When I was at school, the first book we 'did' in English lessons Was Treasure Island. Now I think that book has West Country connections. I've always assumed all that Shenanigans with Bild Pew happening in some Devonian Inn next to a cove - I'd better reread it sometime to check out the accuracy of my very fuzzy recollection
Anyway it was not to investigate that book, but the second 'class book'. What I remember about the book is as follows - Note, the list does not include the title
1) My mother loved the book
2) I didn't, it seemed very long and tedious - but was quite short (I think)
3) It was about a real life incident when the residents of Lynmouth had to drag their lifeboat a long way to get it launched.
4) Though I didnt enjoy the book at age 11 I did develop an ambition to visit the place.
It was with some trepedation that I set my car in that direction, because a previous study of the map had me worried that the hills round about would be jolly steep and my car would struggle to make it.
My concern was misplaced..... it was the hill out of Porlock that I should have been worrying about, which i seriously misconcrued as a 2nd gear slope and very nearly conked out half way up. By comparrison the slope down the Lynmouth was a doddle, almost an anti-climax, which was was a mood that kind of carried over to my exploration of the Twin Towns.. as i'm sure they'd be called in the US of A. There didn't seem to be much to Lynmouth, but i didn't really explaore in the hour I had before sundown (and driving back down Porlock hill in the dark didn't appeal). I did take the walk up the hill to Lynton - unsurprisingly, out of season, he Hydarulic Cliff railway was not running, to perhaps the most curiously situated town in the land. Lynton sits on a curved ledge half way up a cliff. On a chilly november afternoon it wasn't buzzing, wo or three groups of unhurried late season tourists and just a snese of locals around, somewhere. On the walk back down I passed a large group of teenagers, French by the sound of them.
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Thursday, 26 November 2009
West Country Diary - part 2
I can say one thing for Minehead - it didn't exactly meet my expectations. The main 'Drag' - called the Avenue which is an arboretually accurate name - was an mixture of functional shops, often local rather than chain. that much is rather refreshing, but the oddest thing is that it wasn't trying to be a seaide town. Tucked away in the East end of the promenade is a Butlins, but else where I saw not one amusement arcade. Maybe it was not the season. Maybe in the summer the butchers shop clears out its hanging jonts and moves in the one arm bandits.
Actually the oddest thing of all it between the estate agents and pound shop was the Minehead hospital. Is there any other town where the NHS is placed on the high street?
Having done inland Exmoor on the first day, my second days objective was to be Coastal Exmoor. I identified a headland to walk to; Hurlstone Point. It had a seat, a ruin, and a lovely view across Porlock bay to the forbidding clouds dropping rain on the eponymous town. They were clearly coming this way, but I was sure was only a shower. The plan was obvious. Shelter in the ruin reading the reviews in the Friday Guardian. Problem one with the plan - the ruin had no Roof. problem two sort of offset problem one - The rain never arrived. Well a spot or two maybe.
After my brieviated nature of my walk the previous day I decided to 'let rip' and scrambled up the cliff to another beacon, Selworthy this time.
Actually the oddest thing of all it between the estate agents and pound shop was the Minehead hospital. Is there any other town where the NHS is placed on the high street?
Having done inland Exmoor on the first day, my second days objective was to be Coastal Exmoor. I identified a headland to walk to; Hurlstone Point. It had a seat, a ruin, and a lovely view across Porlock bay to the forbidding clouds dropping rain on the eponymous town. They were clearly coming this way, but I was sure was only a shower. The plan was obvious. Shelter in the ruin reading the reviews in the Friday Guardian. Problem one with the plan - the ruin had no Roof. problem two sort of offset problem one - The rain never arrived. Well a spot or two maybe.
After my brieviated nature of my walk the previous day I decided to 'let rip' and scrambled up the cliff to another beacon, Selworthy this time.
West Country Diary - part 1
The general point of this 'blog' is to write about what I think about what I'm reading or whats going on in the world - This is quite an easy line to take because writing about my life is either Dull or I'd have to make comments about people I know and I might get into TROUBLE or lose friends (always assuming anyone ever reads my drivel)
But I've escaped, I've been away... I've been touring the West Country, so I thought a few words about the places I've been to might be in order.
Glastonbury, more than any place I've visited, surpasses a pre-conception I have of it - In this case for new-ageyness. That first visit was seventeen years ago on a late summer afternoon and the streets were full of hippy types, some of them occasionally overcoming their late summer afternoon stupour to visit one of the many shops called names like Mystic Magic or The Speaking tree. Now, in the early evening the shops were still there, but the streetscene populace was better characterised by skate-boarding youths.
One of my principle objectives of the expedition was Exmoor - and so complete a set of all the England & Wales national parks (though some visited before NP status was conferred). I thought I'd aim for the top at the very start by 'climbing' the highest point of Dunkery Beacon. The quote must be included there as my car did most of the work. I'm a bit stuck for wildly interesting things to say about the walk; It was an increadibly pleasant walk to an increadible windy summit. A look at a map now makes it clear could I made the whole thing more of an exercise, I guess then I wouldn't have vistited Exford, which was very pretty in a non-consequential kind of a way. I probably wouldn't have had twenty minutes to spare to contemplate the world from a point called Webbers Post, surrounded by Exmoor ponies. That sounds very poetic but actually I didn't realise I had company until I turned round to leave. just as well really, what with my equinophobia (or indeed fear of any animals that might be bigger than me)
But I've escaped, I've been away... I've been touring the West Country, so I thought a few words about the places I've been to might be in order.
