Great time at Gorsley

As I was saying on my blog the other day I have been to a number of festivals and shows this summer and they are all different in their own way.

I have just returned from manning the European Christian Mission stand (pictured below) at the Gorsley Festival, near Ross-on-Wye on the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire border.

It is a really friendly five-day event and has a homely atmosphere. There are coach parties from South Wales coming to see the flower festival which the village Baptist church launched in 1980. Since then Gorsley has grown to attract thousands of visitors over the August Bank Holiday.

There are also many others who camp and join in the Christian festival with activities for all the family.

In the Pavilion are a range of missionary societies and Christian media alongside stalls selling home-made cakes and locally-produced fruit and vegetables.

For me and ECM it was an excellent festival giving out scores of information about the mission and also selling 82 books of both Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, and God's Secreet Listener.

What also pleased me was that about 15 people came up to the stand to tell me they had bought God’s Secret Listener last year and they had really enjoyed reading it.

Also at the festival was ECM’s The Labyrinth, a multi-sensory presentation of Christianity and they reported that they had had a busy five days.

I did manage to go to some of the Bible readings and the evening events and thought Charles Price’s expositions on Acts were excellent as was Nia’s concert and worship leading.

I am definitely planning to be back there again next year.

Off to the Gorsley Festival

I have certainly been to a few festivals this year to promote and sell my books including Keswick during weeks one and two; New Wine at Newark; Go 2011 at WEC’s HQ in Hertfordshire and the Shrewsbury Flower Show.

Now it’s off to man the European Christian Mission stand at the Gorsley Festival near Ross-on-Wye on the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire border.

The village Baptist church launched a flower festival in 1980 and since then it has grown to attract thousands of visitors over the August Bank Holiday to see the floral displays and join in the Christian festival with activities for all the family.

The star event in the Pavilion with the range of missionary societies and Christian media will again be the Missionary Aviation Fellowship who are bringing one of their light aircraft and flight simulators.

Also at the festival will be the return of ECM’s The Labyrinth, a multi-sensory presentation of Christianity.

The main speakers will be Charles Price and Mark Ritchie (see programme below).

For more details about the festival go to http://www.gorsleychapel.org/ 

Watch a trailer for The Bald Explorer

As it is coming up to the Bank Holiday weekend I thought I would put a fun blog on today as I had an email from The Bald Explorer, Richard Vobes.

He wrote: “Thanks again for the interview. It was great to meet you. I have been slowly editing up the programme. I have a short trailer for the episode.  It is at http://www.youtube.com/user/richardvobes

Richard, who is an entertainer, actor, independent film maker and Internet broadcaster, is making a video about Shrewsbury as part of a web series called The Bald Explorer which he has pitched to the BBC.

He added: “You only feature briefly in this one, but you are going to be in the main show quite a bit! I also intend to put your entire interview on a separate video.”

I am seen on the balcony of the Dickens bedroom at The Lion Hotel pointing out the view of Wyle Cop (pictured) below us.

Richard concluded the programme is not ready yet as he is looking for someone with a coach and horses to film.

If anyone knows of someone who can help please email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Richard's quality pictures for book

Many people have commented about the excellent quality of pictures in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, and that is down to professional photographer Richard Bishop.

I have known Richard (pictured below) for many years as he used to freelance for me when I was Editor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle and he is a superb operator.

Richard, who was a lecturer at Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology, has been a freelance photographer since leaving education and he has many top businesses as clients.

His work involves increasing a company’s exposure and helping to define its corporate image.

Richard added: “There is a tendency to over-analyse photographs as with other media. Most people recognise a good image when they see it.

“With photography it’s about organising yourself to be in the right place at the right time and having the skill to see, deal with and take the shot before it evaporates.”

If you wish to contact him email richardjbishop@aol.com

To see Richard’s pictures in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Successful literary lunch to be repeated

I have only just caught up with Caroline Thewles, pictured below, who organised the sell-out literary lunch at The Lion Hotel, as part of the Shrewsbury Summer Season.

