tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75916760451385788122024-02-19T07:34:00.842-08:00Miriam's RamblingsSnippets reflecting life and thoughts of a writer who has published a fourth novel set in an English village. First, Gypsies Stop tHere, then No Gypsies Served, followed by Shades of Appley Green. Now it's back to the Sixties with Secrets in Appley Green.Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-75653063427099953942019-03-15T05:30:00.000-07:002019-03-16T10:29:57.304-07:00Weaving Update - Pulling a Few Threads Together<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">F<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">or anyone
who stumbles upon my Ramblings for the first time, I should explain that my
blog has been going strong since 2009 soon after Gypsies Stop tHere was
published. Of course, the initial rhyme and
reason for it was to lure people in and raise awareness of my books. Click on any book cover and you will zoom straight off to Amazon! It’s
what writers do – shameless, basic promotion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now I put
no effort into promotion. That belongs to the past. Of course all six
titles are still there but my more recent blog posts cover a random, wild mix of
topics, whereas before, as you will see if you dip into the archive, there were
recurrent themes of Gypsies, other writers and their books, author events,
Parkinsons - mostly ideas that link to the four novels. Aside from that, there were some personal outpourings relating to cancer in 2014.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">So – with
that explained, I think I can truly say that my weaving is not just a phase, or
a fad. Such a simple thing to do that
brings me great pleasure and actually opens up lots of creative ideas, is
proving to be an enduring pastime. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNF0y8YJO-k_RfQyQNpJI_5wi7OBpWub_J2jq9UY_IXKD07nfgBOjwqgUQxExsCmJ94tPLG5ItyJFoFXeKYLiA7GLd1xZu_PSzyPEQc3xHA8NwVIvgRY-x0dxNom-5Tbl_HF5jf-Xukjsx/s1600/20190223_125452_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNF0y8YJO-k_RfQyQNpJI_5wi7OBpWub_J2jq9UY_IXKD07nfgBOjwqgUQxExsCmJ94tPLG5ItyJFoFXeKYLiA7GLd1xZu_PSzyPEQc3xHA8NwVIvgRY-x0dxNom-5Tbl_HF5jf-Xukjsx/s320/20190223_125452_resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">Not yet tempted to explore fancy textures the scarves
go on because I still enjoy choosing colour combinations that suit a particular
person. Here’s one in the making, now finished, for a friend who loves emerald
green and her style is crisp and smart. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">For a silver-haired friend who is quite committed to a certain shade of dark lavender or milky purple-mauve (I need a Pantone number for this!) from her jacket to kitchen walls and front door:</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNM9a-YOQp52jBhijQW_C4-_XejqNPviCplVp8_gxa0LC2l4Zx3cLTiTIKTwDGNNx23zi5hfXjm7zTLJ-KIF19eNB_yq6F1zCBKWn5_m_SBM1ssZE5N7td3hDyKsGKFw3UEwxMESmyG9e/s1600/20180429_110850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNM9a-YOQp52jBhijQW_C4-_XejqNPviCplVp8_gxa0LC2l4Zx3cLTiTIKTwDGNNx23zi5hfXjm7zTLJ-KIF19eNB_yq6F1zCBKWn5_m_SBM1ssZE5N7td3hDyKsGKFw3UEwxMESmyG9e/s320/20180429_110850.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpmaGsWS3-Lbabp4KvSCZXumNW0z_U_AcLXn9AlyDSueiLos425L-NqQCekQpO9uOF-PgShznofi3DjuXocnZzYDb47DKXAUFjJYhnIzriS66Ac4rTXAsJDEySwxKzU59m2WuOsWN7aME/s1600/IMG-20190109-WA0000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpmaGsWS3-Lbabp4KvSCZXumNW0z_U_AcLXn9AlyDSueiLos425L-NqQCekQpO9uOF-PgShznofi3DjuXocnZzYDb47DKXAUFjJYhnIzriS66Ac4rTXAsJDEySwxKzU59m2WuOsWN7aME/s200/IMG-20190109-WA0000.jpg" width="150" /></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">This for a daughter to match her brown hair, blue eyes, scarlet coat and fair skin – just
about! </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">And for other son-in-law and son:</span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDS905rlE-9utAv45M26fdDy5jls28emJVFEk7OQVviQDq5or-NyBVxF9jwX5r3TbunAXK689NocBWBdbH76AIeVyvcDDAKBN5ZowXnbXHcjo34A4DtaXtpWu4Ubi877U4fnpiAdWhLo8/s1600/20180316_135851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijDS905rlE-9utAv45M26fdDy5jls28emJVFEk7OQVviQDq5or-NyBVxF9jwX5r3TbunAXK689NocBWBdbH76AIeVyvcDDAKBN5ZowXnbXHcjo34A4DtaXtpWu4Ubi877U4fnpiAdWhLo8/s320/20180316_135851.jpg" width="180" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPLqQkMItsLnMopFAdHcsuBNl1rkcvw2LHJrRCTmBau_1EzKtG3R5K1qP6ka9r2RLvgFf5oL7A5BShw-jKEN7_aZxCuXEpbp7nx1AxuO9IzoTT-W7fcoMc6L76Kr9YyGE0Cqde8COkovY/s1600/Daniel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPLqQkMItsLnMopFAdHcsuBNl1rkcvw2LHJrRCTmBau_1EzKtG3R5K1qP6ka9r2RLvgFf5oL7A5BShw-jKEN7_aZxCuXEpbp7nx1AxuO9IzoTT-W7fcoMc6L76Kr9YyGE0Cqde8COkovY/s320/Daniel.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">I had the
cheek to make some for old friends, a couple who live in Scotland, the husband
being Scotsman through and through and probably has his own clan tartan for all
I know. Remembering the plethora of shops in Scotland we came across last year
stacked high with tartan scarves of every hue, it seemed like
sending coals to Newcastle, but at least each of my scarves is unique! </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdbmABGuoO2CxUWDXtuvYBwPZE_d6zuKfmpCfP84ck00HF2wD_tlr4bf9N-4uaL1uZSjjskE_e5yovr6NFxogA0z2YYIV_frEoPnWnbLVuPgvlUPIABj4Y1UENxBOIaedA_ejcY5mJxS7/s1600/20190218_120248_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdbmABGuoO2CxUWDXtuvYBwPZE_d6zuKfmpCfP84ck00HF2wD_tlr4bf9N-4uaL1uZSjjskE_e5yovr6NFxogA0z2YYIV_frEoPnWnbLVuPgvlUPIABj4Y1UENxBOIaedA_ejcY5mJxS7/s320/20190218_120248_resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">The colours of
her scarf match fair hair, blue eyes, purple heather as a nod to Scotland and
hot pink for, as I said to her, ‘whatever you want it to be!’ be it lips, nails or shoes!</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">And his ended up rather jazzier than I'd envisaged:</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIBDn3R0bpFl771B4z2Va2-70eppKbZDMQ5_pWn8Wp010VSP3_JaeGv1IgGz6SGU1lnqDS-Q2zHwLXCzjHva9wqIcbeZJkerxLuv0hEs3lYyhICoblxAkK0GLN-N2g1SjddumZWJmLJNm/s1600/20190218_120820_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIBDn3R0bpFl771B4z2Va2-70eppKbZDMQ5_pWn8Wp010VSP3_JaeGv1IgGz6SGU1lnqDS-Q2zHwLXCzjHva9wqIcbeZJkerxLuv0hEs3lYyhICoblxAkK0GLN-N2g1SjddumZWJmLJNm/s320/20190218_120820_resized.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then with
three small granddaughters I decided to give them a break from the usual
knitted creations I heap upon them and weave them skirts! I hoped it would not
be too much like Barbara and Tom in <a href="https://www.bing.com/search?q=the+good+life+tv+series&form=EDGNB2&mkt=en-gb&httpsmsn=1&plvar=0&refig=a7ea54a9c3dd4ac694337794fc3a13e3&sp=3&qs=LS&pq=the+good+life&sk=LS2&sc=8-13&cvid=a7ea54a9c3dd4ac694337794fc3a13e3&cc=GB&setlang=en-US" target="_blank">The Good Life</a> who in their self-sufficient
lifestyle, got into spinning and weaving and presented themselves in
naturally-dyed pea-green jacket and trousers that were quite a sight! If you
can remember that you may be as old as I am.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">The first
little skirt I thought could be a lesson in colours: red and blue = purple,
blue and yellow = green (if you squint a bit) , yellow and red
= orange and so on. The second one I just had to make pink with a bit of
sparkle and for the third I asked the
oldest grandchild for her choice of colours, as she is of the age where I think she
probably likes to be consulted. After a few seconds’ thought, she said
decisively, ‘dark blue, burnt orange, and hot pink’. This, believe it or not, is where I got the
‘hot pink’ from!! So with the addition of a little light blue – here we are.
Quite a winning colour scheme.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAB0dBHqv6FJ6_VO8VjtMmGznPdLffntBopoK4cnsG5B8k49NJ55mgQ9PVB7nklloMpiMHQAtb6FtT0yh_SXIHSC1GcUWRA6IsHByBl0zutVae96cCPKeb2Z9mPUFOkMOG2d-0lMWioQu6/s1600/pearlskirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAB0dBHqv6FJ6_VO8VjtMmGznPdLffntBopoK4cnsG5B8k49NJ55mgQ9PVB7nklloMpiMHQAtb6FtT0yh_SXIHSC1GcUWRA6IsHByBl0zutVae96cCPKeb2Z9mPUFOkMOG2d-0lMWioQu6/s320/pearlskirt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0ewGP-XwRpkqKqpQkTkPpSctnXboQPG9WI3BTcF_wRZiUgB1eb8VLXw1Pqqe_51gqXZyX2kIKC-_eO8tCZ0-Tx5RBJM7TZ6pYxeKxNqn3G5nWPUb6UGn5qA-URVs-g6Ry-yNDaJxUHcx/s1600/thedaskirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie0ewGP-XwRpkqKqpQkTkPpSctnXboQPG9WI3BTcF_wRZiUgB1eb8VLXw1Pqqe_51gqXZyX2kIKC-_eO8tCZ0-Tx5RBJM7TZ6pYxeKxNqn3G5nWPUb6UGn5qA-URVs-g6Ry-yNDaJxUHcx/s320/thedaskirt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzBFu-Piv3Gc2Z02jlSd6A09PdOXKib3cD-Z0eDQo4peAhi6QgnFOrbwYfdl6n6-f4V59DBfHdsb3UNxCAob8Jq8P3VshcR_wi0TsYJe1t60VnrnZVVnHpKJCqI_gjIowyz1z0iRZOgbn/s1600/20190126_153306_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEzBFu-Piv3Gc2Z02jlSd6A09PdOXKib3cD-Z0eDQo4peAhi6QgnFOrbwYfdl6n6-f4V59DBfHdsb3UNxCAob8Jq8P3VshcR_wi0TsYJe1t60VnrnZVVnHpKJCqI_gjIowyz1z0iRZOgbn/s320/20190126_153306_resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">The mistake
I made with all of these was assuming that girls in the 3 – 7 age-range have
anything resembling a waist. I thought a lightly elasticated waistband would
secure it on their hips – except they don’t have hips! Braces were thus ordered
to save the day and the skirts falling around their ankles.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Looming
large!</span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">Proof of
commitment? Well how about getting a loom twice the size of my
first one – 32” wide? So I can make
wider scarves!! No. I can broaden my
horizons – to other items as yet undecided but certainly more possibilities are in my head, which I really do look forward to making. The beast has yet to be constructed so more of that
later in the year.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: large;">Related posts:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://miriamwakerly.blogspot.com/2018/02/fabrication-not-fiction-weaving-update.html" target="_blank">Fabrication not Fiction</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://miriamwakerly.blogspot.com/2017/01/b-looming-marvellous-weaving-new-story.html" target="_blank">B-looming marvellous! - weaving a new story ...</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-40633128671005152412019-02-09T02:43:00.000-08:002019-02-10T03:37:24.303-08:00English Setter Puppies – The Storm before the Calm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">The English Setter is sometimes overlooked and now classed as a
vulnerable native breed. Last year I put forward a proposal to the Surrey Life
editor for an article to help give them some positive PR. My praise for the
breed was at the time fulsome and unequivocal but there wasn’t really a strong
enough Surrey connection so this offer was declined.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">Since then, I am beginning to understand why a prospective Setter owner might hesitate.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKeSXqRHxdmT1b1WXsTwYnfCadIHB8G8USPuKTkVfOoWhatymJKCImmukqDqIQSV8rAAg3E2EVx8n5iCVCRboqDuqTqKtjA8sDwXDnGHMQ4JoPIcKSe8MS6Zy6YIFpXtVi5gxNNJpA7bY7/s1600/1995+03+or+thereabouts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1050" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKeSXqRHxdmT1b1WXsTwYnfCadIHB8G8USPuKTkVfOoWhatymJKCImmukqDqIQSV8rAAg3E2EVx8n5iCVCRboqDuqTqKtjA8sDwXDnGHMQ4JoPIcKSe8MS6Zy6YIFpXtVi5gxNNJpA7bY7/s320/1995+03+or+thereabouts.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first, taken 1995</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">In our family we have had English Setters for the past 35 years,
a tradition we are presently continuing with the acquisition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">two</i> adorable sister pups in September last
year. Friends and family thought we were mad; even the breeder was incredulous,
saying to us with raised eyebrows, ‘Are you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sure</i>?’
<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>We are, after all, not as young as we
were – in fact, we are ‘of a certain age’ – enough said.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">The English Setter is one of the oldest breeds of gundog, with a
history that traces back to the 14th century. It was developed over hundreds
of years from the spaniel and was originally called a Setting Spaniel, used
for finding and setting birds. Apparently, so we are told, used as such in
Spain, once the hunting season is over, they are dispatched by hanging, which
is why there is quite a trade in rescue dogs from there. I cannot personally verify
this but it probably has at least an element of truth that makes my stomach
churn.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKeLZmTYy5UghErp3bXvm4V5gw4olwVt5AJYz4G3pA-bq_SD7tq4r6OcPQIFmAwqYfa44ILB-EzyCyTuX9Q8jn8kuV4V3u4kBxWK-JayVXtIy4dUlj6llbrM0VP2YgZH6TKOGr_hcR6YJ0/s1600/IMG_0551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKeLZmTYy5UghErp3bXvm4V5gw4olwVt5AJYz4G3pA-bq_SD7tq4r6OcPQIFmAwqYfa44ILB-EzyCyTuX9Q8jn8kuV4V3u4kBxWK-JayVXtIy4dUlj6llbrM0VP2YgZH6TKOGr_hcR6YJ0/s320/IMG_0551.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our 2nd beautifully behaved English Setter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">I said to the editor in my pitch, ‘<i>Classed by colour as Blue Belton,
Orange Belton and Tricolour. I would describe them as, not only gorgeous, but
‘proper dogs’, beautifully proportioned, energetic, and some would say
strong-willed but I stress that overall they are the most gentle of dogs. On
Wikipedia the terms used are "intensely friendly," "good
natured," and "adores visitors and is particularly happy with
children", with which my family would heartily concur. Our first English
Setter bitch, a blue we called Shimmer, we chose because, with young children and
their playmates around, temperament was paramount and we noticed a waggy dog
behind a wrought-iron garden gate that seemed to welcome children poking their
fingers through and saying hello on their way home from primary school. We
investigated and discovered the English Setter. That was 35 years ago when they
were gaining in popularity.</i></span></div>
<i></i><br />
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;"><i>Once they get over the mischievous, puppy stage we have found
them to be soundly trainable, and since they were bred to be working dogs,
always up for a long walk</i>.’</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_5xZzf0TQEVGtZeEAlcDppuBxRLOoF0hsn7R-oP-ZaE73Patettd9xHMf8zNj4pscTmKNmLfqqzLYIFSN-jbShVFpUqIkLVl00qyt64XGerIoKhiPZ3VbPVRVfympTqWHjKfcTPc1Sk-/s1600/IMG_1433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_5xZzf0TQEVGtZeEAlcDppuBxRLOoF0hsn7R-oP-ZaE73Patettd9xHMf8zNj4pscTmKNmLfqqzLYIFSN-jbShVFpUqIkLVl00qyt64XGerIoKhiPZ3VbPVRVfympTqWHjKfcTPc1Sk-/s320/IMG_1433.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovable Setter number 3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">Now here I would interject and point out that as puppies they
can drive you to a point of nervous and physical exhaustion. We had never had
siblings before and this was a whole new ball game (actually a weak metaphor as
they are not willing retrievers). Before, we did get a puppy when our existing
dog was 7 years old and this worked very well, the older one acting as a kind
of surrogate mother and patient role model.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">They are such high octane bundles of energy that their time in
the house with us, even now at 7 months, is limited. When little and virtually incontinent
with both wee and poo and chewing anything available, five minutes was usually
enough before they were escorted back to their bedroom, our utility room, or sectioned
off patch of garden. Much better now – once they are mud-free or dry from being
washed, they come in at various times of the day but my husband or I have to
watch them like a hawk as they are still incurably curious, bless them –
electric cables, shoes, the best furniture, coal and so on, – all those things
you specially wish they would not touch. Before you say anything, yes we give
them a plentiful supply of chews and ‘toys’ and play silly games. The constant
correcting from us ie shouting ‘No’, ‘Leave’ and occasional expletives are
beginning to register and take effect. They understand and obey commands ‘Sit’
‘Leave’ ‘Stay’ ‘Lie Down’. Stupid they are not! Perhaps all puppies are like
this, but English Setters can be notoriously naughty and two is more than
double trouble.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCe_HNGsQNEYXYNo9VWwLS9mNULvrDDMW0zGW1MbTzRPsGj7ATblu9klOGazp5Yeonb671ylMvs_VQDOm8_dTRCMM1kG0PYpR4MA2m7eaoJfvIGcoj1peahKCpxI67D7x-7YV_wb-vOwQ/s1600/20180824_110958small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="666" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCe_HNGsQNEYXYNo9VWwLS9mNULvrDDMW0zGW1MbTzRPsGj7ATblu9klOGazp5Yeonb671ylMvs_VQDOm8_dTRCMM1kG0PYpR4MA2m7eaoJfvIGcoj1peahKCpxI67D7x-7YV_wb-vOwQ/s320/20180824_110958small.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irresistible or what?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">On twice daily walks up our local woods, they are at times
‘partners in crime’. There was that autumnal day they ate fly agaric mushrooms,
or spotty red toadstools, and we thought they might die, but that’s another
story … They need to run so we cannot keep them on leads all the time and have to take risks,
constantly calling or whistling them back with the lure of rewards and praise. They
understand all right, but if there’s some attraction they consider a better
offer, like any other dog or group of dogs, a runner or cyclist, ‘selective
deafness’ kicks in and we might as well not be there. At times they put their
heads together as they scamper off at speed, quickly vanishing. We get a phone
call from somebody a couple of miles from where we live to tell us they are in
their garden and ready for collection. This is not funny. They can also easily
find their own way home. Roads are alive with vehicles and even our best
efforts to get them to sit when walking on a lead by a road every time a car
goes by, is probably forgotten when they are going solo – together. Apologies to neighbours if you are reading this.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF-muR0E57A9_ZeuEwbco6YkNcg5_vgSk9clIsCScYGzU0Q1MoVdZ_FfLOl8FiTqSAWjUfaRDfq5UNHaxyfEmxyAoh6Lb7waPSjAt0CyeHeOISPsZQ1pWil0_0t2Ng2CqDunfmdeSrZ9t/s1600/IMG-20180920-WA0000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="1328" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWF-muR0E57A9_ZeuEwbco6YkNcg5_vgSk9clIsCScYGzU0Q1MoVdZ_FfLOl8FiTqSAWjUfaRDfq5UNHaxyfEmxyAoh6Lb7waPSjAt0CyeHeOISPsZQ1pWil0_0t2Ng2CqDunfmdeSrZ9t/s200/IMG-20180920-WA0000.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsAxycw8-eKWUd7-MiKWXqb5k-BsYXM5WNRIRcJF8Y6bAYRwCu0w4UHF5NxtdKsaoc9S6hNzcl85SuG_I1tBW0Fw_fqU5UDLRAU2qLjuNPcYtKktC9WbZX_uvZUU3cnZjquulWvKCxfiE/s1600/IMG-20181008-WA0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsAxycw8-eKWUd7-MiKWXqb5k-BsYXM5WNRIRcJF8Y6bAYRwCu0w4UHF5NxtdKsaoc9S6hNzcl85SuG_I1tBW0Fw_fqU5UDLRAU2qLjuNPcYtKktC9WbZX_uvZUU3cnZjquulWvKCxfiE/s200/IMG-20181008-WA0001.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1weLcd9yxz8amNlWlYAvsNK9Us7S3YXEQZvjFLWle4Urp76IP1flewzqVItG8hwqeP_MDwD3B5afGh1G-YmZOd8rF3mAQxHiHtNa17wnvVCQWmlD5QuzFMuZ9eKU6DC3qG3SxomLpdpS/s1600/IMG-20180923-WA0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1weLcd9yxz8amNlWlYAvsNK9Us7S3YXEQZvjFLWle4Urp76IP1flewzqVItG8hwqeP_MDwD3B5afGh1G-YmZOd8rF3mAQxHiHtNa17wnvVCQWmlD5QuzFMuZ9eKU6DC3qG3SxomLpdpS/s200/IMG-20180923-WA0001.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">Now they are 7 months old we are beginning to see an improvement, so I am writing this not to put off anyone who might be thinking
of getting an English Setter, but rather as a warning of what to expect in the
short-term especially if you get two. We are retired and give a lot of time to them as a kind of project.
