Sad News

 

not...the man named above...but titled after Ron Devious, CEO of Spagggettti Enterprises!

Allan Green - a memoir…

I began this idiosyncratic discursive nonsense with an acknowledgement to my close friend Allan Green who I’ve already credited with a vast majority of photographs on this site.  I am extremely saddened to report that Allan died on October 19th 2024.
Much more a figurative than abstract artist Allan was far more interested and attracted to the sessions run by Peter Redgrove than any other aspect of the art school offer.  I don’t recall exactly when but I’m sure it was only a few weeks in he also took up photography in a far more committed and serious fashion than most of the rest of our cohort.  John Wilkinson ran the photography studios high up in Kerris Vean the old house at the top of the small campus and was really helpful to anyone that wanted to engage with the medium (and to the film makers such as Denis Lowe - see this link to his much more comprehensive site on Falmouth).

Allan photographed in front of the photo montage at his degree show

Allan and myself, along with Jimmy Whitehead were the longterm residents of the Penwerris Inn and consequently got to know one another well.  I think it was our shared interest in literature and, especially poetry that bonded us - not least as Allan started to write quite seriously.  Encouraged by Redgrove and, I like to think, egged on by my occasional critiques (or crass commentary as you wish!) he developed a body of written work that stands the test of time.  The three books he produced, The Crack, HMS Air Rifle, Jim’s Dream and Devious are the backbone of his award of a first class Diploma - the only one awarded in our cohort of Painting students!   The last of these volumes is interspersed with photographs in a manner that years later might be termed Sebaldian - indeed Allan’s written work as a whole has something of the same stylistic range as that of the great man.  Oddly enough two years after completing his Diploma in 1973 Allan took a place on the (now) legendary Writing MA at East Anglia.  At the time, WG Sebald was settling into his lecturing berth at the University - I never got to ask Allan if they ever met though in our conversations that included his time in Norwich and our mutual interest in Sebald’s writing he never mentioned him, and his partner Moira tells me that they never had an encounter.  I shall post some extracts from these volumes on this site in the near future.

Like many many others, I miss him a great deal - our conversations down the years often touching on ‘those Ponderosa days’…

Calling Out...

Calling out of Falmouth was not as easy in 1971 as it is these days...no mobile phone of course, no serious cash (although I think we all appreciated our Grant cheque - the princely sum of £60 a term in the first year - and yes I do know that today's students would kill for that!), no phone in our flat and a trip to the phone box to make a call at all.

And here it is...with our flat being the top floor of the building - The Penwerris Inn - in the centre distance. And below a view of the whole place. To the left of the neon sign (often not working!) is our balcony that had a good view away to the left across the playing fields and to the right across the estate and onto the Fal estuary...