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A Kestrel For A Knave
''A Kestrel for a Knave'' is a novel by English author Barry Hines, published in 1968. Set in an unspecified mining area in Northern England, the book follows Billy Casper, a young working-class boy troubled at home and at school, who finds and trains a kestrel whom he names "Kes". The book received a wider audience when it was adapted into the film ''Kes'' in 1969; Hines wrote the screenplay with director Ken Loach (credited as Kenneth Loach) and producer Tony Garnett. The film adaptation has since become regarded as one of the greatest of British films. Today, the novel is often used in Key Stage 4 assessment in the United Kingdom, as part of GCSE English courses. The novel's title is taken from a poem found in the '' Book of Saint Albans''. In medieval England, the only bird a knave (male servant, or man of low class) was legally allowed to keep was a kestrel. Plot South Yorkshire, the 1960s. In the opening pages of the book, we see Billy and his half-brother Jud sleep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Hines
Melvin Barry Hines, FRSL (30 June 1939 – 18 March 2016) was an English author, playwright and screenwriter. His novels and screenplays explore the political and economic struggles of working-class Northern England, particularly in his native West Riding/South Yorkshire. He is best known for the novel '' A Kestrel for a Knave'' (1968), which he helped adapt for Ken Loach's film ''Kes'' (1969). He collaborated with Loach on adaptations of his novels ''Looks and Smiles'' and ''The Gamekeeper,'' and the 1977 two-part television drama ''The Price of Coal''. He also wrote the television film '' Threads'', which depicts the impact of a nuclear war on Sheffield. Early life Hines was born in the mining village of Hoyland Common near Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire. He attended Ecclesfield Grammar School after passing the eleven-plus in 1950 and played football for the England Grammar Schools team. After leaving school with five O levels he took a job with the National Coal Board ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kestrel
The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around over open country and swoop down on ground prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects, while other falcons are more adapted for active hunting during flight. Description Most species termed kestrels appear to form a distinct clade among the falcons, as suggested by comparison of mtDNA cytochrome ''b'' sequence data and morphology. This seems to have diverged from other ''Falco'' around the Miocene–Pliocene boundary (Messinian to Zanclean, or about 7–3.5 mya). The most basal "true" kestrels are three species from Africa and its surroundings which lack a malar stripe, and in one case have—like other falcons but unlike other true kestrels—large areas of grey in their wings. Approximately du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian McMillan (poet)
Ian McMillan (born 21 January 1956) is an English poet, journalist, playwright, and broadcaster. He is known for his strong and distinctive Yorkshire accent and his incisive, friendly interview style on programmes such as BBC Radio 3's ''The Verb''. Background McMillan was born in Darfield, South Yorkshire, Darfield, South Yorkshire, son of John McMillan, a naval officer, and Olive Wood, a shop clerk. McMillan married on 21 July 1979. His son Andrew McMillan (poet), Andrew McMillan is a poet who won the Guardian First Book Award 2015 for his debut poetry book ''Physical''. McMillan attended Low Valley Junior School and Wath Grammar School,Ian McMillan 'Taking Myself Home' at Charnwood Arts Archived fro [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death Of A Naturalist
''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966) is a collection of poems written by Seamus Heaney, who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. The collection was Heaney's first major published volume, and includes ideas that he had presented at meetings of The Belfast Group. ''Death of a Naturalist'' won the Cholmondeley Award, the Gregory Award, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. The work consists of 34 short poems and is largely concerned with childhood experiences and the formulation of adult identities, family relationships, and rural life. The collection begins with one of Heaney's best-known poems, "Digging", and includes the acclaimed "Death of a Naturalist" and "Mid-Term Break". In 2022, ''Death of a Naturalist'' was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. Poems "Death of a Naturalist", the collection's second poem, details the exploits of a young ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first major published volume. American poet Robert Lowell described him as "the most important Irish poet since W. B. Yeats, Yeats", and many others, including the academic John Sutherland (author), John Sutherland, have said that he was "the greatest poet of our age". Robert Pinsky has stated that "with his wonderful gift of eye and ear Heaney has the gift of the story-teller." Upon his death in 2013, ''The Independent'' described him as "probably the best-known poet in the world". Heaney was born in the townland of Tamniaran between Castledawson and Toomebridge, Northern Ireland. His family moved to nearby Bellaghy when he was a boy. He became a lecturer at St. Joseph's College in Belfast in the early 1960s, after attending Queen's University B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly''. In December 2024, Tortoise Media acquired the paper from the Scott Trust Limited, with the transition taking place on 22 April 2025. History Origins The first issue was published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, making ''The Observer'' the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper but agreed to subsidise it in return for influence over its editori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821), are published by Times Media, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' were founded independently and have had common ownership only since 1966. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. ''The Times'' was the first newspaper to bear that name, inspiring numerous other papers around the world. In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as or , although the newspaper is of national scope and distribution. ''The Times'' had an average daily circulation of 365,880 in March 2020; in the same period, ''The Sunday Times'' had an average weekly circulation of 647,622. The two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, as an animation studio, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio; it later operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before adopting its current name in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film ''Steamboat Willie.'' The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and popularized Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon. After becoming a success by the early 1940s, Disney diversified into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. However, following Walt Disney's death in 1966, the company's profits, especially in the animation sector, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wednesday Play
''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction (and occasionally stage plays) also featured. The series gained a reputation for presenting contemporary social dramas, and for bringing issues to the attention of a mass audience that would not otherwise have been discussed on screen. Some of British television drama's most influential, and controversial, plays were shown in this slot, including ''Up the Junction (The Wednesday Play), Up the Junction'' and ''Cathy Come Home''. The earliest television plays of Dennis Potter were featured in this slot. History Origins and early series The series was suggested to the BBC's Head of Drama, Sydney Newman, by the corporation's director of television Kenneth Adam after his cancellation of the two previous series of single ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elba
Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, and the third largest List of islands of Italy, island in Italy, after Sicily and Sardinia. It is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea about east of the French island of Corsica. The island is part of the province of Livorno and is divided into seven municipalities, with a total population of about 30,000 inhabitants which increases considerably during the summer. The municipalities are Portoferraio (which is also the island's principal town), Campo nell'Elba, Capoliveri, Marciana, Marciana Marina, Porto Azzurro, and Rio, Italy, Rio. It is famous for being the site of Napoleon's first exile, from 1814 to 1815. Geography Elba is the largest remaining stretch of land from the ancient tract that once connected the Italian peninsula to Corsica. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bursary
A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awards are aimed at encouraging specific groups or individuals into study. England In England, financial support may be available from the college that the student attends. If the student is studying at either a publicly funded Sixth Form college or in a publicly funded Further Education college, financial support may be offered depending on their financial and personal circumstances. Each college has eligibility criteria and a college is able to provide details on which bursaries are available and what level of financial support students may be eligible for. Financial support is almost always based on the student's ″household″ income along with other criteria. Income limits and eligibility vary from college to college so students must co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Physical Education
Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United States it is informally called gym class or gym. Physical education generally focuses on developing physical fitness, motor skills, health awareness, and social interaction through activities such as sports, exercise, and movement education. While Curriculum, curricula vary by country, PE generally aims to promote lifelong physical activity and well-being. Unlike other academic subjects, physical education is distinctive because it engages students across the Psychomotor learning, psychomotor, Cognition, cognitive, Affect (psychology), affective, Social skills, social, and cultural domains of learning. Physical education content differs internationally, as physical activities often reflect the geographic, cultural, and environmental features of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