If we were out working it would not work at all. They are energetic, strong, messy,
lovable little vandals and unless you are prepared for the problems this
brings, don’t go there.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">They are indeed the best of dogs, once grown up and matured, and
we see the green shoots of their sweet gentleness now beginning to unfurl. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">Registrations of puppies reached 1344 during 1974 but by 2012,
and again in 2016, the Kennel Club listed the English Setter amongst the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulnerable_Native_Breeds" title="Vulnerable Native Breeds"><span style="color: #0645ad; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Vulnerable
Native Breeds</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;"> as only 234 puppies were registered. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;">As we know from years of walking our dogs in different parts of
the UK many people do not even know what the breed is called but often stop to
enquire. Others approach us and our dogs, a little misty-eyed, to tell us that
they used to have Setters or they were brought up with one and always these
people say they are the best dogs in the world. When we meet a stranger walking
an English Setter, we greet each other with beaming smiles – and it always
seems as if the dogs do too! (Dogs do smile, by the way, although near impossible to catch this on camera.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdVkGU3lM9a0-SBUafjWt8uhVkPRUaIbMnLUZQcLTeDiXPKek8aAcDOP0doHbUCneGHfci_ciyHbujOPF7VmT4Os34J8xjcPXdbPKQgn4h543OHaNwij3vm3eZIJV5pGC7svRhWGp-gZ5/s1600/7months.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdVkGU3lM9a0-SBUafjWt8uhVkPRUaIbMnLUZQcLTeDiXPKek8aAcDOP0doHbUCneGHfci_ciyHbujOPF7VmT4Os34J8xjcPXdbPKQgn4h543OHaNwij3vm3eZIJV5pGC7svRhWGp-gZ5/s320/7months.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 16.7pt; margin-bottom: 5.2pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 5.2pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-38499627026725494252018-12-29T05:37:00.002-08:002019-01-04T02:16:30.999-08:00Lakeside - a legend right on my doorstep<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">High time I
wrote something here so – what comes to mind?</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">First off, Happy
New Year to you! Never before can I remember such a start to a year, when we as
a nation hardly know what to wish for any more. For Parliament to have broken up
for their Christmas recess has left us with the biggest, most complex end of chapter cliffhanger - and who knows how this
political saga will unravel?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Closer to
home - for me at least – I thought I’d just drop you a note about an article I
wrote for the January issue of Surrey Life. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It has been in the shops since around 20
January and can still be found in Waitrose and a few other discerning Surrey
shops</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: #000120;"><u> <a href="https://www.surreylife.co.uk/home" target="_blank">Or, you can subscribe online. </a></u></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<u></u><span style="color: #000120;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">You may
know I used to write a regular column for the magazine on people who breathe life
into villages and help to bring small communities together – separate incidentally,
from the Surrey Community Heroes awards where achievements are slightly
different. It was a fabulous theme for me, getting out and about unearthing
and helping to acknowledge salt of the earth types, some of whom have indeed gone
on to gain further recognition and awards. You can find all of these in the <a href="https://www.surreylife.co.uk/magazines/digital-archive" target="_blank">Surrey Life archives </a>under the title <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Notes
from a Small Village. </i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I guess it
ran its course and after a couple of years this wound up but then I was able to
pitch for longer features. I wrote an article on Surrey choirs in August which
made quite a splash on the pages.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7oG7VRrX-OFDMH19E6UY47j9rQ3oM9lZXSJK6-jAAiRwul7BkCKh_NTRw941hcpKlBKatbSnunQhC7DvHAa22gDOmjjVl4RKWeL1FYETz1VG0d1LGgV3zLHtF6HUK7SBLaZ_C_nq_Bn5l/s1600/IMG_4711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7oG7VRrX-OFDMH19E6UY47j9rQ3oM9lZXSJK6-jAAiRwul7BkCKh_NTRw941hcpKlBKatbSnunQhC7DvHAa22gDOmjjVl4RKWeL1FYETz1VG0d1LGgV3zLHtF6HUK7SBLaZ_C_nq_Bn5l/s320/IMG_4711.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Tardis comes to mind - inside, the cabaret suite is HUGE!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">T<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;">he one in
January is about Lakeside Complex in Frimley Green and the life and times of
its founder and owner, Bob Potter OBE, who has just celebrated his 90<sup> </sup>birthday. I won’t tell you what this is about exactly as this would spoil what
holds a few surprises for the average reader. Need I say more?</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Just this -
it was tricky to write because of the timing. Bob Potter and his team were
waiting to hear from the British Darts Organisation for confirmation that they
would be hosting the January 2019 championship – as it has for the past 33 years.
For legal and contractual reasons to do with TV coverage they were prevented from talking to me until
word was officially out and up on their website.</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAjKL8DZSZRRNV8ySiXUo_TNITkNvuo0Sn7oKYGjC86g2oQy_ExA1kjehAIGn_58ofaz_Vv1qGLUzNhDkkNM7oFV7CHa_6kRmIIpc3Pjpy0sVg4dPHBpHZw_NBrIL5HfCv7EF67iaCA6w/s1600/IMG_4709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMAjKL8DZSZRRNV8ySiXUo_TNITkNvuo0Sn7oKYGjC86g2oQy_ExA1kjehAIGn_58ofaz_Vv1qGLUzNhDkkNM7oFV7CHa_6kRmIIpc3Pjpy0sVg4dPHBpHZw_NBrIL5HfCv7EF67iaCA6w/s200/IMG_4709.JPG" width="150" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">The editor
only wanted the article to go into January issue if they had this Darts contract
to give it a topical hook. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>After a few
failed interviews, where people did not materialise <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>– which at the time I could not quite
understand – I saw Bob the day before the editor's deadline date. By this time I had virtually written the article!!</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53pbpJRNWqdgzWjwdrg5tsO6aPGirsgwyxECuqWdto495xu3j_qxyPUg7geldI3o5umjo6fb7tiNryBNOpVmU_syXzV_YqLdMe0WIVVg4drYi_C-6cdcq3H4s73aemKEOPWLpwfCCzgx_/s1600/20181110_225143_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53pbpJRNWqdgzWjwdrg5tsO6aPGirsgwyxECuqWdto495xu3j_qxyPUg7geldI3o5umjo6fb7tiNryBNOpVmU_syXzV_YqLdMe0WIVVg4drYi_C-6cdcq3H4s73aemKEOPWLpwfCCzgx_/s320/20181110_225143_resized.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Anyway, it
all turned out OK in the end – so I hope you enjoy reading it, especially those
who live in the area. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>My husband and I,
and son who happened to be visiting, were invited to attend a show – which was
Anita Harris. It was a class act – with excellent supporting musicians. The
only sad thing was that there were so few people in the audience. I hope next
time I go there will be more of a crowd – this club that had its heyday in the
1980s still has a lot to offer. For me – within walking distance. How could I
have missed it all these years? I could kick myself! </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">Coincidentally
there is <a href="https://www.surreylife.co.uk/people/celebrity-interviews/anita-harris-on-life-in-surrey-1-5813439" target="_blank">an article in Surrey Life on Anita Harris. </a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">By another strange
and most unlikely coincidence, in early December my husband and I were on the
cabaret stage where so many big stars of yesteryear have trodden the boards,
performing 16 songs with Camberley Rock Choir. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Supported
by family and friends of a large choir this had a better attendance! </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13.33px; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">I do hope
more people will delve into the <a href="http://www.lakesidecomplex.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lakeside programme </a>and perhaps find an event
that might tempt them to get a table together with friends for a night out in
the village!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="color: blue;"></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-13670517672743400492018-02-19T07:50:00.005-08:002018-02-20T04:23:31.773-08:00Fabrication not fiction! weaving update ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My past couple of blog posts have been serious – perhaps too
much for some, I don’t know. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Time to lighten the mood then! It’s a while since I
issued a weaving update. A few Facebook people politely expressed interested in this so here's more evidence of looming madness - a few
home crafted products, as our house and family members are becoming somewhat
swathed in various tartans and plaids. <span style="margin: 0px;"> <a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/b-looming-marvellous-weaving-new-story.html" target="_blank">My previous post last year.</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I find it sadly</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> therapeutic seeing a medley of colours
grow into an item that I know for sure no-one else in the world has ever seen!! Very
much <i>not</i> mass-produced!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These carry on from where I left off last time. Yes, we have too many cushions.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXo_KCpQdUXhA2AyYxa6y7lyoC8OaqqikCuziFHF7RBVme7DjNGkhWQS1wnEFUVQ5lXeBGupe5hYsl9Q-W7NMkpDY2NwR6rGg6EmA9Qt6h4XdbFyAeu_yiZKs2eSmpyPvpSs2h2SA1QQX/s1600/IMG_3944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXo_KCpQdUXhA2AyYxa6y7lyoC8OaqqikCuziFHF7RBVme7DjNGkhWQS1wnEFUVQ5lXeBGupe5hYsl9Q-W7NMkpDY2NwR6rGg6EmA9Qt6h4XdbFyAeu_yiZKs2eSmpyPvpSs2h2SA1QQX/s320/IMG_3944.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After making a pale fine baby blanket I embraced the brightest colours </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I could find for a lightly padded cot blanket or play mat. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Colours inspired by native American Indian craft. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsudnyYeNPXJUsqsReVLgZIdRJ3XPf-YOSQOgIEUlM9juh4zlxUoprjMD5pzU2tmn95XG-DdKAWkNPU19GLEB8ADcSww4-Xv0KNjTxp_Ese0Vkam1RIv_z7e1M5p9rWqIA5sfOJEjc51r/s1600/20171203_143428_1517928066960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipsudnyYeNPXJUsqsReVLgZIdRJ3XPf-YOSQOgIEUlM9juh4zlxUoprjMD5pzU2tmn95XG-DdKAWkNPU19GLEB8ADcSww4-Xv0KNjTxp_Ese0Vkam1RIv_z7e1M5p9rWqIA5sfOJEjc51r/s320/20171203_143428_1517928066960.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95bje5-WtbQmrI76FIesvwxq6gxHLKHriLxQQRTfOYOGGOX6jjXnwXdnH_pVV-pdhYyLK6AOgDuy_H0ivxsWwujrM5DJf477PRi7L-59sWKRN_KQcSRIpWjim9HgfXU8H1GV53z4p-9Nd/s1600/20171206_115207_1517927936558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95bje5-WtbQmrI76FIesvwxq6gxHLKHriLxQQRTfOYOGGOX6jjXnwXdnH_pVV-pdhYyLK6AOgDuy_H0ivxsWwujrM5DJf477PRi7L-59sWKRN_KQcSRIpWjim9HgfXU8H1GV53z4p-9Nd/s320/20171206_115207_1517927936558.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipe59hNKvnIfnpcF5bdzc48cxdBQji11Wo0IaDnxYCr_JVwC2BzJJVb8_7h-x2unB4zz8bY03r6BnOTO1r-iE2KbBySlNpySjyt_eKUVyZztUTmcn75uHreBAGOe2C5tkIQ7XpIg4M_09X/s1600/20171226_091554.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipe59hNKvnIfnpcF5bdzc48cxdBQji11Wo0IaDnxYCr_JVwC2BzJJVb8_7h-x2unB4zz8bY03r6BnOTO1r-iE2KbBySlNpySjyt_eKUVyZztUTmcn75uHreBAGOe2C5tkIQ7XpIg4M_09X/s320/20171226_091554.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">... this was the soft, baby blanket </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">with matching, tiny, prem-baby garments.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhtlP4HXaKUj8A0xkT8pa_QuJ30VPtNVfSFVBaNlY6WRhM4Eyc1h3pm61jLBdZignKf2XzRHC536NKZQqb4fORBTc_b0HbpTRkn61dU5usONRh2MNhLPbl7OvecWpPXO4wQlP-SQh4_4Z/s1600/vinnieclothes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhtlP4HXaKUj8A0xkT8pa_QuJ30VPtNVfSFVBaNlY6WRhM4Eyc1h3pm61jLBdZignKf2XzRHC536NKZQqb4fORBTc_b0HbpTRkn61dU5usONRh2MNhLPbl7OvecWpPXO4wQlP-SQh4_4Z/s320/vinnieclothes2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, like it or not, all family members will be receiving for birthdays </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a scarf </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to suit their personalities. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My lucky son-in-law was first on the calendar </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and I had thought black, white, grey with a hint of red, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but daughter put me right, assuring me that he is a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">muddy-brown, muddy-green with a hint of mustard kind of guy.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZu3tlIl-NdG8i0zknKbTYx8V17pZH31ihPL32tEesoQlAeENMbez1U_VH__3rByNAL8g55186k25EfcoyhHHJysPi6WAACgfk9AbKBbiCF65VtUW248hvvx81EospcXe39Q0ZWN6THER/s1600/20180114_184043_1519044889285_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZu3tlIl-NdG8i0zknKbTYx8V17pZH31ihPL32tEesoQlAeENMbez1U_VH__3rByNAL8g55186k25EfcoyhHHJysPi6WAACgfk9AbKBbiCF65VtUW248hvvx81EospcXe39Q0ZWN6THER/s320/20180114_184043_1519044889285_resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9P86cssdwqVP5zedB5SyNQrbnZnwM9UnhBFueo15t6oltQgam1ZhdtYVg25u2RLgO0nm_8PzMDQ6m-nvcvhBdi5EuAupgH3wNBDHDBaSR9_dQ9odfNyyQdO6CWoep7U7f6KZIyk6mHEuI/s320/20180119_173212_1519044865912_resized.jpg" width="180" /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Combined the usual with a length of fabric I had in the cupboard for years </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">- kitchen chair cushions, lightly padded but quite flat.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyCVFVS7L1tZmx_pWZo8-bWCmiS2djzSPjSOUYNt24Rrht65qN1_f-QKCZWtxPJ_vPEEZ6tMNLU_cSzInj8SuXCkZSlXClzLG-duJGYp8efnYcct0cbNsxt4FiizpIHThv3mnnsPVbt2yW/s1600/20180214_134214_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyCVFVS7L1tZmx_pWZo8-bWCmiS2djzSPjSOUYNt24Rrht65qN1_f-QKCZWtxPJ_vPEEZ6tMNLU_cSzInj8SuXCkZSlXClzLG-duJGYp8efnYcct0cbNsxt4FiizpIHThv3mnnsPVbt2yW/s320/20180214_134214_resized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitAG0JTXNSh08T62zti0bpJ_JMmHTzbJvjIUn_gBIrh2__lh-KrAbfTar1X8XTwnoYua3nagchvF1H3d5fiJS94tfbjYQSJPU7exuuBY-M3YsV9GHxFGgZEMRiKggwMDAKYLf0yjvcbnr4/s1600/20180214_134246_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitAG0JTXNSh08T62zti0bpJ_JMmHTzbJvjIUn_gBIrh2__lh-KrAbfTar1X8XTwnoYua3nagchvF1H3d5fiJS94tfbjYQSJPU7exuuBY-M3YsV9GHxFGgZEMRiKggwMDAKYLf0yjvcbnr4/s320/20180214_134246_resized.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> oh - another view of the one above ...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaCcCtwKYFIfQbojzwhVO3PSLLYYYt_edghiZYk8ZaLd-lYDtHVowgZfjRaak3Vvk0Ja4ACwtbCgeDgGTt1SW8Nq1c6VgV2N2ozlfIufYItg1gruedqblLy87V8FrVK4y-qcWJWi4Pduk/s1600/20180218_161532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaCcCtwKYFIfQbojzwhVO3PSLLYYYt_edghiZYk8ZaLd-lYDtHVowgZfjRaak3Vvk0Ja4ACwtbCgeDgGTt1SW8Nq1c6VgV2N2ozlfIufYItg1gruedqblLy87V8FrVK4y-qcWJWi4Pduk/s320/20180218_161532.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and the blanket of many colours folded ready for gift-wrapping!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Yeah, for Christmas!!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOrTYfCh2WCYS_fKU6OU9DkRgka8IE0jquCTg3U4JpxfDVYfnlsEvlIhkt42uXw63e7XXREo_AUduBx3A7zVBjMLKYFAf_G7wbzJYzsQd-LnSyFfe1Eq8yv9bjAnk0x96M5l_XQDAAQPTd/s1600/20171226_091758.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOrTYfCh2WCYS_fKU6OU9DkRgka8IE0jquCTg3U4JpxfDVYfnlsEvlIhkt42uXw63e7XXREo_AUduBx3A7zVBjMLKYFAf_G7wbzJYzsQd-LnSyFfe1Eq8yv9bjAnk0x96M5l_XQDAAQPTd/s320/20171226_091758.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I like to try and make square cushions symmetrical in design; so unless you have a very sharp, photographic memory, the rows need to be recorded on paper as once you get started the length gets rolled up on the loom and disappears out of sight.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">This one is to go with bedroom colour scheme.</span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2Cg8SH7fWaTtXYBg0CjzmDdVJzkDw8aqbKQ88qHMOHXeghyYpvD0VX6cfe7-stLk0mgz50Rbh_tVMiweir1eIa7ql8XoeLdUv89wmzlfHHgLFuwNZFcjhqVeFYoh0tYBctZyf1-34gag/s1600/20180219_131338_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2Cg8SH7fWaTtXYBg0CjzmDdVJzkDw8aqbKQ88qHMOHXeghyYpvD0VX6cfe7-stLk0mgz50Rbh_tVMiweir1eIa7ql8XoeLdUv89wmzlfHHgLFuwNZFcjhqVeFYoh0tYBctZyf1-34gag/s320/20180219_131338_resized.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enough? for now anyway ...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks for bearing with me.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial";">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">When I see Michael Portillo on TV I'm inspired to wonder if he might like a scarf woven </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> all his jacket and trousers colourways. What do you think?</span></div>
<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></u><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></div>
<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></u><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-33062931391483109122018-02-05T02:48:00.000-08:002018-02-10T06:22:02.687-08:00A rapport with Kazuo Ishiguro? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 16px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Dare I claim such a thing? Kazuo Ishiguro won the Nobel Prize for
Literature last year, as you may know. I have just re-read his early novels
written in the nineteen-eighties, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Pale
View of Hills</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An Artist of the Floating World, </i>two short but perfectly formed novels that have aged on my
bookshelf to the point where they are now falling apart!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyfyKXjVPpOfMchniWXKWO8I2meZE_8Vm67VKfXBonLL9OIKDAZdbMSjkFA1hA4xjxQL59pOfBKApfPhb_qs8FHl5MkmCHbLogDE420iz3ffr4bN-tYyWwmOjYaEjQQGtONSvbW47xEUQq/s1600/IMG_4683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyfyKXjVPpOfMchniWXKWO8I2meZE_8Vm67VKfXBonLL9OIKDAZdbMSjkFA1hA4xjxQL59pOfBKApfPhb_qs8FHl5MkmCHbLogDE420iz3ffr4bN-tYyWwmOjYaEjQQGtONSvbW47xEUQq/s320/IMG_4683.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">I was totally transfixed listening to his Nobel Laureate speech given in
Stockholm<span style="margin: 0px;">,
when he explained how memories do not just fade but also may be
coloured, even distorted by time and later assumptions. He sees reality as
being at best fragile and refers to Marcel Proust’s ‘Memories of Things Past’ –
I found this exciting as I refer to this in my novel <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No
Gypsies Served</i> when my half-Gypsy hero decides to write his life story and
reflects upon a quotation from this very book. This comes close to the end of
chapter 2.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The following day Dunstan switched on his computer with a heavy
heart, recalling books he had read in his ‘literary phase’ in his thirties, and
in particular Marcel Proust’s <i>A la Recherche du Temps Perdu</i>, or, as he
read it, <i>Remembrance of Things Past</i> and he had recently come across a
quotation from it: <i>We find a little of everything in our memory, it is a
sort of pharmacy, a sort of chemical laboratory, in which our groping hand may
come to rest, now on a sedative drug, now on a dangerous poison.</i> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.2in;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Indeed. Well, he had started something he knew he must follow
through but his reasons for trying to unearth memories, revisit his childhood
and those troubled days as a younger man, had changed substantially. Initially
it was to please Kay. How feeble and pathetic that seemed now. He had to
chuckle. It was a poor reason to commit to such a massive undertaking. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Since
dipping a toe in those turbulent waters, feeling their danger and strength suck
him in, he could see it was no mean task to rekindle emotions and recall
harrowing scenes of his life that he had conveniently tucked away for so long.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0129; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The sentiment in the Proust quotation describes well how Ishiguro's characters' recollections are sometimes unreliable. Delusion, memories that shift and slide form a recurring theme in his novels. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
personally love his disdain for genre, as being mostly a marketing tool, and
indeed he sees the barriers now breaking down, as genres merge more and
