Kafka’s sister

Posted on October 20, 2024 by user29464

2024 has marked the centenary of Franz Kafka’s early death from tuberculosis. In August we visited an exhibition in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, which holds the majority of Franz Kafka’s archive. This inspired me to find out more about Franz’s life. A podcast (Ottla Kafka, la sœur chérie : hors du monde haïssable) led me to his remarkable sister, Ottla, and his Letters to Ottla and the Family.

Ottla was born in 1892, the youngest of Franz’s three sisters. Although there was an age difference of nine years, as she grew up the two siblings became very close. Franz was to write that ‘the love to the others notwithstanding,’ Ottla was ‘the dearest by far‘. In different ways, both Franz and Ottla rebelled against the bourgeois conventions and expectations of their Jewish merchant father, and supported each other in their struggles for independence.

Against her parents’ wishes but with Franz’s encouragement, Ottla decided she wanted to work in agriculture. In 1917, aged 25, she took over the farm of a member of her family in Zürau in Bohemia. Franz joined her there, helped in the gardens, and found an environment in which he could write. In 1918 he helped her identify possible agricultural colleges. He obtained catalogues and sought guidance as to which might be suitable and prepared to accept a female student. He even offered to pay the fees. Eventually Ottla became the first woman to study at the Friedland agricultural school.

Ottla’s two sisters, Elli and Valli, had gone along with their parents’ choice of an appropriate Jewish man to marry. However, Ottla was again not prepared to submit to her family’s wishes. Instead in July 1920 she married Josef David, a Czech Catholic. Franz once more supported her, writing that: ‘You know that you are doing something extraordinary and that it is extremely difficult to do the extraordinary well.’ Later he wrote again that ‘since between the two of us you are the more suitable one (to get married) you are doing it for us… In exchange, I am staying single for both of us.’

Equally, Ottla supported Franz in his own struggles. Above all, she recognised the importance of his writing. As well as moral support she offered him places where he could write in peace. He stayed in her flat in Prague and in the farm in Zürau, from which he wrote to his friend Max Brod that ‘Ottla carries me on her wings through a difficult world‘. And as his tuberculosis developed, she helped to persuade his employer to allow him time off work, and eventually early retirement (Franz wrote to her to thank her for ‘a terrific job’). Before his death in 1924 he got to know Ottla’s two daughters, and stayed in her family homes in Planá and Schelesen.

Marthe Bernard, who wrote extensively about Franz and translated many of this writings into French, commented that ‘The letters to Ottla reflect … a very, very close and affectionate relationship‘. And in one of his final letters to Ottla in October 1923, by which time his health was declining fast, his love and respect for his sister shines through:

‘We do not need to discuss whether you would disturb me. If everything else in the world were to disturb me – and it has almost reached that point – not you.’

Ottla’s independent spirit proved too much for her husband, and they eventually divorced. The exact circumstances of the divorce are not entirely clear, but it coincided with the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. It seems very likely that one of Ottla’s motivations was to protect her husband and children from the dangers they faced with a Jewish wife and mother. In doing this however, she put herself at even greater risk, and in 1943 the Nazis deported her to the Terezín ghetto (Thereseinstadt in German).

Here she worked closely with orphaned children, including a group of Polish children who arrived emaciated and extremely frightened. In her moving last letter to her daughters in October 1943 she wrote that she had volunteered to accompany the children on what turned out to be the journey to Auschwitz. Here they – and she (aged just 50) – were murdered on arrival.

I have found Ottla’s story inspiring – she must have been a remarkable person. She also offers a profound reminder of the dangers of extreme right wing ideas becoming acceptable. Scapegoating particular groups of people blinds us to the immense human value of individuals like Ottla who, in Franz’s words, was ‘pure, true and honest, (always able to balance) humility and pride, loyalty and independence, modesty and courage‘. Unsurprisingly, her story has also inspired a song.