I was invited to join the 90 guests for lunch and then sell my book afterwards, but unfortunately I couldn’t make it as I was away in Devon.

The two guest speakers were the philosophical gardener and celebrated writer Mirabel Osler and the historian and designer Sir Roy Strong, discussing Mirabel’s recently published memoir, The Rain Tree.

Caroline said she had turned away people who wanted to come as they couldn’t fit comfortably more than nine tables in the hotel’s Lion Room.

Guests commented on the excellent lunch provided by The Lion’s Michelin chef, Ian Matfin.

A raffle raised £160 for the local hospice and Caroline said the event went so well that she is planning another one for next year’s Summer Season.

I am pleased to say guests generously bought copies of Mirabel’s and Sir Roy’s books – and also copies of mine.

To buy a copy of Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, email John@jbutterworth.plus.com

New book on expert who praised "amazing" ballroom

I was fascinated to read in the Sunday Times Culture section yesterday that a new book has been written about the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner and it brought back memories of his famous comments about The Lion Hotel.

The architectural scholar and writers, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (pictured below) and John Newman, had described the Shrewsbury hotel ballroom in their Building of England county series as “an amazing room, of priceless value to the student and lover of art, and to see it alone is well worth a pilgrimage to The Lion”.  

The series of 46 books took more than 23 years to write.

The authors said the 18^th century Assembly Room, or Ballroom (pictured below by Richard Bishop), is “a wonderfully complete example of mid-Georgian suite of rooms for public entertainment,” which have hardly changed over the centuries.

Visitors today can still see the same delicate colouring on the walls and the emblematic figures of Music and Dancing painted on the door panels, the two music galleries, the chandeliers and the moulded plaster decorations in the Robert Adam style where many people have enjoyed the dancing and balls there.

They include Prince William who later became King William IV and who visited the hotel in 1803.

The mammoth new biography about Pevsner, who died in 1983 aged 81, has been written by Susie Harries, who has spent 20 years on her work looking at previously unseen private papers and personal diaries.

The 928-page Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life by Susie Harries is published by Chatto & Windus, price £30.

If you would like to read more about the Ballroom in Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Letter brought back memories of famous 1842 dinner

A letter yesterday from Ealing, London, reminded me of a famous toast and the presentation of a commemorative plate 169 years ago at a dinner which I mentioned in The Lion Hotel book.

Nigel Hill (pictured below), president of the Shropshire Society in London, thanked me for coming to speak at Shrewsbury School to his Society and to the Freemen of the Borough of Shrewsbury on Thursday, August 11.

.He wrote: “You mentioned the Hon Thomas Kenyon on page 35 of your book and I wondered whether you had ever had sight of the commemorative plate.”

I had written about the threat to the stagecoach service from the newest form of transport, the railways, saying: “When the Hon. Thomas Kenyon, of Pradoe, Shropshire, a famous whip, amateur coachman and Holyhead Road Commissioner, was rewarded with a commemorative plate at a dinner in Shrewsbury in 1842, a toast was drunk proposing ‘confusion to the rail-roads and a high gallows and a windy day to all enemies of the whip’.”

Mr Hill continued: “I and my three brothers were sworn in as Freemen on the same occasion as the late Colonel John Kenyon, a descendant of the Hon Thomas Kenyon, and John brought the commemorative plate with him to the dinner held afterwards.

“It is enormous, circular and sculptured with friezes of figures of faces. The piece is solid silver and kept in a solid wooden case lined with green baize. The shame is that it is too valuable to be displayed.”

The president added: “John Kenyon’s explanation for the award was for the Hon Thomas’s skill in driving his coach and fours through the archway of The Lion Hotel without slowing down.”

He concluded in his letter to me: “Thank you for getting our evening in the Moser Library off to such a fine start. Your talk was informative, interesting and hugely entertaining. I for one was only too delighted to buy a copy of your book for such a bargain price.”

