Issue 348 8th August 2014

Rising

Brook/Holmcroft/

Baswich/Gnosall

Libraries are

under threat.

RBW AGM Monday

4th August 2014

A warm RBW welcome to regular RBW Online contributor, the artist, writer and poet,

PAUL PITTAM who joins the board of Trustees.

Please note the next library workshop will be on Monday 1st September 1.30pm

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NB: The next Library Workshop is on Monday 1st Sept 1.30.

When I took my dog for a walk on the field recently, I was dismayed to see food wrappers, empty drinks cans, a screwed up T shirt and a pair of lurid, swirly-patterned, blue-and-yellow underpants abandoned there by the river bank. To use a pun, it didn’t bare/bear thinking about to how they came to be there. One being dead is only a problem to those left behind. It’s very much like one being stupid.

I am getting old! Four young lads on the backseat of the bus into town were making a heck of a row, and I couldn’t wait to get off. They got off at the same stop, alas!

Travelling by bus can be an eye-opener: It is such a shame some young women with in-

fants in buggies don’t seem to have had any training in child care … when it’s 30 degrees babies don’t need to be covered with blankets and plastic rain covers … and sun shades

aren’t there to look pretty they are suppose to keep the glare of the sun out of a baby’s eyes … sharing chips with a baby in a buggy is asking for trouble … while a baby screams it’s head off on the bus to the annoyance of other passengers it might be useful

to get off the stupid phone and try talking to it.

Trains: Why do people with mobile phones think that sharing the intimate details of their sad boring lives at the top of their voices is remotely interesting to fellow passengers?

My nephew has had an epiphany. He’s learned the name of his flatmate’s dog and washed his socks, even those deep under the bed, he phoned home and mended the

showerhead. Yes, the broadband was down for five whole days ...

Random words : sculpture, facsimile, excelsior, joyful, garden, cheese Assignment : I don’t really need two/to

Radio Wildfire Facebook

www.issuu.com/risingbrookwriters

NEW: 2015 poetry collection

“Defying Gravity” Submissions now open

Random words:- paint, eating, print, nightingale, clockwork, doll, flummery, shard

The moment she had entered “Britain’s Got Talent”, it was a foregone conclu-sion that Alice would win. After all, she had a voice like a nightingale and a face like an angel. Naturally pretty, the ladies in makeup had made her look radiant, with their powders and paint, and the wardrobe department dressed

her like a doll. On the night, everything went like clockwork, and all her care-ful preparations and rehearsing paid off. However, her joy was short-lived. Next day, she read the press and social network reports, which slated her. There it was in print; she was officially and unforgivably overweight. True, she had suffered from an eating disorder throughout her teenage years, being ad-dicted to a favourite, high calorie dessert called flummery, but she had hoped that her divine voice would be what everyone noticed. Instead, the cruel words cut into her heart and self-confidence like a shard of glass.

Assignment :- metamorphic furniture

When space is short And your life is fraught, If you don’t make the most of your room, You might feel claustrophobic And your furniture feels like your tomb. With nowhere to move, Your life will improve If you choose items with great care. Each piece needs to have several uses. Of design you must be more aware. Consider your buys And open your eyes, Think well before parting with cash. Mistakes can prove quite expensive, So try hard not to be rash. You could buy a baby’s high chair. That’s also a library stair. A rocker could act as a stool. You’ll save yourself a fortune, And your friends will think you’re so cool! So three cheers for the brilliant inventor Who thought of this super idea. Card table or bookcase? It can still earn its place And your space concerns all disappear.

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RBW 2015 poetry

collection

“Defying Gravity”

Submissions now open.

DO NOT DELAY

Once we’re full, we’re full.

Latest Competitions: Wordpool's 1st Poetry Competition | Closing Date: 04-Aug-14 http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions/?id=1602 Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition 2014 | Closing Date: 31-Aug-14 http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions/?id=1601 Ealing Autumn Festival Poetry Competition 2014 | Closing Date: 08-Sep-14 http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions/?id=1612

The Poems Please Me Prize 2014 | Closing Date: 14-Sep-14 http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions/?id=1615

Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2014 | Closing Date: 30-Sep-14 http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions/?id=1600

New Exhibitions: Global Love Poem | 18-Jul-14 to 31-Aug-14 http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/exhibitions/current/?id=92

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The Gardening Tips series was produced by well known local gardening expert Mrs. FM Hartley as monthly gardening items which featured on an audio news-tape produced locally for partially sighted people. (Link To Stafford & Stone Talking Newspaper. Link To R.N.I.B.)