more.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I wrote a couple of blog posts in
November 2009 <a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/question-of-genre-is-it-vexed.html" target="_blank">on this vexed question</a> <a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/still-bugged-by-genres.html" target="_blank">Still bugged by genres</a> and how it can sometimes seem like
the tail wagging the dog; so this was music to my ears when<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I tuned into an interview<span style="margin: 0px;"> and heard his thoughts. (W</span>here he also confessed to having problems
with setting – not that you’d notice!) Like many writers he likes freedom in
writing, not the confines of a particular label and in his latest book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Buried Giant</i> he uses myth and
fantasy. </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">You
might be forgiven for thinking that he was brought up in Japan when you read
his first two novels, but he and his parents came over to England when he was five years old, so as a young man he felt largely ignorant of his
homeland. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; margin: 0px;">Of
course the aftermath of the 1941 nuclear bomb in Nagasaki, where he was born,
was not only well documented but must have been in the background of many a
family conversation, especially where his grandparents were concerned. He came
to realise that the old way of life he could vaguely remember, mostly through
stories he had heard as a young child, may have been to some extent an
‘emotional construct’. This idea seems to flow through his characters’ struggle
to grasp memories with clarity. Also the switches in chronology – now so
commonplace in fiction were not the norm thirty years ago.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Remains
of the Day</i>, Man Booker Prize winner 1989, and <i>Never Let me Go</i> have both been
made into films and he finds TV and cinema exciting. Literature in its printed
form must offer something special in its storytelling to compete culturally with the screen. He
believes that a novel can build up gradually to achieve a satisfactory
resolution, rather than is found in many films, where the viewer’s attention is
grabbed boldly only to find that the momentum may peter out. This is my
understanding of what I have heard him say and, again, is something with which
I dare to whole-heartedly agree.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-74684562340722505092018-01-28T06:10:00.000-08:002018-02-05T03:19:59.412-08:00An Uncounted People, a film for Holocaust Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday morning I went
along to the Surrey History Centre in Woking, Surrey, to a rare showing of an
award-winning Canadian film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A People
Uncounted</i> for Holocaust Memorial Day. Filmed in 11 countries, it focuses on
the 500,000 Roma who were murdered. The title suggests that the number is an
underestimation, as they went unrecognised until relatively recently – not
until 1982 in Germany. In the Nuremberg trials no Roma Gypsies were called to
testify.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Porrajmos</i> means ‘devouring’ or ‘rape' and
is the word for the Romani holocaust. It is not just the numbers that make this
film so powerful, but the dark, harrowing detail from first-hand accounts by survivors
who are inevitably diminishing, since they tend to be over 90 or even 100 years
old.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Roma are the largest
ethnic minority group in Europe – and the diaspora of Gypsies is the largest in
Surrey today. Along with Jews, disabled people, resisters to the regime, and homosexuals,
they were systematically oppressed, persecuted, and finally gassed and
cremated.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">You may not have heard
of this documentary. Despite it being five years old, it might not have attracted a
wide audience yet I would guess that anyone who <i>has</i> seen it would feel impelled
to recommend it to others. It is important for, as Dr Ian Hancock, highly
respected author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We Are the Romani
People</i> and Director of the Romani Archives at the University of Texas,
chillingly says in the film ‘It could happen again’. He would not say this
lightly.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The film reminds us of
other genocides around the world, both current and recent, and of the appalling
racism and hate that still exists between different peoples. As many news
bulletins confirm, hate crime is on the increase rather than something the
human race has resolved and consigned to history.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">It shows shocking images
and reminders of events of which we are perhaps aware but have become dangerously
complacent. I make no apology for recalling here some horrendous facts from the
film. Branded like animals with a Z for Gypsy, denied basic rights, the Roma
were referred to as vermin. Nazi eugenics is well known but the Institute for
Race Hygiene in 1939 worked on the premise that the Roma were born to
criminality, lazy and so on. Their facial features were measured and children
who did not measure up, literally, were deported to Auschwitz. A respected
child psychologist, who died in just 1966, carried out this work.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Before the 1939 Olympics,
the Gypsies, Sinti, Roma, were moved to live next to a garbage dump with
nothing. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>How often have Gypsies and
Travellers been tucked away on unhealthy, toxic and poorly drained land?</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">A survivor from 2,800
people in Vienna herded onto trains tells how a blacksmith stayed behind
because he was deemed useful. Local ‘social services’ deported people to avoid
paying for their upkeep. Death was caused by forced labour. Massed killings by
poisonous gas followed later. Auschwitz had what was called a ‘Gypsy Family
Camp’ and about 60 metres away from the buildings into which they were crammed,
were the crematoriums. They arrived daily, to be gassed in 8 – 10 minutes, and
burned. When the crematoriums were overflowing, the people still alive would be
driven into forest or field to pits where rubbish was burned and forced to
simply jump in.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">A 105 year-old survivor
tells of how 5,000 mostly old people, robbed of their possessions, were
transported to Transnistria. They had nothing, no water and drank from puddles.
Another survivor tells of how Roma were loaded onto cardboard boats. They were
shot, the bodies eaten by crows and dogs. A man was made to rape his own
mother. There was nowhere to sleep or to eat and they lived for two years in
that misery. These are all fragments of what the survivors tell us in the film.
The Final Solution was signed by Himmler in March 1938 but the suffering that
preceded this is largely undocumented which is what makes this film so very
significant. Moreover, after the war, by which time 90% had perished, the
remainder had nowhere to live, no papers, nothing and stayed in the
concentration camps. Thereafter, with children unable to read or write, they
were at a continual disadvantage as they struggled to merely survive. What we
must remember is that, even today Roma in Europe and Gypsies in the UK live in
the shadow of this dark history. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">A man describes what it
was like to be herded onto the cattle trucks, upright like pencils stacked in a
box. They could not move. An exhausted woman could no longer hold her child and
had to let the child slide down to the floor, then could not bend enough to
pick up the child and they were both eventually trampled to death.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then there was the
medical experimentation in Dr Mengele’s laboratory, for which Roma children were
used. One survivor tells of how the eyes were removed from a living 12
year-old, without anaesthetic.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Surrey has one of the largest Romany
Gypsy and Traveller populations in the UK, still suffering from inequalities
that racism brings – in education, employment, health, and above all,
homelessness, which underpins everything else and is becoming a massive problem
for the Gypsy and Traveller community. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">I began exploring this very problem
over ten years ago and then wrote <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gypsies
Stop tHere</i>. I am uncertain as to whether certain issues have improved but I
do know of great work that is going on and will write about this another time.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Surrey Gypsy Traveller
Communities Forum has bought the rights to show this film. As Jeremy Harte, of
Bourne Hall Museum in Epsom, puts it, ‘As ethnic intolerance flares up in
Europe, this film sheds light on this unique culture while presenting the Roma
tale as emblematic of the world’s legacy of racism and genocide. Closer to
home, this film presents a powerful and thought-provoking challenge to what the
Commission for Racial Equality has described as ‘<span style="color: black; margin: 0px;">t</span>he
last acceptable form of racism’ in our own country.’</span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">To end, I quote from a talk given by
one of two survivors who spoke movingly in a Memorial Service that took place
just before the film yesterday. He quoted from Edmund Burke, the 18<sup>th</sup>
century Irish politician, who said: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘The only
thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.’</i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">If I ever hear of another showing of
this film, I will let you know.</span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-67008022172614289182017-08-25T05:45:00.002-07:002017-09-07T03:38:54.543-07:00Going back to Tetbury<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Tetbury in Gloucestershire is a
small town, or large village, and HRH Prince Charles lives in Highgrove a
couple of miles away on the Bath road. I mention that for those of you who may
not have heard of Tetbury. It kind of puts it on the map!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I lived there until I was 17. In 2012, when I wrote about my memories of the 1950s and 1960s <a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/coming-full-circle-some-tetbury.html" target="_blank">Coming Full Circle</a> I was astounded by the response, especially from people who remembered me
and my family. Take a look and you’ll see what I mean! To have so many comments
is quite a rare, heart-warming thing.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I have a deep fondness for
Tetbury, as you will see from this nostalgic trip I took a few weeks ago, and
it greatly influenced the setting for my novels. Appley Green lies on the
border of Surrey and Hampshire, but its sense of community was very much derived
from my early years. Tetbury is both very different and the same from how it
was when I was a child and I decided to go back on my own to revisit some of those memories - for real! My parents passed away in the 1990s, so it's a while
since I’ve wandered Tetbury streets simply to absorb both changes and familiar sights.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">This may have no relevance to you
if you’ve never heard of the place, let alone been there. I understand that,
but if you read on you may be tempted to stop there on your way to Devon or
Cornwall for example, or take it in when you ‘do the Cotswolds’.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Unsurprisingly, the shops have all changed since I was a child. So here we are inside a <i>relative</i> newcomer, <span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.highgrovegardens.com/shop-locations" target="_blank">Highgrove Shop</a> in Long Street. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglIB1TZ2QqjHQtuqQ8jnyT7Oywr_0lbrIpsUB8bwr5TKPBTyaKW3ZZnjzMWlO9NLtXiCv7mYm8-II2x_XYhu_uYXwUW-kGKob7ZsL3csF8LG03TOQ7LZX2uHAbsEKOf6SAfJIdVZ9j8WFV/s1600/20170712_114937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglIB1TZ2QqjHQtuqQ8jnyT7Oywr_0lbrIpsUB8bwr5TKPBTyaKW3ZZnjzMWlO9NLtXiCv7mYm8-II2x_XYhu_uYXwUW-kGKob7ZsL3csF8LG03TOQ7LZX2uHAbsEKOf6SAfJIdVZ9j8WFV/s320/20170712_114937.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I took a sneaky photo of <a href="http://chavenage.com/" target="_blank">Chavenage House</a> mentioned in my 2012 post, familiar to you perhaps as Trenwith in TV’s Poldark. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmw5GaALh8sn5SOdaLU8-ZKvmmPqsP-YIjNv1Wsj0Lw2M0HOODWfWMRAjPl2ZyTHZIjwVtOAihLe1c_ez3l41QAGKyJLRqiDbskBQhmHVrTCeCMxdqommU89_PVPky6xTmlsMTlwYMIgT/s1600/20170712_131840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmw5GaALh8sn5SOdaLU8-ZKvmmPqsP-YIjNv1Wsj0Lw2M0HOODWfWMRAjPl2ZyTHZIjwVtOAihLe1c_ez3l41QAGKyJLRqiDbskBQhmHVrTCeCMxdqommU89_PVPky6xTmlsMTlwYMIgT/s320/20170712_131840.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Imagine Aidan
Turner galloping all the way from those Cornish clifftops to Tetbury. Must have
been a nightmare for the continuity team!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">This photo will mean a lot to
people who remember as I do, but I am sorry it may be of no interest to
others.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>This is the back of The Ferns, what
was Sir William Romney’s School, also mentioned<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>in my 2012 post.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLhBYUQpB77L3XzLN_6nCvJzd7PTUp7-jhzjIJ_Vmc-FwZyWjXiHZdYfqKUgNiyoVNEH6iDC8PgyZbgqrRL6A-UHN0Lphf1Hghxs6U_g9IYQq0hl9LrLAS0SdJkHFhVdUzUf2UVdCzFS1/s1600/20170712_120444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLhBYUQpB77L3XzLN_6nCvJzd7PTUp7-jhzjIJ_Vmc-FwZyWjXiHZdYfqKUgNiyoVNEH6iDC8PgyZbgqrRL6A-UHN0Lphf1Hghxs6U_g9IYQq0hl9LrLAS0SdJkHFhVdUzUf2UVdCzFS1/s320/20170712_120444.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">The huge Cedar tree is still there – iconic and steadfast –
but the beautiful grounds with their lawn tennis courts and herbaceous borders
are pretty much built over now. Here’s a couple of old photos taken on my first ever camera, a Brownie, snatching glimpses of it as it was: I was a bit of a daydreamer
on the tennis court.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMJ4bt7P_msXukD59bNYdf8-JCGeBnrYOgoNd09qrnvrx4XxuBTFXdzUiQlM1qc4amv0H6ZOaTDLo0HsJpIn0CVCQvtjCkSAxSGDcODwDIRQ7HAsAUTjwBGvzuGQEuOFeUb_6H7rJ-b96/s1600/img033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1549" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfMJ4bt7P_msXukD59bNYdf8-JCGeBnrYOgoNd09qrnvrx4XxuBTFXdzUiQlM1qc4amv0H6ZOaTDLo0HsJpIn0CVCQvtjCkSAxSGDcODwDIRQ7HAsAUTjwBGvzuGQEuOFeUb_6H7rJ-b96/s320/img033.jpg" width="309" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH23A75-p3NHCYpiV3oMS2t51lxeQhuupjK_C0IW72O49HEMpXWvqff-MzhaCgTbVo3dlLG0mZH0Rl6y2IzaUiEWTFjxObUlIc7bd2t4VC3lkUC3_rkh8FMby0b3OK915vk-3_7vz9O33U/s1600/img043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1479" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH23A75-p3NHCYpiV3oMS2t51lxeQhuupjK_C0IW72O49HEMpXWvqff-MzhaCgTbVo3dlLG0mZH0Rl6y2IzaUiEWTFjxObUlIc7bd2t4VC3lkUC3_rkh8FMby0b3OK915vk-3_7vz9O33U/s320/img043.jpg" width="295" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">This alleyway is Eccles Court. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaoio9EvLprh0rGdK_l3ERhzdYDny_yC1uw_ybwtxUpT1d3JmpwhwrZxKdrUvSglrxmthoQAnjpDUx_38mvqaBqJHEjwBvlYJ6hFe8L3l0XZF6RD0I8eKAniQs8xH77o-NFQHJlv70VaU/s1600/20170712_121105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaoio9EvLprh0rGdK_l3ERhzdYDny_yC1uw_ybwtxUpT1d3JmpwhwrZxKdrUvSglrxmthoQAnjpDUx_38mvqaBqJHEjwBvlYJ6hFe8L3l0XZF6RD0I8eKAniQs8xH77o-NFQHJlv70VaU/s320/20170712_121105.jpg" width="180" /></a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">You may well say, 'So what?' A tad self-indulgent, and obscure for you, but it means a lot to me as I walked along this four times a day to and from Courtfield
School situated near The Chipping. I remember swinging round those metal posts
so well, and in a wall was a triangle of three holes
where you could insert thumb and two fingers and make a wish! Now, covered by an interesting plaque!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxtKPJvqGwowd7uo5dLhutpsMbji_1awJ3rXg_3LZTJvHG9KHj6MbVKs-8W8wc6EHFeQNfFPk0ayb9JoXVFTxdh1SX-S8k6Nsroe1K34nZ-HnUYgETw-fJtDgEsP-rxvP3iafmY0PkMXUO/s1600/20170712_121203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxtKPJvqGwowd7uo5dLhutpsMbji_1awJ3rXg_3LZTJvHG9KHj6MbVKs-8W8wc6EHFeQNfFPk0ayb9JoXVFTxdh1SX-S8k6Nsroe1K34nZ-HnUYgETw-fJtDgEsP-rxvP3iafmY0PkMXUO/s320/20170712_121203.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">This used to be the girls’ playground at
Courtfield School and house where a progressive teacher lived. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmasXlpBk629kRgR4h9cbSyJK1_0QZLTpFb1KDkxzZE5mLbGxRPZxJh-MzkMf0GcgTXDbfZRNNeBJjbE33SgBKS170c0wWKrHKr-exzZPjrciXSI8ArAb8emKRAG6EGhKuJyGf5v2spIHM/s1600/20170712_121704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmasXlpBk629kRgR4h9cbSyJK1_0QZLTpFb1KDkxzZE5mLbGxRPZxJh-MzkMf0GcgTXDbfZRNNeBJjbE33SgBKS170c0wWKrHKr-exzZPjrciXSI8ArAb8emKRAG6EGhKuJyGf5v2spIHM/s320/20170712_121704.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">She let us call
her ‘Sylvia’ – yes, in the 1950s - and did some kind of strange chanting with her pupils. A friend and I spent a Saturday morning cleaning her windows, something I’d
never done before. Our parents knew nothing of this and neither, I suspect, did
our headmistress, Miss Rymer!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">This is the side rear view of the school, set
in a lovely, rather wild garden where children must not stray from the paths ...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5XEMol9que4-Rp0HFbCqRW_lpJyTb1qZikBGgsMWhx1ATwXzrX0EGIkmiGZzF3j3Ab8vRc_ytPVIRxhBSamlF02wtjXMR7BnYxvXHTje8W4XDknE_dP9LJ9n-TKyP3hpog_Oljcj8ioH/s1600/20170712_121724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5XEMol9que4-Rp0HFbCqRW_lpJyTb1qZikBGgsMWhx1ATwXzrX0EGIkmiGZzF3j3Ab8vRc_ytPVIRxhBSamlF02wtjXMR7BnYxvXHTje8W4XDknE_dP9LJ9n-TKyP3hpog_Oljcj8ioH/s320/20170712_121724.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">... and surrounded by a high Cotswold stone wall, and as you can see here those grounds are totally hidden behind big trees (not so big 60 years ago). </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsE5SGmmWMSy8x7bOlsSV9PLh4euSgD6nVa2nEhjezi9PNcAoqLDqQt_FXL_HV5kFy2TOsl02thCQ8haZL9v2xpQoPv1Man7eMY503WsEX2Bth4lQ-fDxDi5-4UrS28jrbZTLUKQRAZ12/s1600/20170712_121349.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCsE5SGmmWMSy8x7bOlsSV9PLh4euSgD6nVa2nEhjezi9PNcAoqLDqQt_FXL_HV5kFy2TOsl02thCQ8haZL9v2xpQoPv1Man7eMY503WsEX2Bth4lQ-fDxDi5-4UrS28jrbZTLUKQRAZ12/s320/20170712_121349.jpg" width="180" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Opposite the school are the quite
famous Chipping Steps ...</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLKp112iZsD8qtrm_prwvppXSCRpiVkMiV49cZ04Aa0kQJJwohyphenhyphenZHuclaHO9UzsalZX-D5aPwjHdYWgDSA0zkUy-gUXnjvQaHxICCs7eZPn3DuoGWGfEapXjdgdzcuvJepCvFrVf79dIX/s1600/20170712_121911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLKp112iZsD8qtrm_prwvppXSCRpiVkMiV49cZ04Aa0kQJJwohyphenhyphenZHuclaHO9UzsalZX-D5aPwjHdYWgDSA0zkUy-gUXnjvQaHxICCs7eZPn3DuoGWGfEapXjdgdzcuvJepCvFrVf79dIX/s320/20170712_121911.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">... and another photo in an area that was the cattle
market, at the base of steep Gumstool Hill. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>A pen has been preserved to its memory.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOtP9nklfnnycXuj6FYl52FVlzzmI_0Jv3s8wt-0e23uJA83WCaYvOvz9eNmRqzwapFzifYoRLPJKtBhJ6e1lfVwp8dtVPnRw2TvMFv16sfWEOh23QVVCIcskO4f3TJ5b_6AeO3b7P6dQ/s1600/20170712_122124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOtP9nklfnnycXuj6FYl52FVlzzmI_0Jv3s8wt-0e23uJA83WCaYvOvz9eNmRqzwapFzifYoRLPJKtBhJ6e1lfVwp8dtVPnRw2TvMFv16sfWEOh23QVVCIcskO4f3TJ5b_6AeO3b7P6dQ/s320/20170712_122124.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Looking down from Gumstool<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Hill where <a href="http://www.tetburywoolsack.co.uk/" target="_blank">the old woolsack races</a> took place. Still do! </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpXIbUtEekOu5a9uT1Y1Ayzgp1qiyeUVU4eFzrjbjV3N6Mmv5O9I1SibxdD3McfbrF42Cnykd355g9FQiEupYZKOnV656ug9bj9LQIz6ystvpgeUwn5_gZr6onljF9AvfocEXzC14MCmP/s1600/20170712_122614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpXIbUtEekOu5a9uT1Y1Ayzgp1qiyeUVU4eFzrjbjV3N6Mmv5O9I1SibxdD3McfbrF42Cnykd355g9FQiEupYZKOnV656ug9bj9LQIz6ystvpgeUwn5_gZr6onljF9AvfocEXzC14MCmP/s320/20170712_122614.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">From the opposite side, this one also looks down and is the exact spot where the photo for Vogue magazine was taken
in 1942<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>and later reproduced in
