English Setter Puppies – The Storm before the Calm

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.

Since then, I am beginning to understand why a prospective Setter owner might hesitate.

Our first, taken 1995

In our family we have had English Setters for the past 35 years, a tradition we are presently continuing with the acquisition of two 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 sure?’  We are, after all, not as young as we were – in fact, we are ‘of a certain age’ – enough said.

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.

Our 2nd beautifully behaved English Setter

I said to the editor in my pitch, ‘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.

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.’

Lovable Setter number 3

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.

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.

Irresistible or what?

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.

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.

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.

Registrations of puppies reached 1344 during 1974 but by 2012, and again in 2016, the Kennel Club listed the English Setter amongst the Vulnerable Native Breeds as only 234 puppies were registered.

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.)

Lakeside - a legend right on my doorstep

High time I wrote something here so – what comes to mind?

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?

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.  It has been in the shops since around 20 January and can still be found in Waitrose and a few other discerning Surrey shops   Or, you can subscribe online. 

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 Surrey Life archives under the title Notes from a Small Village. 

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.

The Tardis comes to mind - inside, the cabaret suite is HUGE!

The 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 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?

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. 

The editor only wanted the article to go into January issue if they had this Darts contract to give it a topical hook.  After a few failed interviews, where people did not materialise  – 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!!

Anyway, it all turned out OK in the end – so I hope you enjoy reading it, especially those who live in the area.  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!

Coincidentally there is an article in Surrey Life on Anita Harris. 

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.  Supported by family and friends of a large choir this had a better attendance!

I do hope more people will delve into the Lakeside programme and perhaps find an event that might tempt them to get a table together with friends for a night out in the village!  

An Uncounted People, a film for Holocaust Day

Yesterday morning I went along to the Surrey History Centre in Woking, Surrey, to a rare showing of an award-winning Canadian film, A People Uncounted 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.

The word Porrajmos 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.

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.

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 has seen it would feel impelled to recommend it to others. It is important for, as Dr Ian Hancock, highly respected author of We Are the Romani People 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.

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.

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.

Before the 1939 Olympics, the Gypsies, Sinti, Roma, were moved to live next to a garbage dump with nothing.  How often have Gypsies and Travellers been tucked away on unhealthy, toxic and poorly drained land?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I began exploring this very problem over ten years ago and then wrote Gypsies Stop tHere. 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.

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 ‘the last acceptable form of racism’ in our own country.’

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^th century Irish politician, who said: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing.’

If I ever hear of another showing of this film, I will let you know.

A Tale of Two 'Trafficless' Villages

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.  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!

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.  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.

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 where is the traffic? Parked cars, yes, but virtually nothing moving on wheels!

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: Notes from a Small Village, page 47

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!

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.

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! 

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.

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.

If only all villages could have a by-pass!! How many times do I say this every year? My family are probably tired of hearing me say it – a pipe-dream.  Or is it?

Appley Green does its best to be free of traffic!!

Writing from Life - and some news at the end!

If you are new to my blog and have found me through Surrey Life you might like to take a look here: Surrey village people

'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.

Real life setting ...

For my first two novels I am rooted in my local area, but before I could begin to write Gypsies Stop tHere and No Gypsies Served, 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.

With Shades of Appley Green, 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.

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.

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 Tetbury inspired the whole community theme running through my novels and magazine columns.

As for Secrets in Appley Green, 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.

Coming up is something new and yet not new! Rings on Our Fingers, 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.

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:   Rings on our Fingers on Amazon  A snip at £2.08 / $2.99 !  Another volume will follow in a few weeks’ time.  

Happy reading!

Surrey village people

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!

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!

Those who follow me on Twitter will know of other characters I have ‘discovered’. Take a look here:

LoveaHappyEnding Lifestyle magazine Real people, real unsung heroes and heroines.

My novels are, of course, filled with fictitious 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.

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.

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!

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!

Here are the links to Book Corner in SURREY LIFE digital archive:

March 2014, Page 130  Gypsies Stop tHere and No Gypsies Served

November 2014, Page 70 Shades of Appley Green - a modern village novel

January 2016,  Page 72  Secrets in Appley Green - a 1960s village novel

Until next time! And look out in May SURREY LIFE for the next Surrey village and the next amazing person!

Creative Writing Workshop in Camberley, Surrey

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 here or, if you live in Surrey or nearby, in the theatre brochure.

 

The three hour workshop will be on the evening of 20 May from 6 - 9pm and again in the morning of 16 June from 10am - 1 pm.

 

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!

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Maybe see you there? Or someone you know. Please spread the word if you live in or near Camberley. Thank you.

