Posts Tagged ‘Grunty Fen’

Indie Author Bookfair at The Commemoration Hall Huntingdon

The view from the stage

I didn’t find out about this event organised by indiebookfair.com until it was too late to hire a stand for our Whittlesey Wordsmith’s writing group. However I thought it would be a good plan to visit and see what the event had to offer. I had no intention at all to buy books, I have according to my lovely wife, more than enough as it is.

Indie authors are those that often self publish their own books either individually or cooperatively with other authors. It is a great community and they, like all the authors I have met are encouraging and supportive.

A bit of a lull so I could get a photo

The hall was nicely laid out and there certainly wasn’t any space for more stalls, it was fully booked. The public seemed to like it too it was getting quite crowded as I walked around. It was a really interesting event and a chance to amble round and meet other local authors. The exhibitors catered for just about every genre, from children’s stories, to puzzle books for elderly dementia sufferers and just about any subject in between.

Even the stage was used
Browsing

A particular highlight for me was meeting Carol Carman; Carol had been the sound engineer for Dennis of Grunty Fen’s, broadcast on Radio Cambridgeshire, working with the late Pete Sayers, (Dennis) and Christopher South. The programmes, were broadcast on Radio Cambridgeshire every Sunday morning, they were what the wireless was made for. Christopher South would interview Dennis learning more about the wild world and community that is Grunty Fen. Christopher South has written four books about this intriguing community. I bought number 3 in the series from Carol.

Carol Carman with her books and those from Grunty Fen.

Close to Carol’s stall was a remarkably dressed lady M T  McGuire a science fiction author, one of the panellists on the author panels I attended later in the day I didn’t catch her forename, which I know isn’t M..

M T McGuire

Niche Comics Bookshop had a stall in one corner with Angela presiding and Gill Ashby, author of the Bright Old Sparks Books in attendance.

Gill Ashby, author of Bright Old Sparks on the Niche Comics Book Shop stand.

It was great wandering around chatting to the authors and despite my resolve not to buy any books I came away with 3 in total.

Who’s who in Grunty Fen by Christopher South, a review

Who’s Who in Grunty Fen by Christopher South

I had enjoyed the Guide to Grunty Fen also by Christopher South and thought more of the same would make a useful tonic for me. I was delighted to find a copy in Huntingdon’s wonderful Niche Comics and Books.

This who’s who is a definitive guide to the notable people that have made this overlooked but remarkable area of the Cambridgeshire fens what it is today. The biographies of these inhabitants and former inhabitants are informative, making for fascinating reading. It describes the sheer diversity of talent that has and still continues to occupy this close knit community.

Amongst others we learn of Ron Flash Gordon postman and Pyloneer, Daisy Dockeridge a notable Pharmacist, any number of remarkable clergymen, among them Emmanuel Partington Vosper-Jones. Vosper-Jones, installed a gingerbread house (originally a pantomime stage prop) as a confessional later following a nervous breakdown he left the clergy to become a tobacconist.

Other notables include, inventors, philosophers, parachute knitters, educationalists and an early  equal rights activist Queenie Marsden

Every page is full of interesting facts that shed a light on the lives of those residing in this under discovered corner of Cambridgeshire. I am sure it won’t be long before the casual weekend tourist, anxious to see where Dennis lived and to learn more of this remarkable community,becomes inspired to buy the corrugated iron and reclaimed building materials needed to build their very own shed. Many of them will consider employing the famous Grunty Fen Architect Niven Parr to help with the design and construction.

For those seeking a simpler more sustainable but in many ways an unusual form of life Grunty Fen seems to have a lot to offer.

With an easy bicycle commute to Ely and access to the rail network those tired of city life could do worse than move to Grunty Fen

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