Sorry
but we leave the realms of the novelist's wonderfully descriptive
writing and go back to the more mundane reportage of your typical
hack.
It
being many years since I have enjoyed café society, it has been a
great joy to wander into Totnes every now and then and to chill out
in bistros such as Rumour or Woods and to meet old friends in pubs
like the Bay Horse Inn.
 |
| A very old photo of Marcia with Trubshawe (left) and Bessie. |
Rumour
holds a very special place in our hearts. Many, many years ago when
it was still owned by Jenny and Phil, we used to take our
Newfoundland dog in with us. Dear old Bessie was a great favourite
with everybody and there were no problems for a long time. Then the
idea of taking dogs in became attractive to some whose animals were
less conducive to the social scene and one evening the atmosphere was
somewhat damaged when two such decided to determine which one was
'top dog'. This fracas led to all dogs being banned and you really
couldn't object: it is not possible to say 'yes' to some and 'no' to
others. There is always a danger in going back after a gap of eleven
years: places can be so disappointing. Not so here: the atmosphere
remains much the same, our old friend Chris still works there and
there is even a Jenny: a delightful and lovely girl.
I do
find that sitting in Rumour gets the juices flowing and I have been
writing some of my political pieces in there. That has been in an old
fashioned reporters' notepad and so they have had to be typed out
again when I get back to the computer. Dragging myself kicking and
screaming into the twenty-first century, I have ordered an Acer
tablet with a 10” screen which divides, one half being a full size
touch keyboard (but without the number pad) and the other the bit
where what you type is displayed. I will let you know how I get on
with it and what other things I can do with it.
 |
| The Narrows in Totnes |
Woods
is new to me although Marcia used to go in every now and then. It is
up in the “Narrows” as the top end of High Street is called
where, yes, you've guessed, the houses are built very close together.
They all pre-date the motor car but even so I can imagine it was a
pretty tight squeeze whenever two pack horses going in opposite
directions met there.
Most
tourists and visitors never go into the Bay Horse Inn because it is
right at the top just before the old road, Cistern Street, meets the
new which goes by the glamorous name of Western By-Pass. Thus it
retains much of the character of a true pub where you will find well
kept real ales and cider, some of the town's great characters and a
deal of folk singing, jazz and so on.
The
town has great literary connections: the bookshop there is owned by
nearby Dartington Hall where each year the literary festival, Ways
With Words, is held and famous residents included the late Mary
Wesley and Joan Brady whose Theory of War was the first winner
of the Whitbread Book of the Year Award back in 1993. Both of them
were very kind to Marcia when she was first published. It was Mary
Wesley who said, on hearing that Marcia had received her first
contract, “Many congratulations. You will never be happy again”.
She went on to explain that on the completion of the second book the
questions would hover in the air. Will my agent like the book? Will
my publisher like the book? What sort of reviews, if any, will the
book get when it is published? Will my readers like the new book? All
very true, and just as true of book number twenty-eight as book
number two.
Before
I 'sign off' I would just like to wish Gillian, one of Marcia's
readers, many happy returns of the day. The sun may not be shining
today in Yorkshire but at least it should remain dry.
*
* * * *
Jackdaw
Jottings
Well,
I said I would give this a go. No promises. First up is from an email
that Marcia received from in response to my last blog. Here is a
small extract.
The
weather has been quite autumnal of late with the expected wet
weather. We managed to get a second cut of grass & that’s all
baled & waiting to be brought in from the fields. Paul’s
tractor decided to go on strike (must be a male tractor as it’s
very temperamental. . .) but is now back on form & seems willing
to oblige with the said bales. The rooks & jackdaws love to sit
on top of them, I think it must be a good vantage point for them, but
they also like to peck at the wrapping thus creating holes which then
lets the water in!! My job is to go round & put tape over all the
holes.
Thank
you for that. I look forward to receiving other jackdaw stories as I
am not sure that the ones we have here will provide enough news to
see us through the winter.