The Telegraph<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>1995.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFc1oEPRKPz7hPI1TNKbsYV1Fk4Rmfc8UvniN2FmV9kPhyphenhyphenvQIzpzHJmuSZAQZOuO4lbjIOREM9tHdqG_COv1LjyQ7mri17Bg5WGeKZRXtG17cdM9eP_EYAtRvcrnOaDb7tFSmKg0LjfvH4/s1600/20170712_122222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFc1oEPRKPz7hPI1TNKbsYV1Fk4Rmfc8UvniN2FmV9kPhyphenhyphenvQIzpzHJmuSZAQZOuO4lbjIOREM9tHdqG_COv1LjyQ7mri17Bg5WGeKZRXtG17cdM9eP_EYAtRvcrnOaDb7tFSmKg0LjfvH4/s320/20170712_122222.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSd0S_SfoMO_zinGbVyl488S6dD3GzLswuyzDJKWhVJ93d3DtDl2wfT3-meegiN_QV6Dyz8UYyvPt7xRvhkfLknimw08ci7YQA3PNFS8AqFiZScwPOAvW7F8ioljPUTBit98F85rORuOm/s1600/img069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1163" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSd0S_SfoMO_zinGbVyl488S6dD3GzLswuyzDJKWhVJ93d3DtDl2wfT3-meegiN_QV6Dyz8UYyvPt7xRvhkfLknimw08ci7YQA3PNFS8AqFiZScwPOAvW7F8ioljPUTBit98F85rORuOm/s320/img069.jpg" width="232" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">The maternity
home on Gumstool Hill where I was born! The story goes that my almost 10 year-old sister was not
allowed in and our Dad threw some pocket-money to her out of the window as
compensation! Hopefully the coins did not roll down the hill!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhte6izgWojuUmXQEovrVqDMGjybdN6BFOgc8oQyZvgwyY3V5lvn3VIQ6paYyLFhy8s3lZ-jpJJqaD0O28BgNtaTgfIACq2yWjqOrhK2PxAMIaOryu3EW7PbnAHvVqHUy62ikwXyIhl6d3b/s1600/20170712_122753.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhte6izgWojuUmXQEovrVqDMGjybdN6BFOgc8oQyZvgwyY3V5lvn3VIQ6paYyLFhy8s3lZ-jpJJqaD0O28BgNtaTgfIACq2yWjqOrhK2PxAMIaOryu3EW7PbnAHvVqHUy62ikwXyIhl6d3b/s320/20170712_122753.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">This is the shop behind
the old Town Hall that I imagined as the Wool and Baby shop (not actually selling
babies!) in <i>Secrets in Appley Green, </i>my fourth novel, set in the Sixties<i>.</i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlmr6DwpjV-gICFeR3NX8loML7HaOr5Ssg4SdISyhO0ftZZ18y6iRqjXa9R25jz_YFKhjRp9Cgk8BZ4PSle-eNuzst0nkbPClvociDe__kwzHMaPp_-W1ELTiEjGdXpMc-xhZrye0sOjw/s1600/20170712_123458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlmr6DwpjV-gICFeR3NX8loML7HaOr5Ssg4SdISyhO0ftZZ18y6iRqjXa9R25jz_YFKhjRp9Cgk8BZ4PSle-eNuzst0nkbPClvociDe__kwzHMaPp_-W1ELTiEjGdXpMc-xhZrye0sOjw/s320/20170712_123458.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Another one for
Tetbury<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>aficionados, many of you belonging
to the amazing <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/" target="_blank">Old Tetbury</a> Facebook page.<span style="margin: 0px;"> Not just any old woods, but </span>Bluebell Woods and the path that leads
mysteriously to Hermit’s Cave where, as 1950s free-range children, we once played.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLT6-yRwdey0cPBI2-8uDAOICgtK42huDf1pTiSjsWmVRQHfDZqz-dZVJ_v7nGpnNEjJbBS2v1K8UT9Fc66ahT6YSj7_bLJ47XjkrORAcmqEe2HU99rkMqj2_b6xIvCScu1OcM9pBHSB3/s1600/20170712_132417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLT6-yRwdey0cPBI2-8uDAOICgtK42huDf1pTiSjsWmVRQHfDZqz-dZVJ_v7nGpnNEjJbBS2v1K8UT9Fc66ahT6YSj7_bLJ47XjkrORAcmqEe2HU99rkMqj2_b6xIvCScu1OcM9pBHSB3/s320/20170712_132417.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">A bit dark, but I
vividly remember this field in Chavenage Lane being alive at dusk with scampering
rabbits and full of cowslips, before myxomatosis and the decline of indigenous
flowers.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnznvFb6RUZt_DpshVir_Gd7KFblrj61RKF7ROEk55C3N274x_YAkcvPpXfSC32-RBOZlrWQClX_wTfZMf7THcwdBAG3_D0208t6GKEKW0ye_wPLI1YHMOEfWgUTcOwPBVJgEamo0Rx-hu/s1600/20170712_132614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnznvFb6RUZt_DpshVir_Gd7KFblrj61RKF7ROEk55C3N274x_YAkcvPpXfSC32-RBOZlrWQClX_wTfZMf7THcwdBAG3_D0208t6GKEKW0ye_wPLI1YHMOEfWgUTcOwPBVJgEamo0Rx-hu/s320/20170712_132614.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">The
house where I lived until I left home. The rockery was built by my
father when they first moved there and had many rare alpine plants – it was his
pride and joy. No ball games allowed! </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZS3C9OkvxEEGMMoOH6FI3iuF_UvcbSkaEo-9J3C8c1UUJjWb2h43PXvigSUJ7MDngkGPfLG7MHUBBLtaPV7d8Khyskkd-ixvaKE1s6x_El8s2mi-9luVcadaO5R_uNRzlUXa6liBM_-47/s1600/20170712_133627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZS3C9OkvxEEGMMoOH6FI3iuF_UvcbSkaEo-9J3C8c1UUJjWb2h43PXvigSUJ7MDngkGPfLG7MHUBBLtaPV7d8Khyskkd-ixvaKE1s6x_El8s2mi-9luVcadaO5R_uNRzlUXa6liBM_-47/s320/20170712_133627.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I had thought this was demolished so was
delighted to see it now uncovered and intact, though a little devoid of plants!
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgImyu1EUs_WqLZibreLS_0QeNRpph16tm9bWNKkpSX2Yr68ORy88nOW2_xADXN3X3TJPdMcmKBeAdqHKXzn4sp1A8cpt9jWxkGRS1vJ77IKv17HyK6U41V7au4sUnRIsCFZyQttQl1hBn9/s1600/IMG_0385.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgImyu1EUs_WqLZibreLS_0QeNRpph16tm9bWNKkpSX2Yr68ORy88nOW2_xADXN3X3TJPdMcmKBeAdqHKXzn4sp1A8cpt9jWxkGRS1vJ77IKv17HyK6U41V7au4sUnRIsCFZyQttQl1hBn9/s320/IMG_0385.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">An earlier photo taken in 2010 shows the ‘dwarf’ conifers planted by my father. You see why I thought the rockery had disappeared!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I recall the neighbours in their gardens along this road of eight
houses, all clapping and cheering me (oh yes they did!) one sunny afternoon as I managed to ride my first bike without
falling off, (until I was out of their sight!). Perhaps this memory is slightly
rose-tinted! </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Photo of me as a teenager and rockery! </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CERHmgnzG9VoSWIbblVCn-Gh9GBmS-QP2TLpbr_IHTPe-_muMCeKaXcxGo6Bum3AU586mDby-fatRyTtcv7jkw2tYRCPpaG4Fvm0JmbQ12HzKzuseFdhk4_WCYrYdzJuaZCiijja9XF_/s1600/img032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1571" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CERHmgnzG9VoSWIbblVCn-Gh9GBmS-QP2TLpbr_IHTPe-_muMCeKaXcxGo6Bum3AU586mDby-fatRyTtcv7jkw2tYRCPpaG4Fvm0JmbQ12HzKzuseFdhk4_WCYrYdzJuaZCiijja9XF_/s320/img032.jpg" width="314" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">and as a baby with my sister - the same, now famous, rockery behind us. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii48c-ribjfBUtTFaFd_SR8SjYIX6gaGnJWf6zjiZNxtJbrv2dVWyFjELjgVyBcG1mTAXJdVjbxzzMb8F6a9St7c8UwJAZIVohjbiCBYMRInqyFHApcUk6hOP5nCPkfnCPZ0FCSnU0J_sn/s1600/img065.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1600" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii48c-ribjfBUtTFaFd_SR8SjYIX6gaGnJWf6zjiZNxtJbrv2dVWyFjELjgVyBcG1mTAXJdVjbxzzMb8F6a9St7c8UwJAZIVohjbiCBYMRInqyFHApcUk6hOP5nCPkfnCPZ0FCSnU0J_sn/s320/img065.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfMM2Tu7PS9AOmXF9SyvVu9-50I0I4ukgUxc_jLC0h_KsAQq82HMeUihLubYpISzLEv2hlQs0fIynTByEoixWBxsxNxXWUURCdLJa3uT5Pf4ckVB5VscBa13iSY3r4vFWX1XT74WamGq5/s1600/20170714_110444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfMM2Tu7PS9AOmXF9SyvVu9-50I0I4ukgUxc_jLC0h_KsAQq82HMeUihLubYpISzLEv2hlQs0fIynTByEoixWBxsxNxXWUURCdLJa3uT5Pf4ckVB5VscBa13iSY3r4vFWX1XT74WamGq5/s320/20170714_110444.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5gNoCVk7LBlMMN9iz4QCiQRXnUoPe1Edhkq4aMlFwYkcq_-vOlX5mfqQA00u4cM_vTCFjbhqDtHmHfClytOWbsriNzlTwp_aMCDS2_ZP4sXSYPtWRpv26GyoQHKjrNv_IC67xSK8XR4xr/s1600/20170714_110438.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5gNoCVk7LBlMMN9iz4QCiQRXnUoPe1Edhkq4aMlFwYkcq_-vOlX5mfqQA00u4cM_vTCFjbhqDtHmHfClytOWbsriNzlTwp_aMCDS2_ZP4sXSYPtWRpv26GyoQHKjrNv_IC67xSK8XR4xr/s320/20170714_110438.jpg" width="180" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">For anyone tempted to take a look at my old home town, it is a place of great history, beautiful to explore, under bridges, over bridges, through alleys and up steep steps!</span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.visittetbury.co.uk/" target="_blank">Visit Tetbury</a><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0px;">
</span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-35359212968519118862017-04-24T03:04:00.005-07:002017-04-24T03:04:38.868-07:00A Tale of Two 'Trafficless' Villages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Now is the time of year for getting
out and about when the sun shines. I love to explore Surrey villages and then
write about what is going on for Surrey Life magazine. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">It never ceases to amaze me how much activity
is buzzing behind the scenes in what often looks like a sleepy hamlet or
quiet village high street – apart from the traffic!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">It’s inspiring to talk to
people who, often quite modestly, lie behind events, clubs, campaigns and so on –
those ‘movers and shakers’ who make things happen. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">A few weeks ago I visited Stoneleigh Community
Library to meet up with Diana Kay and her creative writing group, and donate
three of my books. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0nutXC2gXKvFB6CjjMKI3wOtbXyIgCk-1VQKl7Po3iJSaEAgOeP0Yx3rZ7SeBOSr6OXS4xeCYuTu4Uv__5yVh7Ag8Qyx7MmwVhzU6YIxn5TOvQEnPXQlyXv4ufqJWupkyMZXIoh4aMwn/s1600/Stoneleigh+librarycropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX0nutXC2gXKvFB6CjjMKI3wOtbXyIgCk-1VQKl7Po3iJSaEAgOeP0Yx3rZ7SeBOSr6OXS4xeCYuTu4Uv__5yVh7Ag8Qyx7MmwVhzU6YIxn5TOvQEnPXQlyXv4ufqJWupkyMZXIoh4aMwn/s320/Stoneleigh+librarycropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">The location of the library is unusual. In the middle of a
vast area of London suburbia, a residential rabbit-warren, you come to
a high street and wonder </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><i>where is the
traffic? </i>P</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">arked cars, yes, but virtually nothing moving on wheels! </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">The reason is that it becomes a
cul-de-sac where the railway station lies and right there, opposite the
station, is the library. This gives Stoneleigh a real village feel and is such
a pleasant surprise – in fact it is more peaceful than some country villages
where traffic streams through. I wrote about this solid,
enterprising little library in the February issue if you want to take a look:
</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/ http://www.surreylife.co.uk/magazines/digital-archive" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Notes from a Small Village, page 47</span></a></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Within a few days I visited
Watts Gallery in Compton near Guildford to talk to Dr Desna Greenhow in the lovely tea-shop there about Mary
Watts. I also met up with Tristan Greatrex in Shere to
find out more about him and the wonderful website he runs for that picturesque and historic village. Shere draws a host of visitors for which there is a large, free car park!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">You can find the Mary Watts article
in the current issue of Surrey Life (May) and the Shere column will be in the
June magazine, out mid-May.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Surrey is a great county for
country walks, as well as villages, and last week my husband and I took our dog to Hindhead to do
the Devil’s Punch Bowl walk. So lovely to see the many shades of green that come
with fresh spring growth - sorry, no blue sky at the time!</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8blIr0A-4QG5gF8ztOnGyw44ceTmJCScbibq4NFx5lmnJS_5Y3Wop4XBcvPXa8D6fju0pgMUW3FMuWY5H1ZsqauU6Wt1uDpr5ER4nJdPqNcjZqGhE-Q8g7i8sEyAeHH57QEv5uacTpWL0/s1600/20170421_104709.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8blIr0A-4QG5gF8ztOnGyw44ceTmJCScbibq4NFx5lmnJS_5Y3Wop4XBcvPXa8D6fju0pgMUW3FMuWY5H1ZsqauU6Wt1uDpr5ER4nJdPqNcjZqGhE-Q8g7i8sEyAeHH57QEv5uacTpWL0/s320/20170421_104709.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgu7ycyazqDG8351OexAwFAUfp7b9G2GbZF4h64duSk3VegEe5AwwIjs3yDWa9Faji_a6CHy0m_lZ8krGiFxceilkFzgrZI6FlwOOMQKqzOcq2pw35zEe4Phz2omPU5n7mXObiSoiLbN5/s1600/20170421_121110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgu7ycyazqDG8351OexAwFAUfp7b9G2GbZF4h64duSk3VegEe5AwwIjs3yDWa9Faji_a6CHy0m_lZ8krGiFxceilkFzgrZI6FlwOOMQKqzOcq2pw35zEe4Phz2omPU5n7mXObiSoiLbN5/s320/20170421_121110.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Surrey people and those who live
nearby in Sussex will be aware of the story behind Hindhead – the building
of a tunnel that lies 65 metres below the walk pathway. The busy A3 that
stretches from London to Portsmouth used to pass through the village as a
single-carriageway and proved to be a terrible bottleneck for traffic. Since
2011 the road goes underneath an area of land called the Devil’s Punch Bowl and
has transformed the village, as you can imagine. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">We remember dicing with death,
years ago, crossing the road half-way through the walk (see photos for how it is now!) and again at the end to get
back to the car park. Now all is calm.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDU9CnRNQEmSeon9Uh0LAWItl_Z3JcnG96RYIb21jCIIrtV3_Q12gE2zKMpolw3T8o1eIYt5AIu0DiPodCzgjTy_QuKlduJ8-heEnrLvi0aTZ0jFWDdY3ATh1-a48DfbybDxbllnuwt335/s1600/20170421_114542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDU9CnRNQEmSeon9Uh0LAWItl_Z3JcnG96RYIb21jCIIrtV3_Q12gE2zKMpolw3T8o1eIYt5AIu0DiPodCzgjTy_QuKlduJ8-heEnrLvi0aTZ0jFWDdY3ATh1-a48DfbybDxbllnuwt335/s320/20170421_114542.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOP7UoZSUGVrnuztnGygDFMTOQKXGnQScU5b2Oj7iRfY1-4AI1CXBPcmut8QzdE_8_P5JqD34jNA2hslhyXMxRIloBkpcggYsZ31xiH-4X17JKU05IGNZLuz8uY2ZQfr44hxWNv1QgXCZ/s1600/20170421_114604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDOP7UoZSUGVrnuztnGygDFMTOQKXGnQScU5b2Oj7iRfY1-4AI1CXBPcmut8QzdE_8_P5JqD34jNA2hslhyXMxRIloBkpcggYsZ31xiH-4X17JKU05IGNZLuz8uY2ZQfr44hxWNv1QgXCZ/s320/20170421_114604.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">If only all villages could have a by-pass!!</span></i><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> How many times do I say
this every year? My family are probably tired of hearing me say it – a pipe-dream.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Or is it? </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUaFgqg7BIcuVTggYzBCeP3w7MLYeNp-xwmvPhbZ4BWteN16wvnmW323sRoG4kbXChyphenhyphen3gkjgX5OAkTLiy1HJY76wbXy8NkYFtZzuHOgSrNoTqbgV1A_thGER2tWE4QEJ9zSzOfcUJcio7/s400/LLmheader5.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: calibri; font-size: large;">Appley Green</span><span style="font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"> does its best to be free of traffic!!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: calibri; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-53027379916464944462017-01-28T03:34:00.000-08:002017-01-28T03:40:16.975-08:00B-looming marvellous! Weaving a new story ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I decided to try something new. In retirement I get phases,
little surges of enthusiasm that cause me to dip a toe into new waters and this time it is
weaving. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It feels good to take a break from writing novels, even though this is
my first creative love; the marketing and selling of books can be all-consuming
if you are serious about it. Life is too short!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So here, in pictures, is the story I’ve woven so far on my
new passion – my lovely loom.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It arrived in a long thin box. First construct loom!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKm-Adx180qLeSlX7Aib1Sa-5El8l0p5yS2i9ierlgCifGh7CLbt0wbjvg1eKGdUPWulTPjNpVkmUlX5aQWBEztYUL-vjosV4B0Ix1Fv9FGo3z_HTVBTS_hIcfVIZHpEofu-jlYppADva7/s1600/IMG_3907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKm-Adx180qLeSlX7Aib1Sa-5El8l0p5yS2i9ierlgCifGh7CLbt0wbjvg1eKGdUPWulTPjNpVkmUlX5aQWBEztYUL-vjosV4B0Ix1Fv9FGo3z_HTVBTS_hIcfVIZHpEofu-jlYppADva7/s320/IMG_3907.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Done!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmf34kOuzl1YmjYQP9MDm6CyUZ2qTpzSuGC1vCnqjjo_65auLv6h8wpvGql1ls65OilparRGHJFdfVpGqrttLKWF1v7AzoFOm4sS_90VClLfQzrMvBDEP_iKm38IKGlndMp41DFNKfc1If/s1600/IMG_3910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmf34kOuzl1YmjYQP9MDm6CyUZ2qTpzSuGC1vCnqjjo_65auLv6h8wpvGql1ls65OilparRGHJFdfVpGqrttLKWF1v7AzoFOm4sS_90VClLfQzrMvBDEP_iKm38IKGlndMp41DFNKfc1If/s320/IMG_3910.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Now - what to make that has essentially straight sides? </div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Order wool, and set up the warp. </div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-r0ZSfIdRsfYEmFfN3PfTGy1zk_y_FrMJkz6xXESd7Y2ZdouP3Gppbp0JDX8uwWInZp_fbKn71Q9Jt5A3pRPQMoqJEyN_hnpVBL15U2AGAVuq3_3c98PPRZQMCuR9lkbkItG15UBrTCF/s1600/IMG_3915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk-r0ZSfIdRsfYEmFfN3PfTGy1zk_y_FrMJkz6xXESd7Y2ZdouP3Gppbp0JDX8uwWInZp_fbKn71Q9Jt5A3pRPQMoqJEyN_hnpVBL15U2AGAVuq3_3c98PPRZQMCuR9lkbkItG15UBrTCF/s320/IMG_3915.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Actually quite excited at this stage,</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
seeing the effect of colours melding </div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
and the whole thing growing so much faster than knitting.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOYwZbH__KocDvrXgUrjBGGEPexmeNbQWxkLrabu4HG7m_IwopMMsVktK04eUEu6Zzu3KGsqnSFMTYBjTDaXMmidcRDVBdQ-kBRqGq2UbFwWlWYMMRdVWoIi4nKOjwacVKoCx_CO0ub_L/s1600/IMG_3922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhOYwZbH__KocDvrXgUrjBGGEPexmeNbQWxkLrabu4HG7m_IwopMMsVktK04eUEu6Zzu3KGsqnSFMTYBjTDaXMmidcRDVBdQ-kBRqGq2UbFwWlWYMMRdVWoIi4nKOjwacVKoCx_CO0ub_L/s320/IMG_3922.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Moving swiftly on - the finished product. </div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Of course a scarf, what did you expect?</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXoq4WgdMqp3edYHghjYQJj5RNkj5lOwrNaPnw9X9s5aJ-Neiq34YrLihDxiOTtDw4WpgumP0SYe_3rZ6_4ocxOd61G4wIeVipD5rnVYufWa-I0FcfKPpuJM8gAuiunOcseyhJha56T_d/s1600/IMG_3931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXoq4WgdMqp3edYHghjYQJj5RNkj5lOwrNaPnw9X9s5aJ-Neiq34YrLihDxiOTtDw4WpgumP0SYe_3rZ6_4ocxOd61G4wIeVipD5rnVYufWa-I0FcfKPpuJM8gAuiunOcseyhJha56T_d/s320/IMG_3931.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Ordered more wool. It's like setting up a paint-box. </div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Now for something to accessorise the conservatory ...</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1UzLG5bwXd5n7AtfB9ApQ7F-vqeJWQ5NToU5O4WriYqdOGkYQWJxT8r7Q3b5quyeS63o78hGzBOeUa14zGGerPShEmB1r8CHyqlp-zHdJnAj2BatVG0xsGOoA4QgHwCOMq0MGK4Li1Qk/s1600/IMG_3929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1UzLG5bwXd5n7AtfB9ApQ7F-vqeJWQ5NToU5O4WriYqdOGkYQWJxT8r7Q3b5quyeS63o78hGzBOeUa14zGGerPShEmB1r8CHyqlp-zHdJnAj2BatVG0xsGOoA4QgHwCOMq0MGK4Li1Qk/s320/IMG_3929.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Not quite wide enough for the cushion cover I planned.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Never mind - this is a ... er ... mat, I guess. A sample. </div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Now must repeat but make bigger.</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTP0-W4Z9KtWqZkOSXvF-pB3bWTVmkdE8XuTx_TQFIPgs5OErlYs1ST8x3vhpMjKkyJrF9hV2J9FycIyBKsYj0wgUx0C2asqtU2mhtbcKWvTaU1vjwIGouwPkk7JpHznDo_Xy2eWnYh_L/s1600/IMG_3932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTP0-W4Z9KtWqZkOSXvF-pB3bWTVmkdE8XuTx_TQFIPgs5OErlYs1ST8x3vhpMjKkyJrF9hV2J9FycIyBKsYj0wgUx0C2asqtU2mhtbcKWvTaU1vjwIGouwPkk7JpHznDo_Xy2eWnYh_L/s320/IMG_3932.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: left;">
Will keep you posted!</div>
</span></span><div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0ky4r0RE6kX7nIIg8QhYU97OKPmWgQ0GlW14cwqzTC7meQ6-o9I2vhOQwxh2nMUI7QbJKbXx65_td7Q0Vct_MoQ06DYeQIAshqic0XrIxYTZvAaBIp5Xi4DiexY-_Hv7n9r71Zjl3sLH/s1600/IMG_3907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-25414299020967110512016-12-22T05:08:00.000-08:002016-12-23T04:21:39.089-08:00Drop Christmas cards? Forget it!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Logically, I thought, there are so many ways of communicating,
do we still need to exchange all those Christmas cards? I mean do we? Really? With
social media and above all emails, surely we can keep in touch with people all
year round if we want to. Even speak to them, see them, on the phone? Many of our brilliant networking younger generation never did
latch on to this tradition. The cost of postage could be put to better use –
this was my overall rationale. Someone else added to this the environmental
cost …</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">So last year I enclosed a note to say that next time around
we would give something to charity instead of doing cards; so nobody would
think we’d both died. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I think about
three people remembered this. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">On the upside, where I've emailed friends and relations with our year’s
news I’ve had really good ones back, some with surprising news I wouldn’t have
known otherwise. We’ve received about the same number of cards as usual, with
letters from people who normally enclose them.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Those people we never see as the decades go by – I really
thought if we needed or wanted to meet up then by now we would have done so.
