Cramming It All In

As we're spending two days a week at the moment helping out with the family's temporary childcare shortage in Rochester we're having to cram seven days worth of home life into five  at the moment and boy did we cram it in yesterday.

I started at seven in the morning with a trip to the college for a spinning class. After that it was a quick trip back home for a shower and a bowl of porridge before heading back with Marion to the college for a circuit training class. Duly exhausted it was back home at ten for another shower before heading to Southwold.

We were in Southwold for the excellent Ways With Words literary festival and were fortunate enough to have front row seats for talks by Shane Spall (accompanied by husband Tim), Rev Richard Coles and Melvyn Bragg.

What a great line up it was. Shane Spall was a quiet and fairly diffident presence who spoke enthusiastically about her books whilst her husband Tim exuded bonhomie and an infectious joie de vivre - the Southwold audience loved his reading of a passage about a meeting with a Sole Bay fisherman complete with unintelligible local dialect. 

By complete contrast to Shane, Richard Coles was as confident a speaker as you are likely to encounter which is not surprising given his regular TV and radio appearances and his other job as a vicar. He spoke about his childhood, his coming out and his epiphany in Edinburgh but missed out the "searingly honest" bits of his autobiography which could have shocked his mostly silver haired audience.

At the signing afterwards, Marion told Richard that if he were the vicar of Framlingham she would go to church. I simply raised my eyes and wondered how on earth we could fit that in.

The afternoon ended with a talk by Melvyn Bragg. I've always considered Melvyn to be a serious and confident interviewer but his talk showed a fragile side to him that is rarely seen. He was talking about his novel Grace And Mary which is written as an autobiographical fiction. By this Melvyn meant that he used real people, changed their identities and then wrote fiction about them. The people in this case were himself, his mother and his grandmother who was sent away from her community for bearing an illegitimate child (true, but as the author said, hard to believe today). A third of the book covers the period from when his ageing mother developed Alzheimer's to her eventual death from this ghastly disease and Melvyn was too emotional to complete the reading of each of his chosen passages. It showed a truly compassionate side to his nature and I have great admiration for his ability to share this sensitivity with a group of strangers. He was annoyed at letting his feelings get the better of him but, as the interviewer on stage with him said, if your writing doesn't move you, it won't move your readers.

Framlingham Town Council. Photo courtesy of www.nearthecoast.com/framlingham/

There was no time to dawdle after the event finished and it was back to the car and off to Framlingham in time to get to the Town Council meeting. I believe that there are usually no more than three members of the public in the audience at these meetings but, due to current development proposals which could increase the town's population by over 30% at a stroke, the hall was packed with standing room only. I felt sorry for the town councillors who explained that they were all volunteers and, effectively, asked the audience not to blame them for anything. The most important part of the meeting - the discussion of the proposed development on Fairfield Rd - drew a huge response from members of the audience who repeated the many arguments against the new houses. The outcome of the meeting was, for me, fairly unsatisfactory as, although the proposals were not approved, they were not rejected but simply pushed down the road for further consideration when more information is available.

After the meeting we were home in time to catch the final episode of The Detectorists which was filmed here. As a detector user living in Framlingham the show has been a firm favourite with me and I've really enjoyed it. It was a very gentle and fairly whimsical show which is right up my street and I'm delighted that, with 582,000 viewers last night (way above the slot average), another series has been commissioned.

I enjoyed spotting the town locations. Here's Toby Jones outside our bookshop - the only bookshop in the country stocking my novel at the moment. 

Here's a nice shot of Castle St.

And here's the excellent John Bradlaugh Electrical on Fore St where we bought our vacuum cleaner - I must pop in and try and get one of those toy detectors that MacKenzie Crook's character bought in last night's show.

So that was a pretty hectic day and a pretty lengthy blog too (sorry). This weekend we're off to a pub near Rugby to meet our friends Dave and Jane from our old life in Lancashire. 

