THE
DRUIDSTONE GOOD TIMES Spring 2009
Druidston Haven, Nr. Broad Haven, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA62 3NE
website www.druidstone.co.uk enquiries@druidstone.co.uk phone 01437 781221
If I keep quiet about it Angus might let me go on doing the annual “Good
Times” I have had some really lovely feedback about the 2008 issue so
I am going to go for it rather late in the day and see if anyone notices…
THE AGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT So the bubble is finally pricked
and property prices have fallen, the fat cats are struggling and apparently
we are in a deep recession. Right now this does not seem to have affected our
bookings, I suspect that we will pick up on those of you who were going to spend
a month in Australia or zoom off to South Africa on Safari but, of course, we
can offer sand and surf not unlike OZ and there is plenty of wild life around
Druidstone. Tumbling chough, swishing flights of gulls, the whirr of starlings
and the thrum of the Raven wing, are frequent accompaniments to turning the
compost heap. The badgers got especially demanding last Autumn trying to pass
themselves off as “Oink” the now ancient pig that John the Ghost
reared by hand. Old and new – we have acquired a new donkey as a friend
for Jake who lost his mum a few years ago. She arrived courtesy of John Owen
from East Nolton Stables. He had taken on a Shire from the Hancock’s in
Roch. The Shire had a companion, an 8 year old Jenny who we have named Mavis…
or is it Doris? (NB “Must drag the butterfly mind back to the subject,
environmental stuff was it!) From our point of view there seem to be some friends
who have finally managed to find a house that could be described as affordable
in Pembrokeshire. For so long only the very rich could afford any place to feed
the soul. Hopefully we are moving from the Industrial and IT revolutions to
Environmental consciousness. Who on earth needs a wine rack in the shape of
a cello (this years winner of the Druidstone bad taste awards) or a cardigan
de-fluffer (a bit of sellotape wrapped round your hand works just as well.)
Basic needs of simply home or locally grown food, hot water to wash, somewhere
warm to sit and eat or read and a good pair of legs to walk or cycle! Even Haverfordwest
has a Transition Town Group and we are delighted to see small shops emerging,
like “Crops and Chops” at Simpson Cross offering all sorts of old
fashioned services like daily papers and deliveries but providing a wide range
of local produce from bread and jam to good quality local meat.
BIRD SIGHTINGS - We had an almost unbelievable sighting of
a black browed Albatross early this year. It had decided to drop in
to Druidstone beach for a rest and took off, massively, under the watchful
eye of Alison Jessop. It might be the same one that was probably spotted
in Ramsey Sound in June 2008 and was definitely seen off Mizen Head
Cork in October. Who am I to judge - I was arrogant enough to tell a
January resident that “it could not have been a Dartford warbler
– just a stonechat in winter plumage”! Wrong. Dartford warblers
are frequently seen in Pembrokeshire these days. This one was spotted
just north of Nolton by the Chimney at Rickets head.
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SNOW
AT DRUIDSTONE. When Angus and Beth went off to Cuba we had
some of the first snow for 20 years. It did not freeze so was gone in
a trice. I managed to get some pictures on my phone! I remember being
snowed in for 14 days with the lane above the house totally filled to
the top with snowdrifts, milk and bread was delivered by helicopter
and Angus and Matt Black tobogganed down the drift from the upstairs
cottage windows to the yard…
We made bread in the middle of the night and had no electricity for
five days!
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ACHIEVEMENTS FOR 2008! I have shaken the hand of HRH The Princess
Royal, Mary Robinson (and she has shaken the hand of Nelson Mandela) and last
but by no means least, my hero, Monty Don (I loved his programme about the Gardens
of the World but I do wonder if he could identify all the roots I am trying
to dig out of the garden! Rosa Rogosa, Mares Tail, Giant Gunnera, Bull rushes!
Advice for the day….. “Always contain bull rushes and giant gunnera
in a bunker if you do not want them to take over your garden completely.”
There is a little bungalow in Simpson’s Cross with a telephone box and
giant gunnera, (nothing else!) – I think my pond has aspirations to go
the same way. Diverting slightly, I bought some Druidstone helpers tickets for
a Scarlets Rugby Match last year: they returned the favour by buying a piece
of Stradey Park Turf when the stadium closed. They tell wonderful tales of the
day they went to get the turf. Tales of hack saws and debenture seats, tales
of queues and no queues, tales of blissful chaos. I have my piece of turf in
the garden. I introduced it to Ed Butler who had interviewed Spike Milligan
about his piece of Twickenham turf. So I shook the hand that had shaken the
hand of Spike Milligan!
