SouthseaScene

Chris Ramsey has just embarked on his biggest tour to date, Is That Chris Ramsey?, culminating in a massive homecoming gig at Newcastle’s Metro Arena. The Geordie star of Comedy Central’s The Chris Ramsey Show tells Mark Wareham about life on the road and how adjusting to first-time fatherhood hasn’t stopped him from being arrested in his underpants… Hi, is that Chris Ramsey? I see what you did there. How’s the tour going? Amazing. I’ve got a big set that I love and it’s my first time with a headset mic. It’s so free. It’s the best show I’ve done yet. And it’s your biggest tour to date? Yeah. The scary thing about touring is that the venues are booked before I’ve written the show, so I’ve got the title, I’ve got the poster… You’re a bit last minute then? It’s the only way I can do it man. I was the kid at school where if you got your homework on a Thursday, I would do it on the Sunday night. I’d have it hanging over us all weekend. It’s just who I am. B...

In 1966, Southampton-born PC Anthony Gledhill of the Metropolitan police received the highest award for a civilian – the George Cross. Tony Gledhill will give a talk at The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre on Thursday 13 April at 7.45pm, in which he will explain how that award for bravery came about.   Born in 1938 in Doncaster, Tony Gledhill became a police constable with the ‘Met’. On 25 August 1966 he was out on patrol in Deptford with fellow officer PC Terence McFall, when they received instructions to check a suspicious car. The vehicle was indeed stolen, and contained five men preparing for to carry out an armed robbery.     The police gave chase, with PC Gledhill driving, as the car sped recklessly through the streets of South London on the wrong side of the road in a one-way system. The pursuit continued for five miles, with the offenders firing repeatedly at the police vehicle. When the escaping car crashed into a lorry, the occupants l...

Here's a lovely guest blog by Sally Callow It’s our 10th anniversary year and yet many readers of this blog will probably have never heard of us! The Royal Marines Association Concert Band (RMACB) is based in Portsmouth and rehearses weekly at the Royal Marines Museum. RMACB was formed in June 2006 by Chairman, Major (retd) Paddy Dunn RM and Director of Music, Captain (retd) Ted Whealing RM. The band started with 35 musicians - most being former members of the Royal Marines Band Service; a diverse mix of highly talented men and women of all ages. The band grew quickly and soon had a membership that exceeded 50 players. RMACB musicians all have a deep passion for music and that enthusiasm comes across in fantastic performances. The band performs locally at the Portsmouth Guildhall, around the south of England and London. We play around 15 concerts a year to raise funds for Royal Marines Charities. As our name suggests, we are associated with the Royal Marines Associati...

I still remember the first time I watched the Pirates of Penzance and I think it was on the stage of the New Theatre Royal in the year 2001. It was the very first production under the music direction of Colin Jagger. Larry Cunningham played the part of the Major General so memorably that I still call him Major General whenever I see him. Hopefully we will see him in the audience this week for the University of Portsmouth Dramatic and Musical Society is performing Pirates of Penzance at the New Theatre Royal from 9th to 11th March. The story goes like this...Frederic reaches his 21st birthday and tries to release himself from the life of piracy to which he was mistakenly apprenticed as a boy. Having met the girl of his dreams however, a terrible revelation is made which throws his life into confusion. Chaos ensues in the following battle between the pirates and the police in one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular comedies. This production by the University of Portsmo...