New Comic! Slaughterhouse Farm #4

Following on from the successful Kickstarter campaign the fourth and final issue of Slaughterhouse Farm is out now! Just like the previous three issues this was written by AJ Ballard and Matt Warner, lettered by Nikki Foxrobot and illustrated by yours truly. After four years this grizzly tale of a trip to Snowdonia going horribly awry comes to a conclusion and as I mentioned before the campaign achieved its target goal after only a week proving how much of a hit this title has been with readers of the independent comic scene. So, don't delay order your copy today through their website or pick up an issue at one of Hellbound Media’s stalls positioned at numerous comic conventions across the country. Already read it? Let them know what you thought either on their Facebook page or Twitter or post a comment and I'll pass it on as I would love to know what you made of it.

© Arfon Jones 2017. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

The Tufty Club medal

This medal dates from the mid 1960's and features Tufty Fluffytail the road safety RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) squirrel created by Mrs Elsie Mills MBE in 1953. Tufty featured in a series of stories aimed at delivering clear and simple messages about safety to the children of Britain and in 1961, the Tufty Club was founded, forming a nationwide network of local groups aimed at encouraging children to take care when crossing the road and at its peak there were 24,500 registered clubs across the country. By its second year around 60,000 children had joined the club and by the 1970s it was estimated the Tufty Club had reached 2 million members. It was also around this time that the RoSPA released a series of animated PSA's narrated by Bernard Cribbins that not only raised further awareness but also assured Tufty a place in the Britain's conciseness.

Other medals to check out:

Blue Peter Medals
The I-SPY medal

© Arfon Jones 2017. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

The I-SPY medal

Time for some more medals...

The I-SPY spotters' guides were a series of books first created in 1949 and written for the children of the British Isles during 1950s and 1960s by an apparent Red Indian chief called Big Chief I-Spy. But Big Chief I-Spy was in fact one Mr. Charles Warrell (1889 -1995) a former head master who devised these books as a way of keeping children entertained and stimulated on long car journeys. It was a simple enough premise, children would spot the objects listed in the themed books, record the event (gaining points) and then once the book was completed, they would send the book to Big Chief I-SPY (witnessed by a parent or teacher) for a feather and entry to the order of merit. The children participating in the game were known as The I-SPY Tribe. The books were so well recieved that by 1953 the I-SPY Tribe had half a million members and a column in the Daily Mail where completed entries were mentioned by name. When Warrell retired in 1956, Arnold Cawthrow became the second Big Chief, and served in this role until 1978 when Big Chief, Robin Tucek stepped in for a short time before Professor David Bellamy carried the torch as Big Chief throught the 1980's (where I came in) until Michelin Travel Publications acquired and published the series itself from 1991 through 2002 before relaunching the series again in 2009. This particular medal dates from around 1961, and would have been acquired by a 'redskin' that would have decoded a special message in The Daily Mail with the aid of their membership code book.

 

© Arfon Jones 2017. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

Blue Peter Medals

Here we are the first month of 2017, I have vowed to post more of my work on here and so I thought it was about time I shared 'my' medals with you, starting out with the Blue Peter medals.

For the benefit of anyone outside the United Kingdom it might be best I explain that the Blue Peter badge is an iconic award presented to viewers of the much-loved children’s television programme and British institution that is Blue Peter. Since 1963 the programme has been awarding these merit badges (a shield containing the Blue Peter ship logo designed by the late, great and not forgetting hero of mine Tony Hart) to anyone that took part in the programme be it winning a competition, having a letter read out or appearing as a guest on the programme. Aside from it being an accomplishment to be proud of, these badges also granted the recipient free admittance to many attractions across the British Isles for many years and this is when the corruption set in. Badges were being bought online and used as away to gain free admittance to these attractions, eventually resulting in the programme withdrawing them! Thankfully they managed to sort the problem out and restore this wonderful tradition but never the less I couldn’t help asking myself the question, “why sell them?” If I had one I would treasure it! Sadly despite several attempts I never actually achieved a Blue Peter Badge. (However my dear lady wife is a Blue Peter badge winner! achieving it for inventing no less! She is very proud of it and rightfully so! However I shan’t dwell on it as I said I NEVER got one! grumble!) So, I turned to eBay. I must stress that I am in not passing these off as my own awards, they are not for sale and I shall not be using them to gain free entry to any venues, I am simply celebrating this great institution and the accomplishments they represent. 

