I'm getting nervous now as tomorrow I am doing my first "meet the author" session in Southwick Stores Tea Rooms. Hoping that lots of people will be curious enough to come along for a chat and maybe I might even sell a few more copies of the novel.
If this one goes well - I'll be planning another in the near future.
Come along and say hello if you can.
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Monday, 2 July 2012
The Grand Scottish Tour continues to Mull
Monday 11th June
We set off from Moffatt at 9.00 and filled up at a nearby garage with petrol and Mars Bars - purely emergency rations of course - the Mars Bars, not the petrol - we knew we were in for a long haul - three hours to Oban, then 40 minutes on the ferry followed by another 50 minutes ride across Mull.
It took longer than we expected. We had some rain up to and through Glasgow but it had eased off by Loch Lomond. We stopped there for coffee and walked down to look at the Loch, were amused by two swans with their three goslings swimming gracefully but then they came out of the water seeking bread from nearby humans.
The youngsters struggled to waddle up the sandy beach. We'd laughed at people waving away the notorious midges which we could see were biting them whilst we had watched from the safety of the cafe, enjoying our coffee - but we weren't laughing when they started nibbling us. Soon back on the bike encased in our crash helmets we made our way on our journey. So far we'd made good time and only 1.5 hours to go.
Then we came across a small tail-back which turned out to be caused by a car on fire. Traffic stopped both ways - there was nothing we could do but wait with the other bikers at the front of the queue and watch the fire-brigade do their job. The best thing about being on a bike is that you can ride to the front of a tail-back and be one of the first off again as soon as the road is open. And at last we were on our way again - worried now about the timing - we arrived in Oban just in time to buy tickets and catch the 2 o'clock ferry.
It was raining again on Mull but the island is truly beautiful and still unspoilt. We rode all the way up to Tobermory and across the winding road to Dervaig.
The B and B - Ti-Nah-Mara is on the side of a loch which is visited regularly by a female otter - we just missed seeing her several times. Catherine is the landlady of the B and B and she's very nice. She left out some binoculars for us, is very friendly, loves to talk and it turned out that she worked many years ago with the Heskeths who ran Mull Little Theatre in Dervaig back in the 1970s. I was quite excited to be back in Dervaig - I stayed with Marianne and Barry Hesketh in the late 1970s at Druimard and visited the theatre which at the time was in the Guinness Book Of Records as the world's smallest theatre. Lovely times spent with their son Nick and his wife Fiona, one year we camped beside a waterfall somewhere in the island and I had a hankering to try and find the site again.
Dervaig boasts the oldest Inn on the island - The Bellachroy Hotel - we ate our evening meal there on our first night and began to plan the next day. I wanted to see Iona.
We set off from Moffatt at 9.00 and filled up at a nearby garage with petrol and Mars Bars - purely emergency rations of course - the Mars Bars, not the petrol - we knew we were in for a long haul - three hours to Oban, then 40 minutes on the ferry followed by another 50 minutes ride across Mull.
It took longer than we expected. We had some rain up to and through Glasgow but it had eased off by Loch Lomond. We stopped there for coffee and walked down to look at the Loch, were amused by two swans with their three goslings swimming gracefully but then they came out of the water seeking bread from nearby humans.
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| Swans and cygnets at Loch Lomond |
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| On the road to Oban |
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| On the roads of Mull |
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| View from Ti-Nah-Mara |
The B and B - Ti-Nah-Mara is on the side of a loch which is visited regularly by a female otter - we just missed seeing her several times. Catherine is the landlady of the B and B and she's very nice. She left out some binoculars for us, is very friendly, loves to talk and it turned out that she worked many years ago with the Heskeths who ran Mull Little Theatre in Dervaig back in the 1970s. I was quite excited to be back in Dervaig - I stayed with Marianne and Barry Hesketh in the late 1970s at Druimard and visited the theatre which at the time was in the Guinness Book Of Records as the world's smallest theatre. Lovely times spent with their son Nick and his wife Fiona, one year we camped beside a waterfall somewhere in the island and I had a hankering to try and find the site again.
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| A meal and a beer in the Bellachroy Hotel |
Dervaig boasts the oldest Inn on the island - The Bellachroy Hotel - we ate our evening meal there on our first night and began to plan the next day. I wanted to see Iona.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Armed Forces Day Pictures
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| Villagers meet the troops |
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| Our beautiful High Street - with no cars! |
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| A waiting game |
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| Marching past with Golden Lion on the right |
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| The band |
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| Dead smart - I had a tear in my eye |
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| Marching past the Village Post Office |
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| Bob and Paula come out to watch |
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| Villagers applauding the troops |
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| Waiting to go into church |
Armed Forces Day Parade - Southwick
Yesterday the men and women of Southwick Park (previously HMS Dryad, now tri-services) paraded through Southwick High Street, passing the village green where a salute was taken by the Commanding Officer of Southwick Park accompanied by our local Squire.
