The Best View in England: Arvon Foundation Creative Writing Course at The Hurst

John Osborne's Best View in England

Last week I went on a residential writing course with the Arvon Foundation.  I’ve been longing to do one of these courses for years, putting it off because of lack of time, family commitments and hesitation about spending so much money on a ‘holiday’ just for me. I’m so pleased I did sign up - I had a brilliant time.

The Hurst Photo credit: Anise Hamilton

The course I took was held at The Hurst in Shropshire which was formerly the home of playwright John Osborne.  It’s a beautiful old building in a rural setting surrounded by a huge garden. Every morning before our workshop started I did the ‘azalea’ walk through several hundred metres of very colourful, scented azaleas and rhododendrons.  Stunning but a bit too much - clashing colours and slightly sickly sweet scent.  I  preferred the wilder section of the circular walk which was at its peak spring luxuriance with fresh leaves, fading bluebells and a pink/purple weed (red? campion) and, on one glorious sunny morning, dragonflies with metallic blue wings.. I wasn’t alone in appreciating the garden - quite a few of the other writers enjoyed attempting to identify the wildflowers and unusual garden plants. 

Photo credit Anise Hamilton

Another day some of us went on a longer walk in the afternoon.  We walked past the giant redwood trees and then followed the track across a steep meadow dotted with buttercups to the pretty village of Clun and its ruined castle. And then there was the reassuringly messy kitchen garden and the bench looking over what John Osborne insisted was the best view in England. Just being in this place was inspiring.  

Each evening the course members and tutors got together over dinner.  We took turns in groups to cook the evening meal and wash up. Good fun if a little stressful at times.  The Hurst isn’t run like a hotel - you help yourself to breakfast and can make yourself a drink in the kitchen whenever you want. This made it seem very welcoming. The food was simple, healthy and there was plenty of it including a new cake every day.   

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Our tutors were crime and historical novelist, Andrew Taylor and Janine Giovanni who had a career in publishing and now works as a writing coach.  Each morning they ran lively workshops for the group of fifteen writers.  Andrew has published over forty novels so he knows what he is talking about yet he was very modest.  One thing he said which I found reassuring was that he does not fully plan his novel before he begins to write.  In fact he says he ‘gets ideas’, he ‘blunders forward’ to complete a first draft and then much of the work happens at the rewriting stage. He also stresses the importance of what he called wrong-footing the reader and allowing them to make up their own answers.  And this doesn’t just apply to crime fiction.  Janine set out to help me and my fellow procrastinators on the course explore and dismantle the blocks which prevent us from actually completing the writing projects we have embarked upon.  Her practical advice and gentle guidance have left me feeling more determined and positive about moving forward with my writing. 

One of the best things about the course was meeting the other writers, a really interesting and diverse group of people.  The oldest was in her 80s, the youngest only 20, with most somewhere in between. Some were experienced writers, others were just getting started.  We came from all over England and beyond - one writer had travelled from Canada, another from the Isle of Man.  There were, among others, journalists, teachers/lecturers, young professionals from London, and an engineer from Yorkshire who brought along her violin to entertain us. We wrote in a range of different genres - crime fiction, fantasy, children’s fiction, romance, historical fiction and climate fiction.  On the final evening we had to read some of our work to the whole group.  Although I was a bit nervous,  I felt more confident than I did at the beginning of the week and enjoyed reading the piece I’d written.  

Regular readers of this blog (all three of you) may recall that this is not the first time I have attended a writing course. I returned from that one full of inspiration and good intentions but still did not complete the project I started.   This time I’m not letting myself off the hook.  One problem I have is that now that I am largely retired I have too much time.  And no deadlines.  So I have taken Janine’s advice and have made an arrangement with another member of the group to swap 1000 words every month. No excuses.  . 

Visiting The Scullery in Ballyronan

A couple of weekends ago I went on a visit to Northern Ireland along with two of my sisters.  We booked a holiday cottage near our home village of Ballyronan.   Normally we stay with Sylvia who lives in Co Down but this time she joined us to stay locally so we had a bit more time to see relatives and in particular to check out The Scullery, the cafe which has now opened in our old family home.  

My mother Sadie was postmistress in the village for 35 years.  This photograph of her and Jim, my father, was taken in 1998 shortly before she retired. Photo Credit Ardboe Gallery.

This is what the old post office looks like now. 

On Saturday we had lunch in The Scullery with my Aunty Mary. She used to help Mum in the Post Office covering holidays.  We also used to help serve customers with varying degrees of competence.  I wasn't much good, being too absent-minded to remember to tear out the dockets in pension books so the accounts wouldn't balance at the end of the week. A cousin who lives in Belgium also joined us for lunch with her husband - she's not in the photo as she took it. So it was a real family reunion. 

