Keswick Lad

Back in the distant days of the early 1980′s Britain was in economic meltdown.  Over 3 million people were unemployed and I was one of them.  Maggie Thatcher was in charge and we were heading towards the Miners strike.  Thinking about it, the country is in a similar state today but I am definitely not and there is one main reason for that – a man called Paul Delmar.

I first met Paul at Richmond College in Sheffield in September 1982.  He was going to teach me to be a press photographer.  I had already dropped out of one college course but nine months of doing the ‘full monty’ dole office queue scene had given me the determination and drive to make sure there were no more mistakes.  This was my big chance and fate had dealt me the perfect hand with Paul Delmar.

Paul was the most enthusiastic person I had ever met.  His passion for photography was unbelievable, he was driven by trying to be the best press photographer and beating every other photographer every day – I was hooked.

He was the most amazing teacher because he never actually told you anything.  He just wound you up and sent you out to discover things for yourself.  But he also filled you with the desire to succeed and to be the best – even against a classroom of 13 friends.  It was always ‘dog eat dog’ with Paul and that also appealed to me.

Over the years I have tried to keep in touch and I have seen the same enthusiasm inspire hundreds of great photographers.  His courses must have taught over 1000 photographers.  From that about 95% have found jobs in the industry – it must be one of the most successful courses in the world.  He has taught people who are now picture editors, national newspaper staff photographers, British Press Awards winners and he picked up a few awards himself along the way.

In recent years changes to government education funding has caused problems for the course.  The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) has not been able to secure a status for the course which would provide the required funding.  It is a national disgrace that this course cannot be funded – particularly when you consider the success rate and some of the more ridiculous alternative courses available today.  This is the only specialist course for press photographers in Britain – it is not another media studies course.

Earlier this year Paul agreed to take redundancy in an attempt to cut the cost of running the course.  It was decided that the course could no longer justify a full-time tutor.

When Paul announced that he was leaving the rumour mill fired into action.  Various websites and trade press ran stories saying that Paul was retiring and that the course was closing.  The NCTJ stood back and watched as the rumours almost killed the course, they refused to issue any statements and just passed everything on to the Sheffield College.  Why the NCTJ are not fighting to save this course is a mystery.  The media industry has never been more visual than it is today but the NCTJ does not appear to want to run a press photography course in 2010-11.

Paul and his family have given everything to press photography.  They have all lived for his desire to produce the next batch of great photographers.  The newspaper industry owes a great deal to Paul Delmar and his family.  It would have been nice if he could have walked away from the college knowing that his course was safe, but that has not been the case.  It has still not been decided if the course will run even though students have been interviewed in the past few weeks.

On Friday 30th July Paul leaves Sheffield College.  No events have been planned to mark the event, but  I will be popping along to buy him a drink or two and thank him on behalf of every photographer who attended his courses.  Paul Delmar will always be a legend and I wish him well with his future projects and thank him for rescuing me from that dole queue.

Cheers Beers Mr Delmar !!!

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As a press photographer I get to travel a lot and I spend a lot of time in hotels – some good, some not so good.

On Friday I travelled down to Cardiff to see a Paul McCartney concert.  The former Beatles legend was playing at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday night.  I stayed in the Village Hotel on the outskirts of the City.  It is a modern hotel with its own leisure club and it looked very impressive on the internet.

As I walked into my bedroom I was met by the hotel magazine which was on the bed and already opened to show the Friday special offer – ‘Burger Me !’ which was ‘burger and chips in The Victory pub from 5pm to close for only £2′. It sounded too good to be true.

It was a beautiful summers evening and so I decided to walk down into the nearby village.  I had a few drinks and wandered back into the hotel just after 10pm.  By now I was feeling a little peckish – I remembered the ‘special offer’.

As I walked into The Victory pub I noticed the staff were all wearing their ‘Burger Me’ T-shirts.  I ordered a pint and asked for the burger offer.  “Sorry Sir, the offer is finished – we stop serving food at 9.30pm” said the lady behind the bar slightly apologetically.  I said: “The offer said close – is the bar shut ?”  She apologised again and said there was nothing she could do.

So I took my pint and retreated to my room – next stop room service.  I phoned down and asked what food was available.  “Sorry Sir, we are closed.  I might be able to get you a sandwich or I can bring you a take-away menu” said the very helpful night-porter.

I went for the sandwich.  Five minutes later the night-porter bought me two packs of motorway service station style sandwiches for the very reasonable price of £5.  He assured me he would pass my comments on to the duty manager and they would contact me in the morning.

Next morning I was woken by the maid trying to clean my room before 9am – my fault for not putting out the sign.  But I did lock the door and put the chain on !

The rest of the day was fantastic with Macca producing a world-class concert.

I got back to find the maid had removed most of the towels from the room and forgot to replace them.

Sunday morning I popped down for breakfast all ready for a quick drive north in time to see the England match.  I walked through reception and was stopped in my tracks by the queue for breakfast.  Now breakfast is self-service in this hotel, everything is ready and waiting.  All the staff have to do is clear up, reset the tables and give out tea or coffee.  There were at least six staff on duty but I queued for at least 20 minutes for a table.  At least six tables were empty but the staff were not clearing them.

I finally made it into breakfast.  I ordered my tea and collected some orange juice.  The tea arrived and I filled my mug.  Then I was off to collect my full English.  As I tucked into a fine breakfast I went to pick up my tea and noticed it was gone.  The staff had cleared away my breakfast mid meal !

I asked a waitress where my tea was ?  She then looked at me as if I was completely stupid and then wandered off returning with a new pot of tea and a mug.  No apology,  juice or milk.  I asked again for milk.  This came a few minutes later still without any apology.

I realised it was now time to return to England.  I checked out and mentioned a few problem but the receptionist just gave me the manager’s business card.  I think it was clearly time for me to Burger Off back home to Nottingham !

To make matters even worse it appears that  I was overcharged by £10 on my bill.  The manager is now ‘investigating’ and will get back to me – I hope he is a little more efficient than his staff.  Expect an update in a few weeks !

Update:

28th June 2010, 9.48am – The hotel manager emailed me to tell me he was ‘investigating’ my comments and he would get back to me.

30th June 2010, 10am – I am still waiting for his response…….

1st July 2010 – I have a reply from the Manager.  I should not have read the magazine that was left on my bed and opened on the page showing the offer or the T-shirts worn by the bar staff – I should have read the flyer he has now sent me.  The housekeeper will now provide ‘corrective action’ for the towel problem.  The delay at breakfast was all caused by Paul McCartney – too many guests were staying in the hotel.  There was no error on my bill despite my booking receipt and final bill differing by £10.

It is a good job I have always been a fan of Basil Fawlty !

8th July 2010 - Another letter has arrived from the Manager.  My booking receipt is wrong – the staff made a mistake and charged me £10 less than the receipt stated.  It was ‘human error’.

They were making mistakes before I arrived !