WILLIAM CASH author, playwright, journalist
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William Cash

williamrpcash

Author Restoration Heart, writer Times, Spectator, Telegraph, head guide @uptoncressetthall. Special adviser English Heritage
When you get a 7am call from your nine year old da When you get a 7am call from your nine year old daughter (as I just did) asking you to drive a two hour return trip to her school to deliver her 'face paints' and 'Winnie the Pooh costume' , then you know 'World Book Day' - known as WBD - is coming this Thursday, 6th March. I've just written a piece for today's @spectator1828 about what can happen when loving books too much becomes an illness. My late uncle Jonathan Robert's relationship with books 📚-reveals a darker and more troubling side to collecting. It damages finances, social relations, and becomes an illness – much like gambling addiction. For decades, he suffered from the disorder known as bibliomania. This growing condition has been fuelled by the ease of buying books on the internet. His book-buying obsession - the library of photo 2 was just a tiny fraction of his books - was so chronic that he had filled three large storage units with unopened books and magazines, including around ten years of The Spectator. He must have spent £100,000 in ten years. Today's piece is a cautionary tale. His compulsive book-buying was, indeed, a serious addiction, but it reminded me a little of Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited at his end, smuggling bottles of whisky into the French religious hospital in Morocco. Both came to live simply, like a lay brother, lacking ambition other than to be of service to others. Jonathan was exceptionally kind, almost holy, and his books were his friends but they were also an expensive form of drug fix. Photo 3 is of the family gathering at his graveside on 22 Feb this year on which would have been his 69th birthday #worldbookday #bibliomaniac
Wonderful to see RKS - founder member of the Old D Wonderful to see RKS - founder member of the Old Dad's Club and a former Noor Jahan 'customer of the decade' - cruise past 60 in debonair style yesterday. We were badly spoiled and the Herefordshire 🥩 was indecently good and perfectly pink. Now all of us facing down our sixth decade - I've still two years to go ! - are facing not just the humiliation of a senior bus pass but also the near impossibility of hosting any small celebration quite so delicious and fun. Rupert looked so happy - thank you @christina_ks #60th
No trip to Rome is complete without finding a perf No trip to Rome is complete without finding a perfect pizzeria and so thank you to @toma4444 for sending us to a little slice of 🍕 heaven in a little place off Piazza- Navona (on Piazza del Fico) called Da Francesco. Here is @lauracathcartmillinery by the pizza oven. It was started in 1957 by Francesco Boni and Amalia Tognoloni and is now run by their grandchildren. We went for the thinnest of Romana pizzas naturally ...quite perfect. #pizza #roma
Rain and sunshine for the last day of our Roman Ho Rain and sunshine for the last day of our Roman Holiday wedding anniversary adventure. Morning in the Forum where the highlight was the Chiesa di Santa Maria Antiqua, a remarkable 5th century church with extraordinary murals from the old and New Testament that I had never seen before. It was closed for years and contains (photo 2) the famous Maris Antiqua sarcophagus dating back to 3rd century and thought to be one of the earliest Christian burial caskets ever found. Then onto Santa Maria Maggiore the papal basilica where Pope Francis be buried outside the Vatican for the first time in 100 years. Then lunch & drinks at Ciampini in Piazza San Lorenzo #weddinganniversary #rome
An impromptu wedding anniversary mini-break to Rom An impromptu wedding anniversary mini-break to Rome - 11 years on 28 Feb. The trip has coincided with the Pope being in 'critical' condition in hospital so at 9pm last night we joined over 30 Cardinals and a large crowd of nuns, priests and others to say 'rosary prayers' in light rain for the Holy Father in St Peter's Square. This is usual when a pope is thought to be close to death. When a public rosary was said for Saint John Paul II he died during the prayers. With mounting speculation here about the next pope, the atmosphere all feels a bit like the BAFTA winning 🎥 movie Conclave, about a papal election based on the brilliant novel by @robertharrishome. Other highlights of our 3 day trip include a visit to the Church of Sant Agostino to see Caravaggio's masterly 'Madonna of the Pilgrims'. Lunch at @nino.ristorante near the Spanish Steps (now favourite Rome restaurant of @lauracathcartmillinery); and dinner at Matricianella, Via del Leone, 4, (maitre d' is Mauro) now my favourite restaurant. Last photo is in the courtyard of the Palazzo Borghese before dinner. #weddinganniversary #rome #ninorestaurant