It was very strange having lunch in what was our old sitting room.  I am pleased, though, that the house is now full of people again. Joanne who runs the cafe and her husband have done a really good job renovating  - it looks really smart and modern. I gave her a copy of this photograph of Mum and Dad. and hope she will display it. She says that quite a few of her customers remember coming into the  Post Office and talk about them.

The food was good too.  I had homemade vegetable soup which was delicious and a slice of wheaten bread. Some of the others had 'Ulster Fries' complete with plenty of fried bread - soda farls, potato bread and a pancake.  This comes in the standard size below and a 'Wee Fry' for smaller appetites.  There are also plenty of buns and traybakes to have with tea and coffee served in pretty floral mugs and you can buy Morelli's ice cream to takeaway at the counter.  We used to have to drive all the way to Portstewart for that and now you can get it in Ballyronan.

We stayed in Moyola River Cottage, just a few miles from Ballyronan.  It was really lovely clean and well equipped cottage in a quiet spot near the river.  We didn't know the owners though some of our relatives did. They were very friendly and it's a great place to stay if you want to visit the area.  It's near Seamus Heaney HomePlace too - I'd have like to go back there but there wasn't time.

On Sunday morning we went for a riverside walk right down to where the Moyola joins Lough Neagh.  It was a glorious day - the sun shone all weekend.  And then we went back to Ballyronan for a walk around the marina there.  It's a long time now since any of us lived in the village so not many people remember us but we did run into some familiar faces in the local shop. 

 

The Moyola River.  Seamus Heaney writes about the river in his poem 'A New Song'

My cousin Lorna and I also visited an elderly lady who was friendly with my mother before she was married.  I am continuing my research into family history and it was a real pleasure to talk to this lady, Nan Dale, about her memories.  She told us about what life was like for them in the 50s.  They used to cycle together to Magherafelt to catch a bus.  Mum used to work in what Nan called the Assistance Board and Nan worked the telephone exchange.  She also told us about holidays they spent in Bray in Co Wicklow and also in Portrush. 

We only stayed two nights as at present it is only me, the eldest sister, who is retired.  It was all over much too quickly. I plan to return later in the year to do some more research and visit relatives I didn't have time to see this weekend.

April...ing

I've been neglecting the blog recently.  So time for an April catch up. Here's what I've been doing.

Visiting an exhibition of mosaic art called Constellations in Chester Cathedral.  The hanging piece above was made up of tiny mosaics in bottle tops.

Holidaying in South Wales.  We stayed in Saundersfoot near Tenby.  The weather was a bit mixed as you can see from the pictures below.  Lots of walking on beaches and up hills. The walk from the village to our holiday home was pretty steep.

One day we went to Pendine Beach (below) which is 7 miles long and the location for world land speed record attempts.  We thought it would be a good walk for Alfie.  What we didn't discover until we got there is the Ministry of Defence own the beach and access is restricted to a small section near the car park.  When we strayed too far along the beach a disembodied voice which I think came from our phones told us not to cross the line. Big Brother is watching you!. 

We also had a day in Tenby, a very pretty seaside town with more beautiful beaches. 

Saundersfoot was full of wild flowers.  The verges were covered in primroses and we found violets and wood anemones on our walks.

In the town centre park hundreds of daffodils were used to create the Ukrainian flag.  I have mixed feelings about the rash of blue and yellow flags around the country.  I suppose it shows support but then it's a bit of a futile gesture.  Like Pritti Patel wearing a yellow and blue ribbon in her lapel while making it near impossible for Ukrainian refugees to get a visa.

Celebrating Easter and eating chocolate with Kate who returned here for the holidays. It wasn’t much of a holiday for her though as she had an assignment to complete for her course and is also busy applying for teaching jobs. 

That’s it for this month. 

March Magnolias

 

I started this post over a week ago and never finished it. Oh dear!  I wanted to share these beautiful photographs of magnolia trees in Ness Gardens taken by my friend Juana last week when the weather was sunny and warm. It was a lovely afternoon and the magnolias were at their best.  They don't last long but are glorious when they do.  

If you look closely at the photograph above you can see that I am wearing a grey foam sling.  I have injured my arm - fell and fractured a bone in my elbow.  My own fault - foolishly wore boots with heels to walk to the pub, went over on my ankle and then lost my balance.  I'll be in the sling for another couple of weeks and it'll be ages until it's strong enough so I can get on with gardening jobs.  This is very frustrating.  It even hurts a bit typing this. I'm throwing out the boots and sticking to flats in future..

Below is my own star magnolia tree planted last year.  Doesn't match the ones above but it's doing ok.  

