Kenwood Blue Plaque Unveiling Media Round-Up

What a wonderful occasion the Kenwood Blue Plaque Unveiling at 79 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey was on 7 Sept 2017 in memory of Kenneth Wood. I certainly enjoyed delivering my talk on Ken's life and work at The Lightbox afterwards and meeting past and present Kenwood employees. The event certainly generated a lot of media interest!

My heartfelt thanks go to Woking Borough Council and The Lightbox.

The next big event will probably be Kenwood's 80th anniversary! See you there!

Just as a reminder, if you have any Kenwood memories you'd like to share, please post them here: www.facebook.com/KennethMaynardWood

7 Sept 2017 - BBC Radio Surrey: John Wood's interview on the James Cannon Show

(click the above link to hear the full interview)

7 Sept 2017 - BBC Surrey: Live Facebook Broadcast of the Kenwood blue plaque unveiling

(click the above link to watch the full broadcast)

7 Sept 2017 - BBC Surrey: Live Facebook Broadcast of John Wood's talk on the life and work of Kenneth Wood

(click the above link to watch the full broadcast)

8 Sept 2017 - Surrey Advertiser: Woking honours Kenwood founder with blue plaque

(click the above link to see the article online)

(Click the above image to see the full article as a jpg)

8 Sept 2017 - Woking Borough Council: Mayor unveils new blue plaque to honour father of Kenwood Chef

(click the above link to view the full article)

10 Sept 2017 - Celebrate Woking: Unveiling of Kenwood Blue Plaque

(click the above link to view the full article)

12 Sept 2017 - Portsmouth News : Havant firm celebrates its 70th anniversary
(click the above link to view the full article)

(Click the above image to see the full article as a jpg)

22 Sept 2017 - Woking News and Mail: Blue plaque in honour of Kenwood Chef inventor
(click the above link to view the full article)

(Click the above image to see the full article as a jpg)

25 Oct 2017 - Woking Borough Council: Woking Magazine Winter 2017 
(click the above link to download the full article)

(Click the above image to see the full article as a jpg)

26 Oct 2017 - Liphook Herald: In Memory of Ken Wood

(Click the above image to see the full article as a jpg)

I finally make it onto the stage in Monty Python's Spamalot!

Me (the peasant) on stage clutching my tin of Spam, with King Arthur and a bunch of silly English Ker-nnnig-hts. I've wanted to do this for such a long time! 

Me on stage! What an experience! It was worth all the tea in China!

Seat Done, or rather D1

With Joe Pasquale - the longest serving King Arthur?

With Todd Carty - the longest serving Patsy?

Spamalot's run in Woking 2015

Gemma after the show being er, "Queen Arthur"?

Friday 13th March 2015: Monty Python's Spamalot, New Victoria Theatre, Woking:

I first saw Spamalot in January 2007: I loved it so much, I went again, and again, and again... last night was the 17th performance of Spamalot I've seen, and I'm going again next month when the show is in Southampton! I have a sneaking suspicion, that won't be my last time.... As far as I'm concerned, it's the funniest show ever! You can't keep me away - it's hilarious, whether you're a Monty Python fan or not!

I've seen the show so many times, I notice any changes they make to the script. Some of the changes since the last time I saw it (which was at the Playhouse Theatre, London) were:

• "And I'm the Emperor of Norway; bugger off" has been replaced with "And I'm the Emperor of China; bugger off"
• King Arthur no longer tells Patsy that those who see the Knights of Ni seldom live to tell the tale.  Consequently, Patsy no longer replies, "Oh great!"
• There's a new country-by-country section (with each country indicated by flags)
• Pointing at a bail of hay and shouting "Hey!" has been reinstated but not in the same way and not in the same place as it was before (which was during Sir Robin's song)
• Talking of Robin's song, that has been completely updated. Out goes Jedward and in comes Michelle Obama and Ant & Dec. Out goes Boris Johnson and in comes Mary Berry. It's so up to the minute with current affairs because the lyrics now include Top Gear, and King Arthur made a joke about Jeremy Clarkson's latest shenanigans!
• There's also a small tweak to the lyrics of Diva's Lament that concerns the artist formerly known as Cheryl Cole (but I won't ruin it for you).
• The "peasant" that helps find the Holy Grail used to get rewarded with an "Arthur", but now, it's a tin of Spam.

So how come I ended up on stage, I hear you ask. It turns out I was sitting on the Holy Grail the whole time! Whichever unsuspecting soul sits in seat D1 ends up on stage! When Joe asked my name, for some reason I pronounced my surname a little like "Woood", so he took the piss out of me royally about that! (See what I did there?)

I found going on stage such a wonderful experience, which, thanks to Gemma, I can now, finally, tick off my bucket list. She's going on stage next time at Southampton! Watch this space :-)

Kenwood Exhibition, The Lighthouse, Woking

The Art of Design: Kenwood in the Kitchen

I attended "The Art of Design: Kenwood in the Kitchen" at The Lighthouse, Woking twice during its almost two month run (28 April to 24 June) and it was a real pleasure on both occasions.

My first visit was to be in the audience of In Conversation with Kenneth Grange; who was interviewed by TV presenter Katherine Higgins. Kenneth told us how he ended up in industrial design and how he came to be commissioned by my step father, Ken Wood in 1960, to redesign the then clunky Kenwood Chef into something more attractive and stylish. He told told us the story (that Ken had told me many times before) of how he ran out of time making his proposed design, and "cheated" by mounting half of the model of the Chef that he had made on a mirror to make it look like a whole one! Ken Wood loved both the design and Kenneth's half-a-Chef-on-a-mirror trick and gave him the job "probably because I was cheap and because I said I could do it quickly". It was wonderful to see Kenneth again. The last time we met, I was probably an infant.  

I returned on the last day of the exhibition to have a proper look at all the exhibits, a few of which I and my mother had lent The Lighthouse. It was all so well presented, and it included a TV documentary on the history of the Kenwood company as well as opportunity to hear an audio recording of Ken Wood himself dictating his life story. In addition to several different editions of the Kenwood Chef and other Kenwood products, also on display was the actual half-model on a mirror that Kenneth Grange presented to Ken Wood in 1960; various children's toy versions of the Chef; a miniature Kenwood Chef in gold that could be word as a brooch or pendant, many important original documents and one of Ken Wood's passports. 

I also had time to have a look around the section of the building that is Woking's museum. I was very pleased to see there that Ken Wood was (and probably still is at time of writing) occupying the Local Hero slot. He would be honoured. There is also a permanant display of Kenwood products there as the company is considered such an important part of Woking's history.  

Spamalot Woking - my 7th time

We eat ham and jam and Spamalot!

Marcus Brigstocke and King Arthur and Hayley Tamaddon as the Lady of the Lake

I took some friends to see Spamalot. Needless to say, it was hilarious and we had a rip-roaringly wonderful evening! Eric Idle, you are a genius!