As such the articles are meant to be read individu-ally and not as chapters of a book. The articles were written over a period of some 7 years. RBW is absolutely delighted that Mrs Hartley has agreed to some of her words of gardening wisdom gathered over nine decades being reproduced for our benefit by son Alan.

Gardening Tips Week Ending 5th August 2014.

Hello Folks

All shrubs should be clipped by now to give the ends time to heal before the Winter starts. Large leaved bushes like Laurel should be cut with Secateurs to save leaving ugly

cut leaves showing, whereas small leaved hedges can be done with hedge trimmers. Some of the garden centres have packets of seeds left which they are selling at half

price. Most seeds of flowers like marigolds and other bedding type plants will germinate well next year as will most vegetables, so it can be a cheap way of buying your seeds for next year.

Early fruiting Raspberries should be cut down as soon as the fruit have finished. Cut the old stems back to ground level and then new canes will grow ready for next year

which should be tied in to support wires for the Winter. After the flowers of Lupins, Del-phiniums, Red Hot Pokers and most other strong growing, perennial, or hebaceous

plants have died, or been harvested, cut the stems right down and you should get an-other flower spike. It may be a bit smaller than normal, but is a good bonus. Lavender flowers will be faded now so they should be cut back to just above the old wood to keep

the plants bushy. Do not cut in to old wood though as it rarely shoots again. I like to cut small bunches of Lavender to stand in a little glass vase. It smells lovely - especially if

the room has been closed up all night. It is a good smell to wake up to for breakfast. Alan brought back from the allotment a lovely bunch of Monarda today. They are a perennial and if grown from seed this year will flower next year. They are not very pretty

with the flowers spread out on the plants, but the flowers look much nicer when cut and pushed together in a vase in the house and they also smell Minty. So, we have Lavender

smells in the Dining Room and Mint in the Lounge. This year we didn’t grow annual Sweet Peas that are another smelly flower, but we did put in some perennial ones that

seem to be a bit of a flop, so far. If they do come up next year maybe they will be bet-ter. Alan is busy on his allotment clearing the ground of the Potatoes and getting winter

plants in. He is also supplying us with Beetroot, some lovely French Beans and Cour-gettes at present. We like Courgette sliced about one inch thick and done on a flat tin in

the oven. Then at the last minute a thin slice of cheese should be just melted on the top, or the Courgette slices can be just roasted in the juices round the meat.

We have had a marvellous crop of Hazel nuts off our own tree. Alan has picked them still green and in their husks as otherwise the Squirrels would get them if they are allowed to ripen on the tree, but we do leave a few nuts on for them. Our small Apricot

tree that is on an East-facing wall had some full sized Apricots this year that were a lovely treat and the

Mulberry bush had a nice crop of berries for the first time. The Mulberries are quite an unusual taste and texture, but rather nice. It reminded me of the song we used to sing at school while trying to

warm up after a cold and frosty walk, but I never expected to see one actually growing and eat the Mulberries!

Gardening Tips Week Ending August 3rd 2013.

If you have grown Onions and the tops are starting to turn down and die off it is time to take them up

and lay them out in the sun to dry up for a few days. Then you can gently pull the tops off them. They keep better if completely dry like Garlic that can also be taken up about now and dried in the same way. When the bulbs are properly dry put them into nets and hang them up to store them so that the

air can get round them and they don’t go mouldy. I use fruit nets saved from packs of fruit, old stock-ings, or even the legs of tights.

Early Potatoes are ready for lifting as well now. When they have been lifted brush off the soil and store them in paper, or Hessian bags - not plastic, or they will sweat and rot. Then keep them in a dark

place to stop them going green and where they will be away from Mice. For Potatoes that are going to be stored into the Winter they also need to be kept frost free. We are starting on many of the vegetables now, but the Runner Beans are not doing very well as

it was too dry for them earlier on. On the other hand the Geraniums loved the hot dry weather so should be good for cuttings this year. Again the Sweat Peas were late starting into growth with the

cold, windy start to the season before they then found it too hot and they are already going to seed. There is now a perennial Sweet Pea about, but they are fairly expensive, although they come up from

seed easily enough. There is also a perennial Wallflower that has a lovely scent and you could take cut-tings from it in the Spring to bulk up your numbers. Generally the fruit has done well this year. We had such a lot of large, juicy, Strawberries we

gave a lot away as we had too many to eat and I have experimented by freezing a lot. I open froze them on trays before putting them in freezer bags. I know they will go mushy when thawed, but hope-

fully they will add sweetness when they go in crumbles in the Winter. Alan has picked me 12 lb of Gooseberries which I have topped and tailed, washed and frozen. We have also had a lot of Black, White and Red Currants so we shall do well for crumbles this winter, although the Rhubarb didn’t do so

well as it was dry earlier on. There have been no Plums on our tree and the Apricots all dropped as are many of the little Apples, but the trees have so many apples still on they needed thinning anyway. This

“June Drop,” is rather late this year with our crazy seasons. The Cherry tree has produced its first real crop and we have already picked over 4 lbs with some still to ripen and some left at the top of the tree

for the birds! I did stone a few cherries and put them in the freezer for something different. At the mo-ment the big old Fig tree is covered in fruit, but I suppose I shouldn’t tempt fate! Hope I haven’t made your mouths water too much!