After the radio interview …

BBC Surrey Breakfast Show, Saturday 12 October 

Thanks to local councillor @PaulDeach who listened to my interview live and reacted immediately, this interview is put into context as a more permanent podcast on the Surrey Heath Residents' Blog.
And on iTunes  

( http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/p01hg328 
no longer available on BBC website)
 

Speaking live on an early morning radio programme can be deceptively challenging. Firstly, you have to be awake! Then, for example, before sun-up and in the rain, negotiating the Pirbright bends, where the road is strewn with branches and massive surprise puddles, you strive to get to the Guildford BBC studios in time for your precise slot.

Also there is the sensitive nature of the topic. Travellers. Gypsies. Planning applications and prejudice. Yes, enough to wake anyone up when presented with a list of alleged crimes and anti-social behaviour that are, apparently, solely attributable to Gypsies and Travellers.

Thankfully such sweeping allegations against the travelling community are becoming fewer in the wider population. I think so, anyway, but there are always a few who refuse to see them as human beings, in most ways just the same as anyone else. The key difference is that some GandTs wish to retain aspects of their culture, with regard to moving around for work and social gatherings, and pursuing traditional ways of earning a living: tree surgery, garden maintenance, fencing etc; laying tarmac (less so now); scrap metal. This type of work would not fit easily on your average residential estate or road, and it is entirely right that they should be accorded somewhere for them to fulfil their role and pitch a trailer. This is really all they ask for; somewhere within reasonable reach of schools, shops, doctors and so on.

These people are descendants of those Romany Gypsies who years ago co-existed quite comfortably within the context of rural England, making things like pegs and baskets, virtually out of fresh-air and the hedgerow, or offering a useful service such as knife-grinding. Travelling and stopping has become nearly impossible, with so many laws that make this and doorstep selling difficult; now, even remaining static in their family groups is almost as impossible!

Local authorities are trying to do their bit, I feel, but as ever, once they do their assessments, find a suitable plot of land, which is not easy to say the least, the big hitch in the process is the general public’s resentment. Whilst acknowledging the need for site provision, there is still a strong element of NIMBYISM.

How about we all try and turn things around? Instead of dwelling on possible negatives, perhaps, for the sake of their children and grandchildren especially, we should do our bit to accentuate the positive.

‘Hey!  I hear some Romany Gypsy or Irish Traveller families are settling in near us! I would so like to know more about them and their fascinating culture first-hand. What you see on TV and read in the papers is probably not a fair representation. I shall make a real effort to make them welcome and help them fit in with our community. I’m dying to find out about what the older members can remember of times gone by!’

You can compose your own version of course.

Do some follow-up comments come along from the listening public? (I am still listening to the programme, so watch this space...!)
POST SCRIPT: No, apparently there was little negative response this time, for whatever reason.

 

Surrey Gypsy Traveller Communities Forum

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 meeting in London 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.

 

These meetings provide an excellent opportunity to gain an up to date understanding first-hand of what is going on, not just on the big, overwhelming issue of site provision.  As described on a flyer, the forum is ‘a public meeting for individuals, agencies, charities and voluntary groups to meet informally with members of the Surrey Gypsy Traveller Community.’ I have heard heart-breaking accounts from mothers of hardships endured by the Gypsy and Travellers communities, and frustrations of fathers who battle with the authorities to find a place for their family to live; as well as how the various agencies deal with difficult situations.

This meeting is covering the new regulations brought in under the Scrap Metal Act 2013. No doubt there will be divided opinions on this. Scandalous and scurrilous dealings in the industry must be curbed, but you can imagine how someone whose literacy skills are weak would feel when confronted with the bureaucracy here:  Scrap Metal Act 2013

Other perennial issues will also be debated – education, health, planning etc.

This meeting is free, open to members of the public, held at 10.00 am on Tuesday, 22 October 2013 at the Runnymede Civic Centre, Station Road, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2AH (parking at Garfield Road car park).

By the way, as you’re here you may like to see a couple of lovely reviews that came about recently. A lady found me on Twitter and my books on Amazon, or perhaps the other way round.  Thank you JennCarol aka @JennyGaluschka on Twitter

'Art as an agent of social change' – a review of Gypsies Stop tHere

http://jenncarol.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/art-as-agent-of-social-change.html#!/2013/09/art-as-agent-of-social-change.html

'Who do you believe you are?' – a review of No Gypsies Served

http://jenncarol.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/who-do-you-believe-you-are.html

 

Perhaps I shall see you at the Forum meeting on 22 October!

Sunny Surrey Summer Wedding!

Yes, sunny and warm!  Our daughter was married on Saturday, possibly the sunniest weekend of the year so far!! Wedding days are known for being special, and I am biased because it was a family event, but this was truly magical and dreamlike, a Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

 

My guess is that most guests were feeling sun-deprived, so for that rarely seen ball of yellow light in the sky to shine, was the top layer on an already generously-iced cake. We British can be forgiven for mentioning the weather a few times and it was so surreal I felt I must share it with you.