Conversely, folks we see daily, weekly or even monthly – then we know they’re
there, we’ve swapped news and we’re likely to see them again soon. Do <i>they</i> need
a card?</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cSvTuDTA6ZLeJwmGDhvLpDSC2F9curaG1M5LUS-D8aW4MF5WYNgifPv6L2Khw-6JsIIVxmQJxaiskv8ZwNOdeQmcqaLPu0Krlnfg3ZXUfpw1_6Pxd5ZI1Dd0gMYSUaW-AwKxCkA6er_D/s1600/IMG_3898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cSvTuDTA6ZLeJwmGDhvLpDSC2F9curaG1M5LUS-D8aW4MF5WYNgifPv6L2Khw-6JsIIVxmQJxaiskv8ZwNOdeQmcqaLPu0Krlnfg3ZXUfpw1_6Pxd5ZI1Dd0gMYSUaW-AwKxCkA6er_D/s320/IMG_3898.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yet to be displayed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I understand why cards mean a lot. Whether they’re colourful and
jolly, religious, leave you misty-eyed, or just plain nostalgic – we’ve always had them and we display
them and feel good that these are ‘our people’, our tribe, our inner and outer
circle, those who may one day come to our funeral. And it is good to be reminded and be
mindful of old friends we don’t see very often (but, says my sad, cold, logical,
inner voice – you can do that with an email … …) I can remember my parents
saying that they’d had over 100 cards – it was a point of pride. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Well, it seems that cards are still popular so next year I
may have to retract. I’ve had comments such as, ‘I had an email from someone
and then I had to spend time sending them one!’ Mind you, if you can’t spare a
few minutes to send someone your news in an email, are they truly a valued
friend or relative?</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Another person expressed the
view that if we all did this it would put designers and makers of cards
out of business. I can’t see that as a valid reason to perpetuate a tradition …
Oh, well. Am I being a bit ‘bah! h</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">umbug’?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I have definitely taken all this on board – consulted my spread
sheet that gives me an instant breakdown of how many emails/cards I have
received/sent from/to whom, and I have to cave in.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Next year I will almost probably go back to Christmas cards –
until such time as others want to play!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">A warm and Merry Christmas everyone!! and thank you for your card, if you sent one!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Related blog post December 2012:</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/in-defence-of-christmas-letter.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">In Defence of the Christmas Letter</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-34404823604986155822016-11-25T02:17:00.000-08:002016-11-25T02:22:48.371-08:00As a columnist!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">In case you missed the Tweets
flying around, and have come direct to my blog via some source other than
Twitter or Facebook, I thought I’d say something about the columns I write for
two lifestyle magazines.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">SURREY LIFE is a glossy, regional,
monthly magazine available in Surrey shops and also free online through their
digital archive, each issue accessible about a month after the print version. I
have been writing for this magazine since April this year and the feature is
called Notes from a Small Village.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">LoveaHappyEnding Lifestyle
eMagazine (#LLm) is just online and I have been contributing to this for years. It has a global following with tens of thousands of
hits a day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">For both publications now I write
on the same theme – people who put life into village life, unsung heroes who go
the extra mile and bring their small communities together in a rich variety of
ways. As you can imagine this is a lovely thing to do, ferreting around in the
lovely county of Surrey, and beyond for the LLm magazine, meeting and chatting
to inspirational people.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">So here you go: </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">An article about </span><a href="http://www.loveahappyending.com/writing-for-surrey-life-magazine/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Writing for Surrey Life</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> posted on the LoveaHappyEnding Lifestyle Magazine – neatly
brings the two together with all the links you need to see both. Here's the link to </span><a href="http://www.surreylife.co.uk/magazines/digital-archive" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Surrey Life archive</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> , although it is embedded in the article.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I hope you enjoy meeting these fabulous people as much as I did!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-57753838835832473792016-09-25T05:07:00.001-07:002016-09-26T01:46:27.522-07:00And now Gypsy Kids – Our Secret World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I have been rather lazy this summer with regard to writing blog posts. No excuse! Well, now I hope to make up for lost time ...</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">When I found the theme for my
first novel, published in 2008, people did not talk about Gypsies much. A
secret world indeed! Occasionally we may have glimpsed a group that turn up briefly to
set up camp in their trailers, only to disappear as quickly as they came. I
know for a fact there were few books – apart from quite ‘chewy’ academic tomes;</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">these bibliographies can be found at the end
of the printed versions of Gypsies Stop tHere and No Gypsies Served. The only
Gypsy memoir I could find at the time was Dominic Reeve’s books which give an
account of life on the road fifty years ago.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwm17vd-Wu3xslBT-vGOWB9E6bRTTIUlNALN12i3sU4YyXuyICdaMCzjMLid3CaueiMHqFvveirPNgT3mzrF4DkvHKr2DNnpuG94VmoOaXlnQFkfvgUOxO3eBzJyfLHHDSjQJAJPlN-Bts/s1600/IMG_0360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwm17vd-Wu3xslBT-vGOWB9E6bRTTIUlNALN12i3sU4YyXuyICdaMCzjMLid3CaueiMHqFvveirPNgT3mzrF4DkvHKr2DNnpuG94VmoOaXlnQFkfvgUOxO3eBzJyfLHHDSjQJAJPlN-Bts/s200/IMG_0360.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">My research moved from text books
to real life, going on sites, talking to Gypsies, Travellers, and people who
work with them. I also found out more by going to events that displayed their
culture, history, music, dance, food and wagons and knew I had found something
different and I wanted to tell people about what I had uncovered – through a
readable novel.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I was called upon to speak on BBC
Surrey radio whenever there was a local issue concerning Gypsies as I had by
then some understanding of the culture clash, the planning laws and so on. Before,
I did not know anything about the council-run authorised sites and the reasons behind
the more visible unauthorised sites that regularly upset local people.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Then a while later, came Channel
4’s My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding – wrongly named as it did not portray Romany
Gypsies but in fact was about Irish Travellers. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">(See </span><a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/gypsy-or-traveller.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Gypsy or Traveller?</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> 12 Feb 2010</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">)</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> The programme's</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> main slant was one aspect of their lives, the over the top dresses
and extravagant wedding days. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">More important
issues like poor health and education, shorter than average lifespan, and weary
struggle to find a place to be, all the legislation that over the years has
criminalised their way of life – such things hardly got a look in. See below
for link to some of my comments.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">I had put forward a proposal to
the radio station for a programme to embrace the lives of Gypsies and
Travellers in a more realistic way, offering my help in providing potential sources
of information. I did not hear back but later Channel 4 came up with their
series and I do wonder if there was some link. Had someone passed on this
proposal which had by then been changed out of all recognition? I have no way
of knowing.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">Now we have </span><a href="http://www.channel5.com/show/gypsy-kids-our-secret-world" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Gypsy Kids – Our Secret World</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> on Channel 5 </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">and it is refreshing to hear these happy, healthy, articulate children talking
to us directly about what it is like to be a Gypsy and how proud they are, one young man set on becoming a pilot. The
immaculate appearance of their homes, the sites and themselves turns
upside down any old-fashioned notion or prejudice that Gypsies are ‘dirty.’
</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Whilst some of us ‘Gorgas’ might not approve of certain aspects of their social norms
– the limited educational and career opportunities accorded to girls even</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">in this day and age, for example – on the
other hand you might say that it is understandable that they want to protect
their culture of strong family with a male provider. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Women </span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">marry young, have children young and stay at
home (or travel, of course) to look after them, with little independence. If everyone is happy with that – and it seems many of
them are (perhaps not knowing anything different, some would say) it is hard to
criticise. Arguably, some young Mums in the wider world, juggling work and
under-fives might be a tad envious! By the way I apologise for getting into the
‘us’ and ‘them’ kind of narrative here – it’s hard not to sometimes.</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: large;">What do you think? </span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3767087/Meet-Britain-s-gypsy-kids-s-REALLY-like-growing-traveller.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Daily Mail article about Gypsy Kids</span></a></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Links to some of my past blogs
for further reading, if you are interested:</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/what-has-changed-for-gypsies-and.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">What has Changed for Gypsies and Travellers since 2010?</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> (7 April 2015)</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/another-grumble-on-big-fat-gypsy.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Another Grumble on Big Fat Gypsy Weddings</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> (7 Feb 2011) – this was one of three posts on the subject, the first few sentences
of which gained a place in Letters to the Editor in The Guardian.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: large;">Two other posts were on 20 Jan
2011 and 11 Feb 2011 – my view changes as the series progresses. The 20 Jan and
7 Feb posts have interesting ‘comments’ from other people.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifvlrlgSoQ68PNYwWBlna7E9lqH6EiNzxT1qURzaf9Uux-u1mFrwY8XE8cjoEzHrfAn7c5Owe9qnONpSwOWVsl0gwgAHQSbSJwof50Qr44wgD7U41KLb7hhktCCTR9hrPmOyItf8rjzLQy/s1600/IMG_0663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifvlrlgSoQ68PNYwWBlna7E9lqH6EiNzxT1qURzaf9Uux-u1mFrwY8XE8cjoEzHrfAn7c5Owe9qnONpSwOWVsl0gwgAHQSbSJwof50Qr44wgD7U41KLb7hhktCCTR9hrPmOyItf8rjzLQy/s320/IMG_0663.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 13px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-30537668135825096172016-05-02T03:40:00.003-07:002016-09-11T06:17:58.462-07:00Rings on our Fingers - love stories from the Eighties<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Miriam+Wakerly&rh=n%3A341677031%2Ck%3AMiriam+Wakerly" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Rings on our Fingers</span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bells-our-Toes-Collection-published-ebook/dp/B01FXPGHPI/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1465812436&sr=1-4&keywords=Miriam+Wakerly" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Bells on our Toes</span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Two Kindle volumes of my short love stories</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> published in magazines in the Eighties.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Just 99p! </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 22.6667px;">$1.40 each</span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">When I was probably just a few years older than the people reading them, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 18.4px;">t</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">hey were published in magazines such as My Story, Romance, True Story - and Christian Herald! </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPoeZWUB5GEF3GO2IZ0voTLa8YdvS-yyKX5M4C2b8nwtMw7_rSNOXg4X1GepaCU_Xvviz9zl7i3_cNEJT1t9w5WMObFRe6RZdNkodCTYjPQJgIK3B7XbVISfNS7IRtC1A8OwhfFnu3Prxs/s1600/finalcover2ringskindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPoeZWUB5GEF3GO2IZ0voTLa8YdvS-yyKX5M4C2b8nwtMw7_rSNOXg4X1GepaCU_Xvviz9zl7i3_cNEJT1t9w5WMObFRe6RZdNkodCTYjPQJgIK3B7XbVISfNS7IRtC1A8OwhfFnu3Prxs/s320/finalcover2ringskindle.jpg" width="225" /></a><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </span></div>
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I wrote these on a typewriter that might now find a home in a museum</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">, at the kitchen table when my children were knee high ...</span></span></span></div>
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</span></span></div>
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwA4RTwbbUoaSq4IXMPmy627xL-yh0QQTaJnLEBvQV3D_8uPUzzYzDZWYI33ZtYIGtZtppgsQvMw6VbahSJMdGruJXqVQeVO-1nzuG-bgSI1-_0IJ6I0Sj_GLkrT1Ay7dm8yR_-7p9LvEf/s1600/IMG_3783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwA4RTwbbUoaSq4IXMPmy627xL-yh0QQTaJnLEBvQV3D_8uPUzzYzDZWYI33ZtYIGtZtppgsQvMw6VbahSJMdGruJXqVQeVO-1nzuG-bgSI1-_0IJ6I0Sj_GLkrT1Ay7dm8yR_-7p9LvEf/s200/IMG_3783.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Times
have changed – which is what makes these stories interesting I think.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Young people can judge for themselves and
older readers will remember perhaps when they were just married, maybe having
doubts, thinking about having a family, looking for work, planning a wedding …
the stuff of life. Relationships are the key theme along with problems and
obstacles to finding true happiness.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh8BDaZvOGj-HYKuxzl-mC1bWH_dM2MOYmfA820HajUUwBVhAleNULmHTXgzCtQRhRgCE-lL-2e70nBv8XuVvNAn32RHJNJjiKIoiNPyxPLP87hIM31D4A0u_M2E4t0ucsVSDbfp8Jsk2t/s320/bellscoverjpg.jpg" width="225" /></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Here
are a few extracts from different stories that may make you think, scoff, raise
an eyebrow, laugh - or something else!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="margin-right: 0.25pt; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Checking that our frilly knickers
showed prettily each time we bent over, we set off — each carrying a new sports
bag to match our outfits.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="margin-right: 0.25pt; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"I know a place — on the common, off the beaten
track," he said, looking at me.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span class="FontStyle21"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I should have said, "No — take me home." But my
legs turned to water. It was too thrilling. I couldn't bear it!</span></i></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span class="FontStyle18"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; mso-bidi-font-family: "Angsana New";">I
bundled Rachel and Emily onto the back seat of the car and left them in there
while I slipped into Joel's house.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span class="FontStyle25"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">At nineteen I was young to be considering a family, but I was very much
in love with my student husband. I longed to have his child, I wanted to be a
mother and I could see no sense at all in waiting.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I am surprised when I
read these myself! but you can find many more examples of how social norms have
moved on in the last thirty odd years. Passion, jealousy and true love endure,
of course.</span></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></span>
</div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.loveahappyending.com/launching-love-stories-eighties-style-rings-on-our-fingers-by-miriam-wakerly/" target="_blank">Launch on LoveaHappyEnding Lifestyle magazine</a></span></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Happy reading!</span></span><span class="FontStyle21"><span style="font-size: 7.0pt;"></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="Style2" style="text-indent: 17pt;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://hyperurl.co/1rrr0q" target="_blank">You can get your Kindle copies now!</a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Just 99p / $1.40</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="FontStyle25"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="FontStyle25"><br /></span>
<span class="FontStyle25"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-62686314149983716522016-04-25T04:35:00.001-07:002016-05-04T03:35:26.390-07:00Writing from Life - and some news at the end!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you are new to my blog and have found me through Surrey Life you might like to take a look here: <a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/surrey-village-people.html" target="_blank">Surrey village people</a></div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
'Writing from Life' was a title suggested to me
once as a theme for a writing workshop and it got me thinking about how much I
use real life in fiction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTomUebNN1Jp7Hpk5VQNJot1beoxAxJcjhMtbd9E6wUbDGROJIl2Z4clj62t1N4BSouNpKmKmXScAHMYryt_B6HRBBz7rXMZAO6QHGfFSO_gYVzA5YPqEpebF0Z58wraNFJEMuow6UW2AZ/s1600/IMG_1403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTomUebNN1Jp7Hpk5VQNJot1beoxAxJcjhMtbd9E6wUbDGROJIl2Z4clj62t1N4BSouNpKmKmXScAHMYryt_B6HRBBz7rXMZAO6QHGfFSO_gYVzA5YPqEpebF0Z58wraNFJEMuow6UW2AZ/s200/IMG_1403.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real life setting ...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
For my first two novels I am
rooted in my local area, but before I could begin to write <i>Gypsies Stop tHere</i> and <i>No Gypsies Served</i>, I needed to do a lot of
research and groundwork relating to the culture and history of a particular group of people. I invented Appley Green, but it is very much based on real
Surrey and Hampshire villages – as it straddles the county boundaries. Now I am
writing about real village people both for LoveaHappyEnding Lifestyle magazine
and Surrey Life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
With <i>Shades of Appley Green</i>, I
used real life experience as a Community/Information Support Worker, firstly
supporting teenage single Mums who needed information and emotional support;
and secondly people with Parkinson’s. Both these jobs involved going out to see
people in their own homes and it was rewarding, satisfying work that gave me an
unusual insight into people’s private lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Be assured I do not use real
people in my novels, at least never a whole one! But any fiction writer will
tell you, I think, that they observe and pick up their struggles, attitudes, mannerisms and
other character traits. These are stored away either in some brain compartment
or a notebook and present themselves as you compose your story. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But the way Steph works is very much
derived from my experience of working in the community and I could not have
written it without this direct knowledge. Also my upbringing in the small town
(some would say large village) of <a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/coming-full-circle-some-tetbury.html" target="_blank">Tetbury</a> inspired the whole community theme
running through my novels and magazine columns.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As for <i>Secrets in Appley Green,</i>
set in the Sixties, I have memories of being a teenager in that
decade, and newly married in the Seventies. However, I had to study the so-called Swinging Sixties, reading fiction, factual books and
magazines; browsing numerous websites and listening to music. It was great fun
piecing together real-life memories, current affairs, fashion, pop music and