If you would like me to give a talk to your group or organisation email John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Hotel's amazing link with remote Pacific islands

As a keen stamp collector as a youngster and a geography fan I thought I knew all the countries of the world.

But even I was surprised when I saw on my blog that I had had a hit from Palau.

It’s not a new rice at the local takeaway but a group of Pacific islands as I found out when I went to Google.

The Republic of Palau, which is 500 miles east of the Philippines and 2,000 miles south of Tokyo (see map below), is one of the world’s youngest and smallest sovereign states, having emerged from United Nations trusteeship in 1994.

They have a population of around 21,000, most of whom live on the main island of Koror.

Following its defeat in the Spanish-American War, Spain sold the Caroline Islands, of which Palau is the westernmost cluster, to Germany in 1899.

In 1914 control passed to Japan and during World War II the islands were taken by the United States in 1944 with the costly Battle of Peleliu when more than 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese were killed.

The islands passed formally to the United States under United Nations auspices in 1947 as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

The three main industries are fishing, subsistence farming and tourism, not surprising considering its beautiful beaches and crystal blue seas.

Now I have learnt something about this relatively new country I am intrigued to know who on the islands is interested in The Lion Hotel in Shrewsbury and how on earth they came across this site.

If the person from Palau could email me on John@jbutterworth.plus.com and tell me more I would be delighted to hear from him or her. 

Successful day filming with The Bald Explorer

The filming yesterday with freelance journalist Richard Vobes who is making a video about Shrewsbury and my book went really well.

The film-maker is producing a video about the town as part of a web series called The Bald Explorer, which he is submitting to the BBC.

He has already made the first episode about Lewes in East Sussex. To watch it go to www.BaldExplorer.com

The owner of The Lion Hotel, Howard Astbury, was very helpful in opening up the bedroom where Charles Dickens stayed and also the balcony and the “queer old rail” which the author wrote about to one of his daughters.

Richard, (pictured right with me in the Dickens room), also filmed and interviewed Howard in the Hayward Restaurant and the Ballroom.

For me the highlight of the day was standing on the balcony, watching the shoppers below as Richard and his daughter, Georgie, filmed from across the street.

Looking from the balcony down the historic Wyle Cop, past the black and white Tudor buildings over to the Wrekin it is a view that has hardly changed since Dickens or when Benjamin Disraeli saluted the crowds after winning the acrimonious 1841 General Election to become the MP for Shrewsbury, and eventually Prime Minister twice.

An added bonus for me was that after filming a coach party from a Catholic church in Runcorn arrived at the hotel for afternoon tea. On their day's outing to Shrewsbury they had had Mass at the town’s cathedral before shopping and sightseeing, finishing up at the hotel.

 

The priest, Father Jonathan Mitchell, invited me to give a short presentation about the hotel’s history over tea, and a number of them bought The Lion Hotel book as a memento of their trip.

Interestingly, many of them said it was their first visit to the town but they had enjoyed it so much that they planned to return.

Filming today with The Bald Explorer

It’s an exciting day today as I am being interviewed about my book for a short video on Shrewsbury.

Richard Vobes (pictured below), who is an entertainer, actor, independent film maker and Internet broadcaster, is making a video about the town as part of a web series called The Bald Explorer which he has pitched to the BBC.

The film-maker, who has produced more than 1,600 30-minute audio shows since January 2005, has already completed a video about Lewes in East Sussex (see www.BaldExplorer.com )

He records two podcasts, one simply called The Vobes Show (previously the Richard Vobes Radio Show) which is typically about 30 to 40 minutes in length and is broadcast from a beach hut in Worthing, West Sussex, while the other is a behind-the-scenes personal audio journal entitled The Naked Englishman.