I think it's fair to say that when Rodgers & Hamme I think it's fair to say that when Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote 'There is Nothing Like a Dame' for the 1949 musical South Pacific they didn't have new Dame @anyahindmarch collecting their DBE for services to fashion in mind. But there is also nothing like as chic as this navy classic pillbox with veiling by @lauracathcartmillinery combined with a skirt suit by @emiliawickstead to show up to Buckingham Palace for the big day. Laura has now collaborated with Emilia on various collections over the last year and as I write is in on her way back from London Fashion Week where the two genius creative design muses teamed up again with Laura making some memorably exclusive hats for Emilia's AW25 collection inspired by the 1963 cult film 🎥 The Birds. Alas, her train 🚂 to London this morning was cancelled due to a bit of wind so Laura had to hit the motorway and drive for 3 hours not to miss the show at @saatchi_gallery Chelsea. Bravo 🤩 Laura and Emilia! #londonfashionweek #emiliawickstead #lauracathcartmillinery #anyahindmarch
My heart goes out to my dear old friends in LA - w My heart goes out to my dear old friends in LA - where I lived in the nineties working for @thetimes and @telegraph - who have had to evacuate their homes, or have had their houses razed by 🔥. These include @zoedegivenchy @juliaverdin @rupertglynnwainwright . It also looks like the Brit ex-pat California Dream - as John Self says in the Martin Amis novel Money: 'California, land of my dreams and my longing' -may be turning to ash dust, as I write today in @spectator1828. See: ttps://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-la-dream-has-burnt-out/ The wonderful Hollywood House house - with its own orange 🍊 grove - where I lived with @elizabethhurley1 on 7357 Woodrow Wilson Drive, next door to David Hockney and his two dachshunds, would have been right in the evacuation zone, being close to Runyon Canyon where we walked our dogs. #martinamis #californiadreaming
The funeral of my beloved uncle Jonathan Roberts, The funeral of my beloved uncle Jonathan Roberts, head guide and archaeologist @uptoncressethall, will be on Friday, 3rd January at the Catholic Church of St John's, Bridgnorth. He was known as the 'Knight of the Stihl' for his love of mowing on his beloved orange German tractor mower - which became like his Rosinante workhorse. Neighbours were known to complain - 'Will you ever stop???' - about his mowing our fruit orchards until 8pm at night in all ❄️ ⛈️ weathers using headlights. He lived with us from June 2021 and was much loved as the Great Uncle Bulgaria of the Cash family as well as youngest brother of Sir Bill Cash. Guests and tour groups (photo 7) always thanked ‘Uncle Jo’, our house archaeologist and historian, for his expertise, from the Roman Settlement (which he got @historicengland to schedule as an Ancient Monument in 2012) to the Norman church of St Michael whose grassy churchyard he used to mow with love and precision on his Stihl (see @shropshirestar picture) and where he will be finally buried. Educated at Stonyhurst, he lived like a lay-brother in his estate flat surrounded by books (he was a 'bibliomaniac'). His role was as family saint, as well as classics tutor, (he was taught Latin at Stonyhurst by Michael Tolkien, son of J.R.R Tolkien) tea-maker, barman (he was a fixture at all family birthday 🎂 parties) driver, lawn-mower in chief and house librarian. After a year in various Shropshire hospitals in 2023, his miraculous mental, physical and spiritual recovery this year was partly through a love of mowing and prayer to Saint Fillan, patron saint of mental health. See: https://catholicherald.co.uk/a-christmastide-requiem-for-my-great-uncle-bulgaria/ His death at 68 comes as a great shock to all those that loved him and he is already greatly missed. Details of funeral service on photo 6. Please DM or email enquiries@uptoncressett.co.uk for more details. A much loved and holy man who was touched by God's grace at the end of his life. #christmastide #stonyhurst #greatuncle