the rest. I also read through my page-a day diary kept as an 11-going-on-12-year-old – sometimes squirming with embarrassment.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Coming up is something new and
yet not new! <i>Rings on Our Fingers</i>,
available to pre-order on Kindle now but not to download until 5 May, is a
compilation of love stories I had published in magazines in the Eighties.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOA-ot3XQ7-1FIqxitJRnBm9o41K4SNmekyRsbxhj8M7znHiw6opxJxfSpjDgcNXFVBUz_EySKMy7XKiElf8yxsHkYSIhpHvbiRBuirBzJdSK0dbG6zOh83Hz7zsOOBR9S0PS7qFzEGFET/s1600/finalcover2ringskindle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOA-ot3XQ7-1FIqxitJRnBm9o41K4SNmekyRsbxhj8M7znHiw6opxJxfSpjDgcNXFVBUz_EySKMy7XKiElf8yxsHkYSIhpHvbiRBuirBzJdSK0dbG6zOh83Hz7zsOOBR9S0PS7qFzEGFET/s320/finalcover2ringskindle.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<br />
They
are romantic, having appeared in Romance, My Story, True Story - and Christian
Herald! But they also reflect real, everyday life of young people. More about
this later, but if you’d like to take a look here is the link: <a href="http://hyperurl.co/1rrr0q" target="_blank">Rings on our Fingers on Amazon</a> A snip at £2.08 / $2.99
! Another volume will follow in a few
weeks’ time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Happy reading!</div>
</div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-38432328368369546762016-03-16T04:39:00.001-07:002016-03-16T04:39:46.334-07:00Surrey village people<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAw3hAb8STrLIcHnJ0zftTfopUnx4j1WYo4SC5z5gSmtemwSpyZ2AscXYK0wKbDFLci1ViS1S2HigWRDOh-G4i32aIfMir2z7oNz9lyGY3z-I2zDut4qrtgUfQaO2e2yl_r1QVWKYeaevK/s1600/IMG_3305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAw3hAb8STrLIcHnJ0zftTfopUnx4j1WYo4SC5z5gSmtemwSpyZ2AscXYK0wKbDFLci1ViS1S2HigWRDOh-G4i32aIfMir2z7oNz9lyGY3z-I2zDut4qrtgUfQaO2e2yl_r1QVWKYeaevK/s200/IMG_3305.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Welcome to my blog if you’ve found it for the first time, after
spotting my piece in the April issue of SURREY LIFE. This is the first of a new
series on people who put life into villages and bring a small community
together. Editor, Caroline Harrap, came
up with the series title ‘Notes from a Small Village’– apologies to Bill
Bryson!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I may have met you at one of 40 or so book signings over the years in various Surrey Waterstones bookshops. If so, hello again! Either way, if you have time, feel free to browse through my 'ramblings' – going strong since 2009! Just click through titles listed lower down in right-hand column. And, please send me a comment below if you want to make contact now!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Those who follow me on Twitter will know of other characters
I have ‘discovered’. Take a look here: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.loveahappyending.com/category/village-life/" target="_blank">LoveaHappyEnding Lifestyle magazine</a> Real people, real unsung heroes and heroines.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
My novels are, of course, filled with <i>fictitious</i> people who also do unusual things, but real life does rub off on my fiction. For
one thing, I live smack bang in the middle of my imaginary Appley Green world,
although my dreamed up village has less traffic than most real Surrey
villages! I think a busy road cutting
through many a village mars what would otherwise be perfection. Would you
agree? More about my Appley Green books on Amazon – just click
on book covers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In my next post here I will be looking at how life
experience and real people have helped me in the writing of my four novels. I do like to mix fact with fiction so that
the reader can not only escape but also grab hold of some
social realism. Love story there may be, but romance comes with a twist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I must say how lovely it is to be a columnist for SURREY
LIFE, a magazine that always cheers me up and reminds me of what a beautiful
county Surrey is, with so many things to do and see. Who knows where I may end up next? It could be
a village near you!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And not forgetting – my books have all been reviewed in SURREY LIFE! Juliette Foster met me
briefly at the first Surrey Heath Book Festival and contacted me to review my first two books and the rest, as they say,
is history!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
Here are
the links to Book Corner in SURREY LIFE digital archive:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
March 2014, Page <b>130</b> <a href="http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?eid=141e3d5e-39e0-45c2-87c7-f8dcfc1c27ae" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Gypsies Stop tHere and No Gypsies Served</a></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
November 2014, Page <b>70</b> <a href="http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?EID=5ad5b3f3-5400-4347-ba59-a368bddeb1b3" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Shades of Appley Green - a modern village novel</a></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
January
2016, Page <b>72</b> <a href="http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?eid=7197f7c3-2e84-4833-9015-6f14843f29bf" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Secrets in Appley Green - a 1960s village novel</a></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListBulletCxSpLast" style="text-align: justify;">
Until next time! And look out in May SURREY LIFE for the next Surrey village and the next amazing person!</div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-24408017846719370142016-02-26T02:43:00.001-08:002016-02-26T08:13:16.932-08:00Time Management. Who needs it?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Some people
who read my last post said how ‘busy’ I am, but really I can be an absolute sloth when I put my mind to it! I am retired, don’t put in a full week’s work with </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">a two hour commute</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">; am not a working mother
of small children, and I don’t have a
publisher looking over my shoulder with impossible deadlines! There are plenty of people much, much, much busier than I
am.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">However, I do
manage to get a few things done and it made me think about a training course I
did when employed in the 1990s. I was affronted when my manager suggested I go
on a Time Management Course. I think everyone nominated for this development
training felt the same way, feeling that we packed as much as we could into a
day. What on earth could such a course tell us that was new?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The funny
thing was that I found it rather a drawn-out course, spread (I think) over two
days when it could have been delivered in a morning!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">However, it handed out tips that instilled habits for the rest of my life. Lists of tasks
figured rather prominently. So did goals, short-term and long-term. Things that
needed to be done in working towards a goal were divided into ‘urgent’ and ‘important’,
some of course falling under both headings. An estimate of time that a task
might take was factored in. Many files and folders were recommended, available
to purchase.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Ever since, I’ve
kept a scribbled ‘to do list’, never a Filofax system or anything electronic.
If I have five minutes to spare, I don’t despair that there’s no time to write
up a blog post, or install my new printer, but I can email a friend about
arrangements to meet that evening. That’s a very simple example, but you get
the gist. Maybe you do this too, even if sub-consciously with mental lists,
maybe the rest of the world thinks like this, but I do wonder. People who spend half an
hour on the phone complaining about how run off their feet they are, don’t do
this. (Nobody I know of course!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In <i><b>Shades of
Appley Green</b></i> time management is a real bone of contention between our heroine,
Steph, feisty single mother of two, and her boss, Greg, who in her eyes is
overly cautious, and she <i>hates him</i> with
a passion for taking her to task. Early on their opinion is divided over the idea
of senior people using the Internet. He sees dangers, she sees opportunities. He
likes rational use of method, she loves people. As the plot develops he becomes
increasingly critical over her use of time, in her eyes quite unreasonably!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">‘What do you
see as the problem areas in your job</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 17pt;"> Steph?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">She thought
for a moment. “I think the greatest problem is always time. Or lack of it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He nodded,
looking down, his face serious. Then he gazed up at her in that very direct way
of his.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“This is clear
even to me. Do you feel you lack focus sometimes?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">She felt
herself bristle. She worked hard, she did everything she could for her clients
in the time available.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“Possibly.
It’s easy to go down the wrong tracks sometimes,” she admitted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“If time is
the key problem area, there is no place for getting derailed down sidings and
dead-ends. Is there? Would you agree?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“Yes, but it’s
not always simple to stick to the mainline fast-track.” Perhaps, she thought,
anger rising, you would like to spend a few days doing my job. Role reversal!
How great that would be!</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.65pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 17pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.55pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">I guess the reader
suspects that her loathing of him is a clue that actually this is a man whom
she will grow to love! But how on earth?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.55pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrcVd8I5Z0W4l2MMKKqc_CxhCpfuMwtBMJ3W9Ss3Ev_JpKy2HzSmqKlJHLuHNlRMEqzVG48LaHcG2sjsT1T3K0V_kWFqu8eV6Qzystz8lTJqEJkToUtDE0ydAHl9R8uxVkEOW5-zqo1rM/s1600/appleycover+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrcVd8I5Z0W4l2MMKKqc_CxhCpfuMwtBMJ3W9Ss3Ev_JpKy2HzSmqKlJHLuHNlRMEqzVG48LaHcG2sjsT1T3K0V_kWFqu8eV6Qzystz8lTJqEJkToUtDE0ydAHl9R8uxVkEOW5-zqo1rM/s320/appleycover+%25282%2529.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.55pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText3" style="margin-right: -4.55pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Available as paperback or KIndle: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shades-Appley-Green-Modern-Village/dp/0955843227/ref=pd_sim_b_9" target="_blank">On Amazon</a></span></div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-34714311393245329262016-02-08T06:45:00.001-08:002016-02-08T06:45:49.767-08:00Two Years On ...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2XCXTQkXtMocB4ya8CRl80UXlvxbALtupg4WiryCigpUt3miqytPuCnMIJuj2zwfK-18PrN0Rdv-PjPd16gKrYG3862uG1IbOsPRyxQqB0xYqwbla4Wh4EFR3Sg3Ols3H1tr5XBnKyIj/s1600/portrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2XCXTQkXtMocB4ya8CRl80UXlvxbALtupg4WiryCigpUt3miqytPuCnMIJuj2zwfK-18PrN0Rdv-PjPd16gKrYG3862uG1IbOsPRyxQqB0xYqwbla4Wh4EFR3Sg3Ols3H1tr5XBnKyIj/s200/portrait.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken at daughter's wedding October 2015</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two years ago I was diagnosed
with colon cancer, with a secondary tumour in the liver. Today I had the
result of my latest 6 monthly scan and all is well. With every check-up the
prognosis gets better but if, if, if it <i>were</i> to recur, then the more time
passes the more slow-growing the tumour, and the better able my body would be
able to cope with more surgery and chemo. I don't think about that too much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There has been much breaking news
recently of famous people who have sadly passed away from cancer somewhat before
their time. I hope this post will help to redress the balance as there are many
more who survive the dreaded ‘c’ word which should give hope to people currently
reeling from the shock of a recent diagnosis or feeling the ill effects of treatment.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/cancer.html" target="_blank">I wrote here before</a>, a few months
after my diabolical diagnosis on 29 January 2014 (t</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">he photo there was taken about two months before in Australia, when I was blissfully oblivious of my condition)</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">, and </span><a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/short-term-hell.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">again after my second operation</a><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">, which at the time seemed like hell, but I got over it! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The actual year of surgery and
chemotherapy was one where physically I went through a rich variety of discomforts, lethargy,
and post-op pain. Unable to do many normal things, I watched far too
much daytime TV!! But on the plus side I had comfort from friends and family,
felt at ease with the world - and became quite the expert (not really) on
antiques and bric-a-brac! My husband and I enjoyed lunches with old
friends and two memorable holidays, slotting them in between operations and
courses of treatment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then 2015 was a year of gradually
getting back to usual activities, like doing the <a href="http://www.loveahappyending.com/relentless-fun-at-the-edinburgh-fringe-festival/" target="_blank">Edinburgh Festival</a>. I also <a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-secret-is-out.html" target="_blank">finished my fourth novel</a>, Secrets in Appley Green, set in the Sixties, but beyond that, I’ve also taken up a few <i>new</i>
things. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I ran some writing workshops and
hope to do more in the future as it is great fun to meet up with people who
want to write a novel but need a kick-start!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More recently, having written
articles for the online LoveaHappyEnding Magazine about <a href="http://www.loveahappyending.com/category/village-life/" target="_blank"> ‘People who put life into village life’</a>, I am now a monthly columnist, </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">writing on the same theme,</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> for the glossy magazine, Surrey Life! It’s lovely reaching out to
villages to acknowledge people who do great things for their local community.
If you know of any such hero or heroine, either in Surrey or elsewhere, please do contact
me. (Tweet me your email address in a DM. Give me a prod on Twitter if you need
me to Follow you, in order to do this.) My debut article is already done and
dusted and will appear in the April issue of Surrey Life (in shops mid-March).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8b9BUeDjkZ-3qvMGM28FTpiThu6teLNfBbhbZgrAdCxcy0QJmooseCRUysV08gJIZlA0i4AICbLqglwq8yufF_Y-hsMdiOqXmk32qfGyfRFEtHEWQViZlzun_OYUrhaB64RMSDjTbienc/s1600/IMG_3288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8b9BUeDjkZ-3qvMGM28FTpiThu6teLNfBbhbZgrAdCxcy0QJmooseCRUysV08gJIZlA0i4AICbLqglwq8yufF_Y-hsMdiOqXmk32qfGyfRFEtHEWQViZlzun_OYUrhaB64RMSDjTbienc/s200/IMG_3288.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last week I painted a vase in a
ceramic ‘class’ for novices! Ta-da! Not exactly a masterpiece but very therapeutic.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />I went to my first lunch meeting with the Romantic
Novelists Association (RNA), as recently joined. I've also committed to a <a href="http://www.protectstudy.org.uk/About.aspx" target="_blank">study project with King’s College</a>, London, carrying out mental exercises and ‘brain training’ to improve understanding of
the ageing brain and the causes of dementia. Take a look if you are interested
in taking part. The latest new venture
is becoming a member of Rock Choir, an uplifting thing to do despite
the fact I can’t sing! Oh yes, and I love going to operas streamed into
cinemas live from Covent Garden Royal Opera House … <i><o:p></o:p></i></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other side of the coin, if there is something I don’t feel sufficiently excited about doing, then I don’t do it!</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So – for anyone going through
what I went through, or something similar, please keep positive and take heart.
The chances of surviving cancer and a sunny future are so much improved these days compared with
years ago. It’s hopefully something to get through, get over, move on and
do new things!!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-3162103138356621042015-09-05T03:40:00.003-07:002016-03-18T10:07:10.847-07:00The Secret is out!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><strong>The list at the end of this post is constantly updated, offering links to other varied and interesting articles.</strong></span> </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Secrets in Appley Green
– A 1960s village novel</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">
takes me back to my own teenage years but the writing of it also led me to
reading around that decade, fiction, non-fiction books and magazines. Whilst it
was hugely enjoyable to both research and write, getting the detail accurate
and credible was challenging. 1960, for example, was very different from, say,
1965.<u1:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></u1:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
<u1:p><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">I guess it may mean different things to various
age-groups - you, your Mum, your Granny, your daughter!<o:p></o:p></span></u1:p></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Some of the icons of that
revolutionary era, such as The Beatles, may not be mentioned, unless they crept
in without me noticing. I did not want to ram endless clichés of the Sixties
down the reader’s throat but rather to offer something fresh and yet quite
everyday that evokes a time gone by. It is an emotional love story with a
twist.<u1:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></u1:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Like
<strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Gypsies Stop tHere</span></strong>
and <strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">No Gypsies Served,
Secrets in Appley Green</span></strong> and <strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Shades of Appley Green</span></strong> are connected but <em><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">can equally well standalone</span></em>.
You do not need to read one before the other, but if you do read both you will
recognise people at very different times in their lives and know more about
them. One or two of the characters occur in all four books! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Without
giving away spoilers for either book, there is a big question hovering over the
end of <strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Shades of Appley
Green.</span></strong> One (lovely) Amazon reviewer said, ‘Miriam creates a
perfect atmosphere in this book and keeps an electric suspense throughout. I
never expected such a strong cliffhanger in the end – I am definitely left
wanting more!’ Well, Heidi, this dangling hook is quite thoroughly
answered by <strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Secrets in
Appley Green</span></strong>. Many of the same older characters appear as they
were fifty years earlier – so yes, there is a link between the two novels.<u1:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></u1:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">It has been a long time coming but
anyone who has been following the plot will know that a few problems last year
held things up somewhat. <a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/cancer.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Cancer!</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #292f33; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black;">Three naïve, but very different, Appley Green schoolgirls pledge to
stick together for ever, but when one of them gets pregnant, this pushes their
promise to the edge. </span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #292f33; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black;">A young girl in need of love is vulnerable to the charms of an older
man with heart-breaking consequences. </span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #292f33; font-size: 12pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black;">This is Great Britain’s Sixties, an exciting era, gathering pace then
in full swing as social change sweeps aside past attitudes, laws, fashion and
culture. Youth is finding a voice as parents struggle to adjust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its characters span the full social spectrum
and take us beyond Appley Green to Brighton, Margate, London, Vienna and Paris.