Back down to earth and the garden centres normally start to reduce seeds about now that haven’t sold to make room for the bulbs that are coming in for Spring flowering next year, so it is a good idea

to plan what you want to sow in the Spring and take advantage of the cheap seeds. Don’t worry about the dates on the packets too much as most seeds will keep well after their sow by dates and you nor-

mally get so many seeds in a packet it doesn’t really matter if a few don’t germi-nate.

Well that’s all for now. Frances Hartley.

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http://www.risingbrookwriters.org.uk/DynamicPage.aspx?PageID=84

www.issuu.com/risingbrookwriters And on our Facebook page

Kit Marlowe and Rick Fallon span the centuries on the trail of murder and

mayhem surrounding the mysterious silver chalice which appears

and disappears every 500 years

BREAKING FREE

With yearning for the familiar being what it is, one must marvel that the human race

has progressed at all.

I imagine the first observers of the wheel on which a lump of clay was thrown

made reference to modern nonsense whilst getting on with rolling out snakes for their

awkward coiled pots. When similar wheels were attached to a cart the same group

probably said their muscles were well up to the task of carrying home the catch thank

you very much or they weren’t afraid of hard work or something like that. I recall an

episode of Blackadder where someone refers with horror to WCs as ‘horrible smelly

things’, an open window being far preferable, and the arguments against having lava-

tories inside houses held sway for ages.

Architectural design is a real hot potato. As far as I’m concerned, Grand De-

signs frequently merits a thumbs down. Especially the eco houses. Who wants a half

buried space ship? Especially when it’s plonked amid nice little gabled cottages? And

inside, the living rooms sorry, spaces, usually resemble nothing so much as a bleak

airport waiting area. A room needs a focal point. A nice cosy fire for instance.

‘Homes are for snuggling up in,’ I cry. And I retreat into my cushions. Although of

course everyone can’t be like me or there wouldn’t be such buildings in the first

place, or inside loos, or motor cars.

Nor would we see the work of theatre directors like Dominic Dromgoole of

The Globe. I watched his ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ yesterday, filmed during per-

formance on the London stage so we provincials could see it at our local cinema. (But

also kept a bit of a secret so there were fewer than 20 in the audience.) It was unlike

any production I’m familiar with, and I’ve sat through several. All the fairies were

incredibly hefty with the exception of Puck, who was decidedly effete. Oberon was a

stag, Titania was clothed in fur and the rude mechanicals executed a most respectable

clog dance. The whole thing was very rude, not to mention hilarious.

But it did not suit the ladies seated next to me. ‘Completely wrong,’ they

opined. ‘Playing for cheap laughs.’ They lamented the lack of lyricism and were par-

ticularly cross with Puck who ‘could not speak the poetry.’ ‘He can’t speak at all,’

said one of them, which I did think unfair. I also thought about original audiences at

The Globe who included real mechanicals and I wondered if they would have pre-

ferred lyrical poetry to bawdy humour. Dromgoole has voiced his desire to use The

Globe to interpret ‘as Shakespeare intended’. But, just like me with Grand Design

spaces, those ladies could not accept this onslaught on comfortable, familiar territory.

‘I saw it at Stratford two years ago and it was wonderful,’ said one. ‘The best Bottom

I’ve ever seen,’ she added without the faintest trace of a smile.

Did she not realise that Shakespeare had named his character for the express

purpose of getting a ‘cheap laugh’? Probably not because the school she went to, like

mine, kicked the reality of the plays away and turned them into exam subjects. They

have been rendered lifeless, dry, tasks to learn, points of ‘appreciation’ to memorise

and that destruction is for many, including some directors, the familiar. Generally

there is not much to choose between one production and the next. Consequently most

people wouldn’t go to a Shakespeare play for a big clock. For others, they remember

what they’ve been told about lyrical poetry and rejoice that they are a cut above the

rest.

Dromgoole is trying to stop all that nonsense, to rescue the reputation of the

man who is called out greatest playwright, to help us understand and enjoy him as his

contemporaries did. That would be progress, wouldn’t it?

Anne Picken

RBW FICTION PROJECT FOR 2014/15 NOTES: A FEW ADDITIONS

Story so far. There isn't one! Not yet, just a few plot strands ...