The venue, a Queen-Anne style country house in the Surrey Hills called Barnett Hill, provided the perfect setting for what we wanted. It was winter when we (when I say ‘we’ this means our daughter, her now-husband, my husband and me) first visited the hotel, the gardens looking bare.

Tension slowly built up to the tune of violins and cello as we waited for the bridal party to enter; broken by the appearance of the chief bridesmaid (daughter) with 19 month-old flower girl (granddaughter) who stole everyone’s hearts; and eventually the arrival of the beautiful bride on the arm of her father who was in tears; the vows, the oohs, the aahs, the sighs and small chuckles …

The string quartet then continued outside on the terrace as we enjoyed canapés and bubbly and the photographer unobtrusively took hundreds of pics. Now, out in the open air, the relief and release was palpable. In the loveliest summery surroundings you could wish for, we could breathe again and relax – it was happening, this was real, this was wonderful. The sun was bright and everyone was exceedingly happy, glasses clinking, eyes twinkling.

The speeches were funny and tender; there were good jokes and some so bad they were great, and many heartfelt expressions of love, thanks and gifts.

We overran but in a good way – we were all having such a good time, so the evening people happily mixed and mingled without us until we all came together.

With the flower-girl long since safely tucked up in her cot, and the cake ‘cut’, the bride and groom had their first dance and some serious partying began – dancing to a six piece band. But the layout of the hotel was such that various other rooms were available, to say nothing of the garden, for chatting, ambling and, making it all very personal, leafing through some amazing photo albums of the bride and groom.

Sunday allowed us an al fresco breakfast we had not even thought would be possible. By half-past nine we wondered if we could take the heat!

 

How lucky were we?  Had I read this in a romantic novel I would have decried it as totally unrealistic!

 

How much do People need People?

Shades of Appley Green is about the lives of individuals but it is also about ‘community life’. This is what I often say, but what does that actually mean? Different things to different people, I expect, depending on your interests, age and general circumstances. How much do people need other people? Are they necessary to give you an identity?

You may know I was brought up in Tetbury, a small Gloucestershire town of about 4,000 inhabitants; it gave that sense of belonging, where you felt connected.

Now living in Surrey since 1977, and many more places before that, I have never forgotten that feeling, where you could go down several roads and name each family who lived there. Here in 2012, it is a different world, where former villages have merged into something of a suburban sprawl and acquaintances are nationwide, even global.

Look on any map of Great Britain and you see an enormous mass of villages, but in towns, and even in the London metropolis, there are pockets where you can spot the hub of a community – an old ‘village green’ or park, a church, community hall, a school and a small parade of shops – where residents find a local identity.  

Before retiring in 2008 I was working as a Community Support Worker – a modest kind of job that involved supporting people with information and a listening ear. For two years I was with an organisation that helped teenage mothers, often lonely, who had little help from family or friends; and following that I went out, armed with a lot of empathy and leaflets, to see people with Parkinson’s. If you read Shades of Appley Green you can see and feel the pulse of village life, and strong characters who struggle and overcome on the one hand, single parenthood and on the other, the loneliness that can come with Parkinson’s. It is, I hope, an uplifting book, not a miserable one, but it does look at the downs as well as the ups of life!

Homo sapiens is hard-wired to be tribal – that is my belief. There is a basic instinct in us that drives us to belong – whether to a family, friends,neighbourhood, club, profession or via the Internet – social networking! ‘No man is an island’ – who said that?  Birthdays, weddings, and funerals are usually celebrated or marked in the company of our ‘tribal group’. In evolution, there was strength in numbers, co-operation was key to survival. Lone individuals or nuclear families proved inadequate to defend themselves or their territory. They needed back-up and, later, division of labour.

Of course, there are introverts and extroverts, requiring company and solitary hours in varying proportions. Personally I happily spend hours alone absorbed in what I am doing, but always in the knowledge that I regularly meet up with friends and family. I know gregarious people who can scarcely bear to spend five minutes on their own. I have visited (and been welcomed!) by people living alone insisting they are quite happy and do not need people at all; but then it slips out in conversation that they are on anti-depressants and wonder why they have a constant feeling of anxiety hanging over them.

I was wondering how the rest of you feel on this? Would you be one of those who claim you would be fine on that ‘desert island’? Or, are you a socialite who needs constant interaction? Are you able to achieve the optimum levels of company/solitude or is this something you don’t even think about or aim for? I’d love to know.

I was going to write about things I get up to in my patch of Surrey that help me, now that I do not work, with community spirit, but clearly that will have to wait until next time. Enough, already … !