The Blue Peter Medal

An original 1970's badge customised and now hanging on a medal ribbon. You can be certain that this award was awarded for excellence at one time but to whom and for what we will never know.



The Blue Peter Medal: Green

The show's environmental award, Green badges are awarded for any correspondence regarding the environment, conservation or nature.

 

My other Blue Peter related posts can be found here:

 

The time I visited the Blue Peter Garden

 

Seeing Anthea Turner’s Tracy Islandat Lowry’s ‘Here's One We Made Earlier’ exhibition

 

Our Blue Peter Advent Crown

 

© Arfon Jones 2017. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

2016 New Years blog post, thingy

Hello. How was your Christmas? Did you get anything nice from Santa? Jolly good! Well, as the time of celebrating long held customs and traditions draws to a close I shall end it with my own annual tradition of uploading a blog post devoted to the previous twelve months... Without a doubt 2016 has been a Knightmare year for me, partly as it was the year I met Hugo Myatt the man that played Treguard (of Dunshelm) the dungeon master on one of my all time favourite television programs Knightmare! I met him at this year’s Wales Comic Con and it was a genuine delighted to meet him and discover what a genuinely nice man he is! I told him how much of a highlight the show had been for me and how Mrs Jones had teased me on how I had found certain scenes in the programme to be quite intense at the time. Scenes such as Corridor of Blades, the sound of a Goblin horn in the distance or the series’ antagonist Lord Fear, (played by Mark Knight) realising he was being watched through the spyglass had me on the edge of my seat back in the day! Although it was the year I was able to say “hello” to childhood heroes sadly we have had to say “goodbye” to a great many others. We lost David Bowie at the start of the year and being the trend setter that he was he set the trend for heroes, legends and talented people who died one after another! Much like previous years this list reflects people that ‘inspired’ me personally in some way or their work I have enjoyed over the years (at the time of posting this post! *) RIP  Paul Daniels, Michu Meszaros, Ronnie Corbett,  Sir Terry Wogan, Prince, Frank Kelly, Pete Burns, Gene Wilder, Kenny Baker, Caroline Aherne, Victoria Wood, Alan Rickman, Muhammad Ali, Vivian Gray, Frank Sinatra Jr, Joe Alaskey, Tom Neyman, Harambe, Andrew Sachs, Don Calfa, Bruce Lacey, Van William, Robert Vaughn, Peter Vaughan, Steve Dillon, Florence Henderson, Ted V. Mikels, John Glenn, Ian McCaskill, Bernard Fox, Chyna, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Deddie Davies, Liz Smith, Richard Adams, Rick Parfitt, George Michael and Carrie Fisher.

With Treguard himself Hugo Myatt

When I wasn't shocked over the latest celebrity death I was working in the studio (or in one case in a care home) working on a woodland mural or something for the Eccentric Party, Cannibal Cop, Slashermania or the final issue of Slaughterhouse Farm. I also worked on  some arfon.net Badges and T-shirts, a tribute to my former school teachers, something for the Heath Robinson Museum and the InternationalCryptozoology Museum and if I wasn't doing any of those things I was out exploring....

