Maggie Cobbett

The unofficial Mayor of Emmerdale

Only one man deserves that title and I, as an ‘extra’ and ‘village regular’ on the show, couldn’t resist going along to the talk he gave in Ripon yesterday. Tim Fee began by telling his audience that he’d never done a day’s work in his life. Those of us who already knew about his long career in theatre and television must have looked sceptical, because he hastened to explain that everything he’d done had given him so much pleasure that he didn’t look at it as work. If only everyone could be as lucky as Tim!

Born to a musically gifted family in Blackburn, Lancashire – his parents were both talented pianists and his mother’s best friend was fellow Lancastrian Kathleen Ferrier – he was the youngest of five children. Refusing to learn to play a musical instrument as all his siblings had done, something he has regretted ever since, he was persuaded to take on the part of Hiawatha in a school production and this led to a lifelong love of verse speaking, drama and Shakespeare. However, it was right at the start of his time at Rose Bruford’s drama school in Kent that Tim realised that most actors spend a great deal of their time ‘resting’. Knowing that his parents were in no position to support him in this, he decided to concentrate his efforts back stage. Several years with the London Festival Ballet followed, including tours of the UK and abroad and an invitation to supper with Margot Fonteyn at her flat in Knightsbridge!

In 1973, whilst at the Bradford Alhambra, it was suggested to him by a stage hand that there was ‘more money in telly’ and he should apply for the position of floor manager at Yorkshire Television. He soon found himself in the drama department and on an upward climb through the ranks. Tim retired as line producer of Emmerdale (formerly Emmerdale Farm) in 2009. During his 22 years on the show, he saw it transformed from a sleepy rural production that the ITV executives in London loathed and wanted to scrap to one of the biggest soaps in television.

Tim’s proudest moment came in 2002 during the Queen’s Golden Jubilee tour. Having convinced the powers that be that a tour of the newly created village set in the grounds of Harewood House (owned by Her Majesty’s cousin, Lord Harewood) would be of more interest than anything the YTV studios in Leeds had to offer, he was placed in charge of the whole operation. Arranging such a visit is never simple and Tim had to tour the village with an equerry, organise an inspection by the Royal Protection Force and see the whole set thoroughly searched by police dog handlers. The Buckingham Palace press office, worried that enthusiasm for the Golden Jubilee might be flagging, asked him to come up with something that would ensure front page coverage. Ever resourceful, he decided to have the village post office ‘blown up’ by Emmerdale’s special effects guru Ian Rowling as soon as Her Majesty emerged from the Woolpack. (It is on record that she didn’t turn a hair when this happened a few feet away from where she was standing.)

The Emmerdale gardeners had been working hard and the set was looking at its best on the day, which coincided happily with a ‘village in bloom’ storyline.  Despite earlier worries about whether her Rolls Royce would make it safely over the humped back bridge leading into the village, all went well and the Queen met a wide variety of actors, crew members and television executives. The ‘explosion’ took place on schedule, the rain which had begun as Her Majesty arrived eased off and the sun came out.

Photographs and more details of this very special day can be seen at http://www.emmerdale.net/interv/queen/queen.html

When Tim Fee retired in 2009, he was given a very special accolade, his own gravestone in the village cemetery. Here it is below:

29 October, 2013 - There are 2 comments on this story

Kicking up my heels with Mambo con Rumbo!

Whenever a month has a fifth Friday in it, Trisha and Deej of  Strictly Salsa http://www.strictlysalsa.co.uk/ run a social at their Wetherby venue. This time, they gave an opportunity to the new line up of a band many local salseros hold dear and around 120 of us turned up to support them. It was their first gig since the band re-formed, a practice really, and they were understandably nervous but gave a very creditable performance. We’re all looking forward to seeing them perform again on 13th September, just round the corner at the famous Wetherby Engine Shed.

Salsa steps are complicated enough without allowing alcohol into the frame, so the glasses on the table contained only J20 (orange and passion fruit). All the same, the mood was buoyant when our friend Andi came round with her camera.

That said, holding tightly onto Jack – and at least another dozen of our great leaders during the evening – was a pleasure, not a necessity. Viva la salsa!

30 August, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story

Pour encourager les autres!

Many people have asked me what exactly goes on at ‘Swanwick’ and whether it’s necessary to sign up in advance for the various courses. Well, the answer to that is a resounding NO. The only exceptions to that are the very popular 1:1 specialist sessions offered by some tutors and their lists fill up FAST. You can think of the week’s programme as a smorgasbord and then it’s down to the individual to decide how much to take from it.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I whizzed round like a blue tailed fly the first time I attended and was almost completely burnt out by the halfway point.  Nowadays I pace myself, secure in the knowledge that anything I miss out on one year will almost certainly come round again. What greater incentive could there be to return?