February..ing

 

I’m squeezing in at the end of February with a brief monthly round up.  Here’s what I’ve been doing:

Squelching through muddy fields with Paul and the dog.

Watching the garden slowly come to life.  The snowdrops pictured above are not in my garden though - these pictures are from gardens I visited last week. 

Feeling happy that the Covid crisis seems to be coming to an end.  Paul tested positive last week on a lateral flow which was a surprise as he’s rarely in contact with anyone outside the house.  Luckily he was symptom free and I seem to have avoided catching it. 

Feeling sad that the world, having emerged from one crisis,  is now lurching towards another frightening and unpredictable future. 

That’s it for now. 

January…ing

My top scoring Wordle. A disturbing pairing! 

January is coming to an end so I thought I'd add a post in the 'ing' form Christina and other bloggers use. Here’s what I’ve been doing.

Enjoying the company of Kate and who has spent January here. Not much enjoying getting up early,  making her packed lunch and driving her to the station. Just like doing the school run again.  Can’t believe I’m still making her lunch when she’s 22.  She has a busy schedule of lectures on her PGCE so don’t mind really.

Watching Kenneth Branagh’s film ‘Belfast’.  Kate has an independent study day today so we’ve booked to see this film about Branagh’s childhood in Northern Ireland. It appeals to me as I’m around the same age as Branagh,  though I grew up in rural NI.  A friend from my writing group who has seen the film described it as ‘sentimental’.  This probably means I will like it - she has more sophisticated tastes than me.  

Getting my hair cut in a new shorter style.  A version of a pixie cut so my hairdresser says. I was bored with my bob so I went for something more radical.  I suppose I could add a photo.  Might do later. 

Returning to teach my adult classes after the Christmas break.  I enjoy teaching the creative writing as it’s more interactive.  The literature class requires quite a lot of preparation.  We are studying ‘Star of the Sea’ by Joseph O’Connor, which is a brilliant book set at the time of the Great Irish Famine.  I have been finding out more about why the famine happened and how the policies of the British government at the time made the situation worse.  Another gap in my knowledge of the history of my own country filled. There’s a very good episode of Melvin Bragg’s ‘In Our Time’ on the famine. 

Attempting to learn Irish using Duolingo.  Even if all I can do is say ‘le do thoil’ (please) and ‘go raibh maith agat’ (thank you) correctly, I am making some progress.  It would be good to know the sounds made by consonant clusters so I can pronounce Irish names correctly.  

Completing Wordleevery day.  I’m enjoying this daily word puzzle which is now so popular that there was an item on the BBC news about it this week. I’ve been managing to guess the five letter word in three or four attempts and was very smug when I guessed it in two a few days ago.  Today wasn’t so good - it took me six attempts as I made a couple of silly mistakes.  

Feeling disappointed as the planned weekend away with my bookclub to Llandudno had to be cancelled because of the omnicrom virus surge. Although numbers had dropped, the rule of six which applied in Wales meant we wouldn’t be able to go out altogether.

Watching the sky in the morning now that dawn breaks two minutes earlier every day.  I set myself a writing exercise - write at least one sentence describing the view from my window every morning.  There were some beautiful skies earlier in the month. I’ve not written any this week as it has been mainly grey and cold. Here are a couple of morning sky views and some of my sentences. Can’t seem to change the font. 

5/1 

Clouds stacked in layers of grey, white and blue move steadily north west. For a minute the strip of blue expands only to be obscured again by a smoky grey pall.

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6/1 8 am

Small pink-edged clouds are rising in an icy blue sky behind stretching skeletons of winter trees. Black birds fly north.

The Year in Books

Current bedtime reading

It’s quite some time since I wrote a book post but inspired by another blogger, Dar.  I thought I’d attempt to give an overview of my reading this year.  I’m a messy reader. I often have several books on the go at once. I start things and don’t finish them or dip into books and read relevant bits, especially when reading non-fiction. I have also developed a new reading habit - reading ‘Samples’, the opening chapters of books provided for free by Amazon on Kindle.  There are 64 of these on my Kindle. Sometimes I go on to read the book I’ve sampled but not always.  I can’t give any reliable statistics on my reading as my record keeping is also erratic.  I don’t set reading targets - number of books to read in a year etc.  - this is daft in my view because of the very obvious reason that some books take significantly longer to read than others.  And anyway reading is pleasure, not homework or something that’s good for me like 5 a day or 10000 steps. 

To compile this list I’ve looked at my borrowing record from the local library which is where I usually get my books.  I was bereft when it was closed because of Covid in lockdown.  I also read quite a lot of my books on my Kindle so I’ve used it to jog my memory. I prefer a real book, but the Kindle allows me to read without putting the light on when I wake up as I am wont to do around 3am. I also like being able to increase the print size.  I don’t actually buy many physical books - only those I want to keep like the book on Seamus Heaney by Roy Foster I got for Christmas.  There isn’t that much room for more books here and I tend to give away paperbacks I have. Here’s the list with a score out of ten I’ve used in previous book posts and a few comments. I’ll stick to fiction and haven’t included poetry or audiobooks.

