News

The sun was shining here in Woodbridge today, as it always seems to do for the town's 10k running race. A hugely popular event attracting around 700 participants for two loops of a surprisingly hilly course, it is known for the fantastic support given by residents and businesses along the way.

There was a powerful sense of community the other week, too, when around 50,000 people joined together on the streets of Ipswich to celebrate the football team being promoted to the Premiership.

Whether or not we're active or competitive ourselves, sport can transcend differences and bring us all together to celebrate excellence and achievement. It can capture our attention and imagination, and lift our spirits as we recognise courage and determination, often against all the odds.

It brings many life lessons too - dignity in defeat (and in victory), self belief, respect and courtesy to the opposition, perseverance and sacrifice in reaching the goal. We'll see all this, of course, in the ultimate competition, the Olympics held later this summer in Paris. 

So it's fabulous to be able to welcome Olympian and 400m recordholder Iwan Thomas to the Riverside in Woodbridge in July to find out more about his experience, the lessons he's learned, and the story of his life and career. He'll be introducing his autobiography at this event which has just been confirmed - click here or scroll down for more details. 

Of all sportspeople, I think I find athletes the most fascinating. Their lifestyle, diet and training seems punishing and isolated, and all-consuming for a race or event that can last seconds. How do they cope when their dreams are dashed by injury? What do they do when they reach the natural end of their career and need to channel their energy, passion and obsession elsewhere? Iwan will tell us all about it.

Thank you for reading.

A friend told me she'd been ill recently and had been frustrated that she couldn't use her convalescence to catch up with her reading. She just couldn't concentrate. 

We discussed the sort of books she found helpful in getting back into the zone and we agreed that children's books are a good way in. Great characters, punchy plots and a good pace with action and interest, and not too much superfluous description! What's more, as the award-winning and bestselling writer Katherine Rundell says, the best children’s fiction takes us back to a time when “new discoveries came daily and when the world was colossal, before the imagination was trimmed and neatened…”

Children's books are also "written to be read by a section of society without political or economic power”. And, as the reviewer Alex Preston said: "In an age whose political ructions are the result of widespread frustration at the powerlessness of the many in the face of the few, this recognition of how emboldening and subversive children’s books can be, feels important."

So it's been interesting to learn that in recent research, of the readers of YA (young adult) books (which are aimed at teenagers), 74 per cent were over 18 years old, and 28 per cent were over 28. The report established that the appeal of this genre was that it offered comfort and a defence against the stresses of the responsibilities of adulthood.

There was also a sense that nostalgia, seeking out authors discovered in childhood, can offer an emotional and intellectual support. And of course there's a sense of escapism, too, into a realm where justice and resolution is understood as an outcome of the story, or where contemporary issues are viewed from a fresh perspective. But, says one commentator 'The important thing at any age is not so much what you read...as having access to all the benefits of being a reader'. 

Thank you for reading.

We had a fabulous evening in Framlingham with nature writer Matt Gaw last week. At the end of a warm, sunny spring day, it felt very special to gather together, with glass in hand, to listen to his impassioned, entertaining and informative take on our natural world.

Matt has written three books now, about our rivers, the night sky, and this one on the weather. His writing beautifully melds memoir with observation and information, and we all came away inspired and uplifted, and determined to appreciate the downpours which inevitably followed the next day! 

But Matt's next project will be a novel, he says. And another nature writer, also at the event, revealed that this is what she is working on too.

Having met a journalist earlier in the week who had explained that she had chosen fiction rather than a biography to present her discovery about little known musicians in 17th century Italy, I was forced to ponder.

It's clear that fiction today usually reaches a larger audience, so the rewards financially and creatively are greater for the author. Meanwhile for the reader, novels help us to empathise and even, on occasion, change our minds about complicated issues, or appreciate new facts and scenarios, introducing us to people, places, histories and messages which we may not have found ourselves naturally drawn towards.

But has it become too easy to dismiss, overlook or disregard the serious handling of subjects today. Are we equipped to handle the facts?