Both of Franz’s other sisters, their husbands and most of their children also died in the death camps. However, Ottla’s daughters stayed safely with their father, in no small part thanks to Ottla’s self-sacrifice. They preserved the letters from Franz and these were published in German in 1974, and in English in 1982. In 2021 the Bodleian Library and the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach purchased them jointly. Unfortunately her letters to him have not survived. However, her letters to her husband and daughters leave us with the voice of a very special woman.

Lovely reviews of ‘A sudden rain’

Posted on April 1, 2024 by user29464

We have received some very positive reviews for our new album, A sudden rain. John Barlass, writing in At the barrier, enthuses:

‘If you haven’t come across John Meed before, let me tell you that he’s songwriter of great perception and insight, willing to tackle the issues that have the greatest impact upon people’s lives and interactions… He’s taken the opportunity to enhance his thoughtful songs with a little help from some talented friends, and the result is something quite remarkable.’ The full review is here.

Ian Hall, writing in Liverpool Sound and Vision, comments:

‘The sense of fulfilled flawlessness that resides in John Meed’s exploration of sound and the haunting additional, unhindered string arrangements reflects the continued abundance of thought that the musician utilises… A wonderful album, John Meed proving that inspiration is only a storm cloud away, and one that can bring a soul back to life in its wake.’ The full review is here.

David Pearson writes in Spirit Rocks:

‘His songs are thoughtful and deep, paced for you to soak in the arrangements and content. It is uncomplicated yet thought-provoking, his voice having an almost spoken, poetic quality, yet with strong melodic timbre that suits the clear melodies.’

Steve Johnson writes in Morning Star:

‘This album is basically a call for faith in humanity wherever we live.’

Carl Filby, in Unicorn Folk, concludes:

‘After all that do I have to spell it out that I like this lovely album? It has the feel of a long letter written by a friend about his adventures and subsequent thoughts since you last saw him.’

And finally, this lovely comment from Mick, who enjoyed our set in support of Angeline Morrison at the Black Fen Folk Club:

‘I love your album – it’s playing as I write this. As a (very amateur) songwriter myself I can only listen to your album with a mixture of admiration, pleasure and insane jealousy!’

A sudden rain is available here.

New album, video and album launch

Posted on February 22, 2024 by user29464

Our new album, ‘A sudden rain’, is now available. After a long songwriting drought, spending time in Nepal in 2019 reawakened my creativity and all but one of the songs emerged over the following year and a half. However, lockdowns restricted our opportunities to rehearse, play and record the songs. They have only reached their current form thanks to Lucinda Fudge and Matt Kelly, whose beautiful string arrangements brought them to life, and to Rhys Wilson, who in addition to his own musical contributions gave patient advice and help with recording and production, and mastered the album. Hedy Boland played kora on ‘Boulevard de Strasbourg’ and the choir Mnatobi joined me for a re-recording of Thessalonika. You can listen to, order or download the album here.

I’ve prepared a video for the first song on the album, ‘Panauti’. Panauti is a small rural town a two-hour bus ride east of Kathmandu, and we stayed there with the family of Biju and her daughters Aayusha and Nirusha. The welcome they gave us was beyond compare – it was a privilege to meet them and our stay was most memorable. The video includes pictures of the town, surrounding countryside and the family. There is more about our stay in Panauti here and you can watch the video below:

Lucinda, Matt, Rhys and I will be launching the album at Cambridge Folk Club on March 22nd, in partnership with The Battered Case (Mark Gamon and friends). The concert will start at 8pm and takes place in the Golden Hind, 355 Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1SP. Tickets are available here.

We will also be playing songs from the album in Rock Road Library on May 24th, and will play a short set in support of Angeline Morrison at the Black Fen Folk Club on March 17th.

Press release for ‘A sudden rain’

Posted on February 6, 2024 by user29464

Consumate storyteller explores new musical territory with addition of evocative string arrangements.

Release date and album launch at Cambridge Folk Club: 22nd March 2022.

On his ninth album ‘A Sudden Rain’ Cambridge-based lyrical storytelling songwriter John Meed explores new musical ideas and territory with the addition of evocative and emotive string arrangements and a choir. ‘The songs only reached their current form thanks to Lucinda Fudge and Matt Kelly, whose beautiful string arrangements brought them to life, and to Rhys Wilson, who gave patient advice and help with recording and production, and who mastered the album’ says John. Equally the choir Mnatobi joined him on Thessalonika, and Hedy Boland played kora on Strasbourg.