People of the village decorated their houses, putting up the bunting last seen on the Queen's Jubilee but which had been taken down before the great storms of June took complete hold of our little world. Many of us stood in the street and applauded as we watched the men and women proudly marching by. I felt a lump in my throat as I watched, thinking of the things that these brave people had already been through in their lives and of what more they had to endure during their time in the services. It was a pleasure to see them all in their uniforms and it made me wish that there was more interaction between Southwick Park and the village.
It was great to see them all in the Golden Lion afterwards, enjoying a well-deserved glass of beer - incidentally the public house which is famous for its D-Day connections. There was a sense for me of being a part of something very special yesterday. It was especially heartwarming to see the various ranks all sharing the same space harmoniously with each other and with the people of this village who had turned out to wish them well and to thank them for what they sacrifice for their country.
Imagine my disappointment though when I later heard that some of the lower ranked personnel were reprimanded for drinking in the same pub as the officers! I knew already that due to some crazy ruling by senior staff at Southwick Park, the lower ranks had been told in the past that the Golden Lion was only to be used by higher ranks and that the junior ones were only allowed to drink in the other village pub, The Red Lion, which is less suitable for relaxing in a public bar just for a drink - they are set up mainly as a very popular and successful restaurant and although welcome drinkers as well, there are limited spaces for this. The Golden Lion is also an excellent restaurant but has two bars as well, a small comfortable lounge with sofas and a large public bar, a darts board and access to bar games. It's noisy and cheerful - you can eat in the bar if you prefer and it's never better than when it's filled with people of all ages enjoying themselves.
I cannot imagine why so called civilised people cannot live in harmony with each other - they don't have to sit together in the pub or even acknowledge each other if they don't want to. Not that many of the higher ranks come in regularly anyway. It's never overfull with them. Surely in this day of equality it is wrong to exclude certain members of the society from being able to enjoy themselves now and again in our historical village pub? It should be a part of their education when they come to Southwick Park and I'm sure they would be proud to drink in the place where Eisenhower, Montgomery, and even Prince Philip frequented.
And please, let's have a bit more integration with villagers. I know things have changed since then, but there was a time when all of us in the village had passes to get into HMS Dryad. We could use some of the facilities included a swimming pool. The navy seemed to want to get more involved in village life.
People of the village decorated their houses, putting up the bunting last seen on the Queen's Jubilee but which had been taken down before the great storms of June took complete hold of our little world. Many of us stood in the street and applauded as we watched the men and women proudly marching by. I felt a lump in my throat as I watched, thinking of the things that these brave people had already been through in their lives and of what more they had to endure during their time in the services. It was a pleasure to see them all in their uniforms and it made me wish that there was more interaction between Southwick Park and the village.
It was great to see them all in the Golden Lion afterwards, enjoying a well-deserved glass of beer - incidentally the public house which is famous for its D-Day connections. There was a sense for me of being a part of something very special yesterday. It was especially heartwarming to see the various ranks all sharing the same space harmoniously with each other and with the people of this village who had turned out to wish them well and to thank them for what they sacrifice for their country.
Imagine my disappointment though when I later heard that some of the lower ranked personnel were reprimanded for drinking in the same pub as the officers! I knew already that due to some crazy ruling by senior staff at Southwick Park, the lower ranks had been told in the past that the Golden Lion was only to be used by higher ranks and that the junior ones were only allowed to drink in the other village pub, The Red Lion, which is less suitable for relaxing in a public bar just for a drink - they are set up mainly as a very popular and successful restaurant and although welcome drinkers as well, there are limited spaces for this. The Golden Lion is also an excellent restaurant but has two bars as well, a small comfortable lounge with sofas and a large public bar, a darts board and access to bar games. It's noisy and cheerful - you can eat in the bar if you prefer and it's never better than when it's filled with people of all ages enjoying themselves.
I cannot imagine why so called civilised people cannot live in harmony with each other - they don't have to sit together in the pub or even acknowledge each other if they don't want to. Not that many of the higher ranks come in regularly anyway. It's never overfull with them. Surely in this day of equality it is wrong to exclude certain members of the society from being able to enjoy themselves now and again in our historical village pub? It should be a part of their education when they come to Southwick Park and I'm sure they would be proud to drink in the place where Eisenhower, Montgomery, and even Prince Philip frequented.
And please, let's have a bit more integration with villagers. I know things have changed since then, but there was a time when all of us in the village had passes to get into HMS Dryad. We could use some of the facilities included a swimming pool. The navy seemed to want to get more involved in village life.
