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Category Archives: History
A collage of trees
My father says that he’s going to chop down the pines in the corner of the garden. They have grown beyond the space, their silhouettes distorted from pruning over the years. Still, this has never stopped the pigeons roosting and … Continue reading
Posted in History, Memoir
Tagged Albany, autumn, childhood, Denmark, Denmark River, Gabriela Blandy, History, how to write, Karri, Memoir, memory, Pine, seasons, tennis, trees, Western Australia, winter, Writing
29 Comments
The magical act of returning
The sky is beginning to drop its heavy white. Clumps of fog tumble down from the mountaintops into the valley where the cottage is. I stand by the window with my dad. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to … Continue reading
Posted in History, Memoir
Tagged Adventure, Battle of Camlann, Bedivere, climbing, Excalibur, Gabriela Blandy, happiness, Hiking, how to write, King Arthur, Llyn Ogwen, Memoir, Mexico, North Wales, travelling, Writing, writing advice
25 Comments
Maes Caradoc
For weeks I have been trying to explain to people how I came to be going to an isolated cottage in North Wales for a holiday. It was a friend of my dad’s who told me I had to go … Continue reading
Posted in History, Memoir
Tagged Adventure, Caractacus, Compass, Gabriela Blandy, Hiking, History, Holiday, how to write, Maes Caradoc, Map Reading, Memoir, Nant Ffrancon Valley, North Wales, Silence, Solitude, Writing
28 Comments
A place to write
Daphne du Maurier was five when she first discovered Cornwall. That summer, she had watched as the gardener caught a snake in the grass of her Hampstead home. He nailed it to a tree, standing back to watch it writhe. … Continue reading
Posted in History, Memoir
Tagged advice, Daphne DuMaurier, Gabriela Blandy, History, how to write, Manderley, Memoir, Rebecca, Writing, Writing process
27 Comments
The story of a room
Don’t believe anything you see. This is what the curator says as I enter the Whistler Room at Mottisfont Abbey – a line he repeats as more people come and go. I can hear the pleasure in his voice as … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, History
Tagged advice, Fiction, Gabriela Blandy, History, how to write, Memoir, Mottisfont Abbey, Norah Lindsay, Rex Whistler, Trompe d’oeil, Writing
13 Comments
Moments that change us
Something happened last week, which made me refer back to the diary I kept when Dan and I were living in Denmark, WA. It was the end of February, 2011. Dan’s mum was staying. I wrote that I was going … Continue reading
Posted in History, Memoir
Tagged Falmouth, Father, Gabriela Blandy, History, how to write, Humphry Davy, Memoir, Penzance, Sailing, Writing, writing advice
8 Comments
Exposure
During the rehearsals of a pantomime in a Scottish town, an infant is needed for the Spirit of the Mustard-pot. Ellen Terry’s father offers her services. He has acted both at Edinburgh and Glasgow, throughout the 1820s and 30s, and … Continue reading
Posted in History, Memoir
Tagged Acting, Ellen Terry, J B Priestly, Julia Margaret Cameron, Mostly Jazz Funk and Soul Festival, Photography
9 Comments
Two Trees Entwined
Henry’s sons are rebelling in France. It is the year 1173, which began on a Monday and will see fighting from Scotland to Brittany. The land will watch man tearing himself to pieces, destroying much of what has been built. … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, History
Tagged Eleanor of Aquitaine, Fair Rosamund, Godstow Abbey, Henry II, History, Robert Southey, Thomas Delone, Writing
3 Comments
Not all those who wander are lost
‘Are you writing a novel?’ I turn to the table next to me where two young men are sitting – one in a grey suit, the other in a crumpled shirt, jacket slung over the back of his chair. It’s … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, History, Memoir
Tagged Autobiography, British Library, Fiction, History, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Humphry Davy, Writing
15 Comments
Gabriela Blandy - The sense of a journey 