Geography!

Coastcard visitor activity to date ...

Most northerly visitor: in Sweden
Most southerly visitor: in Chile
Most westerly visitor: in California, USA (& Honolulu, 9 July)
Most easterly visitor: in Singapore (& Newcastle, New South Wales, 10 July))

Of Books and Buchans: of 'gems and gold'

The 39 Steps at St Davids

Glencoe, June 2008

I was introduced to John Buchan books at school, and have loved them ever since. I was delighted to buy a copy of 'The Battle of Glencoe' (John Buchan) some weeks ago, when we had lunch in Glencoe, on our way to Skye.

Many have read 'The Three Hostages' and most people have watched 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' (in one version or another), but who has read a book by John Buchan's son, William - the 3rd Lord Tweedsmuir - who died on 29 June 2008? There was an obituary in The Times on Friday 4 July. It is my aim to get hold of a copy of 'The Rages of Time', a family memoir by William Buchan. I would also like to find a copy of his novel, 'Kumari' about India in the 1930s.

One of my treasured books is 'A Buchan Companion' by Paul Webb (Alan Sutton Publishing, 1994). It is an invaluable guide to the novels and short stories. Buchan also wrote verse: I have a copy of his 'Poems, Scots and English', published by Nelson and Sons.

Speaking of 'The Thirty-Nine Steps', we learn (or are reminded) in the obituary that the steps were 'a wooden staircase' down to the beach in Broadstairs. I live in Wales, and was fascinated to find another flight of steps with the same name. These, of course, link the small Pembrokeshire city of St Davids with its cathedral. This flight is - or was - apparently known locally as 'The Thirty-Nine Articles'. You may care to take a look at the number 39.

Has he paid?

Who knows?

Birds again!

I have just enjoyed reading the current edition of 'Birds', the RSPB magazine. It was particularly interesting to read about Mark Crocker and his 'Birds and People' book project.

Gregarious Gannets

I loved these gannets at Bempton Cliffs ...










... but three was a crowd.

The Sonnet in South Wales

I was delighted to attend a very popular course this morning on the Sonnet. We considered Shakespearian sonnets, Petrarchan sonnets and modern day sonnets. We looked at sonnets that corresponded exactly to a prescribed form, and sonnets that had developed out of a traditional scheme of rhyme and metre.

I knew that sooner or later I would feel obliged to mention the current debate over the age-old question of what constitutes a poem, sparked most recently by The Queen's English Society. This seems as good a prompt as any! Poets the world over have read the article in The Observer (13 April 2008), and many of the editors of poetry magazines have made a response. I was particularly keen to read the editorial by Fiona Sampson in the current edition of Poetry Review (Volume 98, No 2, Summer 2008), the flagship journal of The Poetry Society.

I wonder where Haiku and other international forms of 'traditional poetry' fit in!

The Majestic Red Kite

We were out visiting an archaeological dig in Carmarthenshire last weekend, when I spotted this fine red kite. It was late in the afternoon on an indifferent day, but there were evidently enough thermals up above to keep the kite soaring gracefully overhead.

Only last week I spotted a red kite much closer to home. We see kites quite frequently; and it is easy to forget that until a few years ago, the future of this beautiful bird was truly in the balance.

I have attempted two red kite poems to date. Gwyneth Lewis, the first National Poet of Wales, has written a particularly striking piece, 'Red Kites at Tregaron' in the seren anthology, Birdsong, compiled by Dewi Roberts. The volume also includes the poem, 'Red Kite over Heol Nanteos' by Mike Jenkins.

Two questions:
1.) If you were given one word to sum up the red kite, what would it be? My choice, of course, is 'majestic'.
2.) Leslie Norris wrote a powerful poem about the buzzard (see Birdsong). For myself, I find it hard to get excited about buzzards: does anyone reading this feel a fascination for these birds; and if so, why?