Altar dedicated to Nemesis, Chester

The Chester amphitheatre is one of the largest known from Roman Britain. Half of the Eastern and northern sides are visible and accessible to the public and well worth a visit. Constructed at around 70AD by Legion II Adiutrix and abandoned at around 350. To the right of the northern entrance there is a small room called the 'Nemeseum' which contains an altar dedicated to Nemesis the goddess of fate, divine vengeance and retribution. The inscription reads: DEAE NEMESI SEXT - MARCI ANVS V S - EX VISV ("Dedicated to the goddess Nemesis by Sextus Marcianus, after a dream.") Discovered in the excavations in the 1960's it is believed that offerings would have been made before a performance at the amphitheatre to prevent an untimely death. This is a replica, the original is on display in the Grosvenor Museum equally worth a visit.

 

 

Jurassic Golf Bridgemere

Located at the Bridgemere Garden Centre Jurassic Golf Bridgemere is worthy of its own Prehistoric Pining post! This 6,000 square foot 12-hole adventure golf course is brilliant, because it offers fibreglass dinosaurs and a roaring animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex! Family fun assured as it offers you the chance to test you crazy golfing skills while learning about these magnificent beasts!

 

Creswell Crags, Holbeck

Not only was this limestone gorge on the Derbyshire/ Nottinghamshire border once inhabited by Ice Age animals such as hyenas, mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, and migrating herds of reindeer, horse and bison but humans too! The site contains several caves that were once inhabited by nomadic human groups between 55,000 and 10,000 years ago making Creswell Crags the most northerly point on earth to have been visited by our ancient ancestors. Having not only discovered tools formed from stone, bone and ivory there they also recently discovered 13000 year old engravings of deer, birds, bison, and horse there making it the oldest art gallery in Britain? At the East End of the gorge there is a museum and education centre filled with wonderful finds that I strongly suggest you look round, oh and book their tours- well worth a visit.

Ruthin Castle, Ruthin
Constructed on a former Iron age fort during the late 13th century by Dafydd ap Gruffydd brother of former Price of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. Standing on a red sandstone ridge 100 feet above the Clwyd valley and overlooking a strategic river crossing the land was granted to Dafydd ap Gruffydd by Edward I in gratitude for his assistance during the invasion of North Wales. It was then taken over by Reginald de Grey who strengthened and extended the castle in 1295. Many years later, 1826 in fact a grand house was built over the south-eastern quarter of the castle and in 1923 the castle became Britain's first private hospital for the investigation and treatment of obscure internal diseases before closing in the 1950's. It was then transformed into a hotel in the 1960s and has remained one ever since. One notable guest who stayed there was Prince Charles who spent the night before his investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969.

Mrs Jones and I spent the night there too in 2006 having attended one of their Medieval banquets, we retuned there this year and were treated to a tour of the castle and its grounds (previously off limits to the public) by the Ruthin Castle Conservation Trust. A trust formed this year in order to raise awareness and funds needed for urgent repairs. Despite all its history the castle has not been awarded a world heritage site status, and so as a result it has been slowly crumbling away and the trust hopes to restore it and establish the site as a visitor attraction in its own right giving it the clear identity that it so richly deserves (visit this link to make a donation or become a member). Oh, the castle (the hotel) is also mentioned in my favourite travel guide 'Haunted Britain: A Guide to Supernatural Sites Frequented by Ghosts, Witches, Poltergeists and Other Mysterious Beings' written by Antony Hippisley Coxe and published in 1973 which brings us rather neatly to the subject of haunted hotels. Whenever we go travelling, Mrs Jones and I (when possible) check into reputed “haunted hotels” and this year we visited three, the first I previously mentioned the second was...

Bestwood Lodge Hotel, Arnold, Nottinghamshire

Ten miles from Sherwood Forest and reputedly haunted by orange seller, actress and long time mistress to Charles II Nell Gwynn who's spirit is said to be responsible for the mysterious smell of oranges discovered in rooms frequented by children. Staff at the hotel have also reported figures walking around the corridors and disappearing shortly after along with disembodied voices coming from the cellar, where bodies are said to be buried. In one instance a member of staff changing a barrel reported the lights going off and a voice asking, “Can I help you, Sir?” Bestwood Lodge has been a hotel since the 1970s and a very nice one it is too, a popular venue for wedding functions and as a result the lady at the front desk had no interest in answering my questions regarding the spectres at the hotel.

