FOM's Forum Members

[gloria townsin]

It would be lovely if all the forum members would join in and tell us about themselves and their Chronicle stories - there are some who haven't posted yet - why not just jump in and post? Please :lol:

[ann robinson]

hi everyone and especially Gloria (who made me feel guilty!)

My name is Ann Robinson. I live in Southampton with my partner Mike. I work as a library assistant and as my main hobby is reading it will not be difficult to guess I love my job.

I have been a member of FOMS for approx. 2 years and thoroughly
enjoy Wavelength and the website, it is great to hear from like minded people. Derek's books have provided me with lots of adventures, mainly over the years trying to track them down as well as Jeannie's!

Unfortunately I never had the priviledge to meet Derek (much regretted), but like so many of you have said, it is a pleasurable process getting to know him through the books. I have visited Minack twice, what a beautiful area.

[Kath Mulligan]

Hello Ann, nice to meet you via the forum. As Gloria says it is lovely to hear about all the other people who are members, where they live, how they got to know about Derek and Jeannie and the Chronicles.
I have just returned from a week in Cornwall this evening, but didn't manage to make to Oliver Land this time, or to Lamorna Pottery as intended. We did get as far as Penzance then got captivated by a rough sea at Marazion and spent ages sitting there watching the waves crashing in - magic! who cares that it rained!!
Am intending to go to the AGM next March so will hopefully see you there?

Regards

Kath :lol:

[gloria townsin]

Kath - we were in Mullion on the Lizard a week ago last Tuesday and it was like an early Summer day. Warm, bees buzzing flowers in gardens everywhere - I really didn't want to leave. Why is Cornwall so magical? It really pulls you back doesn't it?
Great to hear from Ann - I can understand the enjoyment of a library job - I have loved books ever since I can remember. I never went anywhere without a book and true to say I can never even sit down that I don't have something at hand to read. It's rather like a comfort blanket - if I know I have reading matter then I'm o.k. :P

[Kath Mulligan]

Hi Gloria
You're right about Cornwall's pull, every tijme I go I love it more and more. Even in November it has its own magic, especially I think as it gives you the chance to see it as the residents see it, quiet and unspoiled by hordes of holidaymakers.
It was incredibly mild last week, so many flowers still in bloom, and like you say quite a few insects still busy. We were investigated by one of the biggest bees I have ever seen on Thursday!!
Were you house hunting again at Mullion? If so, any luck? I wanted to buy the apartment we stayed in overlooking Fistral Beach at Pentire - I stepped out of my bedroom each morning onto a balcony overlooking the beach and filled my lungs with sea air. Life doesn't get much better!

Kath

[gloria townsin]

Yes - house hunting but no real luck at present. The right one will come up at some time. Good excuse, as if we needed one, to travel down!!
Glad you had a nice time - I bought a car sticker in Mevagissy in the summer which says "My heart's in Cornwall". Hey that's a thought we could have car stickers with the Minack logo and some appropriate wording. If anyone thinks it a good idea and the committee agree on it I could ask the printer who prints our club magazine, of which I am editor, to give us a quote etc. What do you think?

[Linda]

Lovely to meet you Ann!

So envious of your job...just love books....what other books do you like to read?

...Gloria brilliant idea regarding the car stickers! Why not send Committe the idea...? What shall we have on it? The World of Minack? The Minack Chronicles? What about the usual saying...The Minack Chronicles,, by Derek Tangye ~ Read the books, give them.....???

Jeff and I were saying the other day....Oliver Land was considered as a Place for Solitude by Derek and Jeannie....yet they never got any!! :lol: ironic isn't it?

[Kath Mulligan]

Like the idea of the car sticker, Gloria, I for one would definitely have one and it would promote awareness of FOMS around the country too.

Sorry the house hunting came to nothing this time, but I'm sure the right place is out there just waiting for you to find it!

Kath

[Dex Cameron]

Yes, Cornwall does have a powerful magic of its own. Like many here say so often, they can feel its pull, are enchanted by it when they visit and long to live there.

My wife and I had our first holiday there together in 1970 and eventually, in 1998, the pull finally exerted itself and we moved to south east Cornwall, arguably one of the least spoilt areas. Of course there are good parts and less good parts but we came to love it all, from Penzance to Praze-an-Beeble. We are glad we went but have now given in to another pull - that of our now grown up family.

Yes we miss Cornwall and will go back but not yet. Having to leave it again so soon would be too much. We still live in the same TV region and so have nightly reminders of what is going on in Padstow, Truro or anywhere else we know so well.

So reading of your visits here is at the same time uplifting and poignant.

But our part of Somerset is lovely!

[gloria townsin]

Re the car stickers - I have asked my printer to give me a quote for two sizes of sticker. Serving on committees as I have done down the years I know that if anyone comes up with an idea you need to know what you are letting yourself in for as you are investing club/group funds. So when I get the quote I will put the idea forward for consideration. All profits on sales would, I am sure, be used for Minack inspired expenditure.

[Sybille Weber]

Hello Gloria,
Any news yet concerning the stickers?
I actually had the idea of car stickers myself years ago and was thinking of creating my own one on the computer and then affixing it to the car by means of transparent adhesive tape. However, this idea never matrialized as I always felt a bit reluctant to actually do it. I had a feeling it was contrary to the solitude philosophy which was so important to Derek and Jeannie, and a sticker, I felt, might reduce Minack to a mere tourist attraction which it is not.
On the other hand, however, Derek also wanted his philosophy of life and his books to be spread, so if the sticker is one which solely mentions the Minack Chronicles themselves and not e.g. Minack, Oliver Land or Derek and Jeannie, etc., I think it should be ok, or what do other readers think about it?
Linda's suggestion of the Irish Times' quote "Read the Tangye books, give them, spread them. They are hope, they are beautiful" is very apt I think. Nothing sums it up better - that is, if it's not too much text for a small sticker.