Busy Days

It's been a hectic week with little time for blogging. We've been helping the Rochester branch of the family with babysitting duties due to the temporary absence of the regular carer. It's wonderful to be able to see so much of our two-year old granddaughter - she's a little angel and has been great company. On the negative side, the five a.m starts are not ideal.

On the plus side we get to see sunrises like this.

But on the negative side there's a huge traffic build up at the Dartford crossing as early as seven o'clock. We arrive in Rochester way too early but if we left Framlingham any later we would be way too late - it's amazing what a difference a fifteen minute delay in leaving can make. We're off there again on Friday and next week we're staying all week so we will avoid the early starts and long drives. 


Being with a two year old can be a lot of fun. We told her parents that we would look at some new shoes for her. "Something plain and sensible" were our instructions. 

These were her idea of something plain and sensible! Suffice to say she ended up with a very nice dark blue pair. 

While we've been back in Framlingham we've been keeping very busy. We've taken up spinning classes at Fram Leisure up at the college. We've got Becky, who is a great instructor, to keep us going and the classes provide forty five minutes of intensive exercise. Spinning apart, Marion's redesigning the garden planting and has bought two trees and lots of shrubs and climbing plants which she's managed to find time to plant . She's got plans for another few dozen plants but they may have to be delayed until spring.

We even managed to get to Cineworld in Ipswich to see Boyhood which we missed first time around. It's a unique piece of cinema being filmed over twelve years. We experience the life of  Mason (Ellar Coltrane) as he grows from five to eighteen. It is a warm and fascinating piece. With each of the cast ageing as the film progresses it removes the need for unconvincing make up or different actors and I imagine that the script was a work in progress throughout the twelve years as the director Richard Linklater (whose daughter Lorelei who plays Mason's sister Samantha and also grows up on screen) could never be certain how his cast's circumstances would change over more than a decade. There are some wonderful and very real performances especially from Ethan Hawke who starred in Linklater's "Before" series of films. Not a great deal happens but it is an extremely likeable and real depiction of a modern multi-parent family life - a must for any cinema lover.

I also found time to get out with the detector at the weekend. Although this group of finds doesn't look particularly exciting they include a medieval silver penny and a medieval silver farthing plus one particularly fascinating coin.

This is a Danish silver Skilling of Christian IV dated 1620. It's in very good condition and it's intriguing to find a Danish coin from this period here in Suffolk. I did a bit of research and local dignitary Sir Robert Hitcham, who was around in the 1600s was Attorney General to Queen Anne of Denmark. Could this coin be linked to that connection? We'll never know for sure but I doubt that many Danes were visiting here in the 17th century.

I'll leave you today with a final reminder of my Goodreads book giveaway which finishes on Friday.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

A Real Treasure From Framlingham

As a keen metal detectorist sharing a birthday with MacKenzie Crook and living in Framlingham (where it was filmed) , I feel well qualified to comment on BBC4's latest sitcom The Detectorists which aired on Thursday night.

Starring Mackenzie alongside Toby Jones (whose performance in Marvellous last week was indeed marvellous) as a pair of hobbyists in search of their own Holy Grail ( a Saxon ship burial) it was a gentle and hugely enjoyable first episode. Did I object to its portrayal as the detecting fraternity as a slightly odd bunch of obsessives? Not at all.To be honest most of us who indulge in the hobby are fairly obsessive about it (it gets you that way) and, whilst I am sure that some will protest at taking the mickey out of detecting clubs whose members moan about others intruding on THEIR sites (ahem the farmers' sites) and listen to boring talks on buttons, most will be thick skinned enough to take it with a pinch of salt and, hopefully take a moment to reflect on the smidgeon of truth in that depiction. 