Regarding the songs John states that ‘After a long songwriting drought, spending time in Nepal in 2019 reawakened my creativity and all but one of these songs emerged over the following year and a half.’ Four songs on the album: Panauti, Real life, Summer rain and Progress, were directly inspired by the Nepal experience. John adds: ‘In Panauti we had the great privilege to stay with a local family, whose hospitality was remarkable. And across the country, we were time and again touched by the warmth of the welcome we received.’

Real life stories have always inspired John and this is certainly the case with three of the album’s songs. On Le boulevard du Strasbourg John states that: ‘Les 18 du 57 boulevard du Strasbourg’ – workers without papers – went on strike against their appalling working conditions, and won the right to regularisation after occupying their workplace. Many of the words for the song come from the workers themselves in a film produced by the Collectif des Cinéastes pour les sans-papiers’. Cotton famine road tells the story of how the American civil war cut off supplies of cotton to the Lancashire mills. Rochdale mill workers, aware that their cotton had been picked by slaves, supported the struggle for freedom, despite the resulting ‘cotton famine’. Public funding paid them to build the road across Rooley Moor, an area where John used to walk during his childhood.

Thessalonika is an older song that John had always wanted to re-record with strings and a choir. ‘It’s about Zoe Kaltaki, a remarkable Greek woman who fought the Nazis in her native Greece, and then fought for the communists against the Greek army, before fleeing to exile in Czechoslovakia’ he states. ‘When she finally returned home she was asked where she felt more at home and she replied, rather ambiguously, ‘I feel at home where I can be myself’. John comments: ‘I felt her story somehow summed up the turbulent twentieth century.’

The remaining 3 songs tell differing tales. Rooted is a song of belonging or seeking to belong, Arden, with its nod to Shakespeare, is an emotive tale, while the album concludes with Don’t Look Back urging us to learn from the past, but to look to the future. John’s writing has been compared to Al Stewart, Leonard Cohen, Christy Moore, Jacques Brel and Richard Thompson, widely reviewed and played on many BBC and community radio shows and stations across the UK and beyond.

‘A sublime singer-songwriter, whose beautiful songs are thoughtful, emotional and political.’ Strummers, Cambridge

Listen/buy on Bandcamp.

The value of arable weeds: a case study

Posted on August 20, 2023 by user29464

I tread carefully over a carpet of field pansies and scarlet pimpernel. A host of bees and other pollinators buzz around me. Overhead fly linnets and a family of corn buntings. The nearby grassy margin is alive with grasshoppers and moths. And I am reminded once more of the value of arable weeds to the threatened farmland birds that do so well in the fields I study just south of Cambridge.

Weeds provide food for the birds in the form of leaves, shoots and seeds. They are host plants for the invertebrates that grey partridge chicks and other young birds depend on in their early days. As I describe in A haven for farmland birds, the intensification of farming and in particular the increased use of pesticides are among the main reasons for the shocking declines of farmland birds.

During the spring and summer of 2023, three of the fields – owned by Cambridgeshire County Council and farmed by Peter Wombwell – were planted with beans. As May progressed, a variety of weeds grew between the bean plants, including on the right fumitory, a plant whose flowers provide nectar for pollinators, whose leaves are eaten by a range of invertebrates, and whose seeds provide food for finches and buntings.

As the beans ripened in late July, grasses and flowering plants came into their own:

By early August I was recording good numbers of butterflies, notably small heaths and gatekeepers, but also the stunning brown argus butterflies (right, a female), which already have a small colony elsewhere on the site. Might they be establishing a colony here as well?

Once the crop was harvested around August 17th, the potential benefits to wildlife became even clearer. As well as the pansies and scarlet pimpernel, there was a riot of other flowering plants, including poppies, thistles, yarrow, and mayweed. Many of the flowers were going to seed, attracting finches and buntings. One grassy corner had been left uncut, providing potential cover for the grey partridge that have hopefully been able to raise their young here.