My apologies, I am afraid this has turned into another self indulgent epistle
- but I like to pass on the fun I am having…. “What I did on my
hols” is a good one. My breaks from Druidstone always turn into Expeditions
and this time I cycled the Avon Kennett Canal on the Sustrans Route. Fantastic:
I stuck to the Route from Bristol Temple Meads to the outskirts of Newbury and
then “went independent” turning north to Steventon just outside
Didcot. Three and a half days of cycling challenges, a hot day followed by constant
gentle rain and then a head wind made each day totally different. A wide variety
of welcome in bed and breakfast places, good/not so good food (I can recommend
the Thai Barn in Bradford on Avon and the Garden Centre in Woodborough for food,
The Old Oak in Wootton Rivers offers very comfortable accommodation. The final
day was partly along the Ridgeway and through glorious Oxfordshire villages
arriving in Steventon in time for a great lunch in the garden with Bex Swift.
The following morning I flew from Luton to Wroclaw in Poland for an intensive
culture hit. When Song of the Goat comes to Britain next year be sure you get
tickets for their Macbeth. They will tour Britain probably opening at Stratford.
It is quite honestly the most human, musical, beautiful and intense “Macbeth”
I have ever seen. Meredith Monk in a partially renovated Synagogue and the Pilpani
family in an orthodox Cathedral were highlights of the Giving Voice Festival.
This year the Grotowski Institute and Centre for Peformance Research from Aberystwyth
collaborated to provide some stunning access to music in the most exciting venues.
From Workshops to full on Performance the programme was almost too full. Do
contact CPR through their website www.thecpr.org.uk or telephone 01970 622133
in Aberystwyth to explore their programme for the future.
IT’S
A GOOD READ - Beth, a very good friend and one of our helpers,
works at that rarity, an independent bookshop, Seaways, in Fishguard. It is
truly special, not least because of the knowledge of those who work there! These
are Beth’s recommendations “I have recently discovered a Pakistani
writer called Kamila Shamsie, whose new book Burnt Shadows has been shortlisted
for the Orange Prize for female authors (not convinced by gendered awards but
the Orange shortlist seems to guarantee a good read nevertheless). I must admit
to not having read it as yet This was particularly exciting (sad, I know) because
I realised that there are still a couple of his novels I haven’t read,
so they have been moved to the top of an endless wishlist for more books…Sebastian
Barry’s The Secret Scripture is both meticulously plotted and written
in lyrically inspired prose, and David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife is a
good page turner, historical novel cum modishern murder mystery. Not to neglect
the non-fiction lovers, Nick Davies’ Flat Earth News managed to make me
seriously depressed about the parlous state of journalism post Andrew Neal’s
time as Sunday Times editor, and The Untold History of the Potato by John Reader
is full of interesting root veg trivia (is there such a thing!)” Incidentally,
Beth can order books for your arrival if you like.
TALES OF CATS AND ARTISTS AND WILD, WILD NIGHTS - On the subject
of “good books” Last year I made the mistake of giving you the wrong
address for Jackie Morris’s website. It is www.jackiemorris.co.uk./now.htm
. My apologies to both Jackie Morris’s and to all the cats on the blog
http://wethreegingercats.blogspot.com from which you will see that Pixie is
writing her own book now! From either Website you can take a walk on St. David’s
head, climb Carn Llidi or walk round Pen Beri. You can go there on a dark winter
evening without the need to exert those painful knees (like mine) or leave your
fireside. Jackie’s cats write about their exploits, they have a romantic
and poetic way with words. They bring to life the landscape and the cat routine
in their tiny farm cottage. Go there, you will not regret it. Joanna Lumley
went in person to make “ Cat Woman”, to be screened in the Autumn.
Jackie has new books coming out in September.
Starlight,
starbright... Every book starts with an idea, a spark, a moment of
inspiration, and travels through many hands until it ends its journey with a
child. This blog will track the journey of one book, written by James Mayhew,
and illustrated by Jackie Morris. (lifted from Jackie’s blog for a story
book – do have a look)
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AñOS DE LA REVOLUCION - As Jane mentioned, Angus and I went
to Cuba for three weeks in January, which is some compensation for missing the
snow (but even so we were quite sad – Druidstone must have looked fairly
spectacular). It was somewhere that we had both always wanted to travel, and
we felt that the fiftieth anniversary of Castro and co. was a good excuse. I
think we also had a sense that the clock was ticking and we ought to go NOW,
that change was likely to come soon, and as the new US administration has already
made moves toward relaxing relations if not immediately dropping the embargo
it seems that we may have been right. It wasn’t the break that we had
imagined (more city-hopping and less lying on idyllic palm-fringed beaches)
but it was fascinating to experience somewhere so foreign in culture. Looking
back through the holiday snaps it is impossible not to see a slight car obsession
- there was a stunning black Cadillac in Santiago that Angus spent almost half
an hour trying to find the perfect angle from which to photograph the reflections
on the tailfins! I am sad to say that while we have returned with many memories
and souvenirs, we have failed to acquire new recipes on this trip – Cuban
cooking failed to inspire Angus, so perhaps best not to expect a Cuban Feast
Night in the near future! Inevitably there are a few more reading recommendations:
for anyone with socialist leanings, try Ignacio Ramonet’s Fidel Castro:
My Life; for those interested in the genuine Cuban travel experience, Zoë
Brân’s Enduring Cuba expresses things infinitely better than I could
hope to. Beth Wilshaw
END OF AN ERA I think that one of the saddest parts of my role
as dispenser of information this year is to report on the end of 20 years of
shared experiences with Vivienne Bowen Morgan and her wonderful team in the
Carmarthenshire Branch of the Prince’s Trust. We were so proud of the
work we had developed with them. They say that “pride comes before a fall!”