In his recent blog (see http://vobes.com/blog.php ) Richard wrote: “I have been researching for the next video exploits of The Bald Explorer in Shrewsbury. The town is such a fascinating place and steeped in history. One particular focal point is naturally the busy coaching inn, The Lion Hotel, at the top of the curiously named street, Wyle Cop.

“Luckily for me some one has already done all the necessary research I could ever want and more. John Butterworth, ex-editor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle (12 years), has just published a wonderful account of the life of the county town's premier hotel, formerly known as the Red Lion, but now renamed simply as The Lion.

“I have seen this magnificent establishment dominate history books about Shropshire many times, with continual mentions to the characters that ran the various coaching services along the London to Holyhead road.

“Charles Dickens stayed there ensconced in the 'strangest little rooms' as he called it, describing the windows as if they were on the stern of a ship on account of the way that they bulged out on to the street.

Richard continued: “Charles Darwin caught a stagecoach early one morning outside The Lion on his way to sail onboard the famous ship The Beagle, which influenced not only his life but his view on natural selection and eventually led to the infamous book that so upset the clergy and other religious people of the time.

“Even the great Paganini gave a concert in the Ballroom in 1833 which was an incredible coup for the border town, among a host of other talented and renowned artists and musicians over the years.

He concluded: “I have set up to film an interview with John to talk about his book and the hotel for The Bald Explorer and I know that it will be a fascinating encounter.”

Book reminder to be given to every guest

Guests in every bedroom at The Lion Hotel will be given a reminder to buy a copy of the book from next week.

In every room there will be a leaflet, which has been overseen by Source-Design, advertising the new publication and saying it is available for sale at the hotel reception.

The first side of the leaflet (pictured below) asks: “What do Charles Dickens, Cliff Richard, King William IV, Niccolo Paganini, Charles Darwin, Benjamin Disraeli, Thomas De Quincey, The Beatles, Morecambe and Wise and you (the guest) have in common?”

The answer on the reverse side of the leaflet (pictured below) says: “You’ve all visited The Lion Hotel. To find out more about the hotel and its prestigious history, read John Butterworth’s book, Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, available from reception at the special price of £5.”

Hotel owner Howard Astbury said: “I am delighted that these colourful leaflets will provide a good reminder to all our guests to buy a copy of this excellent book to give them a good memento of their stay here.”

Anniversary of town's amazing PR coup

On this day 178 years ago Shrewsbury pulled off an amazing PR coup when they persuaded Signor Niccolo Paganini (pictured below) to perform a concert in The Lion Hotel Ballroom.

Unfortunately, the records do not say who in the town managed to persuade Europe’s then top violinist to call into Shrewsbury in 1833 on his way from Italy to St Petersburg in Russia.

The only details we know are from a concert programme which still hangs in the hotel reception today.

It says: “Under distinguished patronage, Signor Paganini respectfully announces to the Nobility and Gentry of Shrewsbury that he will give a Grand Vocal and Instrumental Concert at the Lion Ballroom on Thursday evening, August the 15^th, being positively the only time he can possibly have the honour of appearing before them previous to his departure for the Court of St Petersburg on which occasion he has engaged those highly  celebrated Vocalists, Miss Wells and Miss Watson, likewise Mr Watson, composer to the Theatres Royal, English Opera House and Covent Gardens, and member of the Royal Academy of Music who will preside at the Piano Forte. Tickets 2/6d each (12.5p today) may be had at Mr Eddoes, Corn Market, Shrewsbury. The concert will commence precisely at 8 o’ clock.”

To get Niccolo Paganini, a 19^th century equivalent to a rock star today, must have been an incredible achievement for Shrewsbury.

The musician, born in Genoa, Italy, on October 27, 1782, had dramatically changed the writing of violin music, astounding audiences with techniques that included harmonies and near impossible fingerings and bowings. His Caprice No. 24 in A Minor, Op. 1, is among his best compositions, a work that has inspired many top composers.

