Two vales and an ave

Farewell Sebastian Horsley, who held out in Soho for the bohemian dream with the isolated determination of a Japanese WWII soldier holed up in late 60s Borneo. Most famous for having had himself crucified in the Philippines to inspire some paintings, and falling off the cross. He is survived by a one-man play based on his life at the Soho Theatre, a short kerb-crawl from his Meard Street flat.

His grandfather Alec, the founder of the Horsley fortune, was much more interesting. A Hull-based Quaker who started up a condensed milk factory that is now Northern Foods PLC, he turned his hand to prison reform and social causes. He was a founder member of CND and played tennis for Nigeria. If he was right and his grandson was wrong about the afterlife, there'll be some stern words at the pearly gates right now.

Also a shock to have lost the man behind Frank Sidebottom. He'll be missed by anyone who stopped in the North West over the past two and a half decades. Yes he will. He really really will.

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