I will not go into the details but in September, Viv made me aware that Head
Office had decided they needed to “restructure” and make provision
throughout Britain conform to a pattern. At first I thought they would be so
thankful for the Carmarthenshire scheme that they would incorporate it into
their restructuring, possibly looking to us to help to proliferate the model.
The Druidstone Project has always supported the financial independence of the
Carmarthenshire unit by subsidising places for young people. We felt we were
partners in the ethical and organic development of the programme. Unfortunately
we had no voice in the consultation process and Viv’s opinions were rejected.
The alternatives offered turned out to be “Hobson’s Choice”.
We did not know who we would be delivering the programme and really had no confidence
in the level of experience and skill that was in place. 20 years of ethical
and quiet development is hard to replace and the only certainty was that Viv
and her team would not be part of the support that we needed to open our home
and business to young people from difficult backgrounds. We felt we had to withdraw
our support to protect our reputation and the safety of the programme. I was
told that “Change happens” - this is, of course, true but in my,
obviously humble, opinion change cannot be dictated; the strength of change
is in nurturing and respecting the skill and experience of the Grass Roots workers.
Famously now “we are coming to listen, not to dictate” is aspired
to by many. Living up to that message is hard but it came from the lips of Mary
Robinson who brought it from Nelson Mandela! Easy to say but, oh dear, how difficult
to observe.
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL - Maybe even a silver
lining - I am totally convinced that this is work that must not be
lost so I have gathered the salient points from team leaders, practitioners,
participants and all of you who have followed and supported our work since 1988.
The head of one of the East London Schools said that the work we undertake with
his pupils is of such high quality because of the one-to-one relationship with
the young people. He thinks no one else is doing anything remotely like it.
If you have any comments or contributions to make please do not hesitate to
let us know. We need your support more than ever. There will be a gap while
we undertake our restructuring but we will be back with a more inclusive and
stronger programme for the future and recently the horizon is becoming much
clearer. WATCH THIS SPACE !! WE WILL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS WE HAVE FIRM NEWS.
We may be seeking inspirational mentors and advisors to work with.
It
is with great sadness 
that
we announce that Catherine Black gave up her battle with Cancer this year. Many
Druidstonians went to her uplifting funeral. John and her children, Matthew
and Eleanor, were very clear and so strong in their eulogies. We did not realise
her rich relationship with music through her parents, Anne and Arnold Ashby.
Her children are rounded and sensible individuals with a beautiful artistic
streak: a credit to the gentle and loving relationship with their mother. Music
is featuring again in John’s life as he has ended up playing the violin
on stage in “As You Like It” for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
This revelation has a tenuous link through Druidstone as it was Jon Bowden of
Bellowhead, who put him forward for the role. John Black met Bellowhead here
and recorded their latest CD in his studio. What a shame that Cath did not hold
on to see his new career developing. Surely there is a book in there somewhere
“From Dentistry to Artristry”! Perhaps they are the same thing.
Certainly those whose teeth were cared for by John think so. They talk of travelling
a great many miles for his attention.
Lovely
Review from Justin Albert of Horse and Country - There are 3 reasons
to stay. First, the location, perched on top of a cliff overlooking the sea
and a picture perfect beach that is only reachable via a windy, flower bracketed
path. Horses gallop along the sand and crystal clear water laps at the pitch
black rocks. Second you must not miss a chance to visit is the food. The menu
is simple, pure and fantastic. Add to this an incredible breakfast choice that
ranges from home baked brown rolls with fresh tomato, great olive oil and basil
to a truly heart-stopping full Welsh. And third is the hosts. The Inn has been
family-run from inception. This is not your average Four Seasons - and thank
God for that. Thanks Justin! See you in August!
The
Druidstone Good Old Times 2008
The
Druidstone Good Old Times 2007
The
Druidstone Good Old Times 2005
The
Druidstone Good Old Times 2004