The Observer from London, Greater London, England • 28

Saxon art treasures illuminate three centuries which were the making of England rfer IIU The end of the 'Dark Ages3 myth Martin Bailey Prize oils hit troubled waters FIRST the Booker Prize row, now the Turner Prize row. Set up in 1984 as the most prestigious British art prize, the Turner has already had its share of controversy. There was criticism over the first winner, Malcolm Morley, as he had not worked in Britain for 20 years. Then junk bond firm Drexel Burnham Lambert became sponsor, only to be forced to junk its involvement when it crashed. Now there is set to be a dispute over this year's shortlist.

Applicants had to be under 50 years of age. Fair enough, as this encourages younger artists. The Tate Gallery, the organiser, asked the public to nominate candidates. Though the figures are never revealed, painter Sean Scully and sculptor Alison Wilding received most votes. But their names are not among the four artists who made the final list for the 20,000 prize.

They are Ian Davenport, Fiona Rae and Rachel Whiteread, all under 30,. and Anish Kapoor, 37. The jury includes Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, Norman Rosenthal, Exhibitions Secretary of the Royal Academy manuscript CH. WN I. tr.n, from Colore to the Blch.rd MHd.nh.ll.

Open book: Eighth century Joyridle deaths as law (delayed! THE greatest treasures of Anglo-Saxon England are being assembled this week for an exhibition at the British Museum. On show will be dozens of recent archaeological finds which should kill the myth that the period represented the 'Dark Ages'. This wealth of new material, along with recent scholarly research, proves that the early Anglo-Saxon years were a watershed in English history. 'From the arrival of St Augustine in 597 to the death of King Alfred in 899, England was transformed from a pagan, tribal society into one of the greatest centres of European said Leslie Webster, co-organiser of the exhibition. The Making of England, which opens on Friday, not only includes new finds but also rarely-seen Anglo-Saxon manuscripts and artefacts, brought from the Continent.

Some of these treasures are being returned to England for the first time in more than a thousand years. 1 hey include an early- eight h-century manuscript, Cammum from Nor-thumbthi, which belongs to the cathedral library at Cologne. It has been displayed rarely, even in Germany. Unpasking the illuminated vellum book of ecclesiastical laws, Janet Backhouse, the exhibition's other co-organiser, said 'It is an exquisite manuscript with some of the liveliest decoration found in Anglo-Saxon texts. Although not widely known, it is a superb The joint British MuseumBritish Library exhibition also includes dozens of important recent archaeological finds.

Among items being exhibited for the first time is the Bowleaze Jewel, found on a Dorset beach by a pensioner with a metal detector. Bernard Yarosz, 72. Among the other recent finds in the exhibition is the York Helmet, which was found at Coppergate, just yards away from some of the Jorvik Viking excavations. It lay in waterlogged ground in at the bottom of a shaft. Other treasures include the Lindisfarne Gospels, the sole surviving copy of the epic poem of Beowulf, and the Alfred Jewel.

Baker denies dithering on promised crackdown DON'T laugh at Essex Man. A new survey shows him to be the affluent Briton of the 1990s. Ad agency Bur kitt Weitireich Bryant has found the Essex household has more cars than the middle classes and they are not all Fords. Essex Man cannot be bothered with pensions or school fees, preferring camcorders and American holidays. One in 10 Essex families went to the US last year, compared to only 6 per cent of ABs.

Essex Girl is distinctly non-feminist. She lives at home and always allows her boyfriend to pay for the cinema. Going Dutch is 'for lezzies and students'. For those who think Essex Girl is a joke, the 'Official Essex Girl Joke Book' will be available from MJM Publishing next week. Mind how you gp taking of a car with a maximum sentence of two years.