Glastonbury, more than any place I've visited, surpasses a pre-conception I have of it - In this case for new-ageyness. That first visit was seventeen years ago on a late summer afternoon and the streets were full of hippy types, some of them occasionally overcoming their late summer afternoon stupour to visit one of the many shops called names like Mystic Magic or The Speaking tree. Now, in the early evening the shops were still there, but the streetscene populace was better characterised by skate-boarding youths.
One of my principle objectives of the expedition was Exmoor - and so complete a set of all the England & Wales national parks (though some visited before NP status was conferred). I thought I'd aim for the top at the very start by 'climbing' the highest point of Dunkery Beacon. The quote must be included there as my car did most of the work. I'm a bit stuck for wildly interesting things to say about the walk; It was an increadibly pleasant walk to an increadible windy summit. A look at a map now makes it clear could I made the whole thing more of an exercise, I guess then I wouldn't have vistited Exford, which was very pretty in a non-consequential kind of a way. I probably wouldn't have had twenty minutes to spare to contemplate the world from a point called Webbers Post, surrounded by Exmoor ponies. That sounds very poetic but actually I didn't realise I had company until I turned round to leave. just as well really, what with my equinophobia (or indeed fear of any animals that might be bigger than me)
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Missing Jigsaw pieces
My life is currently blighted by missing jigsaw pieces.
These are jigsaws I'm designing myself, and the pieces are not hidden under the sofa, nor have they have they been eaten by the hamster.
They just might not exist, or they might be just out of reach. My solution is to write loads about where they might be, what they might look like.
Enough of the metaphor - I now have about six pieces of fiction started, and they all seem to have reached the same state... I hae a start, I have rems of nnotes about character. In most cases I have an ending too. But I'm missing a middle, a key motivation to get me from A to C.
I'm not going to call it writers block. Like Alan Bennett* I dislike that term. Its writers laziness, it might be writers overstretched ambition. It might be solvable, it might not.
I know the solution is to keep riding, but maybe change horses. Trouble is recently I've just started off on a fresh hosre, a new journey. the other trouble is I've just started another metaphor that I don't think I'll be able sustain.
So I have Rosa. She owns a touristy nick-nack shop she hates. She is thinking of burning it down. A young man breaks into her shop. He ties her up. He has a knife. And in my head she is going to fall in love with him. in the next 1500 words.
Puh.
(*As he wrote in at least one of his diaries. He is part of the problem though. I spend so much of my time daydreamingly comparing myself to my favourite writers is just gets so damned difficult when I get stuck.)
These are jigsaws I'm designing myself, and the pieces are not hidden under the sofa, nor have they have they been eaten by the hamster.
They just might not exist, or they might be just out of reach. My solution is to write loads about where they might be, what they might look like.
Enough of the metaphor - I now have about six pieces of fiction started, and they all seem to have reached the same state... I hae a start, I have rems of nnotes about character. In most cases I have an ending too. But I'm missing a middle, a key motivation to get me from A to C.
I'm not going to call it writers block. Like Alan Bennett* I dislike that term. Its writers laziness, it might be writers overstretched ambition. It might be solvable, it might not.
I know the solution is to keep riding, but maybe change horses. Trouble is recently I've just started off on a fresh hosre, a new journey. the other trouble is I've just started another metaphor that I don't think I'll be able sustain.
So I have Rosa. She owns a touristy nick-nack shop she hates. She is thinking of burning it down. A young man breaks into her shop. He ties her up. He has a knife. And in my head she is going to fall in love with him. in the next 1500 words.
Puh.
(*As he wrote in at least one of his diaries. He is part of the problem though. I spend so much of my time daydreamingly comparing myself to my favourite writers is just gets so damned difficult when I get stuck.)
Saturday, 7 November 2009
At last, my first entry about football - its just as well Guiseley 0 Frickley 0 gets a mention here, because its not likely to livelong in anyone's memory otherwise.
Guiseley have been my local team of choice since moving to Leeds, but my suport for them has been somewhat erratic, being almost a regular at times when I've been familiar with the abilities of the squad, then maybe I'll stay clear for a season or two when an exciting team brakes up. This happens quite a lot a Unibond league level, with a revolving door particularly in evidence with Farsley, and to an extent, Bradford PA. The management of Terry Dolan kept me away on year, as did my City Council election candidacy for Farsley which meant I felt obliged to watch that team. (Their presence in the conference that season a co-incidence!).
Today was only my second visit this season, and the match is easily summed up. Turgid first half, but a better effort from the home team in the second when they created enough chances to be worth a goal, but none came.