18 August, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story

Not Farewell But Au Revoir

Packing up to leave my room in Lakeside after an exhausting but exhilarating week amongst other writers is always a melancholy affair but, as I stood outside the main entrance of The Hayes Conference Centre to wave off those departing by coach, I comforted myself with the thought that the countdown to Swanwick 2014 (9th to 15th August) has already begun.

I hope that some readers of my blog will be joining me there. You won’t regret it!

Keep an eye on http://www.swanwickwritersschool.co.uk/ for regular updates and details of how you could win a free place through one of the annual writing competitions. Poetry, short story or writing for children – the choice will be yours!

16 August, 2013 - There are 4 comments on this story

A More Relaxed Day

Well, it had to come. In 2006, the first time I attended the Writers’ Summer School, I tried to fill every waking hour and was completely burnt out by the halfway point. Now, I attempt to pace myself and only attended the third part of Steve Hartley’s course during the day. With a host of examples, it focussed on the difficulty of getting many boys to enjoy fiction and the necessity to a) keep up the pace and b) banish anything remotely girly.

On days like this, the magnificent grounds of The Hayes come into their own. Talented photographer L.Fox Thomas took this shot of me with Cathy Grimmer, a fellow member of Ripon Writers’ Group.

The evening speaker was Curtis Jobling, prolific animator and writer with – amongst many other things – Bob theBuilder, Frankenstein’sCat, The Curious Cow and Wallace and Gromit in his long list of  credits.  If you’re not already familiar with The Curious Cow, do take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k472n5Pg5mw  Curtis’s rapid fire delivery, not even pausing for breath while he drew cartoons on the flip chart behind him, and the video clips on the two big screens held the audience entranced. He has now laid down his crayons for the time being to concentrate on his fantasy novels about the Wereworld and he ‘read’ us an extract from Rise of the Wolf. (The book in his hand was clearly only there as an aide-mémoire, because he only glanced at it occasionally during a highly spirited performance.) A tribute to the man was the length of the queue afterwards – far longer than the one at the bar (!) – at his book signing, where he took the trouble to chat to everyone and add a cartoon to each signature.

14 August, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story

Crime Tuesday

This morning’s guest speaker was crime publisher Jon Wood, seen above in interview with Swanwick’s very own Michael O’Byrne. Having started his career with Hodder & Stoughton, where the first best selling author he took on was Harlan Coben, Jon moved to Orion Books in 2000. He had a great deal to say about changes in the publishing industry, but what struck me most was that calls on his time could well lead to his reading a submission on the Tube. For nine minutes. While strap hanging. Not encouraging news for budding authors!

Feeling the need for a change of scenery, I devoted the afternoon to a visit to Sudbury Hall and the Museum of Childhood. The main building dates from 1660, the museum being housed in the 19th century east wing. Some rooms were used in the 1995 television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and the tour guide showed us a mantelpiece on which Mr Darcy aka Colin Firth leaned and the table on which he wrote a cheque to the manipulative Mr Wickham. He (the tour guide) then stood back and waited for the ladies to swoon. No one did. The museum was fun and it was good to see so many children fascinated by traditional toys and then allowed to play with carefully crafted replicas.

Back in Swanwick, a stroll round the lake before dinner appealed to me and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it looking more attractive.

The evening speaker was Zoe Lambert, who told us all about her short story collection The War Tour, concluding that it was not the writer’s job to judge but just to show what kind of people the characters are.

Write, Camera, Action! has become a regular feature of Swanwick week and a series of sketches presented by Katie White and guests brought this very busy day to a close.

13 August, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story

Fashioning Fiction From Fact

Syd Moore, seen here on the right, followed last night’s talk with a two part workshop. After a brief introduction, she divided the audience into groups and gave each a set of fairly random stimuli around which to construct a plot. My group had to include the renovation of an old house, a ghostly voice repeating  ‘The cutter’ and Matthew Hopkins (again!) who may or may not have died of TB on a Caribbean island.

The second session saw the original groups broken up and new ones working on characterisation, each individual having chosen to concentrate on someone from the earlier scenario. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting – to be honest, I’d rather have heard more about Syd’s own writing – but a useful exercise nevertheless.

