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The leaves are still with us

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Saturday gave us a beautifully warm afternoon, and the chance for a walk in the Surrey Hills in England.

These hills are classified as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), earning that protection and status in 1949 when the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act was passed. Today there are 46 such areas in the UK, and they cover almost one fifth of the land. They are not national parks but they enjoy a similar status, with the aim being to safeguard them for the benefit and enjoyment of everyone.

I think the Surrey Hills are beautiful. They are not dramatic hills but they undulate gently, covered in trees and the quiet that comes with such cover. And the trees are big trees. We were beneath pine for a lot of our walk, with sweet chestnut, oak and beech scattered through them, and occasional walkers with their dogs glimpsed along the network of paths. It was a lovely peaceful hour or so in a late summer woodland.

I hope you had a good Saturday.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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This is embarrassing – I should have realised

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I owe a BIG apology to the kind friend who tried, several times, to point out to me that it was difficult (‘impossible’ would have been more accurate) to find previous chapters/episodes of my draft novel once they vanished from the front page of this blog. I was convinced, without checking, that there wasn’t a problem so I lowered my nose back to my keyboard and carried on typing. Foolish me! Too much rush to put the next pillar in place, and not enough thought about how to get it there.

This week I discovered how frustrating it is to search for something on the site that isn’t obvious to find. It’s very frustrating, so I instantly referred the matter to The Phraser’s technical department, and the issue has now reached my desk. Since then I’ve studied it closely, and today can report to any readers still out there, that the audio version of the draft novel can now be found under Podcasts. If you click on that it should drop down to the heading Draft novel – Uprooted, which then links on to all the audio episodes. Frustratingly they remain in reverse order, but, who knows, I may yet figure out how to change even that.

As far as the written version goes, some chapters are now listed under Postcards 2023, and below that under Draft novel – Uprooted, which then links on to individual chapters. There are too many still, so I have to work out how best to organise them. But, I hope I’m getting there, and while I am, may I apologise again for the self-inflicted failure, and for my lack of attention to the alerts issued.

Thank you for bothering to read at all.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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All the fun of the fair

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Today was the first day back for Bartholomew Fair. We found information about it on a visit to St Bartholomew the Great.

Turns out it was a good place to read the news, because the Fair began not far from where the old church stands. The road running beside the church is called Cloth Fair and I suppose that must link back to the original fairs, which apparently were all about cloth and fabric, the aim being to raise funds for the Priory that used to be there.

The Fair’s first charter was granted by Henry 1 in 1133, and it seems to have started off quietly enough, but it sounds like it grew into a riot of dodgy entertainment until it either fell off, or was kicked off, the stage in 1855. The beautifully illustrated souvenir edition of The Courant gives a tasty flavour of all the comings and goings.

Anyway, roll on to this year, almost 900 years later, and things are kicking off again. Today I saw acrobats on St Paul’s, clowns and entertainment in Pater Noster Square, music popping up around the corners, and plenty on for children. It all felt very cheerful.

Might be worth a look if you’re anywhere near the City before 16 September. Looks like it will be moving around the place a bit so best to check at thecityofldn.com.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023