Stonehenge and Beyond.

Last week saw me head West on a mini tour of the West Country … well at least as far as Plymouth, which is as far West as I’ve been for a while. I bounced off Mellow Lane School in Hayes on the Tuesday, before setting out along the M3 towards Crewkerne to speak to the young people at Wadham School”. Along the way I passed Stonehenge and couldn’t resist pointing my camera out of the window to snap it as I went past. I’ve got much better photos that I’ve taken on other occasions, but this one was taken literally as I passed, so it seems right to use the real thing. I then spent a wonderful evening in The White Hart Hotel in the nearby village of Martock. The food was superb and the welcome was most friendly. I’d highly recommend this as a place to stay if you’re in the area. It was great value for money.

The next day I spent a fun time doing talks and workshops with the young people, and getting very jealous of the school’s location in the countryside. The view out of the staff room window was to die for! Then it was back in the car and on to Plymouth, where I crossed the Tamar Bridge and was treated to a grand view of the amazing bridge next to it, built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It’s a shame you can’t really see it properly in the panoramic picture I’ve linked to and I’d been a bit naughty taking the above photo of Stonehenge as I passed, so I didn’t want to push my luck by trying to take more photos whilst driving.

I was hosted for the night at the home of the Librarian from Stoke Damerel Community College, Lesley Wrennall. I was treated to a fun evening of food, entertaining talk and copious quantities of red wine! We put the world to rights and enjoyed a great time with the students the following day before saying my goodbyes and setting out again, this time to North Devon and a day at South Molton Community College.

Another day of workshops and talks with the young people at South Molton and I trekked my way back to Northamptonshire and home. It was a busy week, but a lot of fun. Anyone who imagines an author to be a person who sits in a shed all day writing studiously has probably never met me! I seem to spend more of my time doing this sort of week than I do writing.