We're only too aware of fake news and AI (and see below Danny Wallace's new book about conspiracy theories). We are being challenged all the time in interpreting the information being presented to us. If we know where and how we can establish the truth, we have nothing to fear but we do need to have time to learn, to investigate, to interrogate. Perhaps that's the key - finding time.

So in this long weekend, I plan to do some 'serious' reading! I have a particular project in mind but have been distracted by easier, quicker, more entertaining reading. Tomorrow, though, I'm going to find myself a sunny corner in the garden (or under a blanket by the fire, depending on the weather), pour a cup of tea and, with pen and notebook in hand, I'm going to study! I'll let you know how I get on...

Thank you for reading.

From my desk and armchair this week I've been able to experience the working lives of a boatbuilder, blacksmith, lorry driver, fisherman, tailor, printer and farmer. And it's been hugely inspiring. So much so, that I've been ready to don some overalls and join each one of them. 

You can read about the three women who have turned their passions into fulfilling careers in my article for Woman's Weekly here. And the husband-and-wife who have built a printing business from a tiny studio near Orford, are featured in my article for Pressing Matters magazine here. And if you scroll down you'll be able to read my review of the book by fisherman and skipper Ashley Mullenger, recalling how she left her office job for life on the sea.

The value and fulfilment to be had from practising traditional crafts and industry was evident, and this was cemented in my reading of two books, both newly published. 

'Where are the fellows who cut the hay?' by Robert Ashton revisits the farming communities in mid Suffolk which were first interrogated by George Ewart Evans in the 1950s and explores how much has changed, for better and worse. And 'Less' is the new book by tailor and tv presenter (Great British Sewing Bee) Patrick Grant which draws a distinction between the creativity in the clothing industry and the commercialism of fashion. He highlights the value of craft and skill, and urges us all to pursue a simpler life with fewer 'things'.

I'll be reviewing both these titles more fully in the coming weeks but there was a message throughout regarding the value of work.

'The politics of much of the past half century has failed to see work in anything more than purely economic terms,' writes Grant. 'Work is more than money, it is a vital part of our happiness and wellbeing...Technology has deprived us of the work we enjoy most, the useful work with hands and brains.' 

More of that another time, then, but before I sign off for this week, don't forget that there is a visit from the nature writer Matt Gaw on Wednesday in Framlingham. It's sure to be inspiring and uplifting so I hope you'll come along - the details are listed below. Thank you for reading.

Once again the weather has made the headlines this week, with scenes of the terrible floods in Dubai.

Even at home, conversations and tv weather reports have all referred to the cold wind and only occasional and fleeting spring sunshine.

We've always had a tendency to obsess about the weather, haven't we? In this country it's largely due to the unpredictability and variety of conditions we experience. Sadly these days we're also seeing more extreme weather, as is the case all over the world.

In the new book by nature writer, Matt Gaw, climate crisis is inevitably mentioned but he also wants us to show us how we can appreciate and celebrate the huge mix of weather conditions in Britain - to see and feel the changing landscape, to understand the response from flora and fauna, to appreciate how our character is shaped and our creativity prompted by the rain and shine, the fog and frost, the snow and ice... 

And just like Matt Gaw - and David Nicholls and Olivia Laing (see below) - we shouldn't just watch the changing weather through the window. For a myriad of reasons, highlighted in these books of fiction, memoir and observation, we should be out in the air and the countryside, experiencing it at first hand.

The fell walker and guide book author Alfred Wainwright said 'there is no such thing as bad weather, just unsuitable clothing'.

This is exactly the message Matt Gaw shares with us in his wonderful new book. He'll be coming along to Framlingham in a few days' time to introduce 'In All Weathers' and tell us more about the walks and weather he enjoyed. Perhaps he'll also share something of how he relates his experiences through such stunningly perceptive and lyrical writing.

I hope you'll join me in meeting Matt again - he visited us in Woodbridge some years ago for his first book about travelling Britain's rivers in a canoe. (I wonder if he'd be so keen to do that today?) He's a very inspiring and engaging speaker who writes beautifully. Do scroll down for details and reserve your place.

But for tomorrow, hopefully the weather won't prevent us from meeting together for our book group discussion in Woodbridge. Please let me know if you are planning on coming along. I hope to see you there!

Thank you for reading.