Bookclub reads.  I like being part of a bookclub as it encourages me to try books I wouldn’t normally choose. 

1. My Choice- Girl with the Louding Voice Abi Dare 9 

I loved this book about a young girl surviving against the odds in Nigeria. 

2. Amor Towles A Gentleman in Moscow 3

Others loved this story of a Russian aristocrat being banished to a luxury hotel after the revolution. I found it implausible and despised the Gentleman as I found him patronising with a particularly annoying attitude to women.

3. Slow Horses Mick Herron 5 

Not my kind of book. Spy thriller. Too many characters, some sketchily drawn.

4. The Essex Serpent Sarah Perry (Reread) 8

Brilliant writing, didn’t fully reread though.

5. The Bloody Chamber Angela Carter 8

Short stories based on fairy tales. 

6. Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson 8

Another book I enjoyed. Gilead is on my wish to read list. 

7. The Most Fun We Ever Had Claire Lombardo 7

Family Saga type thing. A bit like The Corrections by Jonathan Frantzen. It took a while to get going. 

8. Mayflies Andrew O’Hagan 6

Expected to enjoy this highly rated semi-autobiographical novel more as the first part was set in Manchester in the 1980s.  I lived there 1977-1981 before it was cool and before the Hacienda. This book begins in the late 80s and I’d moved on by then. It focuses on a group of young men from Glasgow going on a trip to Manchester see bands like The Smiths. Very ‘laddy’ - hard to follow the dialogue and like being out with my now husband and his mates at that time. All in jokes and references to stuff you don’t know. The second part of the novel is better as it explores the friendship between two of the characters in later years when one discovers he has cancer. 

9. Nacropolis Jeet Thayli 5

Not an easy read but glad I persisted. About opium addiction in Bombay. Opened my mind to a different world.  

10. Notes on a Scandal Zoe Heller 9

Thought I’d read this but in fact I’d just seen the film. Both brilliant.

Classics

I’ve read a few classics this year. Three were for the WEA courses I took, the others were Thomas Hardy novels, inspired by a visit to Dorset. I loved the short Virginia Woolf book Flush which is about the life of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning  written from the viewpoint of her dog.

Old Goriot Balzac 8

Flush Virginia Woolf 9

Crime and Punishment Dostoyevsky 7

Under the Greenwood Tree  Thomas Hardy 7

Far From the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy (Reread) 10

General Fiction

This can be sub- divided into categories. There are the by six novels and two plays by Irish writers, seven if I count Maggie O’Farrell as Irish, some of this being teaching preparation as well as pleasure. Some are by established writers, others are less well known.  I’m running out of time to discuss them all except to recommend highly Piranesi by Suzanne Clarke, I read it because I heard it reviewed positively on Radio 4.  It’s very different, set in an alternative world which is a huge many-roomed derelict mansion filled with statues and surrounded by seas which sometimes flood it. There are only two inhabitants, the narrator Piranesi and The Other.  It sounds very strange and it is, but it is brilliant. It reminded me a little of Gormenghast, another book I enjoyed.  I don’t normally like fantasy type books but this isn’t really fantasy. I have bought it for two of my sisters for Christmas. 

Klara and the Sun Ishiguro 8

Never Let Me Go Ishiguro 7

Ghosts Dolly Alderton 7

Hamnet Maggie O’Farrell 9

Unless Carol Shields 8

Small Pleasures Clare Chambers 9

Magpie Elizabeth Day 6

Academy Street Mary Costello 5

Leonard and Hungry Paul Ronan Hession  7

Piranesi Suzanne Clarke 10

From a Low and Quiet Sea Donal Ryan 8

Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens 8

Confessions of Madame Psyche Dorothy Bryant 7

Stitching a Life Mary Helen Fein 3

A Long Way from Verona Jane Gardam 9

Rereads

The Spinning Heart Donal Ryan 10

Brooklyn Colm Toibin 8

Nora Webster Colm Toibin 8

Dancing at Lughnasa Brian Friel (play) 9

Translations Brian Friel (play) 7

I haven’t included non-fiction on the list will mention one book I am reading now Spoonfed by Tim Spector.  I came across Tim as he runs the ZOE Covid App and he posts sensible updates and advice on Covid on YouTube. Before Covid  his research was on nutrition and the microbiome and this book debunks some of the myths about eating healthily. Some things I was aware of already but others not so much. He’s put me right of eating farmed salmon, for example.