We want to do it as soon as But he added: 'We want to make sure the new law is The Observer understands that the Home Office's legal experts are facing difficulties in framing the new laws because of the difficulty of ensuring a conviction. The dangerous dogs legislation, also rushed through in response to public outcry, has encounted several hurdles in implemntation. Under the proposed new joyriding offence, which would also carry a lifetime driving ban, the prosecution wpuld have to -prove that car thieves intended more 'mischief than is included under the present laws. Mr Baker's announcement of the new legislation to the Conservative conference followed widespread concern over rising car crime, and hotting in particular, which was partly blamed for rioting in Oxford, Cardiff and Newcastle earlier this year. ML san Micra car.

I he woman driver stopped and called police. On Wednesday night, Adele Thompson, 12, died and a boy was seriously hurt in Liverpool's Toxteth area after they were struck by a stolen car while they collected 'pennies for the Guy'. Two men have been remanded in custody on manslaughter charges following that incident. Labour attacked the Government for failing to mention the proposed legislation in last Thursday's Queen's speech, despite Mr Baker's promise at the Tory Party conference of quick legislation against 'hotting'. Opposition politicians joined Dick Coyle, vice chairman of TORY 'minder' Angie Bray has been attracting almost as much attention as her charge, Michael Bates, who is defending the unpronounceable Langbaurgh (it's Langbarff, say locals) seat in Thursday's by-election.

Bray, sent up by Central Office to look afterdates, a lay preacher, stopped TV cameramen taking rear shots of him to avoid showing his thinning patch and then had a run-in with former party deputy chair TV PRODUCTION company TSL, which has been selling the Rugby World Cup overseas, got an unexpected phone call last week from the US Congress. Could they get live coverage of the final to American Samoa? 'Um, was the reply as TSL executives hurriedly searched for an atlas. They discovered it in the Pacific near Western Samoa, and satellited yesterday's game there as they also did to 38 Shell tankers around the world. New face at Court Scully: Stripes not liked. of Arts, and Penny Govett, of the Patrons of New Art.

Serota and Rosenthal are very taken with Davenport, whose paintings can best be described as 'thin stripes on thin stripes'. Scully too is a 'stripe' man. Many rate him a better painter. But it seems his stripes (thicker ones) are not the sort wanted by the judges. The four shortlisted candidates go on show at the Tate this week, with the winner announced live on Channel 4 on 26 November.

My money is on Davenport, now Scully has been removed. man, Jeffrey Shg had seen Labour-supporting novelist Ken Follett signing his in a local bookshop and volunteered Archer, who was also in town, to do the same. But a furious Archer rounded on cameramen who tried to ture him his novel As the Crow Flies with the words: 'I came to support the candidate. I did hot come hundreds of miles to sign (This is thought to be a record.) chairman, of the theatre's council. Frankly, Mortimer has not come well out this affair.

He seemed unable to cope with Stafford-Clark, who had reapplied, limpet-like, for his own job. Stafford-Clark, who has been at the Court since 1979, was supported by council members like playwright Tim-berlake Wertenbaker, while Daldry had strong backing from Nicholas Wright, a former associate director at the Court. For the record, Pendennis tipped Daldry in July. 13 Song getting severa'l merry (8) 15 The board admits every single one willing to learn (9) 16 A clay-pit that's rocky is abnormal (8) 18 A team's stage-whispers. (6) 20 Call upon first-rate sheikdom (5) 22 Book variety turns (4) EVERYMAN No.

2362: Mrs C.A Halford. Slourbridge; P.F. McLaughlin. Londonderry: B. Pryor.

Newcastle upon Tyne; Mrs M.C. Wieckin, Lincoln; Mrs E. Winter, Swindon. AZED No. 1015: J.R.

Berosford. Twylord; M. Boulton, Gloucester; W. (slip. Cambridge.

