The History of the Tulip

The Himalayan mountain range was the original home of the tulip even though most of us associate the flower with the Netherlands.  How it got there makes for a fascinating story, from the courts of the Turkish dynasties to its Dutch arrival, this animation gives us the whole history.  That shouldn’t really be too much of a surprise as it was created especially for the Tulip Museum in Amsterdam by Stepahne Kaas, an independent Dutch maker of film, documentaries, short fiction, music videos, commercials and this.

When the tulip got there it was considered such a rare and interesting flower that it sparked something of a social frenzy which would eventually lead to the down fall of an entire economy (known as the tulip bubble).  It’s amazing to think that a single flower could be responsible for all of that, but watch the video and discover the truth for yourself!

We’ll Meet Again – Possibly the Best Lockdown Project Yet?

Filmed in the Garden Quarter district of the ancient city of Chester, this is a “socially distanced production” featuring some of the best World War II songs, snippets of each sung by one of the neighbors with “We’ll Meet Again” featuring strongly. It's a great concept, the wandering accordion player introducing each of the participants - the coronavirus may be causing us to keep our distance but there's always a way to keep calm and carry on when there is human creativity at play.

As a lockdown project, it’s something else. Plus, with the 75th anniversary of VE Day about to be celebrated this group effort, orchestrated by Matt Baker (who just happens to be a musical director, so, handy) is timely to say the least. It is very obvious, too, that a lot of fun was had in the making of this mini-masterpiece.

This is what Matt has to say about the project on his Facebook page.

"This is a tribute from our community to a past generation which came together in the face of adversity. The residents of this one small street in the Garden Quarter, Chester created, rehearsed, directed, choreographed, performed and filmed this little tribute. They were also incredibly careful to adhere to every social distancing restriction throughout each step of the process.

A very special thanks to the lovely neighbours of nearby streets who have had to endure listening to the rehearsals over the past couple of weeks. Thanks also to the people who stopped at a distance on their way to the shops to enable us to complete filming. Thanks to Paula Cain from Chester Costume House for the special delivery!"

It hasn’t been online long but has only garnered just over 20K hits at the time of writing – and this should have many times that number of views, really.

This video has an added resonance for me.  For the first 18 years of my life I called Chester home and my mother still lives just five minutes away from where this was filmed; in fact, she was born just around the corner in Garden Lane in 1940 – the very time that the songs featured here were so important to people all over the United Kingdom and beyond.  I used to walk past this little street every day on my way to school – and it’s lovely to see its residents coming together in this community project.  Someone pass me a handkerchief…