A memorable family Christmas @uptoncressetthall wi A memorable family Christmas @uptoncressetthall with my parents, two nieces @tessgoulandris and @arizonagunn, and pug Velvet. The day started with stockings carnage at 6.30 am, Rex and Cosima then performed in the Bridgnorth nativity mass at 11am and then it was a festive Christmas 🎅 lunch folllowed by the card game Happy Families and a post Christmas pudding snooze 😴 by the fire. We all deeply missed dear Uncle Jo - who lived with us and was dearly looking forward to his first family Christmas in 20 years not on his own or in hospital. I will be posting about his tragic passing on the feast of St Nicholas tomorrow. His requiem funeral in Bridgnorth will be on Friday 3 January .#christmastide
Not every day you get to step inside the elegant L Not every day you get to step inside the elegant London creative lair of a literary hero, TS Eliot and giant of 20th century literature. A very special lunch talking literary estates with two of my favourite people, @constancemawatson, executor of the Evelyn Waugh estate and Clare Reihill, executor of the TS Eliot estate. Both authors are lucky to have such wonderful people keeping their literary torches 🔥 aflame. #ahandfulofdust
Friday night Christmas drinks 🍸 morphed into Sa Friday night Christmas drinks 🍸 morphed into Saturday lunch then dinner and we finally got back home after Mass at Belmont Abbey to decorate our Christmas 🎄 on the first Sunday of advent. Thank you @rebeboden for the Christmas drinks and @philip_j_keezer for a very long lunch #christmasseason
A 7am start for @lauracathcartmillinery to get an A 7am start for @lauracathcartmillinery to get an early train 🚆 to London was curtailed by a blizzard 🥶 here @uptoncressetthall. After the car nearly disappeared off the road into a wood we headed gingerly back home to fetch spades and grit ! She finally made it out after emptying a few grit bins. Beautiful winter's day here #snowday #snowedin #brora
Rex, fourth from left, looking a little frozen 🥶 on the rugby field yesterday - still he scored a try and led the 'three cheers' for @moorparkludlow versus The Elms, under 8's team #rugby #chilblains
Our Malta 🇲🇹 pilgrimage : a highlight has be Our Malta 🇲🇹 pilgrimage : a highlight has been seeing the grotto of St Paul - see photo 1 - in the 'old capital' of Medina where the martyred Roman saint lived for 3 months after his ship was wrecked in a tempest along with st Luke. Extraordinarily moving to see the cave in which he lived as well as preached before his execution in Rome. Other photos include the 🩸 encrusted sword of Grand Master knight Valletta who used this trusty weapon - aged 70 - in hand to hand combat on the battlements of Fort St Angelo in the Siege of Malta. His jewel encrusted dagger is alas not in Malta as it was looted by Napoleon and is in the Louvre. The dapper black hat is also that of Valletta after whom the new capital of Malta, Valletta, is named after he and his 500 knights saved the city from the Turks. Other photos include a tomb of a Grand Master from the crypt of the cathedral of Valletta where around 13 are buried; and Laura and our group outside the palace where Napoleon stayed for seven days after taking the island. We have also seen some old friends - here with Paddy Magan @paddyislandtime who has turned native and now lives in Malta 🇲🇹 - and enjoying it ! #pilgrimage #siegeofmalta
A special pilgrimage to Malta where the Order of M A special pilgrimage to Malta where the Order of Malta made their home in 1530 and stayed more than 200 years including seeing off the Turks in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 when the Ottoman Empire tried for four bloody months to capture the island of Malta, protected by the Knights Hospitaller. Over 500 years later a pilgrim band of 27 knights and dames returned to see the sites of the siege which finally ended with victory for the Christian knights on 8 September 1565. The photos in the rain ☔️ are taken at the site of Fort St Angelo which was the headquarters of the knights - and later British fleet in World War II. A moving mass yesterday in the chapel of St Anne's of the fort where the knights would have assembled and prayed every day during the siege - followed by finger sandwiches and drinks in the official residence of the single 'resident knight' who remains in situ. Another moving moment was seeing the skull relic of Blessed Gerard, founder of the Order back in the early 12th century. Another photo shows @lauracathcartmillinery and myself standing next to Caravaggiio's masterpiece The Beheadiing of St John which he painted on the island whilst on the run. He was also a knight of Malta although expelled after nearly killing a fellow knight in a banquet brawl. Last but one is Laura with @georgieholtevans , fellow pilgrim in Valletta. An extraordinary day of history, pilgrimage, sacraments and confrere friendship. #malta #caravaggio #orderofmaltabritain