Our evening speaker was retired Chief Constable Michael O’Byrne, a Swanwick stalwart who never fails to entertain. The Unprepared Surviving The Unexpected, although serious in parts, brought the house down. We learnt that it’s the smell rather than the sight of dead bodies that makes policemen faint and that the aroma can be reproduced – should any crime writer wish – by keeping fish and prawns in a plastic bag exposed to the sunshine for three days. My particular favourite amongst Michael’s many anecdotes was that of the police officer who arrested a rich heiress in London. At the time, she was driving erratically at about 5mph and bouncing off other cars ‘as though trying to read Braille’. He was running beside her Rolls Royce and eventually managed to wrench open a door and stop the car. What a shame no one was around to record the scene and post it on You Tube!

12 August, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story

And now for something completely different!

Today has been very full. James Moran followed his talk last night with a two part course on screenwriting and deftly fielded all the questions a very appreciative audience could come up with.

My next course, to be delivered in four parts, was with the inimitable Steve Hartley. Well remembered by Swanwickers for his talk last year, particularly the challenge to fit as many people as possible into the enormous pair of pants he had brought along with him, I knew that this would be fun and today’s session certainly was! Steve’s approach to humour for younger children doesn’t always go down well with adults, in particular those opposed to robust language with regard to bodily functions, but  his Danny Baker Record Breaker series is a sure fire winner with the 7+ age group. Tomorrow, Steve will be talking about the importance of keeping the adult voice out of children’s stories.

Our evening speaker was Syd Moore, who held a packed Main Conference Hall spellbound – definitely the most appropriate word – with an account of her research into the persecution of witches and subsequent weaving of facts into fiction. I’d be very surprised if no nightmares ensued from Syd’s unflinching description of the horrors inflicted on innocent women in the 17th century by Matthew Hopkins, the infamous Witchfinder General. The extracts she read from The Drowning Pool were frightening enough but having the lights switched off at the climax of her reading from Witch Hunt was a masterly way to end the talk.

Later on, the Swanwick buskers had their chance to shine. Mark Iveson, seen above with Julia, Andy, Katie and Graham, did a magnificent job of organising the whole event.  John, Zana, Marguerite, Daniela, Roy and Fliss are also to be congratulated on their performances. And so to bed.

11 August, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story

Swanwick 2013

It’s a real pleasure to be back at the Writers’ Summer School, known affectionately as ‘Swanwick’, and hosted for every one of its 65 years at The Hayes Conference Centre. The main buildings were bathed in sunshine as I arrived but, rain or shine, I know that I’m in for a stimulating and challenging week. Placing copies of my short story omnibus in the Book Room for others to purchase (I hope) was only the first of many pleasures.*

Once again allocated a comfortable en suite room in Lakeside – yes, there actually is a lake in the grounds of The Hayes – I set off to meet old friends and make some new ones. There are 47 ‘white badgers’ this year, also known as ‘Swanwick virgins’, so that will be interesting. Chances abound to mingle; on arrival over tea and cake, in the bar before dinner, during dinner (no set places, thank goodness), in the bar later on …

Our opening speaker this year was screenwriter James Moran who, among many other things, has written episodes of Dr Who, Torchwood, Primeval and Spooks. He shared with us his ‘journey’, from weird paintings he produced at primary school, where he was already obsessed to some degree with horror, through winning a Sci Fi Channel script writing competition and then to being taken on by an agent and scripting the 2005 film Severance.

James made the point that a freelance screenwriter, however successful, is never ‘home and dry’. The more pitches you make, the more rejections you leave yourself open to and you will certainly meet many infuriating people along the way. Everyone connected with a production thinks that he/she knows better than the humble writer, who (if wise) quickly learns the art of lip biting. However, the writers who make it are those who don’t give up. Now how many times have I heard that at Swanwick!!!

The adrenalin was still flowing at ten o’clock when, after a swift trip to the bar and assured that no previous drama experience was needed, I joined the inimitable Julia Pattison’s ice-breaker. The warm up exercise, where everyone stood in a circle to reproduce the sounds of the Brazilian rain forest was fun and very effective. Later on, our little group’s attempt to reproduce a Japanese fairy tale – cast of 80+ characters required and there were four of us – left a lot to be desired. I’ll draw a discreet veil over my own performance as a windy mountain top!

*A copy has already been sold (before the official opening of the Book Shop) and I was delighted to pen a dedication to the lady concerned.

10 August, 2013 - There are 2 comments on this story

Potential eavesdropper in the Woolpack

Well, Rhona (Zoe Henry) seemed to think so in one of this week’s episodes.

This website is mostly about my writing, but I am asked from time to time about my ‘day job’. As often as not, people complain that they’ve never actually seen me in Emmerdale. Well, here I am! For once, I’m not just a blur in the background or disappearing round a corner.

9 August, 2013 - Make the first comment on this story