EVERYMAN No. 2353 SOLUTION li iln In In ll KIMIF IHITMnlnlnlSl 1 Etudent aver Killed: John Paul Smettom the, Police Federation, in warning Sthat it would be 'outrageous' if Mr Baker failed to implement his promise quickly. A spokesman for the Home Office said yesterday that Mr Baker was still committed to getting the legislation on to the statute book in this parliamentary' session. He said: 'We are looking for an offence that would cover the aggravated NEXT WEEK in The Observer Magazine: ARNIE a portrait of the superstar as a young bodybuilder. George Butler, the film-maker and photographer who brought Arnold Schwarzenegger to fame in his movie Pumping Iron, presents a first-hand account of the poor Austrian immigrant on his way to becoming the most powerful actor in Hollywood.

In an extract from his new book, Butler recalls Schwarzenegger's early days in the gyms of California. His photographs of the man he calls Oak are spectacular. Also: Paul Levy's 100 Best Wines series continues with bottles under 10. and our A-Z of Chinese medicine moves into its final week. Across I Computer programs, silly before hostilities with the Orient (8) 5 It's prudent having a thick wrap when in English river (6) 9 'Remote dynasty cultivating land (7) 10 Expect damaged floor to hold all right (4.3) II Went off agitated, caught out (6) 12 Divine heart-throb, perhaps, if in charge (8) 14 Altogether we get hearts fluttering, come rain or shine (2,3,8) 17 Reunited to bring the Everyman No.

2354 Peter Beaumont THE deaths of two more children within 24 hours piled pressure on the Government to stick to its promise to quickly crack down on joyriding with tough new laws. The latest deaths come in the week that Home Secretary Kenneth Baker faced political fury for apparently backtracking on a party conference pledge to curb joyriding by leaving the proposed legislation out of the Queen's Speech, signalling a possible long delay. A 16-year-old boy died in the early hours of yesterday morning when the stolen car in which he was a passenger crashed into a lamppost. According to police, an Austin Metro mounted the footpath in Coronation Drive, Hartlepool, Cleveland. The boy was named as John Paul Smettom, of Brenda Road, Hartlepool.

Police said a 14-year-old passenger was injured. flet for full details, ij to 'The 18-year-old driver of the car is in custody and will appear in the spokesman said. 'We were not pursuing the vehicle at the time of the In a separate incident, police were yesterday still hunting the driver of a speeding car which failed to stop after an accident in which an 11 -year-old schoolboy was killed on Friday night. Two cars struck Paul Hartley, of Fazakerley, Liverpool, who was in a group of about six youngsters crossing a dual carriageway in Aintree, Mersey-side, just after 6.30pm on Friday night. The first car with five youths aboard, which police say was probably a blue Maestro, failed stop after colliding with him.

The boy was then hit by a Nis mends ot the fcartn THE Royal Court Theatre will this week declare Stephen Daldry as its new artistic director. Daldry, 30-year-old director of the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill, was chosen for the prestige job last week, but immediately withdrew when told he. wpuld have to arrange his new terms of employment with the current artistic director, Max Stafford-Clark, with whom he was expected to work until the end of 1992. This nonsense has now virtually been sorted out after a meeting on Thursday between Daldry and John Mortimer, trapped by prosecutor (6) 2 What a merciful person has for presenting to aunt roaming about (9,6) 3 Ashen, having to harrass small fry (9) 4 Swaggers, appearing topless in low-quality papers (4) 6 Decay evident around very large sleeping-place (5) 7 Survive a big fight, if on feet somehow, in enclosed area (2,7,6) 8 Writer of libretto? Cyril's involved with it (8) 10 After limb's pierced by one, call up faithful follower (8) woman a profit (8,5) 19 A couple, we hear, to fall for a sweet (4-4) 21 War-cries of Red Indians in Western bands (6) 23 Car's beginning to make a rolling noise and fall to bits (7) 24 Cramped receptacle, English, seized by rotter (7) 25 Arrives by plane having abandoned France, and stays longer in bed (4,2) 26 Salesman, returning, fools around, making slanders (8) Down 1 Endure ordeal very noisily, 15 book tokens for the first five correct solutions opened. Solutions post-marked not later than Saturday to: Everyman 2354 (Comp), The Observer, Chelsea Bridge House, Queenstown Road, London SW8 4NN.

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