Five years after walking into Rome along the Appia Five years after walking into Rome along the Appian Way to commemorate the October 2019 canonisation of St John Henry Newman, our pilgrim band made another pilgrimage to Rome along the Via Francigena - the ancient pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome - this time from Siena to Rome. A wonderful pilgrim group and a splendid walking and 🍷 adventure although I fear we ate and slept a little more comfortably than Chaucer or Bocaccio's pilgrims. Thank you to @toma4444 , @georgieholtevans and Jeremy, @lauracathcartmillinery, @julescostantini and Mungo and Sophy for a memorable week #unfitpilgrim #pilgrimage #roma
Wonderfully spookie Halloween 🎃 birthday party Wonderfully spookie Halloween 🎃 birthday party 🥳 for Mary Margaret in Herefordshire. Thank you @philip_j_keezer and Laura for a truly ghoulish evening and the best Halloween kids party of the year ! I adored the ghost story which took me back to being around 12 and being far too scared 😱 to sleep on @moorparkludlow camp night in the summer. #marshmallowfireside #allsouls
A wonderful waltz down memory lane last night at t A wonderful waltz down memory lane last night at the @moorparkludlow school 60th anniversary ball. As we parked outside the old Salwey mansion near Ludlow, I could hardly believe it was exactly 50 years since my first Michaelmas term in Sept 1974. Wow 🤩! A brilliant evening with an inspiring speech 🎤 by new headmaster James Duffield and an eclectic group of old boys, old girls, parents, staff and other friends making up the special Moor Park family. Thanks to @sarah.thornhill.7 - photo 1 - and her committee for organising the ball. Loved seeing Stephen Henderson, son of co-founder Derek Henderson. His father would have been proud of what the school has achieved.
A special day visiting @ampleforth_college_ where A special day visiting @ampleforth_college_ where I was invited to give a Headmaster's Lecture as editor of @catholicheraldmag. I'm standing here with the head boy and head girl who introduced me to the sixth form. My pitch was that being Catholic gave Amplefordians a literary advantage as they were natural outsiders - and detached observers - and that it was no coincidence that Ampleforth had such a glittering roll call of successful writers, journalists and film 🎥 stars amongst its current alumni from Julian Fellowes to Rupert Everett, @williamdalrymple to John Micklethwait, former editor of the @theeconomist, @albertread to his novelist father Piers Paul Read ... and then author cousins Ed Stourton and James Stourton and not forgetting Luke Jennings (Killing Eve) and the Herald's very own acting online editor and official pilgrim guide James Jeffrey. As I said in my speech William Dalrymple gave a rock star performance at the recent @clivedenlitfest and as a near contemporary from Cambridge part of me slowly died as I headed to King's Cross station to get to York with @lauracathcartmillinery and the tube platform was decorated with giant posters of William's brilliant new book The Golden Road which tells the story of how Indian culture has influenced the modern world. Alas, my books are yet to trouble the New York Times bestseller lists! One dares to hope #lecture #ampleforth #headmastertalk #hope
Wonderful evening last night at @christieslondon t Wonderful evening last night at @christieslondon to celebrate 🍾 the launch of James Stourton's brilliant new book'Rogues and Scholars, Boom and Bust in the Art Market 1945-2000. Most of the scholars were there last night and quite a few rogues. I was delighted to see the book dedicated to @nicholas.coleridge who was there along with the London art world and an exotic collection of dealers, collectors, aristos, art writers and auction house experts. I especially enjoyed James's speech where he was grateful that the auction house hadn't malfunctioned with auction house invitations - as they did once - going out to elderly former clients perfectly styled and addressed with the added address line 'Too old for parties'. Can't wait to read this bonfire 🔥 of a book which features in James's Diary in the @catholicheraldmag October issue #booklaunch #bonfireoftheartworld
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