Following the success of its pilot in a major industrial city, SCT has been keen to test its model in a smaller town with a rural hinterland. In July, on the advice of the National Association of Local Councils and with the support of Lichfield City Council, SCT launched a major consultation in the historic cathedral city of Lichfield - home of, among many other notables, Samuel Johnson, Erasmus Darwin and David Garrick.
The response to SCT’s consultation with civic and community leaders, including representatives of the city, district and county councils, the police, local schools, the churches, political parties and amenity and interest groups, has been universally positive.
The initiative has the support of all tiers of local government. Lichfield District Council Leader Cllr David S. Smith has called the project “an exciting initiative which will give local people a unique platform to express their views” while Peter Young, Clerk of Lichfield City Council, has welcomed what he called “an imaginative project which can only do good for Lichfield. Creating new opportunities for people to come together and exchange views on the issues which matter to them not only makes for better local government but also stronger communities.”
Why Lichfield?
Nottingham and Lichfield have much in common. Both are ancient, historic cities. Both have made important contributions to Britain’s cultural, scientific and political development.
But there are key differences. While Nottingham’s tradition has been radical and occasionally rebellious, Lichfield is an altogether more sedate and conservative city. While Nottingham is a major industrial conurbation made up of a wide range of ethnic communities and social and economic backgrounds, Lichfield is essentially a medium-sized, middle England market town.
It is precisely those contrasts which attracted Speakers’ Corner Trust to Lichfield for the second of its UK pilot projects. If the Speakers’ Corner model is to succeed it must be able to flourish in Lichfield as well as in Nottingham.
A Potted History
Lichfield derives its name from the nearby Romano-British village of Letocetum which grew up around a Roman fort close to Watling Street. In 669 St Chad established ‘Licidfelth’ as a major regional centre for the church and its importance grew with the burial of Mercian kings in the early cathedral. Indeed, it briefly enjoyed the status of an archbishopric.
Lichfield’s magnificent cathedral - the only one in the country with three spires - was rebuilt in its present form in mediaeval times, though it has been modified, damaged (notably during the civil war) and repaired at regular intervals throughout its history.
The city enjoyed an unwelcome prominence during the civil war because of its strategic location on major supply routes. It was captured by the Parliamentarians, retaken by the Royalists under Prince Rupert and then surrendered once more.
But perhaps Lichfield is best known as an eighteenth century “city of philosophers” as its most famous son, Samuel Johnson, described it. It also became a prosperous coaching stop in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and today remains an affluent, culturally lively and very beautiful city.
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Lichfield and the Age of Enlightenment Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) is undoubtedly Lichfield’s most famous son - and one of this country’s greatest men of letters of any age. He was a man of prodigious talents and achievements as a poet, essayist, novelist, critic, commentator, biographer, editor, wit and author of the extraordinary Dictionary of the English Language which took him nine years to compile. But Johnson was only one of the men and women of Lichfield of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries who achieved lasting prominence. They included
The Wit and Wisdom of Samuel Johnson
“Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it. Martyrdom is the test.” James Boswell: Life of Johnson “Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable.” James Boswell: Life of Johnson “In order that all men may be taught to speak the truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it.” Rambler No 96 (February 16, 1751) “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” “It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentionally lying that there is so much falsehood in the world.” James Boswell: Life of Johnson
“There are occasions on which it is noble to dare to stand alone. To be pious among infidels, to be disinterested in a time of general venality, to lead a life of virtue and reason in the midst of sensualists, is a proof of a mind intent on nobler things than the praise or blame of men, of a soul fixed in the contemplation of the highest good, and superior to the tyranny of custom and example.” Adventurer No 131 (February 5, 1754) “Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.”Letter to Boswell 1766“Words are but the signs of ideas.”Preface, Dictionary |
Samuel Johnson was a man with an almost unique breadth of knowledge and an equally impressive range of opinions. He remains today one of the most quotable and quoted man of English letters. But set out below are just some of the views he expressed on issues relevant to the Speakers’ Corner initiative.
“There is no crime more infamous than the violation of truth. It is apparent that men can be social beings no longer than they believe each other. When speech is employed only as the vehicle of falsehood, every man must disunite himself from others, inhabit his own cave, and seek prey only for himself.”The Garrick Trains Lichfield’s Public Speakers
On 17 October, Lichfield’s Garrick Theatre ran a special workshop to help members of the public take advantage of the new opportunities for self expression and debate which the Speakers’ Corner project is bringing to the city.
Led by actors Tom Roberts and Paolo Allan, the workshop schooled a group, which included students from the Friary School and members of the U3A, on how to conquer stage fright and speak - and listen - confidently in public.
Before the two-hour programme got under way, SCT’s director Peter Bradley summed up the workshop’s aim: “Lots of people have strong and often really interesting opinions. But though they may also have the urge to speak out, they may not have the skills or the confidence to do so in public. We want to make sure that no-one in Lichfield is hiding their talent and their ideas under a bushel.”
Then Tracy Childs, the distinguished actress co-starring in the Garrick’s much-praised production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? let
the group into a few trade secrets about how she and professional colleagues control their nerves and prepare for their performances: “People would be surprised to know just how nervous even world-famous actors and public speakers get before they perform. But there are some basic techniques which can help most people master their butterflies and give of their best. With a little bit of practice and following a couple of golden rules, just about everyone can do it.”
At the end of the workshop, Tom Roberts said, “it was great to see how in the course of the afternoon people were visibly growing in confidence. Expressing yourself is a natural instinct in almost all of us and having the confidence to do so and to listen while others do it too just makes life so much more fulfilling as well as enjoyable.”
The workshop was filmed by Lucy Macnab of the Southbank Centre in London which is working with SCT to produce a downloadable ‘master class’ on the art of speaking in public.
Lichfield Speakers’ Corner Committee Takes Shape
Representatives of Lichfield’s public, private and voluntary sectors came together at the city’s Guildall on 21 October to pledge their support for the Lichfield Speakers’ Corner project and a month later, on 26 November, set up the Lichfield Speakers’ Corner Founding Committee to ‘own’ and manage the initiative over the long term.
Canon Pete Wilcox, who was elected the Committee’s first Chair, said “this is a very significant new venture and all those already involved are excited about the fact that Lichfield is setting the
pace for the rest of the country. The Committee has an important job to do in seeking to represent the city as a whole and in helping to create a new forum for public debate and a new focus for civic pride. It’s a great challenge but the range of talent, experience and commitment available to the Committee will help us meet it.”
Alison Churchill, Head of Lichfield School of Art, was elected the Committee’s vice-chair.
Planning the Launch
The Committee’s first task is to consider and consult on options for the site of Lichfield’s Speakers’ Corner and prepare for the project’s launch which has been scheduled for May 2009. A great deal of progress has already been made with a number of potential sites is currently being assessed by Lichfield District Council, the police and other public bodies and ambitious plans for the launch in hand. Meanwhile, Lichfield College of Art is linking with Central St Martins College in London to work on design proposals for the Speakers Corner and it is hoped to put them on display in the Spring.