[Linda]

Sybille's sentiments are mine too...we dont want Oliver land being a stomping ground for a host of 'tourists'. Reading the books is important to an understanding of Derek and Jeannie's beliefs. I feel Derek wanted people to understand nature and the environment we live in and to have an empathy for animals. I agree that the saying is a bit too much for a car sticker, is there some way we could between us shorten it but still get the message across to read the books?

Sybille, I just LOVE that photo!!!

:D

[nashie]

Thnaks for your comments re Oliver Land, Sybille. You put your finger on the great paradox that we face as members of FOMS. On the one hand we want to encourage people, like the critic of the Irish Times, to 'read the Tangye books, give them, spread them. They are hope and they are beautiful.' On the other hand, we know that Derek & Jeannie's greatest wish was for Oliver Land to be preserved for all time as 'a Place for Solitude'. It's often been mentioned how the most effective way for an author's work to become well known is for a TV series to be made, and of course at one time this was distinct possibility. At first it might seem that could be wonderful, to bring their story instantly to a mass audience, but we all know that it would probably be a miscast, dumbed-down travesty of the real message that could easily result in hordes of unsympathetic gawpers trampling over the very thing we want to preserve. It really is the books that we want people to read, so that they are able to take something from them - and 'hope' probably is the right word for it.
Please do go to Oliver Land though if you are able to visit Cornwall and can manage the walk. I personally get far more from it when I go alone, as it's then that you can fully sense the 'spirit of place' that permeates it. I know that FOMS organises a walk at the AGM, and when so many people have travelled so far to be there that weekend it's unavoidable, but even then I encourage people to stagger their arrivals; or even better take the beautiful walk via the St.Loy valley and arrive from the westerly direction. You won't be disappointed! We can all have a good old chat together in the Wink afterwards.
If you do the walk, I hope you'll also see why the present committee doesn't campaign for the Winding Lane to become a right of way. Between Lamorna Cove and St. Loy there is no exit route from the coastal path back to the main road. If there was a right of way from the Winding Lane into Oliver Land, that would also create right of way in the opposite direction, and the precious wildlife sanctuary of Oliver Land would become the link.
Anyway, sorry to be so long winded - I think I'm starting to lecture everyone! If anyone wants to go to Oliver Land, but really can't manage the walk, please let me know and I'll see if I can arrange it. As last year, at the AGM weekend, there will be an arrangement in place for this.
Thanks everyone
John

[gloria townsin]

Hi John
is it an easier route from the west? I have only ever gone from Lamorna Cove and the inland route opposite The Wink.
I do agree the car sticker thing was really a thought to raise funds for FOM's but obviously the message can't be to make Oliver Land a free for all to those who have no idea what it is all about. And I too wonder if it would meet with Derek and Jeannie's approval. Therefore if we did create a car sticker they would have to say something pertinent about the books. Have to think what the message could be - any ideas need to be thought through. Would we need permission from the Trustees do you think? I haven't got any prices yet but will remind the printer to give me a quote then at least we will know what it will cost even if we do nothing about it. As with so many things people who have come across the Chronicles and love them are already converts and I do think it will become more difficult to find new readers as time goes by even if you recommend them to family and friends it is a bit of drop in the ocean - if we had a well worded sticker or that kind of thing it might create interest and how good would it be if people began asking for the books at librarys and in book shops. Our local library contains one old and battered copy of The Cherry Tree and the bookshops have no Chronicles at all. The thing is the books are , thankfully, not sensational, violent, permissive or a minor celebrities (?) 'life' story the book shops are swamped with this kind of literature - and I will agree there is room for all kinds of books, but I can't help thinking The Chronicles would be a welcome change for a whole new generation of readers if only they knew of their existance.
Oh dear - now I have rambled on!! :oops:

[nashie]

Thanks Gloria
I'm afraid the walk from St.Loy definitely isn't easier, it's rather longer and a bit more strenuous, but it is very beautiful, especially in the Spring. The valley itself is full of wild daffodils and carpets of bluebells. A pretty stream flows through it, tumbling into a waterfall here and there, and leads out onto a beach made up of huge sea-worn boulders, like giant pebbles. You also get to see Tater Dhu lighthouse and cross the little stream which is actually Monty's Leap higher up. It helps if you've got someone to drop you off at the start of the walk, as you can then walk on from Oliver Land to Lamorna via either of the paths from Carn Barges, so you have the wonderful view of Mounts Bay in front of you, and you can rendezvous at the Wink. (By which time I'm usually starving and spitting feathers, so a short sojourn there fits the bill just right!) There is also an (intermittent) bus service from the Wink.
Let me know when you've got a quote on the car stickers. That sort of work is normally printed digitally nowadays, so fairly short 'runs' can be printed, so perhaps it could be realistic for us to sell enough to make a profit. Years ago printers had to make expensive plates first, so it was only cost effective if you had a large 'run'. There's a lovely cautionary tale in the Chronicles - when Derek ordered printed Bulb Bags he was able to get the cost per item down to a bargain level by having 20,000 printed. Sadly, as we know, years later there were still 19,000 of the blooming things sitting there reproaching him every time he went into the Confusion Room - Mim bought some at the auction!
Regards
John