Friday 23 August 2013
Page updates
The pages to your right are updated with good stuff on a regular basis so please take a peek.
Tuesday 6 August 2013
A visit to the publishers
Suzie and I were in Shrewsbury last weekend for friend Julie's 50th birthday bash by the River Severn, hosted at the lovely house of her mum Wendy. My good chum Anthony, Julie's husband, organised the most splendid hog roast; there was a marquee and music and fireworks and a bar staffed by son Frank and friends. Daughter Siriol acted as guide and mini-hostess while younger son Aubrey maintained a happy and bemused grin throughout proceedings. Clearing up was done by Dinah the Dog! All in all, a proper enjoyable 'do'.
We also took the chance to make the short drive down to Ludlow. In our part of Essex we certainly have 'yer Tudors' - there's Anne Boleyn and Richard Rich at Rochford or 'enery the Eighth in Epping Forest. Or perhaps you look up river towards Tilbury, where Elizabeth 1 addressed her troops before sending them off to fight the Spanish Armada? Sadly the flat Essex countryside is at the mercy of development and modernism. Shrewsbury and Ludlow present history of a different order - perhaps it helps that they are built on hills? True, there are some modern shops and bank cash machines, but these are surely nothing more than a minor intrusion - a passing fad.
This juxtaposition was nicely illustrated when we went to have coffee with Karen, Merlin and Jo, my publishers at Merlin Unwin Books . You approach up Corve Street and turn into the courtyard of Palmers House, opposite the oldest inn in Ludlow. So far, so historic. The welcome was warm and the coffee good but what struck me most were the large Apple Monitors. Goodbye Henry Tudor, ave (atque vale!) Steve Jobs.
Merlin Unwin are the foremost publishers of countryside books in the UK, but they cater to a far wider reading demographic than merely hunting, shooting and fishing. All of their books are beautifully produced and in addition to their extensive and growing contemporary list, they find time to re-present (I won't say 're-print') older works which have stood the test of time.
I would be proud to have them as my publishers on the basis of their reputation and sheer professionalism alone, but in addition, Karen and Merlin are supporters of CRY and recently attended a sponsored fund-raising dinner for the charity, held in the Ludlow area. So please visit their site, and after treating yourself to a well-deserved copy of FISHING WITH HARRY, see what other goodies Merlin Unwin have to offer.
We also took the chance to make the short drive down to Ludlow. In our part of Essex we certainly have 'yer Tudors' - there's Anne Boleyn and Richard Rich at Rochford or 'enery the Eighth in Epping Forest. Or perhaps you look up river towards Tilbury, where Elizabeth 1 addressed her troops before sending them off to fight the Spanish Armada? Sadly the flat Essex countryside is at the mercy of development and modernism. Shrewsbury and Ludlow present history of a different order - perhaps it helps that they are built on hills? True, there are some modern shops and bank cash machines, but these are surely nothing more than a minor intrusion - a passing fad.
This juxtaposition was nicely illustrated when we went to have coffee with Karen, Merlin and Jo, my publishers at Merlin Unwin Books . You approach up Corve Street and turn into the courtyard of Palmers House, opposite the oldest inn in Ludlow. So far, so historic. The welcome was warm and the coffee good but what struck me most were the large Apple Monitors. Goodbye Henry Tudor, ave (atque vale!) Steve Jobs.
Merlin Unwin are the foremost publishers of countryside books in the UK, but they cater to a far wider reading demographic than merely hunting, shooting and fishing. All of their books are beautifully produced and in addition to their extensive and growing contemporary list, they find time to re-present (I won't say 're-print') older works which have stood the test of time.
I would be proud to have them as my publishers on the basis of their reputation and sheer professionalism alone, but in addition, Karen and Merlin are supporters of CRY and recently attended a sponsored fund-raising dinner for the charity, held in the Ludlow area. So please visit their site, and after treating yourself to a well-deserved copy of FISHING WITH HARRY, see what other goodies Merlin Unwin have to offer.
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