The fields were cultivated a week after harvest, bringing the weed bonanza to an end, but they had nonetheless provided valuable additional food through a crucial time of the year. I checked with the landowner whether herbicide had been applied and although the farmer did spray early, the weather and the type of herbicide used combined to reduce the impact on weeds. I also checked whether the weeds may have had a negative impact on the crop. In practice, yield was down by a quarter to a third, but this was principally due to the frosty weather which knocked back some of the bean plants and left the crop a bit more gappy than usual (which also benefited the weeds and butterflies).

One of the most interesting things about the area of land I study is that such a good level of biodiversity is able to coexist with intensive and profitable agriculture. Several factors contribute to this, of which the variety of habitats (particularly margins) is key, but reduced pesticide use like this is clearly also important.

And on September 11th I recorded a group of 17 grey partridge by one of the fields – a remarkable number which suggested that the young birds had received a good diet in the crucial early weeks.

BTO review of ‘A haven for farmland birds’

Posted on July 20, 2023 by user29464

A while ago I sent a review copy of my book ‘A haven for farmland birds’ to the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) and the review is now available via this link.

It’s a lovely review, written by the BTO’s Wader Project Officer, Paul Noyes, who concludes:

‘We are lucky to have people like John, who will spend long hours peering over hedgerows and creeping through ditches, watching for the great British natural capital we are all too often oblivious of (as the book’s final two pages may sadly indicate), and this lovely book is well worth the 144 whistle-stop pages.’

The cold spell around Nine Wells

Posted on December 18, 2022 by user29464

December 5th 2022 saw the start of a very cold fortnight in Cambridge. Temperatures rarely rose above zero, and fell to -11.3C early in the morning of the 15th; 10+cm of snow fell in the night of the 11th and stayed until the 19th. Ponds and lakes froze, and even the Cam had started to ice up by the 18th.

The lake in Hobson’s Park across the railway line was no exception. However the springs in Nine Wells continued to flow, and indeed on the coldest morning a misty steam rose from Hobson’s Brook. The area rapidly attracted the waterbirds that were displaced from the lake.

Snipe have always been occasional visitors but following the snowfall I counted five around Nine Wells and along the brook and nearby hedges. Little egret (right) and grey heron, more regular visitors, also appeared. Two new species to the site were more surprising: a couple of teal in the springs, while a family of five barnacle geese sought food in areas of the stubble field where the snow as less deep.

Other winter visitors flocked to the area – up to 200 redwing (below left and centre) thronged the hedgerows and shrubby areas, growing less timid as the cold spell wore on. This is more than I normally record around the site and more than were present immediately before of after the freeze began – it is possible that they were drawn by the presence of water, which may also have made adjoining areas slightly less cold. Good numbers of fieldfare (below right) were also present.

And one more treat lay in store on the 15th: another new species for the area, lesser redpoll, which called from one of the bushes along the brook.

For more about my study of the wildlife in the fields around Nine Wells, see my book A haven for farmland birds.

Reactions to ‘A haven for farmland birds’

Posted on November 8, 2022 by user29464

I’ve been receiving some nice reactions to A haven for farmland birds. Mark Avery, former Conservation Director at the RSPB, wrote in his Sunday Book Review that:

‘The book is about farmland birds, that bunch of declining species whose overall numbers have more than halved in my lifetime and focuses on the author’s counts and observations in a small but rich area of the Cambridge green belt… One can’t help but like the author through reading his words – I did anyway. He is an enthusiast and part of the charm of the book is his growing knowledge, understanding and enthusiasm for the location and its wildlife. All field biologists tend to fall in love with their chosen study areas and species of interest – and quite right too!’

Duncan Grey, writing in Shelford Village News, commented:

‘Meed is a wise companion in a walk around the fields, showing us what we might otherwise have missed, explaining the changes of the influences of the seasons on bird feeding and migration and providing asides on everything from the history and geography to the migration of the albatross.’