The Manor House, County Durham.

Once a farmers’ dwelling built between the 15th and 16th centuries this building has at some point existed as a convent, a court house and orphanage before becoming the rather nice hotel and country club it is today. Apparently room six is haunted by a young crying boy looking for this mother who may or may not be the ghost seen on the upper floor reportedly searching for her son. Random cold spots and floating objects have been reported throughout the property, although Mrs Jones and I did not stay in room 6 we did hear a strange child like sounds early in the morning... make of that what you will.

Well, I hope that was of interest, aside from doubling the work load and producing content three resolutions have been made for the new year the obvious promise to loose weight, post more of my work on here and think of a better title for these end of year blog posts! As ever a big thank you and Happy New Year to all my friends out there old and new, all that have supported my work this past year and visted the site not forgetting the special ‘shout out’ to Mim, Kid, TwoHeadedBoy, Moira and Ddraig Goch for commenting on my posts its always good to know that someone is actually reading these posts!
Ok then, Last one to 2017 is a rotten egg!

* A few hours later we lost Debbie Reynolds!

"Tradition"? Previous Years
2015
2014

© Arfon Jones 2016. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

The second arfon.net Christmas staff party

Last year I speculated that the arfon.net Christmas staff party at Hooters might well become a “thing” and by Jingle now it officially is! You will recall that having enquired why should I miss out of a staff Christmas 'do' just because I was self-employed and a work force of one? And so decided to do something about it and held the first ever arfon.net Christmas staff party at Hooters, Nottingham! The party was such a hit with staff (providing all the widely regarded staff morale boosting benefits) that it seemed only natural to go back again this year, however to make it fair it was first put to a vote, Hooters won by a resounding majority!

So this lone worker returned to Hootersof Nottingham located at the Hicking Building on London Road along with my "plus one" Mrs Jones (other companies restrict their functions to the 'employees only' rule or make spouses or partners pay for their meals and drinks. But not this business!) for the second annual arfon.net Christmas staff party!

Having been greeted by one of the Hooters girls, and shown to our table, drinks and food arrived shortly after and once again I had the Hooter’s speciality, the chicken wings with Cajun sauce and curly fries and Mrs Jones had the choice America steak with coleslaw. Not terribly festive I grant you but the Christmas decorations, Mrs Jones's owl themed Christmas Jumper and Christmas crackers helped set the mood. My cracker contained a wind up Christmas owl, a joke (“What kind of shoes do frogs wear? Open toad sandals!”) and a paper hat of which I wore (see photo). Then it was Secret Santa present-giving time! This year I got a '1960s Childhood Memorabilia pack' containing a replica Ellisdons catalogue, Batman, Thunderbirds, Land of the Giants, The Monkees and the Dr. Who and the Daleks trading cards and various toy flyers (how did I know that I would like that?!). Having finished up and posed for some photos I also picked up the 2017 Hooters calender (of which proceeds go to a breast cancer charity). And that was the second arfon.net Christmas staff party and just like last year a good time was had by all, and I predict that also like last year morale in the studio will have been heavily boosted, guaranteeing a productive New year! My sincere thanks to everyone at Hooters of Nottingham, especially Lauren, Jade and Helen for the warm welcome and for making my second staff party a Holly Jolly one! Merry Christmas!

 

© Arfon Jones 2016. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.

From the Vaults: 2015 Slaughterhouse Farm Christmas Card

Not an ancient relic from the past I grant you, but at least its Christmassy! Last year I sent Slaughterhouse Farm writer and co-creator Matt Warner of HellboundMedia a Slaughterhouse Farm themed Christmas card featuring the comic's protagonist PF (name abbreviated for the benefit of our younger audience) about to have Matt for Christmas dinner...

© Arfon Jones 2016. All images are copyrighted throughout the world.