</span></span></strong></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #292f33; font-size: 12pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #292f33; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Miriam Wakerly’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Appley Green
village stories all standalone and can be read in any order, but they are
connected. This one can serve as a prequel to all three, especially <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shades of Appley Green</i>.</b></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #292f33; font-size: 12pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #292f33; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhref_CJAKv5fCjsZVRx8SERlo6Q9v3ExkasQvH_YqC6XkpjXP8xNKtoUsw3dqwC-SpK1EwChJIwDIO_-22fP6gLigikleUGwmZoUM6vzU2HmD85hJz7aYdKwHzh-3MuU-j8gNnBfz0pPvy/s1600/Secrets_Appley_Green_blueflower+%25282%2529final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhref_CJAKv5fCjsZVRx8SERlo6Q9v3ExkasQvH_YqC6XkpjXP8xNKtoUsw3dqwC-SpK1EwChJIwDIO_-22fP6gLigikleUGwmZoUM6vzU2HmD85hJz7aYdKwHzh-3MuU-j8gNnBfz0pPvy/s320/Secrets_Appley_Green_blueflower+%25282%2529final.jpg" width="208" /></a></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: #292f33; font-size: 12pt;">
</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><span style="font-size: small;">Available on Kindle now and in paperback:</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> </span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Miriam+Wakerly" target="_blank">All my books on Amazon.co.uk</a><o:p></o:p></span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Miriam+Wakerly&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AMiriam+Wakerly" target="_blank">and on Amazon.com</a> </strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I do hope you will enjoy reading it! Look out for more articles and reviews :</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="http://www.loveahappyending.com/miriam-wakerly-a-new-day-dawns-and-a-new-title-its-a-book-launch/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New Book Launch on LoveaHappyEnding Lifestyle magazine</span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Talking about the nature of secrets on <a href="http://www.bonnietrachtenberg.com/author-miriam-wakerly-presents-her-latest-novel" target="_blank">Bonnie Trachtenberg's blog</a>:</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Looking at the challenges of writing a novel with <a href="http://ow.ly/Sl6SA" target="_blank">Anneli Purchase</a>:</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Reactions to a 1960s novel. </span><a href="http://linnbhalton.co.uk/once-upon-a-time-a-long-time-ago-in-the-nineteen-sixties/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Linn B Halton's blog</span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An interview (brilliant questions!) with </span><a href="http://www.zarastoneley.com/guest-authors/around-the-world-meet-the-uks-miriam-wakerly" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Zara Stoneley</span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reinventing the plot with </span><a href="http://sherylbrowne.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/book-release-secrets-in-appley-green-by.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sheryl Browne</span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An interview with </span><a href="http://www.jerasjamboree.co.uk/search/label/Author%20Interview" target="_blank"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shaz Goodwin</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> where I revealed a few things!</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kicking off a holiday reading list with funny books, courtesy of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://wp.me/p33MrJ-EQ" dir="ltr" href="http://wp.me/p33MrJ-EQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://wp.me/p33MrJ-EQ">Anneli Purchase</a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guest on <a href="http://brookcottagebooks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/guest-post-miriam-wakerly-talks-about.html" target="_blank">Brook Cottage Books</a> thanks to Debbie Johnston, aka @jontybabe, where I turn myself about face!</span><br />
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://thepageisprinteddotcom.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/secrets-of-appley-green-by-miriam-wakerly/" target="_blank">Review by Luke Marlowe</a> born in the eighties but transported to the sixties! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://ow.ly/XlO3I" target="_blank">Review by Adele @Kraftireader</a> 'zipping through the chapters to find out what happened next.'</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bloglovin.com/blog/post/13824313/4767978842%20%E2%80%A6" target="_blank">Interview with Bookgatherer</a> Thank you @Emalie2702</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.loveahappyending.com/whats-in-our-llm-bookshop-window-today-spring-reading-for-your-kindle/" target="_blank">LLm Bookshop window</a> - see a tempting extract! (Remember it's in paperback as well as KIndle)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?eid=7197f7c3-2e84-4833-9015-6f14843f29bf" target="_blank">Surrey Life Review</a> January's Book Corner, full-page review by broadcaster and writer Juliette Foster See page 72 !</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://ow.ly/ZzUt0" target="_blank">Books and Authors</a> Guest author on Why I Wrote a Novel Set in the 1960s</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-66619671828876809532015-05-22T07:18:00.000-07:002015-09-16T03:20:08.571-07:00'So You Want to Write a Novel?'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><strong>UPDATE WRITTEN ON 16 SEPTEMBER:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #38761d;">The second workshop mentioned below in red was also a rewarding and enjoyable experience. I shall be doing another workshop on the same theme at the WestEndCentre, Aldershot, a really cool arts venue, in the evening on 16 November. Take a look: </span><a href="http://peo.hants.gov.uk/peo/default.asp" title="http://peo.hants.gov.uk/peo/default.asp"><span style="color: #38761d;">http://peo.hants.gov.uk/peo/default.asp</span></a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">My first writing workshop ‘So You Want to Write
a Novel?’ was at Camberley Theatre last night and went well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">To be back to ‘normal’ is wonderful, and fulfilling something
I was invited to do last year is a special landmark for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An enthusiastic bunch of people came along and we
had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. I can say that because everyone agreed as much at
the end and wanted more! The range of writing experience spanned the full
spectrum, from people who had written books already – one self-published
children’s author; and another with 15 non-fiction books to her name; to those
who had never written anything creative before but fancied the idea of having a go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">A year ago I had just produced my second grandchild! I was also in the middle of a course of aggressive chemo, following a major operation, all this prior to the second big operation in July.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <a href="http://miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/cancer.html" target="_blank">ghostly memory</a> seems like a lifetime ago and, forgive the play with words, but it never seemed to me as a time when life was uncertain. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2nQhfYVR3hDAjmq-dvt7Nm4vqrC0Jl12kdpGuZrxOixDzxoD-S8UqhP9E1vYxFFbhu27g1Pqa4LEuNfv4njoEPVrcHeDlk0xpmh2FtEAefamd8dJReQnY3axSW-n4HN-9RMJgzzrR4Xf/s1600/IMG_2865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2nQhfYVR3hDAjmq-dvt7Nm4vqrC0Jl12kdpGuZrxOixDzxoD-S8UqhP9E1vYxFFbhu27g1Pqa4LEuNfv4njoEPVrcHeDlk0xpmh2FtEAefamd8dJReQnY3axSW-n4HN-9RMJgzzrR4Xf/s200/IMG_2865.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The photos here capture a moment when my lovely 'class' were in deep concentration, heads down, writing – lost in thought. There were lighter moments, rest assured and much laughter. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWW3m6nou2RwCo9k6qayPdysQZ6yfPqGqgs_ht7Wd02D6y7Qj5WTZ225SHiM2X9jdMBu9sP5zOSnv-_2en5HQeGH1CNhuIn4ZufU8j0jnO2WxfHQMz1t0SNnwLNGHBXgIo7e1OGoZ2XZK/s1600/IMG_2866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoWW3m6nou2RwCo9k6qayPdysQZ6yfPqGqgs_ht7Wd02D6y7Qj5WTZ225SHiM2X9jdMBu9sP5zOSnv-_2en5HQeGH1CNhuIn4ZufU8j0jnO2WxfHQMz1t0SNnwLNGHBXgIo7e1OGoZ2XZK/s200/IMG_2866.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some comments at the end:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><em><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Hugely useful – time passed very quickly, an engaging lecturer.’ (I'm flattered!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></span></div>
<em><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘A very interesting and helpful course.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></em></span></div>
<em><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><em><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘A very interesting workshop that made me think about what is really
involved in writing.’</span></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><em></em></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">‘Really enjoyed workshop, size of group was just right. Was managed for all
levels. Would like to attend any further courses and understand later about
publishing.’</span></span></span></em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<em><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><em><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Loved this – would like even more interactive activities please.’</span></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Many thanks to everyone and to Camberley Theatre for providing the room and publicity.</span><br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Another workshop is planned for the morning of 16 June. Looking forward to this already.</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="http://www.camberleytheatre.biz/events/event.htm?mode=3&pk_events=5197">http://www.camberleytheatre.biz/events/event.htm?mode=3&pk_events=5197</a> </strong></span></span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My books are on display in Camberley's Waterstones, by the way, so a friend tells me, and of course available on </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=miriam+wakerly&sprefix=Miriam+Wakerly%2Cstripbooks%2C228" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amazon</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></span></div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-74067185201183568782015-04-10T05:23:00.001-07:002015-04-13T04:13:36.531-07:00Creative Writing Workshop in Camberley, Surrey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a brief note about the workshop, 'So You Want to Write a Novel?' I am delighted to be leading in Camberley Theatre. You may have already seen it advertised <a href="http://www.camberleytheatre.biz/events/event.htm?mode=3&pk_events=5196" target="_blank">here</a> or, if you live in Surrey or nearby, in the theatre brochure. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The three hour workshop will be on the</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> evening of 20 May from 6 - 9pm and again in the morning of 16 June from 10am - 1 pm.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For anyone who has never tried but really wants to write a novel, then this workshop will give you plenty of inspiration and knowhow to get you on your way. If you are a writer who has already written stories or a novel, then you are bound to have ideas to both gain and share. There is always something new to learn!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I was invited to do this last year but cancer stopped me in my tracks! Now all is well, and I am looking forward to this very much. If you have any questions, please feel free to add one in the comments.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Meanwhile, have a browse through Miriam's Ramblings, which started in 2009, if you want to know a bit more about me and my books. Most items are about books, writers, writing, village life or Gypsies! However you may stumble across a few other random topics.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">My novels are all set in the fictitious Surrey-Hampshire Village of Appley Green. Just click on the covers to the right of the screen to see the reviews and more details.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Maybe see you there? Or someone you know. Please spread the word if you live in or near Camberley. Thank you.</span></div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-53107009746096871922015-04-08T07:14:00.001-07:002015-04-23T04:15:26.194-07:00Lovely Blog Hop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve been
challenged by </span><a href="http://sherylbrowne.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sheryl Browne</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to join in the <b>Lovely Blog Hop</b> to share some
of the things that have helped shape my writing and my life.</span> </span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><strong>First
Memory</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It
is difficult to be sure about earliest memories. Sometimes I remember being
told about something that happened, not the actual event, and when I look at a
photo maybe it is that picture in my mind. I do remember for real going on the
daily walk to the shops<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in Tetbury with
my Mum, listening into chats she had on the way and being promised a sticky bun
from Mr Phillips the bakers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A very
clear memory, again retail-therapy if you like, is going to the drapers to buy
special tiny balls of bright wool specially for little girls (never boys) to
learn to knit and do French knitting with that funny wooden post thing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><strong>Books</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Ah
books! I am afraid I was always the child curled up with a book rather than
climbing trees and winning races! That was my sister. Life takes you through
different phases doesn’t it? As a child, Enid Blyton, Arthur Ransom, Lewis
Caroll … obviously a long list. I also particularly remember<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Black Beauty, The Secret Garden (oft quoted
in No Gypsies Served), and a strange book called The Wind over the Moon by Eric
Linklater, which I lost and have recently bought. It is about two girls who
become kangaroos!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As
a teenager I grew into loving Thomas Hardy, then dabbled with Anya Seton’s
historical novels. Adored Little Women, Good Wives and the biography of Louisa
M Alcott inspired me with the whole idea of writing books. Since I’ve always been
an avid reader as an adult (and I’m getting on a bit) it is impossible to mention
just a few but you can see a recent selection of books I’ve read and briefly
reviewed on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/7554844-miriam-wakerly?shelf=read" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>. Through the years, I’ve been through phases as diverse
as Jilly Cooper and Edward Rutherfurd!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><strong>Libraries<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">As
a child I loved my little local library. I still support libraries; it is sad
to see some close but heartening to see others reinvent themselves. I am a
volunteer with the RVS and local library scheme called Library Direct Home
Service, used to be ‘Books on Wheels’. I choose books for housebound, usually
elderly, people, deliver them and chat. I have been amazed at some ladies well
into their nineties who still love to read books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some like Mills & Boon, others
parliamentary history, so it’s important to get the choice right! I had to let
it go last year for health reasons, but hope to get back into this at some
point.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><strong>What’s
Your Passion?</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Well,
sorry to be boring but if I am honest, it has to be books! I love music,
theatre, TV, holidays, walking, eating out – all the usual stuff, but if we are
talking about what would be the most difficult thing to be without, then it has
to be books.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><strong>Learning</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nowadays
it is great that people can go on learning right through life; there’s no
excuse! After having three children, and doing things like supply teaching that
fitted in with them, I went back to work in an office and at around 40 years of
age had to learn fast! The first thing was how to use a fax machine!! Hard to
believe? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Already writing stories on a
word processor at home, this helped me with office life, and as I was working
for an IT company in the early nineties, I had the advantage of learning all
things IT in-house. Later I set up my own business doing PR and marketing
projects for small IT companies. I certainly carried on learning with each new
client.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><strong>Writing</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
first time I was ‘in print’ was aged 13 in the school magazine!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always tried to have a job that in some way
entailed writing – whether press releases, feature articles, brochures or freelance
stories. When supply teaching and bringing up children I was also writing short
stories and began to get them published regularly. I plan to put them into two
Kindle volumes in the next few months. Novels came later and I played about
with Mills & Boons for a while, but they did not accept my offerings! Maybe
I tried too hard to fit into a mould. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
wanted to write something with a strong theme and later hit upon the Gypsy
culture, history and social problems and knew I had found it! Gypsies Stop
tHere and No Gypsies Served were launched in Waterstones and went on to have
good sales on Amazon, now more of a trickle! My village series should have its
fourth member later this year – and it’s set in the 1960s. I had to find out
what some of my older characters were up to in their youth!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-70740043880983972312015-04-07T04:15:00.001-07:002015-04-20T03:02:20.893-07:00What has changed for Gypsies and Travellers since 2010?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
am choosing the year 2010 because that is when my second book <strong>No Gypsies Served</strong>
was published. I cannot here include all aspects of life, such as education,
health and wellbeing, although they are interconnected, but will focus on two: </span></div>
<ul style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">
</span>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">finding a place to live </span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span></li>
<span style="color: black;">
</span>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
and public perception</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span></li>
<span style="color: black;">
</span></ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">My first impression is that nothing has radically
changed since I began exploring the subject around 2006, but let us
look a little deeper. For helping me keep up to date, I am indebted
to the Travellers Times edited by Damien le Bas.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">On
the positive side, many Gypsies and Travellers have written their own memoirs
and stories, which is fantastic; you only need to do a quick Amazon search to
see them. This signifies a gain in confidence and a pride in identity for some.
Also, well-organised campaigns are under way whereby Gypsies and Travellers can
both attract support and fight their own corner; and recently some amazing site
provision has occurred!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: large;"><strong>Finding a Place to Live</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">If
Gypsies and Travellers have a place to call home, then life gets better all
round. Children can go to school, they can register with a local GP, spend more
time earning rather than for days to be eaten up in finding a place to live.
Travellers may travel, but not all of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, the coalition government did not delay in making site provision
even more difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quote from Lord
Avebury: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="stpa_3"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="12012460000069"></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">‘Ministers
say that Travellers must obey planning laws like everyone else; but they
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">demolished the system created by the previous Government under which an
obligation was imposed on local authorities to provide planning permission for
Travellers' sites that would accommodate the number of Travellers in each area,
as determined by an independent assessment of needs, buttressed by public
inquiries.’ </span></span><br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taken from </span><a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201212/ldhansrd/text/120124-0001.htm#12012460000666" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lords’ Hansard,</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 24 January 2012. </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Indeed the Secretary of State mentioned, Eric Pickles, was recently found guilty of unlawful discrimination. What example does this set for the rest of society?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
is understandable that there is still a tendency for Gypsies and Travellers to
hide their ethnicity. I attended a Surrey Gypsy Traveller Community Forum (SGTCF) last week and a policeman from Thames Valley, who happens to be a Romany Gypsy,
said that many members of the police force are of his heritage but keep it
hidden. Each individual tends to think they are the only one. He also
represents the Gypsy Roma Traveller Police Association, set up to lend support
to such policeman and bring them together. The same concealment goes on in many
other professions, such as teaching, in government bodies and the ambulance
service. Encouragement is being given to be open, be proud, to break down
stereotypes and ‘put their head above the parapet’; this phrase often used in
the meeting. However, I digress – it is easily done.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Planning
applications, even though completely lawful, continue to be refused. To make
matters worse proposals were put forward to change the legal aid system, which
prompted the </span><a href="http://www.nomadlaws.co.uk/%20%20%20https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/no-mad-laws" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nomadlaws</span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> campaign. Take a look at some of the case studies
showing the hardship that comes from a lack of vacant pitches and eviction. This
demonstrates how the Legal Aid and Judicial Review reforms are depriving
Gypsies and Travellers of access to justice. There are times when there is a
desperate need to challenge unlawful decisions.</span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When
Lord Avebury spoke up against detrimental changes in the law in January 2012 in
the House of Lords Debate on the Effect of Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment
of Offenders’ Bill on Gypsies and Travellers, he had the full support of the
House. ‘There was not a single contrary voice in the whole debate,’ he said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Remember the opening line of <strong>Gypsies Stop there</strong> (2008)? 'People threatened with eviction, due to no fault of their own, being unjustly hounded out. It's mediaeval the way they're treated, don't you think?' The young activist, Natalie, is testing out the affluent village newcomer, Kay.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Well, perhaps there is some recognition at last of the need for transit sites. Damien le Bas wrote in</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><a href="http://travellerstimes.org.uk/News/Sites-House-of-Lords-hears-of-better-way-forward.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">February’s Traveller Times</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">:</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black;">
'A special meeting at the House of Lords has heard how fresh approaches to temporary stopping by Travellers can reduce tensions and save considerable amounts of money, compared with the traditional cycle of evictions from place to place.'</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">Meanwhile many councils around the UK impose what amounts to a blanket ban on all sites, regardless. The town here is </span><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2979036/Gipsies-banned-camping-illegally-entire-town-landmark-High-Court-ruling.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harlow</span></a><span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-family: Arial;">in Essex, not far from Dale Farm site from which hundreds of Travellers were evicted. Hardly a surprise. Inadequate alternative provision was made for them, I seem to recall. On the other hand there was one shining example where a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3000526/Finishing-touches-Bath-s-permanent-traveller-site.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;">local authority near Bath</span></a> perhaps tried too hard. Is this what Gypsies and Travellers want? My guess is such expenditure is likely to be criticized in the wider community, and this plan did not allow the families to build their own homes more cheaply and according to their cultural needs. However, it does look good!</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://travellerstimes.org.uk/News/New-Gypsy-and-Traveller-Site-Pitches-in-Solihull.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Solihull Housing Association</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> seems to have got it right.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;">If you have any comments or first-hand stories relating to site provision in the past five years, I would love to hear from you. This can be an information gathering process.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Public Perception</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Racism
goes on, indeed is allowed to go on. Why?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2015/03/20/comment-when-will-we-treat-anti-gypsie-comments-like-the-rac" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Felicity Hannah</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> writes</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">: ‘Ten years ago, the former chair of the Commission for Racial Equality,
Trevor Phillips, referred to anti-Traveller sentiment as the "last
acceptable form of racism". Yet some politicians are still describing
Gypsies and Travellers with language that would be political suicide if it was
used against any other group.’ </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">See Jake Bower’s
comments here too. Son of a Romani man, and well-known journalist, he is now
candidate for the Green Party. If more of the Traveller electorate voted for
supportive candidates, then this would be a significant way forward for them to
be heard and defend themselves.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marc Willers QC, Human Rights Barrister, writes
about </span><a href="http://travellerstimes.org.uk/Blog--Comment/Tackling-Hate-Speech.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://travellerstimes.org.uk/Blog--Comment/Tackling-Hate-Speech.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tackling hate speech aimed at Gypsies, Roma and Travellers’</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">He says ‘</span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Politicians
throughout Europe continue to use hate speech against Roma which in turn
creates a climate in which racist violence is thought acceptable by offenders
and, tragically, in recent years Roma have been the victims of violent racist
attacks and murder.’</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Film</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/JudgmentinHungary"><em><span lang="EN" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Judgment
in Hungary</span></em></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> received 12 international awards, was screened in 25
countries, and appeared at 27 festivals.’ </span>Judgement
in Hungary:</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/judgment-hungary-attack-roma-and-search-justice" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An Attack on Roma and a Search for Justice</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>by Eszter Hajdu: </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: black;">‘In 2008 and 2009, Hungarian right-wing extremists committed a series of
attacks on members of the Roma community. Six people were killed, including a
five-year-old, and another five were injured. The trial of the four suspects
lasted two and a half years; the verdict was passed in August 2013. Director
Eszter Hajdú filmed the trial, which eventually became the documentary.’</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: black;">Closer to home here in the UK, </span><a href="http://travellerstimes.org.uk/Blog--Comment/Back-to-the-future-antiTraveller-racism-in-2015.aspx" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Damien le Bas writes in The Travellers Times</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> about how some girls were refused entry to a bowling alley because of their 'nomadic' heritage.</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a positive
note, issues are being discussed more than before. I do not know the outcome of
this meeting but they are held in </span><a href="http://www.westminster-briefing.com/fileadmin/westminster-briefing/Agendas/Gypsies_and_Travellers_website_agenda.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Westminster</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> quite regularly. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Another meeting in London, held on 5 March,
where the speakers, I am told, were excellent, addressed <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘... the Social Exclusion of Gypsy, Roma and
Traveller Communities to Reduce Inequalities’. Ironically, there was a
disappointing lack of attendees from the </span>Gypsy,
Roma, Traveller </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">community, although
they are extremely welcome and help is provided to encourage them to be there.