MacKenzie had certainly done his research on detecting and the hauls of ring pulls and shotgun cartridges will have been immediately recognisable to anyone who has spent a day on an unproductive site. A scene where both characters pored over a Google Earth map on a laptop and Lance found an iron age settlement which turned out to be the Google Watermark certainly struck a chord with me.Less recognisable was the arrival on the field of a beautiful young female student asking to look in their finds bags which, I imagine, will now be the new Holy Grail for detectorists.

I loved MacKenzie's character Andy's cleaning the floor in his job as a cleaner all the while daydreaming of his hobby and sweeping across the flooring with his vacuum as he would a detector and picking up a stray button. 

The Show Features On The Cover Of The Latest The Searcher

I was slightly disappointed at Toby's character Lance being shown as money driven (he even sells the ring pulls he finds on eBay) and a pilferer ( he pinches veg from the farm where he works). I am biased on this as I and many detector owners have never sold a thing we have found and, far more importantly, Marion and I once suffered a major five figure loss from a staff member stealing from us. A few carrots and a cabbage may look like a bit of a perk but multiply that out over a year and twenty staff and it's not a laughing matter (only one staff member was involved in our case I hasten to add).

Shooting Here In Framlingham Earlier This Year

That very minor grumble apart, it was great fun spotting the Framlingham locations and I noticed Lance's home in Double St, Maggie's Shop (the lovely Panorama), Fram Bookshop (which still has a few signed copies of my novel), The Castle Inn and St Michael's rooms. I am sure that others will have seen more.

The comedy involved far more than detecting and there were a number of romantic threads running through the episode. Will Andy's head be turned by the beautiful student despite his fabulous long term partner (who appears to be out of his league) and will Lance ever give up on trying to win back his ex (Maggie) who runs the shop and ran off with a pizza shop manager? I am sure that all will be revealed as the series unfolds and I guess that what they eventually find may well be an influence on those relationships

This first episode had 655,000 viewers which was a 3.9% share of the total audience (in these days of multi channels that's a very hefty slice and 146.8% up on the average for that BBC4 slot). So it looks like MacKenzie Crook has already found treasure here in Framlingham.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

400 New Homes In Framlingham

Photo from GoPhoto Website

A planning application has been submitted to build 163 new homes on a greenfield site here in Framlingham. Now I am not  a NIMBY and I know that people have to have homes to live in but there are already a further two developments approved and if this one goes ahead there will be almost 400 new homes in the town.

400 may not seem a big number but if each has just two occupants that will be 800 more people. In the 2011 census the town's population was 3,086 so it doesn't take a mathematical genius to work out that 800 new Framlingham citizens would be an increase of 25%. Imagine Ipswich planners receiving an application to increase the town's size by 35,000 people! I know that that sounds silly but everything is relative - increase a towns population by 25% without increasing facilities, roads, sewage, water etc, etc and you have a blueprint for disaster.

I very much hope that those responsible for deciding on this application will make a sensible decision and say "Enough for the time being. Let's see the impact of the other two developments before taking a step like this."

If you want to see a bit of the town, tune in to The Detectorists on BBC4 tonight at 10pm. It was filmed here during the summer and I'll be very interested to see which locations were used.

In the meantime, there's still time to enter my book giveaway on Goodreads.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

What Do Horatio Nelson, Silvio Berlusconi, MacKenzie Crook And I All Have In Common?

If you're thinking Bunga Bunga you're on the wrong track although I know that Admiral Nelson and Lady Hamilton had more than a bit of a jiggy thing going on. And if it's rugged good looks then, of course, I will forgive you but you are wide of the mark. And I will forgive you too if you go for intelligence, creativity or writers of great novels but you would still be wrong. No, what each of these fine specimens has in common is today - 29th September - be it 1758, 1936, 1953 or 1971 as we all share the same birthday.

