Umbrella Club 18, Queen Victoria Road 1960's

Collections
PA 1884  Collection - Umbrella 1955 - 1995

Maurice Edelman - Labour MP, Novelist and President of Coventry Arts Umbrella Club

Maurice Edelman (born in 1911) was a huge supporter of the Coventry Arts Umbrella Club from the mid

50's until his death at 64 in 1975.

I can't tell you his full involvement at this stage but he's mentioned as giving talks on the arts at the Umbrella's first premises in Little Park Street Coventry and sitting on various committees. Certainly by 1974 when the Umbrella moved to the Charterhouse, he was re-elected as president according to the Coventry Evening Telgraph with Terence Watson (editor of Umbrella magazine) as Vice President.

"Elected at the age of 34 as the member for Coventry in the Labour wave that swept Churchill out of as Prime Minister after VE Day, Maurice Edelman served in Parliament until his death 30 years later.", Born in Cardiff, Wales the son of a Jewish

photographer, Mr. Edelman graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, and was first elected to Parliament in 1945 representing the Coventry West constituency.

Since 1950 he was returned to Parliament in every election for the newly formed Coventry North-West constituency. Mr. Edelman managed to combine his parliamentary career with that of a successful author. He wrote many books, including “Disraeli in Love,” and a biography of David Ben Gurion.

Literary Works by Maurice Edelman

Maurice turned to writing novels which were subsequently popular for Television adaptions and his literary output included -

Disraeli in Love (Novel)  / biography of David Ben Gurion. / Prime Minister's Daughter (Armchair Theatre1970 /  The Last Flight (Armchair Theatre1957) / A Distant Thunder (A Play for Today 1 episode1970) / The Switch ( ITV Playhouse 1 episode1971) / The Chief Whip Sends his Compliments (Thirty Minute Theatre1970) / The Cabinet Papers (BBC Play of the Month 1967) / The Crossfire (Novel & ITV Play of the Week 1967) / The Minister (Novel & Theatre 6251965) / The Happy Ones (First Night TV Series 1 episode1964) / The Vision and the Dream (About Religion TV series 1 episode1962) / A Dream of Treason (Novel  & Playhouse 90 1 episode1960) / Episode in Paris (Theatre Royal 1956). Disraeli Rising (1975? - 2nd part of a proposed trilogy) / 

Maurice Edelman 1911-1975. Paintiings, drawings & watercolours 9 July - 4 September 1977 Herbert Art Galleriy and Museums, Coventry [Paperback] / Who Goes Home (Novel) / All on a Summer's Night (Novel 1969) / 

He also appeared on What's My Line / Panorama  / This Week. 

Amazon link to second hand versions of some of his book. HERE

Other works(1961). Stage Play: A Call on Kuprin. Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Based on the novel by Maurice Edelman. Directed by George Abbott. Broadhurst Theatre: 25 May 1961- 3 Jun 1961 (12 performances). Cast: John Allen (as "Arthur Harrington"), Marie Baratoff (as "Mrs. Kendall"), Lydia Bruce (as "Vera Kuprina"), Dabney Coleman (as "American Couple/Marine Sgt. Loomis/Guard/Second K.G.B. Guard/Guard at Yalta") [Broadway debut], John Garson (as "Col. I.L. Makarov"), Halyna Harcourt (as "Nina/Friend of Jazz Enthusiast/Singing Girl"), John Hirst (as "Russian Sailor"), Claude Horton (as "Holloway"), Lauri Ikonen (as "Chess Boy"), Leon Janney (as "Professor Trifonov"), Rita Karin (as "Head Intourist Clerk/Book Peddler"), Doreen Kay (as "Tourist Couple/Kvas Vendor"), Eugenie Leontovich (as "Madame Kuprina"), Jeffrey Lynne (as "Jonathan Smith"), Victor Merinow (as "Intourist Aide/Soviet Policeman/K.G.B. Interpretor"), Andre Pascal (as "Tourist Couple/Russian Sailor/K.G.B. Guard"), Gedda Petry (as "Woman Porter/Flower Peddler/Singing Girl"), Joe Ponazecki (as "Tourist/Drunk"), Nicholas Saunders (as "Mr. Kendall/Guard at Yalta"), Edmund Shaff (as "Tourist Guide/Friend of Jazz Enthusiast"), William Swetland (as "American Ambassador"), Ludmilla Tchor (as "Assistant Clerk"), Ludmila Toretzka (as "Old Woman/Woman Sweeping/Ted Vadim Tourist") [final Broadway role], Tania Velia (as "American Couple/Jazz Enthusiast/Singing Girl"), George Voskovec (as "Professor V.V. Kuprin"). Produced by Robert E. Griffith and Harold Prince. SOURCE http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1618226/

When Man Denies the Brotherhood of Man

Maurice Edelman - London, England

Broadcast during the 1950s

"I am a politician. Oh yes, I know that sounds like a confession, but when at the end of the War I went into politics, it was because, like many other men in their 30s at the time, I wanted to take an active part in building a society which would be civilized and just. I went into Parliament, and by 1950, I was an experienced legislator sitting on innumerable committees." (To both read the rest of this broadcast and hear it told by Maurice Edelman please visit the website http://thisibelieve.org/essay/16526/

A very interesting talk...

...................................................

A Dream of Treason, by Maurice Edelman

June 2nd, 2012

"Elected at the age of 34 as the member for Coventry in the Labour wave that swept Churchill out of as Prime Minister after VE Day, Maurice Edelman served in Parliament until his death 30 years later. And while he may not have enjoyed the historical fame of Disraeli or the sales of Jeffery Archer, he may be the supreme representative of that exclusive class, the British MP-slash-novelist. Between 1951 and 1974, he published over a dozen novels, along with a handful of non-fiction works.

While I wouldn’t call him a great writer, Edelman was certainly adept at producing novels that managed to be both entertaining and intelligent. His paperback publishers tended to slap racy covers on his books in blatant attempts to convince unsuspecting browsers into thinking them essentially indistinguishable from other shelf fodder. One can picture copies of A Dream of Treason or Shark Island or Disraeli in Love next to the finest works of Erle Stanley Gardner, Mac Bolan or Barbara Cartland. Had he been more of a publicity hound, he might even have been able to boost his numbers into Jeffery Archer’s range."...........

To read the rest of the this interesting review please go to the website http://neglectedbooks.com/?p=1384

Also you can download this novel free or view it online HERE on Universal Library.