News
JULY 2021
Is the end in sight? I hope that 19 July will be the final "Freedom Day". However, we may still have to remain cautious, particularly if we need to get used to living with the virus for years to come.
I have spent time during the pandemic updating a book on the family history which I first wrote eleven years ago. Time flies! I am pleased with the result, which is a heavy, hardback book to be given to immediate members of the family.
Our latest book, Aspects of Buildings & Monuments: Branxton, Crookham, Etal, Ford by Antony Chessell & Gwen Chessell published by the Till Valley Archaeological Society (TillVAS)(www.tillvas.com) ISBN 978-0-244-75069-5 is available for sale online at £10. See details on the Books (cont.) page for ordering. Net proceeds of sale go to TillVAS.
My fourth book on local topics, Breamish and Till: From Source to Tweed, is available for sale, published by the Till Valley Archaeological Society (TillVAS)(www.tillvas.com), ISBN 978-1-291-58938-2 Price £10. Net proceeds of sale go to the Society.
Information about this and other books, articles and poems can be seen on my Books & Books (cont.) pages and copies of some may be bought by clicking on the blue link at the top of the Books page and following the instructions.
Articles & POEMS
'"Westhill" and the Hayward Family', All Over The Town, The Lyme Regis Society Newsletter, June 2006, pp. 6-9.
Reprinted in Historic Houses of Lyme Regis, Part 2, The Lyme Regis Society, 2013, pp. 28-31. Press report of publication in View from Lyme Regis newspaper, 26 June 2013.
Poem, 'Below The Sea Glacier', Whispers On The Breeze, United Press, 2009, p. 27. ISBN 978-1-84436-897-6.
Poem, 'A Chieftain's Call', Book Of Dreams, United Press Ltd, 2010, p. 22. ISBN 978-0-85781-005-2.
'Windermere House in the 1950s, The Norwood Review, Journal of The Norwood Society, Spring 2010, pp. 14-16.
See www.norwoodsociety.co.uk/pdf/review188.pdf
Two poems, 'A Helping Hand' & 'A Border Chieftain's Call' and a book review of Harry Nicholson's Tom Fleck in The Eildon Tree, New Writing From The Scottish Borders & Beyond, Summer/Autumn 2012, p. 2, pp. 47-8.
'The Leet Water', Border Voices on SCOTTISH BORDERS and BEYOND, ISBN 978-0-9567128-1-3, Borders Writers' Forum, October 2012, pp. 37-40.
Poem, 'St. Kilda People' and a book review of Oliver Eade's 'A Single Petal' , The Eildon Tree, New Writing from the Scottish Borders & Beyond, Spring/Summer 2013, p. 8, p. 46.
Poem, 'Who am I?', The Eildon Tree, New Writing from the Scottish Borders & Beyond, Autumn/Winter 2013, p. 5.
'Two Elderly Steam Engines at Riccarton Junction: a family connection', Border Voices on Waverley and other railways, ISBN 978-0-9567128-3-7, Borders Writers' Forum, June 2015, pp. 52-55.
An article in The Fourum (the community Newsletter for Branxton, Crookham, Ford & Etal), April 2016, regarding the anomaly of having Scottish post boxes in parts of Northumberland.
An article, 'Reflections around a Black Flint Flake', FLODDEN Legends & Legacy; The findings of the Flodden 500 Project, The Flodden 1513 Ecomuseum, 2016, p. 58.
An article, 'Bridges to Heaven', Border Voices ABRIDGED An Anthology from Borders Writers' Forum, ISBN 978-0-9926261, June 2017, pp. 5-7.
An article in The Fourum (the community Newsletter for Branxton, Crookham, Ford & Etal), April 2020, regarding Sequoiadendron giganteum, the giant redwood, many examples of which are to be found locally.
An article in Newsletter No. 2, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 23 April 2020 entitled 'Contraband', regarding the smuggling of whisky across the Border from Scotland to England in the 1820s and 1830s.
An article in the Till Valley Archaeological Society (TillVAS) Newsletter, May 2020 entitled 'A Heatherslaw and Bread Oven Tale'.
An article in The Fourum, June 2020, regarding an old coffer in a cottage on the Ford & Etal Estates, which is probably of 16th century origin and may have been a Parish Chest. The article describes the history of Parish Chests.
An article in Newsletter No. 4, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 3 June 2020, entitled 'Lockdown Projects' regarding the restoration of a WWII RAF Recognition model of a German Heinkel 115 floatplane. Recognition models were hung from the ceilings of RAF Stations so that crews and groundstaff could familiarise themselves with the features of enemy aircraft.
An article in Newsletter No. 5, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 27 June 2020, entitled 'Treasure Beneath My Feet' describing the many 'treasures' that can be discovered by keeping a sharp lookout for historic things underfoot.
An article in The Fourum, July/August 2020 regarding Scots Pines in Branxton and Crookham and speculating on the reasons why they might have been planted in their particular locations, based upon myths and legends.
An article in Newsletter No. 6, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 15 July 20 entitled 'A Tale of Berwick Pier' describing the wanderings of Philadelphia Nelson up and down the old Berwick Pier with a tea-caddy under her arm and her subsequent marriage to Rev, Robert Lambe, Vicar of Norham. (Image: An 18th century tea caddy)
An article in Newsletter No. 8, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 16 Sepember 2020 entitled 'Aphrodite's Island' about Cyprus being the birthplace of the goddess, Aphrodite, and the myths, temples and sanctuaries associated with her.
Photo showing her birthplace, the Rock of Aphrodite near Pafos, from where she was towed to the shore on a shell towed by dolphins.
An article in The Fourum, October 2020 entitled 'Highways and Byways—The Forgotten Bits' regarding superceded sections of road including the one abpve on the A697 which was abandoned when a Turnpike Trust completed a new section of road in the 1790s.
An article in Newsletter No. 11, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 18 November 2020 entitled 'Five-barred field gates, a 17th century meeting house and two unusual farm workers'. A centuries-old tradition and a triggered memory about a hidden place of worship and, perhaps, two ghostly farmworkers.
A short article in Newsletter No. 12, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 23 December 2020 entitled 'A Memorable Dorset Christmas' (unillustrated) describing a Christmas visit to Lyme Regis, Dorset and succumbing to a previous pandemic, Hong Kong Flu, which took the edge off the festivities, including the Christmas Dinner.
An article in The Fourum, February 2021 entitled 'Plantations and Buzzards' about buzzards, their lifestyle, flight patterns, their hunting ability and their connection with local, woodland plantations, many of these plantations having interesting names, often of historical significance.
An article in Newsletter No. 14, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 3 February 2021 entitled 'A Winter Wonder' describing a woodland fungus, Sarcoscypha austriaca, the scarlet elf cup, its habitat, the fact that wood elves drank morning dew from it in the UK and Oneida Native Americans used it to stop bleeding.
An article in The Fourum, March 2021 entitled 'What's in a Name?' describing the use of maps and the derivation of names to be seen on them.
An article in Newsletter No. 17, Probus Club of Berwick-upon-Tweed, 5 May 2021 entitled 'Living on the Edge' describing living in a model village and some of the anomalies associated with being so close to the England/Scotland border.
An article in The Fourum, June 2021 entitled 'The Mystery of the Green Man', discussing his origins and his connections to the fertility of spring and summer and his occurence in a non-threatening way in architecture and in ancient ceremonies.
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