According to the internet we share a friendly fair temperament that aims to be respectful of the opinions of others. Our creative imagination and sharply observant and perceptive minds are likely to have a real appreciation for beauty and the wonders of nature. Cooperative and usually rather good at negotiating we make great and understanding listeners. Intelligent, idealistic and practical we like to stay busy and organised but emotionally we tend to be quite fragile and seem to constantly seek stability. Individuals with a September 29th birthday are just as charismatic and stylish as most of their zodiac group yet ordinarily not as confident.We possess an unselfish caring attitude but can sometimes be intolerant moody or pessimistic too. I think that the words highlighted in red sum up Horatio, Mackenzie and me but I am not too sure about Sylvio who perhaps falls into the blue category. 

But hang on a minute. Young Mackenzie and I share far more than our birth date. We've also got detecting. I go metal detecting and, at ten o'clock on Thursday night, MacKenzie's new comedy series The Detectorists airs on BBC4. It's not only about detecting and starring MacKenzie but it also stars the wonderful Toby Jones who had us spellbound earlier this week in the outstanding Marvellous which was just as good as its title suggests. And the comparisons with my soul brother MacKenzie don't end there or with our handsome looks. Where was The Detectorists shot?

Why, our home town of Framlingham no less. Here's the crew obscuring the Fram Bookshop window during filming (no doubt decimating my book sales for a day).

Happy Birthday MacKenzie. See you in The Crown later? And if you want to make an old man happy on his birthday please download my book or buy a paperback copy on Amazon by clicking here.
andonThurs
More: http://www.gotohoroscope.com/birthday-horoscopes/september-29th.html

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Football And Footlights In Framlingham

I had a great day yesterday. We got up a bit later than usual and headed down to The Lemon Tree for an excellent full English. You'll find me doing the crossword in The Crown or The Dancing Goat over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake most weekdays but on a Saturday it's the Times Jumbo2 crossword and that calls for a more substantial meal. I'm happy to say that we managed to complete it this week which was a good start to the morning.

We then headed to the bookshop to thank Victoria for giving my novel a prominent position in the window in support of my ad in this week's AboutFram email. I'm not sure if anybody has bought a signed copy from the bookshop yet but the ad did bring a good response to the Kindle sales.

After the shopping it was time to head back home to watch Liverpool v Everton on TV. I won't dwell on that but as soon as it finished I walked up the road and settled down to watch table topping Framlingham Town against Ipswich Exiles in the Touchline Suffolk & Ipswich League.

The excellent young Framlingham side were already 2-0 up when I got to my seat and it wasn't long before the score increased to 3-0 sparking a mini riot in front of the home team dug out.

Fortunately Timothy West, taking a day off from his theatrical duties, had a good game and managed the situation well and no doubt with a "methinks he doth protest too much" sent off the Ipswich offender.

Tim In A More Familiar Role

With the opposition down to ten men, the second half became a rout and Danny Smith (at seventeen an outstanding goalscoring prospect- Brendan Rogers take note ) completed a hat trick and could have had more if he hadn't put this one over. Framingham ended 7-1 winners with some attractive attacking football. I was impressed by Bret Bellamy who took his penalty well and subs Issac Robinson and Nathan Vincent both scored within minutes of getting onto the pitch. Olly Goddard attacked well and if he had chosen to pass instead of going for goal on a number of occasions the score could have reached double figures.

After the match we headed up to the college for an hour of outstanding sketch comedy from the Cambridge Footlights (who left the stage before I had time to take a photo so you'll have to make do with these cardboard cut outs). We saw a similar show when we saw Sheeps at the Edinburgh Fringe two years ago but this was even funnier. I particularly enjoyed sketches involving a French conversation using Google translate "Sacred blue!" and "Burnt cream" , a sausage factory demonstration infiltrated by a dog and an introduction to a randy chameleon. It was a non-stop hour of excellent comedy and I am sure that we will be seeing a lot of the five (very) young men in the future. 

We were home in time to watch X Factor on Sky Plus so, all in all, a pretty perfect day.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

They DID Build It And They Came

If you are not a film lover today's blog heading will leave you a bit puzzled (Google Kevin Costner Field Of Dreams and you'll get it).