Guiseley have been my local team of choice since moving to Leeds, but my suport for them has been somewhat erratic, being almost a regular at times when I've been familiar with the abilities of the squad, then maybe I'll stay clear for a season or two when an exciting team brakes up. This happens quite a lot a Unibond league level, with a revolving door particularly in evidence with Farsley, and to an extent, Bradford PA. The management of Terry Dolan kept me away on year, as did my City Council election candidacy for Farsley which meant I felt obliged to watch that team. (Their presence in the conference that season a co-incidence!).
Today was only my second visit this season, and the match is easily summed up. Turgid first half, but a better effort from the home team in the second when they created enough chances to be worth a goal, but none came.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Ouch ouch my Knee!
Hours, maybe only minutes, after my last posting, my knee started to.. well hurt. And because these 'columns' are not meant to be sob stories but commnetaries on the world, I'll cut to the chase and explain how now I have 'Tendonitis' and have some quite brightly pink tablets to take again...
And in case any Americans ever read this, the fact that this resolution could be reached so quickly, and without me having to worry about the pennies.. its because we have a NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE.
Thats all I have to say today.
And in case any Americans ever read this, the fact that this resolution could be reached so quickly, and without me having to worry about the pennies.. its because we have a NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE.
Thats all I have to say today.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Tony Blair! Europe! Arrrgh!
As an aside, I doubt very much that our former PM will get this job of 'President of Europe' - Too many people accross the EU have 'marked his card'
But what I really really wish is that our political commentators would stop speculating who will get this position, and start explaining what the position actually is. This isn't a question I can answer, though I might do some research before I write on this matter again. I am pretty sure though its nothing like being an 'Obama' to the EU, its just the chaimanship of a committee. If this were made clear then we wouldn't be scaring the horses.
Of course a good proportion of our press have an interest in 'scaring the horses'.
But what I really really wish is that our political commentators would stop speculating who will get this position, and start explaining what the position actually is. This isn't a question I can answer, though I might do some research before I write on this matter again. I am pretty sure though its nothing like being an 'Obama' to the EU, its just the chaimanship of a committee. If this were made clear then we wouldn't be scaring the horses.
Of course a good proportion of our press have an interest in 'scaring the horses'.
On Tweeting
Tweeting is something I started doing a while back, and now think I'll use mainly to follow a few public figures and try and persuade people to read this blog...
Anyhow twittering and blogging both seems to me like shouting into a darkened room, or from a fell top.. never sure there is anyone there listening, and I'm never sure I'll continue. Neither is a replacement for proper 2 way discource, though blogging is at least practise for my writing.
Which brings me to the news story yesterday that Stephen Fry is going to give up tweeting because someone said his tweets were boring. Now I'll have to be very careful here unless Mr Fry ever reads these words (which does seem very unlikely), and the most important thing here is he isn't at all boring. He is one of the handful of public figure I would mourn as a friend, he'd be top of my list for that fantasy dinner part, I'll watch just about anything on TV with him on. You'll get the picture. Some of his tweets are, well, of less interest, he tells us when he's off to bed for example. But if his tweets are boring then thats a comment on the medium.
The surprising thing about the story is that he knows this already. I recently read a quote from him expanding on the essential triviality of the medium. Of course, he is also open about his medical condition, and I'm in no position to advise on how he should cope with that. I'd have thought he has always been well advised to steer well clear of his critical notices during his 'down time'. A little extention to the tweetsphere (is that whats its called?) seems appropriate.
And maybe a look at the other tweets by the tweeter who started all this might be appropriate, as I doubt they mainatain a high level of interest. I hope I will use Tweeting as a means of bringing forth my 'wit' and 'bon mons' though no doubt my standards will slip from time to time. Saying the obvious - like I'm off to bed, or 'Twittering is sometimes boring' is all part of the scene, it seems, but these comments need to be taken for what they are.
Anyhow twittering and blogging both seems to me like shouting into a darkened room, or from a fell top.. never sure there is anyone there listening, and I'm never sure I'll continue. Neither is a replacement for proper 2 way discource, though blogging is at least practise for my writing.
Which brings me to the news story yesterday that Stephen Fry is going to give up tweeting because someone said his tweets were boring. Now I'll have to be very careful here unless Mr Fry ever reads these words (which does seem very unlikely), and the most important thing here is he isn't at all boring. He is one of the handful of public figure I would mourn as a friend, he'd be top of my list for that fantasy dinner part, I'll watch just about anything on TV with him on. You'll get the picture. Some of his tweets are, well, of less interest, he tells us when he's off to bed for example. But if his tweets are boring then thats a comment on the medium.
The surprising thing about the story is that he knows this already. I recently read a quote from him expanding on the essential triviality of the medium. Of course, he is also open about his medical condition, and I'm in no position to advise on how he should cope with that. I'd have thought he has always been well advised to steer well clear of his critical notices during his 'down time'. A little extention to the tweetsphere (is that whats its called?) seems appropriate.
And maybe a look at the other tweets by the tweeter who started all this might be appropriate, as I doubt they mainatain a high level of interest. I hope I will use Tweeting as a means of bringing forth my 'wit' and 'bon mons' though no doubt my standards will slip from time to time. Saying the obvious - like I'm off to bed, or 'Twittering is sometimes boring' is all part of the scene, it seems, but these comments need to be taken for what they are.
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