Incidentally, the Shrewsbury Summer Season re-enacted the Paganini concert on Friday, August 15, 2008, at The Lion to celebrate the 175^th anniversary of the event.

Organised by Maggie Love, then the Arts Development Officer at Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, the concert (pictured below) attracted a sell-out audience at the hotel as violin virtuoso Madeleine Easton, helped by musicians Claire Surman and Gary Cooper, played the exact violin pieces performed by Paganini in 1833.

The framed copy of the original programme in the hotel foyer helped organisers to plan the concert.

To read more details about the concert and The Lion Hotel Ballroom in the book contact John@jbutterworth.plus.com to buy a copy. 

Platform for new information on Dickens

What is fascinating about writing a blog is how people I haven’t met can easily provide me with new information.

Following on from yesterday’s blog about Charles Dickens’ visits to Shrewsbury John and Barbara Marshall said the author’s reading of A Christmas Carol on August 12, 1858, at Shrewsbury Music Hall (pictured below) was not without its problems.

He quoted from The Charles Dickens Show by Raymond Fitzsimons (published 1970): "At Shrewsbury the hall had no platform so Arthur Smith (his first tour manager) set about making one out of tables."

I posted the Marshalls a copy of my book as they couldn’t get it at Waterstones in Birmingham and this is their reply.

“Thank you very much for sending us a copy of your book.  We have often stood and admired The Lion Hotel and wished that it could only relate its history to us: your book has done precisely that. 

“We really felt as if we had been transported back to the days when The Lion was a busy coaching hotel. It required little effort to imagine the sights, sounds and smells of coaches arriving at a brisk pace with tired passengers eager to stretch their legs; the tense atmosphere of coaches preparing to depart and people hurriedly emerging from The Lion leaving unfinished meals as they prepared to board the coaches.

“Of course, your information on Dickens was of particular interest.  We will let our imaginations take over, the next time we view those overhanging windows and the little balcony. It is a thoroughly interesting book.”
 
The couple added: “Many thanks for the write-up about us which you put on your blog.  Unfortunately, the Dickens Fellowship meeting of August 10 was cancelled owing to the disturbances in Birmingham at that time. I will tell the members about your book and your offer to give a talk when I see them at the next meeting.”

The Marshalls concluded: “Lastly, you have stimulated us to find out more about the coaching days. On referring to a Shire book I have - Discovering Horse Drawn Carriages 3rd edition 1985 - I came across a photograph of another coach with the caption The 'Old Times' stagecoach which ran between Chester and Shrewsbury during the early 19th Century, now at Blakesley Hall, Birmingham. 

“I have been informed this coach is now at the Birmingham Museums Collections Centre together with ‘The Wonder’. Could this coach have also operated from The Lion? 

“The Collections Centre will have an open day for the last time this year on August 21, but I am informed that it will be open for two hours 1.30 - 3.30 pm on the last Friday of each month.  For admission on these days it is necessary to ring Louise Taylor on 0121 675 2579.”

Anyone wishing to buy a signed copy of the book can email me on John@jbutterworth.plus.com 

Anniversary of hotel's most famous visitor

It was exactly 153 years ago today that the most famous guest arrived at The Lion.

Novelist Charles Dickens came to the hotel on August 12, 1858, with his friend and illustrator, Hablot K Browne, otherwise know as Phiz.

They were given rooms in what was then an annexe and Dickens wrote to one of his daughters: “We have the strangest little rooms, the ceilings of which I can touch with my hand. The windows bulge out over the street as if they were little stern windows of a ship.

“And a door opens out of the sitting room on to a little open gallery with plants in it where one leans over a queer old rail.”

Visitors can still see and stay in the two rooms that Dickens used as a bedroom (pictured below by Richard Bishop) and a study which have hardly changed since the novelist’s day.