I am referring to Chris and Georgie who created Little Lightning, Framlingham's very own art house cinema which, during the summer months opened its doors and showed some great films in the wonderful location of a timber framed barn on a hill overlooking our magnificent castle. It was a tremendously brave venture as, as well as some populist movies like The Thomas Crown Affair and A Good Year, they treated the Framlingham audience to several subtitled features such as Cinema Paradiso, The Lunchbox and Talk To Her. 

To our great disappointment we were unable to get to many of the films in the comfortable barn fitted with sofas and easy chairs although, as you will know if you are a regular reader of this blog, we saw the first offering Cinema Paradiso which was shown with an excellent accompaniment of spaghetti bolognese. After rushing back from William and Sophie's wedding near Stratford-Upon-Avon on Sunday we arrived just in time to catch the finale of the season, the outlandish Frank. 

With Frank we were welcomed with a delicious glass of this Sussex cider made using the champagne method (and just as nice as champagne) and then enjoyed an excellent dish of sausages and mash with a mustard sauce followed by Bakewell tart and cream before settling down for the film.

I honestly didn't think that Frank, a film about an avant garde band Soronprfbs whose lead singer and front man Frank never takes off his enormous Frank Sidebottom head, would find an audience here but a good crowd showed up and it was well received. John, a budding songwriter and keyboard player somehow finds himself in the band and travelling to a remote cabin complex in Eire where they spend months perfecting and eventually recording an album. Apart from John, who has a degree of normality, his colleagues are an odd mix and include Maggie Gyllenhaal as a tempestuous quasi musician on a very short fuse. Although the big head stays on throughout all of this, Michael Fassbender in the lead role creates a complex and sympathetic Frank - quite a challenge beneath that mask. 

John's more mainstream approach to the world of music brings unwanted pressures to the group and gives rise to a memorable climax as he attempts to get them a break in the USA. The film is very funny with a touch of sadness as it explores the darker side of depression and mental illness. And, dare I say it, I quite liked the manic music. 

I'll finish today with an enormous thank you to Chris and Georgie for giving us the opportunity to watch great films in Framlingham in a wonderful and cosy setting. And for those of you who haven't seen Frank yet, here's his most likeable song ever.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Give Me Your Tomorrow

by John Brassey

Giveaway ends October 10, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Last Week's Finds

I had three sessions out with the detector again last week. The field that I have been searching is due to be planted very soon so I'm going to keep trying there until it's not available even though the good finds are, understandably, starting to decline. 

Although looking at all this (over 180 bits) that I tipped out of the finds bag when I got home after each outing it's clear that there is still plenty of stuff to be found - any one of these items could have been something interesting rather than the scrap lead which has been predominant in the last three trips. I would love to know why so many tiny lead fragments turn up in fields. 

Here are close ups of some of the finds from these piles.

Damaged post medieval double loop sword belt hanger 

Victorian silver Torquay souvenir brooch

Queen's IV Dragoons button c1790

Musket and pistol balls

Lead pot mends

Post medieval pimple button and stud

Copper alloy vessel fragment

Post medieval button with rose design

Post medieval lead button

Spindle weight

Freemason button

Royal Artillery Button c1800

Damaged post medieval spectacle buckle

13th Century Medieval cut quarter penny - either King John or Henry III 

Medieval cut half penny 13th century

Charles I rose farthing c1630

Southwold token "A half for the poores (sic) advantage" 

Medieval buckle or brooch

Lead cloth bag seal post medieval

18th or 19th century clog clasp

French Dauphine type jetton from South Eastern France c1373-1415 sadly plough damaged.

This dog or cat tag "Boots" has the local newsagents' Fax number on it. Hopefully Boots only lost his or her collar.

A good post medieval complete double disc type lead cloth bag seal with SR initials 

This lead fragment may be a stylus