LATEST GUEST ON "BOOK CLUB" AT PHOENIX FM - COLIN TAYLOR, CHAIR AT BRENTWOOD WRITERS' CIRCLE

 

BOOK CLUB - Colin Taylor will brighten your day! Listen here. - Phoenix FM

BOOK CLUB - Colin Taylor will brighten your day! Listen here. - Phoenix FM

ALL SET UP FOR TOMORROW'S "LOVE YOUR LIBRARY" EVENT.

 

HAPPY ST VALENTINE'S DAY AND NEWS ABOUT OUR 'LOVE YOUR LIBRARY' DAY AT BILLERICAY LIBRARY ON SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY

 

 Date:

 Saturday 18 February 2023

 Time:

 10.00 - 3.00pm

Venue:   Billericay Library 

Everyone is welcome to this Love your Library Day event! Themed around mental health and well being the library will be running free events and activities for all.

We will be meeting award winning author Syd Moore, one of our favourite Essex novelists; also other literary and local history enthusiasts who (hopefully) will answer some of your questions about our ancient town; plus interesting books and bits and pieces to show you.

Syd Moore is a British best-selling novelist, former television presenter and activist. Her debut novel, The Drowning Pool, was published in 2011 by HarperCollins and her novels are mystery thrillers inspired by her research into the myths from the English county of Essex, where she grew up and lives.

 

CURRENTLY ON MY BOOKSHELF - I'M READING...

Lucky me!  Having been a founding member of my local Essex book club - now 23 years - I appreciate the books that are available for me to read (and hopefully appreciate). The only problem is that I also write books, articles, press releases and many other forms of scribing - including this blog which I created in 2006 - and thank so many regular readers who have made contact, given their thoughts and are now friendly acquaintances. 

My current good read is The Farmer and the Fury, debut novel of author Cherry Burroughs, a member of Brentwood Writers' Circle, whose book is linked to the 70th anniversary of that the disastrous tidal surge in 1953 which inspired her to research and create her first book. 

On her earlier show for Phoenix98fm, she said:

What was important to me when I wrote this book was to respect the historical event and  to weave a story that made connections and resonated with the reader. ‘The Farmer and the Fury’ does that on many levels.

The great North Sea flood of 1953 was an event which is embodied in our local history, not just because of the tragic loss of lives but also because it reminds all of us of our own vulnerabilities when faced with the power of nature. It is a theme that is as important today as it was in 1953.

A LITTLE TOKEN OF BILLERICAY IN THE LATE PRESIDENT PERVAZ MUSHARRAF'S LIBRARY

On their visit to Pakistan in 2008,  some of our local Billericay School Sixth form pupils presented President Musharraf with my fourth book as a gift from their town. THE BILLERICAY SCHOOL profiles not only the history of their school but of this small Essex town over many centuries. General Musharraf promised the scholars that he would find time to read about British education and the provenance of their school. I wonder if he ever did! 

Former President General Musharraf

checking out the book when it was presented by Billericay School 6th Formers on a trip to Pakistan 

The book profiles not only the history of their school but of this small Essex town's history over many centuries.  All profits will be donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital and The James Dorrington Fund. Background details can be found on the Billericay School website

www.billericay.essex.sch.uk  contact School 01277 655191

NEW BOOK CHIMING INTO THE CURRENT INTEREST IN ESSEX WITCHES - THIS TIME AT ST OSYTH

Interestingly (for me, anyway) is the new book linked to Essex and the sad tales of witchcraft and the poor women, who in the 17th century, were accused, hunted, tortured and, in many cases, murdered. They had done nothing to deserve this treatment and I spent several years studying this sad aspect of our Essex history and my book Folklore of Essex published by The History Press in 2005 describes much of the dreadful time linked to the Witchfinder General.

There are, of course, many other fascinating aspects linked to the study of superstitions and history of this extraordinary county.  Check out details of some of my books, particularly Folklore of Essex ISBN 0-7524-3677-5 from Waterstones, W H Smith and all good bookstores (particularly those in Brentwood)!  

MEGALITHS - THE MAGICAL STONES IN OUR COUNTRYSIDE - MORE IN MY FOLKLORE OF ESSEX!

Every town and village in England has something special about it – legends, customs and those extraordinary little places unique to that particular part of the country.  Essex presents many faces to the world with its mixture of large towns, villages and coastal resorts.  Many are well-known and well exploited for the tourist trade, but nestling quietly in nooks and crannies of the Essex countryside are many odd, unexpected and curious treasures with an interesting tale to tell. 

The magic of stones

Before the birth of geology, people must have had an explanation for some of the strange features found in the Essex landscape.  Across the county, there are many unusual stones to be found, both large and small.  As a child, Kathleen Curtis in Colchester was given a penny by the local farmer for every bucket-full of stones she collected from the field. Other farmers believed that there was no real point as the land would ‘only grow more’.   One tale tells of a Colchester farmer whose old uncle kept a “Mother-stone” on his window-sill believing that pebbles were its offspring.       

 Puddingstones

Essex has many ‘puddingstones’ - so called as they resemble giant plum puddings containing small browny-red pebbles like currants - were once believed to be imbued with magical and medicinal powers. Technically known as ‘conglomerates’, they vary in size from a few centimetres across to about two metres and resemble concrete.  When Pope Gregory’s missionaries attempted to convert the pagan Britons to Christianity in AD 596, the holy brothers did all they could to discourage devil stone-worship, yet superstition has lingered on in some parts of the county even today. 

Large stones were often built into the base of churches such as those at Broomfield, Fyfield, Dunmow and North Stifford. A line of boulders stretches from the River Lea towards Epping Upland, Marks Tey, Waltham Abbey and Ugley Green.  Some believe the stones were used as markers by the early tribes of East Anglia.

Ghostly Moving Stones

An interesting story surrounds the huge stone found in the churchyard at St Botolph’s at Beauchamp Roding. In centuries past when the villagers started building the church they chose a site near the village, dragging the huge stone down that had stood on top of the hill. Next morning it had gone, and was back on top of the hill. Undaunted, the stalwarts dragged it down again, only to find it back on top of the hill. After this had happened for the third time, the villagers gave in to divine intervention and built the church on the hilltop.    

 Ancient stones gave their names to some local towns and village such as Leytonstone (meaning the stone at Leyton).  In 1780 Philip Morant wrote:  ‘On the road to Epping is Leyton Stone, most probably from one of the Roman military stones placed there.’  Alphamstone near Colchester probably takes its name from the large stone built into the west wall of the nave of St Catherine’s Church and believed to date back to the Bronze Age. There is also Ingatestone, whose great stone or boulder, brought down during the last Ice Age, is now split into two pieces which are positioned at the junction of Fryerning Lane and the High Street.  A large stone can be seen at Newport known as the ‘Leper stone’. Some believe it was the spot where villagers left food for the lepers, others say that it was used for cleaning coins that might have been handled by the lepers before being passed to the stall-holders of the market nearly. The cleansing water was contained in the hollow top of the stone.