I’ve also received encouraging feedback from readers, including ‘What a fascinating book’, ‘I never had imagined I could get so interested in grey partridges’ and ‘marvellous book’, while a former farmer commented that he ‘could not put it down’. Chris in Harrogate adds:

‘I have just finished reading your book – what an excellent achievement. I’m immensely impressed with your commitment, knowledge and expertise. I enjoyed the relating of your experiences as well as gaining a lot of knowledge about the birds and wildlife.’

I will be giving some talks about the book over the coming months: Friday, February 24th from 7pm in Rock Road Library, and September 25th to the Cambridge Local Wildlife Group. I have also prepared a video to accompany the book:

A haven for farmland birds is available from NHBS or my Bandcamp page.

New book and album

Posted on May 4, 2022 by user29464

With the complications associated with Covid over the least 2+ years I’ve had very little news to share with you. But, rather like London buses (or possibly the last bus to Leeds), you wait for ever for an item of news, and then three come along at once.

Firstly, many of you will know that I am also a writer and researcher. I conduct ecological surveys for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), the RSPB, and the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Over the last ten years I have been surveying the wildlife in a group of arable fields in the green belt just south of Cambridge which provide a home for threatened farmland birds including grey partridge, corn bunting and yellow wagtail. I have learnt much about their ecology, why they are under such threat, why they flourish in the small area I study, and about their fascinating and comples behaviour, relationships and social lives. And I have just published a book, A haven for farmland birds, which describes what I have learnt. You can read more about it here and you can order a copy here.

Secondly, Rhys and I had long harboured the idea of revisiting some of my early songs live – just me with a guitar or piano – to reflect better how I play them now. During the Covid lockdowns a genuinely live album became impossible, so the closest we could get was to record each song in Rhys’s front room in a single take. And in the end we were even able to record The last bus to Leeds live at the Cambridge Folk Club this February. The ten songs are now available on a new album, ‘Almost live’. You can listen, order or download it from my Bandcamp page and I will have copies at my forthcoming gigs.

Talking of which, I have a very local gig on September 30th, organised by the friends of Rock Road library. It was originally planned for the library itself, but will now take place in the Friends Meeting House in Hartington Grove. This is a double-header with the String Section, and I will be joined by Lucinda Fudge (viola), Matt Kelly (violin and viola) and Rhys Wilson (guitar). Entry is free.

Back on stage

Posted on February 15, 2022 by user29464

I hope you have been surviving the strange times we have lived through over the last two years. It’s been a difficult time for all involved in the music scene, but I’m especially conscious of the small clubs who have had to navigate their way through changing and often opaque restrictions while caring for the health and well-being of their audiences and performers. I have many reasons to be grateful for the support of Cambridge Folk Club over the years – they nurtured me through my early years as a performer and even enabled me to share a stage with the legendary Norma Waterson who so sadly passed away last month. And they rose to the challenges presented by the pandemic with their characteristic good humour and great competence, firstly running on-line Zoom concerts (of which a highlight for me was an unexpected star appearance by Boo Hewardine’s cat!!) and then experimenting with a different venue for social distancing purposes. All of this, I know, takes time, energy and commitment.

But they are now back in their usual venue and I’m therefore especially pleased that my first gig of 2022 will be at their showcase on Friday February 18th. Also playing will be two singer-songwriters who I hold in high esteem: Gary Woolley and Belinda Gillett. It takes place in the Golden Hind, 355 Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1SP; the music starts at 8pm and tickets (£9) are available from the club’s website. Do check out the other gigs they have planned – the club deserves all the support we can give them.

Looking ahead to later in the spring, I have two church concerts planned for May in collaboration with Thursday’s Band: Saturday May 14th in St John the Evangelist, Hills Rd, Cambridge CB2 8RN (https://www.stjohntheevangelistcambridge.org) and Saturday May 28th in St Mary’s Church, High Street, Ware, SG12 9EH at 7.30pm (https://arts.stmarysware.co.uk/upcoming-events/). A third may also happen at the very start of May – you will be the first to hear!
It would be lovely to see you at one or more of these events; but I completely understand anyone who feels it may still be too early to venture out at this stage.
With my best wishes, especially for good health