Hello, and thank you for visiting my site. I hope that you'll return often and always find something of interest about my world and what inspires me to pick up a pen. (This is a figure of speech, unfortunately. My handwriting is terrible!) Here's what I've been up to recently...

A literary visit

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A perfect June evening was in store for Ripon Writers’ Group as we headed for Markenfield Hall.  Only three miles south of Ripon on the A61 (but invisible from it) lies this rare example of a completely moated medieval manor house. Built in 1310, it has an extraordinary history and is now the home of Lady Deirdre Curteis and her husband, director, playwright and screenwriter Ian Curteis.  Famous for his scripts for popular series such as DoomwatchCrown CourtHadleigh and The Onedin Line, Ian is even better known for his political dramas and his tussles with the BBC, particularly over The Falklands Play. At 78, he shows no sign of slowing down.

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The inspiration for this event came from our Vice Chair, Lindsay, one of whose friends lives in a cottage on the estate. As well as arranging for Mr Curteis to give us a guided tour of the Hall and a talk about his long and distinguished writing career, Julia was kind enough to allow us to picnic in her garden beforehand, to the complete bemusement of the cattle in the fields beyond. For once, the weather was on our side and we had a glorious evening.

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You might like to follow the link to the Group’s own website to see more photographs and learn what else we get up to.

 

5 June, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story

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