Amazon UK Paperback and Kindle
Amazon.com (Kindle only)
 

Romany Day - I was away with the Gypsies!

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.

This was a day for building bridges between Romany Gypsies and non-Gypsies. The sun shone – and the wind blew. Those of us with anything light enough to fly away had a constant battle with sporadic gusts that would suddenly remove stands, papers, balloons and books; even a gazebo took to the air at one point. I see now why ‘flyers’ are called just that!

Everything keeping still at this moment!!

There was a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with a wide variety of things going on, from the Fire Service’s dramatic demonstrations of a fire within a van and its extinguishment, (fire being a major potential hazard on many Travellers' sites); to a group of weavers and spinners from Guildford – not Gypsies, but people with an active interest in traditional skills.

The younger generation of Romany Gypsies were making them-selves seen and heard through a mix of street-dance and country and western music in the barn opposite my post; lovely youngsters showing the talent, enthusiasm and hard work that result in a polished ('Diversity' style) performance. This was far removed from traditional shanties or step-dancing, but shows that time does not stand still and tastes move on.

It was quite a social occasion. I made some new friends and saw some old ones: Ann, who works tirelessly for her community, a matriarchal looking Gypsy I know in old-style dress; wagon builder and painter, Peter Ingram, whom I visited years ago when I began research for No Gypsies Served; Jake Bowers, the well-known Romani journalist now turned blacksmith. I overheard someone congratulating him and shaking him by the hand for speaking up on TV on behalf of Romany people against the Channel 4 Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. I saw John Hockley, Chair of the Surrey Gypsy Traveller Community Relations Forum and West Surrey Rural Communities Officer, who gave my speech for me at the launch of No Gypsies Served when I lost my voice. He said how much he enjoyed Shades of Appley Green. A loyal fan!! Elsewhere there was the tantalising smell of bacon pudding cooking (as referred to in Gypsies Stop tHere!).

I also met up with people from the Romany Family History Society; the ladies from the Rural Life Centre bookshop; and curators from Bourne Hall Museum and Surrey Heritage in Woking, who I think were the main organisers.

Thanks to Surrey Heritage Centre, the Musem in Woking,
 for allowing me to show you some
of their wonderful photographs on their stand.

 A lovely day!  Hope you can be there next time.

Waterstone's book launch party!

I’m not sure how many book launches happen these days, but I think it is a fantastic way to mark the occasion that you have produced a new book and Yay! it is now available to buy and read.

About 40 people came along, about the right number for the upper floor of the shop – a bigger crowd might have resulted in wine spillages and all manner of unruly behaviour!

Sophie from Camberley People was a lovely surprise guest and she stayed until the end, clearly taking mental notes as well as photographs. Camberley People   Cath, Camberley Waterstone’s manager, opened the evening and introduced The Mayor of Surrey Heath, Councillor Tim Dodds, who pioneered Surrey Heath’s first Literary Festival last summer.



At Camberley Literary Festival 2011

He spoke very kindly of my books and his blog post appeared promptly the next morning The Mayor's 'report' He also said how important it is to support bookshops in this age of the e-reader. The Mayor’s personal preference is for a book he can pick up and hold; indeed, he was very taken with my book cover. On the other hand, his wife, also at the party, now prefers her Kindle. Opinion is often divided in this way; meanwhile we authors and publishers need to offer our books in both formats, which reminds me I must get around to getting No Gypsies Served on Kindle …

I failed to speak briefly and probably went on for too long!! But I felt I must explain that this ‘modern village novel’, the first of a new series (did I hear ‘Oh no!’ from my husband), has nothing to do with Gypsies and Travellers this time, although it is set in the same place. The style of book cover indicates something new. 



Thanks to Camberley People for photos



As suggested by Cath, the manager at Camberley Waterstone’s, I did a reading and decided on the 'blurb', Prologue and opening of Chapter 1. Another, more random extract, will be appearing on another blog post on Wednesday, 21 March Love a Happy Ending

As someone also representing the local community - for this novel is very much to do with community life - Chris Pitt, Councillor for Frimley Green and Deepcut, also spoke about how he first met me at a Gypsy and Traveller Forum and later enjoyed my first two novels, Gypsies Stop tHere and No Gypsies Served. A lovely comment he once made in an email: ‘They are amazingly readable, and I tore through each within about 48 hours of purchasing them. Couldn’t put them down wanting to find out what happened.’ There are local plans for a Traveller site up the road from where I live, so these novels are even more topical and of greater local relevance than when first published.

It was all captured on my husband’s movie camera but I’m not sure if this film will ever be released for the general viewing public; something to show my grandchildren, perhaps, in years to come.

This is rather late as I have been frantically busy since last week. A big thank you to everyone there – friends, neighbours, old work colleagues, some people I have never met before. Your support is much appreciated.