Is this due to a lack of awareness or that old reluctance to be open about
their identity in mainstream society? Hopefully more will go along and take part in the future.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black;">The
ruling set out in </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11363601/Travellers-must-prove-they-are-travelling-to-get-planning-concessions-under-new-Eric-Pickles-crackdown.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d;">Eric Pickles proposals</span></a><span style="color: black;"> (<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Daily Telegraph, 23 January 2015) <o:p></o:p></span>where Travellers must prove they are
‘nomadic’ to get planning concessions may seem logical on the face of it, but
this is not something that can happen overnight simply to comply with a law. In
practice this would divide families and communities, causing great hardship. Family
is the backbone of the Travelling community.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial;"><strong>Land for Development is Scarce</strong></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
am going to digress now a little into the availability
and value of land. It is fair to say that in Britain almost all land is owned by
someone, earmarked for a specific purpose be it agriculture, forestry, industry,
residential, business, National Trust, the Crown, local authorities, golf courses and so
on. National parks, green belt and areas of outstanding natural beauty are
protected from development and so-called ‘common land’, open for grazing for example, is a rarity. For
the population in general, land is in extremely high demand and low supply. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We
all know this. Any young person (say under the age of 40) trying to buy or even
rent a home these days is hard pushed, even those in the well-qualified, higher-paid,
professional bracket. I just mention this, to point out that Gypsies and
Travellers are not the only ones with a problem, not the only adults having to
share and double-up in cramped accommodation.I do not know </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">if this will make
anyone feel better or worse about the lack of provision, but I feel it is a
point worth making.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Conclusions</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems
that in most areas, little has improved although, as we have seen, there are
positive stories in places such as Solihull and Bath. The basic problem is that
whilst the planning authorities had or have the remit to provide sites, the
public always protest so they usually give up. Councillors and MPs inevitably listen
to the wishes of the electorate or they will not win votes. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If they are not in
power, they are by definition pretty ‘powerless’.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is another way of looking at this, too as </span><a href="http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2015/03/20/comment-when-will-we-treat-anti-gypsie-comments-like-the-rac" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Matthew </span></a><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://www.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2015/03/20/comment-when-will-we-treat-anti-gypsie-comments-like-the-rac" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brindley</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> of the Traveller Movement explains:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">"We know that some politicians campaign on
Gypsy and Traveller issues to garner votes. There are so many stereotypes about
Gypsies and Travellers, and unfortunately a lot of similar coverage in the
media; whether it's to do with crime, or public disorder, or rubbish dumping.
Too often politicians play on these stereotypes and fears, and this is
completely unacceptable in this day and age."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
public protest against council-run or privately-owned sites in their locality because,
rightly or wrongly, their perception is of a community that tends to make a
mess. I say this only because it is what I hear from everyone I speak to. I am
talking about public perception. Sometimes people refer to personal
experience, or more often an impression gained from the media which is invariably
from pictures of unauthorised encampments with no facilities. My experience of Gypsy sites is very
different as I have seen tidy, orderly sites, each home a model of hygiene and
cleanliness, part of their culture. I feel patronising even using such terms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So
the arguments, causes and effects, continue to swirl round in this perpetual
cycle or circle. If those stopping in the unauthorised sites could make sure
they clear up when they are suddenly moved on, difficult though this may be in reality,
it would be a good starting point to halt this cycle. It must annoy other
Gypsies and Travellers even more than it does non-Gypsies, for it tarnishes
their reputation. </span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note
to the guilty parties (pass on if you can) : If in an unauthorised stopping place, you know it is
temporary so can you put rubbish in bags as a daily routine, take those full
bags to the nearest amenity tip? You have transport. Tell me, is there some
reason why this is not possible? If the nature of your work – scrap metal, for
example – means you have bits of fridges or whatever left over, then take the
valuable stuff to your merchant, and dispose properly of the leftovers. Is this
so difficult? I am sorry if I sound harsh and preachy, but ultimately such good
practice could transform future relations with the general public, and
therefore the chances of being accepted as close neighbours.</span> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">And,
please, local councils, can more provision for rubbish disposal be made for people
in this desperate situation? John Hockley QPM, Surrey County Council Traveller
Site Manager, told me, ‘Increasingly, local
authorities are being more proactive. For example, I visited a small
unauthorised encampment in Hersham (Elmbridge) after the forum meeting last
week. The Irish family present were clean and tidy and needed to be close to
two hospitals where family members are undergoing serious long term treatments.
Elmbridge council provided wheelie bins in the street they are parked in and as
a result there is no mess whatsoever. The family actually want to be housed as
they are fed up with being 'hounded on the road', but cannot get housing due
mainly to rules that often disproportionately affect GRT applications.’</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
<span style="color: black;">
</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black;">It
is true that litter and fly-tipping is a problem everywhere. Look at motorway verges,
shopping centres, back alleys, parks and other public places, Glastonbury, etc
etc? Thoughtless people who drop litter in our local woods make me very angry
indeed. So wouldn’t it be good if things could be turned around so people will
say, ‘Do you know there were some Gypsies here for a while but you’d never know
it; not a sign of anything. What care they take!’ Indeed that is exactly how it
used to be when great pride in leaving nothing <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">behind was part and parcel of
the traditional way of life.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
<span style="color: black;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want to end on a positive note.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new way forward?</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An
interesting new approach is being tried in Surrey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spoke to James Nicholls, a non-Gypsy who
has socialised with Gypsies and Travellers all his life. He gave a talk on
Checkatrade at the SGTCF meeting I attended. He has been a member of the
Effingham Parish Council for 23 years and took on the planning role for the
Effingham Residents and Ratepayers Association. He says, to the best of his
knowledge, of roughly 2,000 general planning applications a year, about 60-70%
were approved. Anyone from the Gypsy and Traveller community, however, was
turned down and, over a period of 17 years, this amounted to a huge number of
failed applications – apart from one! Gypsies and Travellers do not ask for
more than other people; their requirements are different and modest, usually hard
standing for a few trailers and permission to build an amenity shed. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span> </div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James abhors
this kind of resistance towards the Gypsy and Traveller community and is now
trying to move things forward with a step-by-step plan that should keep
everyone happy and, he hopes, provide decent accommodation and an answer to the
planning problem. Keeping new pitches within the same area as existing legal
sites, thus keeping families together, he recommends a softly-softly approach,
adding no more than four or six pitches, taking one village at a time.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span> </div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I guess each
new set-up can prove itself and thus help gain approval from the local
population. I wish James and all those involved the best of luck and hope that these
families in need will be successful in their applications.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SOME
EXCELLENT WEBSITES FOR MORE INFORMATION</span> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://travellerstimes.org.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Travellers Times</span></a></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.surreygypsy.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Surrey GypsyTraveller Communities Forum</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (currently being 'rebuilt')</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the Information Pack – much about Gypsy and Traveller culture, history,
lifestyle, values, education and problems. Also there are links to more organisations
and websites </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">you could visit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://agypsieswife.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">For a view on everyday Travelling life:</a></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sweet, angry, poignant and humorous – dip into this Gypsy
wife’s diary for something a bit different. On </span><a href="mailto:Twitter@rosatherose"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twitter</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> @rosatherose</span><strong> </strong><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last November, I looked
back at my own posts on<strong> </strong></span><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/part-1-looking-back-at-gypsy-and.html" target="_blank"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gypsy and Traveller issues</span></strong></a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-59516734367673142252015-01-12T02:53:00.000-08:002015-01-12T02:53:53.026-08:00Real English Village Movers and Shakers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am one of the contributors to a Lifestyle Magazine called LoveaHappyEnding and, if you follow me on Twitter, you will doubtless have come across it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year, off to a bright new start, I shall be offering
some insights into the English Village, talking to key people who, in this day
and age, really do put the life into ‘village life’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A community-based lifestyle is something to
which many people aspire, that friendly, interconnected feel-good factor, but
how often is it found?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Historically, villagers had to maintain a communal outlook
for successful management of the land – the main source of their livelihood. It
was life itself. In common field agriculture, for example, villages had to
agree on which field would be left fallow and folk needed to respect each
other’s boundaries, with animals kept within agreed limits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A mediaeval village was not just a collection of houses; it
was a living, breathing community, regulated by the court of the manor, where
the ‘lord’ would assert his rights. Times of serfdom, bondsmen or freemen are
long gone, thankfully!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Skipping a few centuries, what then holds a village together
today? Even in the last 50 or 100 years villages have radically changed with
locals being outpriced by ‘second-homers’ and outsiders with money wanting a
place in the country. Where you live is often not where you work, unless you <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>earn a living online or as a self-employed
artisan of some kind. Then there is the decline of church congregations, once a
cohesive force; mechanisation of agriculture; closure of village-schools and
the younger generation moving out to towns and cities for excitement and
employment, leaving behind an ageing population, whether locals or retired
newcomers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cliché now is that, even in a village, neighbours may
not know or even recognise each other. On the positive side, I will be looking
at village people who prove to be the modern lynchpins of ‘village life’, an idyll that
many of us cling to or yearn for. Perhaps <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i>
are one of those movers and shakers!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look out for the first of these on the 25 January in the
<a href="http://www.loveahappyending.com/" target="_blank">LoveaHappyEnding Lifestyle Magazine</a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who will be the first village person to swing into
action?</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-30283889639054180192014-11-21T04:18:00.000-08:002014-11-21T08:25:05.442-08:00Part 1 - Looking back at the Gypsy and Traveller world, from 2008 to now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">Since the publication of
my first novel<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Gypsies Stop tHere</i></b>, in the spring of 2008, surely there must have been
changes in the Gypsy and Traveller world. The book, along with the sequel /
prequel, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><em>No Gypsies Served</em></b>, presents
a snapshot of how things were, using a fusion of fact and fiction to weave a
story. Romany Gypsies, Irish Travellers and people not from their communities
have said lovely things about them – see the reviews on Amazon and more inside each one! But this post is not
really about my books.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;">Firstly, as reminder, let’s
take a look back at some blog posts I wrote a while back. You can pick and mix
according to what catches your eye and takes your fancy!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">next</i> blog post will take a look at what has gone on since and what
is happening now. Have things improved, progressed for the better or do the
same problems persist?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ** Please click on green titles for links **</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: red;">Sunday, 6 December 2009</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><strong><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/how-come-gypsies-and-travellers.html" target="_blank">How come Gypsies and Travellers?</a></strong></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is
what seems to intrigue people. I am not a Gypsy myself. How come I am writing a story with a theme that
hinges on Gypsies and Travellers, their origins, culture and present-day
problems? </span></span></i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRKIaGVLO9NDrFSMQMh-K1dso-p59HMKv6mRIwzauurQ6wVUsKum716_FmV613waGoQy_UZncCFaQFRudmYLZR3_g6zElg3LqD9udqrJx1LoDqrJfRdeizvtmLQWwPC6__VoshGzH54Cq/s1600/IMG_0148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRKIaGVLO9NDrFSMQMh-K1dso-p59HMKv6mRIwzauurQ6wVUsKum716_FmV613waGoQy_UZncCFaQFRudmYLZR3_g6zElg3LqD9udqrJx1LoDqrJfRdeizvtmLQWwPC6__VoshGzH54Cq/s1600/IMG_0148.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Yateley a few years ago</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaMgFkDIUUNjdndAS7RbY2Iv4ztYGrGu4DDaZ8k7JGUWghiIXxMyqEi8rV5HMtFnAWvO_uxYQUIrk5Y8MErU3-6Ks4TX6aH7c2SC63a7AZa8nMVzTzLlMtWD9389cuOaFX-NugwTaHf1L_/s1600/IMG_0354.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaMgFkDIUUNjdndAS7RbY2Iv4ztYGrGu4DDaZ8k7JGUWghiIXxMyqEi8rV5HMtFnAWvO_uxYQUIrk5Y8MErU3-6Ks4TX6aH7c2SC63a7AZa8nMVzTzLlMtWD9389cuOaFX-NugwTaHf1L_/s1600/IMG_0354.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Bourne Hall Museum event</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Friday, 12 February 2010<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2010/02/gypsy-or-traveller.html" target="_blank">'Gypsy' or Traveller'?</a></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A simple question often asked. But how complicated
the <u>answer!! </u></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>This looks at terminology and ‘labels’ and how easy
it is to unwittingly offend.<o:p></o:p></em></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Sunday, 19 December 2010<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/fiction-slips-into-reality.html" target="_blank">Fiction Slips into Reality</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It really is stranger than fiction when fiction
becomes reality. I felt as if I had stepped into a scene from my own
novel <strong>Gypsies Stop tHere</strong>. The public meeting was to discuss proposals for an
inevitable development at Deepcut. </span></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i> </div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Thursday, 20 January 2011<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/big-fat-gypsy-wedding.html" target="_blank">Big Fat Gypsy Wedding</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Could not let TV Channel 4’s Big Fat Gypsy Wedding
go by without offering a few thoughts – could I? It wouldn’t be right!<br />
Firstly, these were, going by their accents, Irish Travellers rather than
Romany Gypsies. </span></span></i><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i> </div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Monday, 7 February 2011<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/another-grumble-on-big-fat-gypsy.html" target="_blank">Another Grumble on Big Fat Gypsy Weddings</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I understand Channel 4’s aim to achieve high
ratings. To suck in an audience that might ultimately consider more serious
aspects of Gypsy and Traveller life and culture, you need to lighten up first.
I get that. But at what cost?<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">The first paragraphs of this post were published in The
Guardian – Letters to the Editor (first one on the page!)</span></span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday, 11 February 2011</span></span><br />
<h2 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></h2>
<h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/big-fat-gypsy-weddings-not-so-bad.html" target="_blank">Big Fat Gypsy Weddings not so bad?</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Jake
Bowers speaking for the Romany Gypsy community: </span><a href="http://bit.ly/h9TldF" target="_blank" title="http://www.itv.com/daybreak/entertainment/tv/gypsyweddings/"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">http://bit.ly/h9TldF</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
on Daybreak.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 140%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>I may be revising my view of Channel 4
documentary, dubbed ‘mockumentary’. I hope it really does help relations
between Gypsies and non-Gypsies, rather than make for more bad feeling. Excellent
representation on BBC Breakfast show this week. </em></span><a href="http://bbc.in/e0kK5J" target="_blank" title="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12392194/"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>http://bbc.in/e0kK5J</em></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday, 23 February 2011</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<h2 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/more-media-stuff-on-bfgw.html" target="_blank">More media stuff on BFGW</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 140%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Various media links …</em></span></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em> </div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 140%;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b> </div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday, 11 June 2011</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/gypsy-roma-traveller-history-month.html" target="_blank">Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 140%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Have you heard of
Travellers Got Talent?<br />
<br />
No? Well, at the time of writing, June is Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month. It began three or four
years before. Various events displaying and exploring the culture and traditions
of Gypsies, Travellers and Roma take place around the country.</em></span></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em> </div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 140%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em></em></span> </div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 140%;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday, 10 October 2011</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/why-i-cannot-leave-gypsies-and.html" target="_blank">Why I cannot leave Gypsies and Travellers alone</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>I could have
chosen an easier subject for a novel. Friends and family advised me against it;
an agent told me a publisher would not consider a title with ‘Gypsy’ in it. All
of this spurred me on. This was around 2006–7.<br />
<br />Since I am not a Gypsy myself, many people ask me how? and why?</em> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday, 2 July 2012</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/romany-day-away-with-gypsies.html" target="_blank">Romany Day - I was away with the Gypsies! </a></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdTIW-BNdY50sZbvv9gN43uLpJdI1PJEhJH6Ktm6oIEBwl1JJVEVqwIl-Y0OBppCTwvViGbzDeMs6nyG4mhbf2_8f6eITbheR7gMEM0jPJs7_tImjVUgIvhJ_k_lXcAIzuNuluLzCjDLWm/s1600/IMG_1098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdTIW-BNdY50sZbvv9gN43uLpJdI1PJEhJH6Ktm6oIEBwl1JJVEVqwIl-Y0OBppCTwvViGbzDeMs6nyG4mhbf2_8f6eITbheR7gMEM0jPJs7_tImjVUgIvhJ_k_lXcAIzuNuluLzCjDLWm/s1600/IMG_1098.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At a Romany Day, Tilford</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>On Saturday (30
June) I went with a supply of my three books to 'Romany Day', held at the
Rural Life Centre in Tilford, a fascinating outdoors museum near Farnham,
Surrey, well-worth a visit any time. (The front cover of my third novel has a picture of Tilford Green.)</em></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
</div>
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday, 10 March 2013</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 3;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/london-roma-nation-day-7-8-april.html" target="_blank">London Roma Nation Day - 7-8 April </a></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;">This may make
uncomfortable, even shocking, reading but I was interested to gather
opinions ...</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;">You will find
the words: ‘eviction, deportation ... murder, fascism … ethnic cleansing …
apartheid … genocide …’, and yes, this was 2013.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;">Gypsies
Stop tHere</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;">
has an Eastern European character, vital to the plot, who is a Roma immigrant
in Britain. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">No Gypsies Served</b> goes a
little further in drawing attention to extreme racism prevalent in parts of
Europe. <b>The reality, however, is much worse, as this post reveals.</b></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-no-proof: yes; mso-themecolor: text1;"></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p><strong></strong></o:p></span></i></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="color: red;">Wednesday, 14 August 2013</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-latest-on-gypsy-and-traveller-sites.html" target="_blank">The Latest on Gypsy and Traveller Sites</a> <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 12pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>There is to be a </em></span><a href="http://www.westminster-briefing.com/home/housing/event-detail6/newsarticle/gypsy-traveller-planning-briefing-2013/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>great meeting in
Westminster</em></span></span></b></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em> in October to discuss the provision of sites for
Gypsies and Travellers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></em></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>As you may know, my first two
novels, <b>Gypsies Stop tHere</b> and <b>No Gypsies Served</b> have story
lines relating to the shortage of Gypsy sites and relationships between.the
travelling community and 'mainstream' society. </em></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em></em></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday, 26 September 2013</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/surrey-gypsy-traveller-communities-forum.html" target="_blank">Surrey Gypsy Traveller Communities Forum <o:p></o:p></a></span></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>It is bit of a mouthful, isn't it? But it
does say exactly what it is. If you are interested in Gypsy issues but, like
me, decided that the </em></span><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-latest-on-gypsy-and-traveller-sites.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>meeting in London</em></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em> would be an expensive trip unless you are
funded by an organisation, then another October meeting may be for you. For
some years now I have attended the Surrey Gypsy Traveller Communities
Forum when I can, as an observer.</em></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 140%; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday, 26 May 2014</span></span></div>
<h3 style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/surrey-life-review.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Surrey Life Review <o:p></o:p></span></a></span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em>I
was delighted to have my books chosen for review in the March issue of
the </em><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><em>beautiful</em></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em>, <span style="color: black;">glossy</span> </em><a href="http://www.surreylife.co.uk/home" target="_blank"><em>Surrey Life Magazine</em></a><em><span style="color: black;"> I thought you might like to see it.</span></em> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #38761d;"></span></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's about it for now; I hope this did not cause too much verbal indigestion. Look out for the next blog post to bring us all up to date. I am intrigued, I hope you are too!</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My books are available on Amazon or through Waterstones. Just click on the book covers.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 140%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text1;"><em></em></span></span></span> </div>
</div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7591676045138578812.post-80907710136912022462014-10-23T03:11:00.000-07:002014-10-23T03:22:54.511-07:00In Our Time - did I miss something?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a bit of an odd post. In a haze of post chemo, with
anti-sickness steroids depriving me of sleep apart from a measly one and a half
hours last night, I lay abed from 9 – 10 am listening to Melvyn Bragg’s BBC Radio
4 </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04lsqgs" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">In Our Time</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">. It was a discussion of the 1791 Haitian Revolution, a slave uprising
in what was then called Saint Domingue.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">It struck a chord with me as I read <em>Sugar in the Blood</em> by
Andrea Stuart – an excellent book and as I said in <span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13642504-sugar-in-the-blood" target="_blank">my brief review on Goodreads</a> </span>in January this year, a book everyone should read. It covers the slave trade in
shockingly graphic detail, specifically in Barbados and if my memory serves me correctly,
it also covers the eventual<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>uprising,
mostly by rebellious slaves burning the sugar plantations, as discussed on the programme. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">The cruel oppression of black African slaves, based on
terror and fear of amputations, beatings and slow, torturous death for minor breaches of the rules, thus
resulting in an allegedly docile and cowed slave population, enabled the French
to enjoy power and a rich sugar-derived economy.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">What really bothers me about this otherwise fascinating discussion is that there
seemed to be no mention of the equally deplorable part played by the British in
the Caribbean. Okay, the theme was French and extended into the French
Revolution, but I would have thought that reference should have been made to
this to put one of the darkest, most shameful periods of history into context. So
William Wilberforce, with other abolitionists, came along as the great hero and this cannot be denied as
utterly commendable but what of the cruelty that had been perpetrated and
allowed beforehand – by the great British?<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Did I miss something? I am not sure if, because of my
slightly weird mental state this morning, a heady mix of a buzzing brain and
extreme fatigue, I may have dozed off or misheard. I could listen again, I
suppose, but meanwhile did anyone else get the feeling that it was all a bit
skewed? If I am entirely wrong, I will make amends.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Would love to hear anyone's thoughts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Miriam Wakerlyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01584283466113133455noreply@blogger.com1