Hotel guests can look at the stern windows, the gallery and the bulging windows and the rail and the plaque to commemorate his stay

It wasn’t the only time that Dickens stayed at The Lion. He had visited there 20 years previously when he records in his 1838 Journal that on Wednesday, October 31 he and his wife Catherine had attended the Shrewsbury Theatre to see A Roland for an Oliver before leaving the next day to travel on to Llangollen.

The author is known to have visited Shrewsbury on a number of other occasions, including May 10, 1852, when he appeared at the Music Hall in the comedy Not so bad as we seem or Many sides to a character, which was written by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton. The performance concluded with an original farce in one act by Charles Dickens and Mark Lemon entitled Mr Nightingale’s Diary.

With it being the anniversary of Dickens’ stay it gave me a great opening to impress the visitors at today’s Shrewsbury Flower Show – and to sell many books.

Anyone coming to the show tomorrow will see me surrounded by books on the Salop Leisure stand.

From a film extra – to speaking at Shrewsbury School

It has been an unusual week as I have said already in my blog and today I move from being an extra on a TV production to speaking at Shrewsbury School.

It was a fascinating but long day being an extra for Sky 1’s new family comedy drama, Starlings, which is being shown in 2012.

We had to report to the Peak Edge Hotel, between Chesterfield and Matlock, at 6.30am and we didn’t finish on the set, which was in the middle of Ashover Fair, a real agricultural show with thousands of members of the public there, until 6.30pm.

I had never been an extra before but it was interesting to see the professionalism and work involved in producing a programme and being able to talk to the six actors and actresses, although there was a lot of waiting around for the 22 extras who were involved in various crowd scenes.

Produced by Steve Coogan and Peep Show’s Mat King it stars BAFTA® nominees Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey) and Lesley Sharp (Scott & Bailey, The Shadow Line, who is pictured below) in a working class comedy set in Matlock following the lives of the Starling family.

Granddad (Alan Williams, Luther, Rome) has recently moved in, following a rabble rousing incident at the old folks’ home. Rather than see him unhappy, his son Terry (Coyle) and wife Jan (Sharp), decide to put him up in their already crammed family home.

Making room for him is Charlie (Finn Atkins, EastEnders), their 16-year-old football crazy tomboy daughter; work–shy, reptile enthusiast, Gravy (John Dagleish, Beaver Falls, Larkrise to Candleford) and beautiful Bell (Rebecca Night, Larkrise to Candleford, This September) and her brand new baby, Zac, who arrives bang on time for the first episode.

Producer Steve Coogan commented: “We are very excited about this smart but accessible new television series which will make people laugh and cry in equal measure for all the right reasons.”

From Derbyshire it’s off to Shropshire tonight to speak about my books, Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel, Shrewsbury, and God’s Secret Listener in the Moser Library at Shrewsbury School (pictured below) to the Shropshire Society in London and the Freemen of the Borough of Shrewsbury.

The Shropshire Society, which has been going since 1899, exists to foster connections between the county and London and organizes functions for Salopians and friends of Shropshire in London and Shropshire. It aims to keep London Salopians in touch with the county and to give county based members the opportunity to experience London at its finest and by supporting county charities. It visits the Shrewsbury Flower Show every year.

The Freemen of the Borough of Shrewsbury is a tradition lasting more than 1,000 years. One of the last bastions of the old all-male establishment it moved into the 21^st century last September when it admitted ten women who were sworn in become Burgesses of the town at the Installation of Freemen ceremony, which took place at the Guildhall, in Shrewsbury. 

From Probus to Steve Coogan

It has been an unusual week starting with speaking to Longton Probus Club at Barlaston on Monday followed by going to Matlock tomorrow to be an extra on a new series for Sky TV starring Steve Coogan (pictured below).

Apart from that there’s five days’ work in Shrewsbury including giving talks to the Shropshire Society from London and the Guilds of Shrewsbury on Thursday and another one to the Mayors and Chairmen of Shropshire on Sunday lunchtime, plus two days manning a stand at Shrewsbury Flower Show, so it’s going to be a busy and fun few days.