Friday, 29 June 2012
Ocknell 2006
Kept awake by night's bitter cold kiss
When dawn brought the light
And sweet sleep's bliss -
I dreamt of journeys taking me
To unknown lands
With faintly familiar companions
Who turned into monkeys
Climbing trees,
Rowing boats
Racing on the river,
Glimpses only now of urgent actions
I can't quite grasp,
Nor the reason why.
So I sit here in the forest glade
The sun flitting,
Teasing with its intermittent face -
The leaves shimmering in the breezes
Casting mottled shadows as they dance
Across the written page.
Memories of years gone by
Here in this glade
Over there - our first year,
The tree we huddled under in the rain,
The forest deserted of all people but us
We shared the time with ponies
And healing rain, and trees and birds,
Hugs and forest fairies.
Over there, our second year -
When visited by boys who cut the trees
And ruptured the harmony
Nature had created here.
Last year's memories still fairly fresh
The celebration of love for two of us.
But year's memories blend into each other
Till it's hard to tell who was here
And when
And what was done
Each year a time of healing, renewal,
Surrendering to the forest magic.
It truly is a fairy place.
When dawn brought the light
And sweet sleep's bliss -
I dreamt of journeys taking me
To unknown lands
With faintly familiar companions
Who turned into monkeys
Climbing trees,
Rowing boats
Racing on the river,
Glimpses only now of urgent actions
I can't quite grasp,
Nor the reason why.
So I sit here in the forest glade
The sun flitting,
Teasing with its intermittent face -
The leaves shimmering in the breezes
Casting mottled shadows as they dance
Across the written page.
Memories of years gone by
Here in this glade
Over there - our first year,
The tree we huddled under in the rain,
The forest deserted of all people but us
We shared the time with ponies
And healing rain, and trees and birds,
Hugs and forest fairies.
Over there, our second year -
When visited by boys who cut the trees
And ruptured the harmony
Nature had created here.
Last year's memories still fairly fresh
The celebration of love for two of us.
But year's memories blend into each other
Till it's hard to tell who was here
And when
And what was done
Each year a time of healing, renewal,
Surrendering to the forest magic.
It truly is a fairy place.
Grand Tour Continued
Sunday 10th June
It was a pleasure to ride across the Pennines with no rain. The sun even came out for a while. We stopped beside a waterfall called "High Force" and walked down to the point where you could take photos. A truly beautiful little walk through woods alongside the river. The waterfall was quite impressive, broiling brown foaming water falling into a black pool.
It was a pleasure to ride across the Pennines with no rain. The sun even came out for a while. We stopped beside a waterfall called "High Force" and walked down to the point where you could take photos. A truly beautiful little walk through woods alongside the river. The waterfall was quite impressive, broiling brown foaming water falling into a black pool.
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| Trees grew on the side of the cliffs, covered in moss. |
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| Broiling waters, black with peat. |
Our next stop was Hadrian's Wall. We stopped by a Roman Fort and took some photos. Mark spent a bit of time uploading pictures to Facebook from his phone and then absent-mindedly left the phone on the wall, not to realise until we arrived at the next Bed and Breakfast about another hour's ride away.
This put a damper on what had been a lovely day so far.
We explored Moffat - a farmer's market in the town hall, tasted smoked chicken and smoked stilton cheese and browsed the stalls, feeling a little guilty at trying things out as we had no room to carry anything more on the bike. We lunched in the Star Hotel. Everyone so friendly - and Scottish! We'd passed across the border during the ride and had a very emotional moment when we crossed into Scotland.
The day cheered up even more when Tom phoned from Southwick to say that Mark's phone had been found and the lovely people who found it were going to post it to our home.
We wandered out again in the evening to The Black Bull for dinner, then on to The Stag for a drink. A drunk at the bar with a Jack Russell amused us for a while and the barmaid seemed a little p.........d off with him especially after the dog did a whoopsie in the corridor. We staggered back to our room quite early and were amazed at how light it is in the North. At past ten o'clock and still light outside.
True love
I feel the clear water
Flow over my head
Lying here bathing
In the sweet words you said.
I drink in my dreams of you
Hold a moment in my hand
Watching forever thoughts
Of how we've wandered through this land.
When you glance up
And smile at me
That look in your eye
Tells me more than a million
Of lifetimes gone by.
Flow over my head
Lying here bathing
In the sweet words you said.
I drink in my dreams of you
Hold a moment in my hand
Watching forever thoughts
Of how we've wandered through this land.
When you glance up
And smile at me
That look in your eye
Tells me more than a million
Of lifetimes gone by.
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