It was a trip down Memory Lane going to the The Upper House Hotel on Monday to talk to 51 members of Probus as I knew a few of them and a number were Old Newcastilians so it was fun to chat about life at Newcastle High School in the old days.

The talk, questions and DVD lasted an hour and it seemed to go down well by the number of perceptive questions members asked about all aspects of Albanian life and history.

As I have two more talks coming up to different Probus clubs it was good preparation. I am pleased to say the lunch and the hotel were first class – and I also sold a number of copies of Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel and God’s Secret Listener.

Tomorrow should be a fascinating day as I put my name down as an extra with an agency a few months ago and this is the first day’s work they have offered me.

All I know is that the programme is called Starlings and I will report back on how the day went.

Plan for book to be included in new video

An unexpected bonus for the book came this week from freelance journalist Richard Vobes who is pitching a programme idea to the BBC about Shrewsbury which would include an interview with me about Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel.

In his email he wrote: “Your book, John is fabulous. I have been tweeting about it. I have just finished the chapter on the Wonder and have now moved on to the Mail Coach chapter.

“Thanks so much for writing it, and also for including additional details such as where the Wonder is available to be viewed. I will get in touch with the museum and see if I can film the Yellow Belly (pictured below).

He continued: “I have pitched a programme idea to the BBC and currently waiting to hear from them before pitching my ideas elsewhere.

“In the meantime, I am making a video about the town as part of a web series called The Bald Explorer. You can see a recent episode that I made about Lewes in East Sussex: www.BaldExplorer.com

”I was out yesterday experimenting with an Ironbridge style coracle on the Montgomery canal in preparation for the Shropshire video.

“My plan is to be seen emerging from under the English Bridge explaining how it was taken to bits and widened, etc.

“It would be fabulous to interview you about the book and to learn more about the history of The Lion Hotel.

“It’s all very exciting. I shall get in touch with The Lion and start to sort out some dates next week.” 

Word about the book is spreading

Word about Four Centuries at The Lion Hotel is spreading. I was delighted to receive a phone call this weekend from John Marshall, who lives in West Heath, Birmingham, and had been reading my blog after a friend in Shrewsbury told him about the book.

He had gone into Waterstones in Birmingham to try to buy a copy without success, so had contacted me and I was delighted to post him one on Saturday.

John, who is a Dickens fan, enjoys putting on one-man shows for charity by reading A Christmas Carol, which he has performed at St Anne’s Church Hall in West Heath and St Mary’s Hospice, Selly Oak, Birmingham.

In his email he said: “I invite my audience to step back in time and savour the atmosphere as I take the part of Charles Dickens giving his dramatized reading of his story – A Christmas Carol.  Dickens gave his first public reading – appropriately of A Christmas Carol – at Birmingham Town Hall on 27^th December, 1853.  He went on to give 472 performances in England, Scotland, Ireland and America. 

He continued: “I endeavour to recreate his performance as closely as I can by delivering my reading dressed as Charles Dickens behind a replica of his reading stand (pictured below). I give a short introduction before I take the part of Dickens. 

“At a certain point, my wife concludes the introduction, allowing me to make a near-instant change and reappear as Dickens. 

“This is followed by the dramatized reading which –  with an  interval mid-way (flexible depending on whether refreshments are served) – lasts between one and a half and one and three quarter hours.  Before the commencement of the second half, my wife gives a brief recap of the story to that point.”

John added that after phoning me he rang the Secretary of the Birmingham Dickens Fellowship, of which he is a member, to talk about inviting me down to give a lecture.

He said: “She was very interested and has given me the opportunity to bring your book to the attention of members at our next meeting this Wednesday (August 10).”

The Dickens fan, who is retired and can fit in with daytime of evening performances, said he is always interested in giving one-man shows for charity and he doesn’t charge a fee

If you want more details, contact John Marshall at marshall8558@hotmail.com or phone 0121 458 3686.