We have a place, a few names, some with a few character traits. What we need is more input into the plot lines, a few sub-plots would help as well.

This is a listing of what we have so far as a thinking aid. Place: Sometime in the 1890s The Grand Cosmopolitan Shipping Line Chain: The Nasturtium Hotel (GNH) in Trentby-on-Sea

a place that has a similarity to Southampton, this fair city is twinned with Murmansk and has a decided international flavour about it. Despite recent squabbles with Russia, France and certain other countries all rich spending foreigners are welcomed – particularly those with £££$$$ and other currency in their purses/pockets/reticules/wallets.

Time Span: Between the arrival and departure of the clipper ship The Star of Coldwynd Bay. About 3 weeks.

Hotel: The GNH is owned by The Cosmopolitan Shipping Line and is the usual Victorian Hotel. It has three classes of accommoda-

tion, that are roughly: Suites [1st floor] for those with money and the POSH nobs. Rooms [2nd and 3rd floors] for the not so well off.

Accommodation [tiny attic rooms, top floor back] for anyone else Staff:

Basil Bluddschott (70s) – Manager Mrs. Cynthia Bluddschott (20s) - 2nd (trophy) wife of Basil

Daniel Bluddschott (40) – Son of Basil by 1st wife Miss Marian Bluddschott (35) – Daughter of Basil by 1st wife Mrs. Natasha Bluddschott (34) – wife of Daniel

Roberto Manchini - Italian chef; has the hots for Natasha who returns the compliment. Mrs. Bertha Buckett – Laundress There will also be a gaggle of sundry maids, porters etc. Cynthia

Guests: Vera and Gloria – a couple of old biddies with a chequered past who are enjoying themselves [basically comic relief charac-

ters] Major Martin – May be the ADC to the Russian Prince The Russian Prince of ?? Referred to as Mr. Smith; even tho' everybody know who he is.

Daphne DuWorrier– Romance Novel Writer Capt. Fowlnett – Recently appointed skipper of the clipper ship The Star of Coldwynd Bay. He may be a little short on experi-ence as his last job was skipper of the IOW ferry. [Hey! How difficult can it be to find India or China?]

St. John Smythe – Tea planter with holdings in Assam. The Maharajah of Loovinda.

The Sheik of the province of Kebab. Trout Crushmandi – Travel writer for Thos. Cooke.

Music Hall turns playing at 'The Winter Gardens', Also staying the GNH some in suites some in the Accommodation class. Miranda Barkley – maybe mistress of the Prince of ??

Dario Stanza – singer Vesta Currie – hot stuff on the stage Cystic Peg – Medium / Seances

Dan Fatso – Charlie Chaplin type ALSO listed:

Opium – not then illegal Ivory Jade - A rare Jade Buddha with spiritual & heritage significance is specifically noted by it’s absence.

NOTES: CHECK THE DATE! Q. Victoria is Empress. Osborne House IoW is her fav. des. res.

1. Gas lighting or oil lamps – no public electricity supply about for another couple of decades; unless the hotel has its own generator, electrical lighting is out.

2. Horses and carriages in the streets, steam trains for long distances and on the dockside. Trams available in some areas. 3. Limited number of phones, usually locally between ministries or business offices. Messengers or Royal Mail normally used. Telegrams are available.

Thoughts ...

It’s a Cosmopolitan Hotel at the time of Empire.

We need to get diverse folks from absolutely everywhere into the storyline.

We need to reflect the times ... not our times ... their times. Money talks ... Same as ever ... It don’t

matter where you’re from if you’ve got pockets full of dosh and you’re a big tipper!

RBW Library Workshop group are working on a script for the next book. Anyone registered with RBW wanting to join in please come to group or let us know by email asap. The ideas so far include a hotel in the 1890s with as diverse a mix of travellers about to depart by clip-per for the far east as it is possi-ble to squeeze into the plot. Obviously the action will take place in Trentby-on-Sea, twinned with Murmansk, and the establish-ment will be managed by Basil Bluddschott and his new wife Cynthia. If you’ve ever watched a Carry On film you will have had all the training you’d need to join in.

The annual joint project ...

Why do we do it? I hear you ask and I’ve often wondered myself ... But seriously the joint comedy is good practice in group co-operation,

character building, plotting, dialogue, storyline arc etc and besides it’s hilarious to write.

What is more people actually read our free e-books ...

Some brave souls even give us LIKES on Facebook How unexpected was that ...

Once you’ve written in one of our comedies you should be able to write

anything equally as challenging on your own.

Pebbles on the beach, Tumbled side by side, Polished, smooth and round, Left by gentle tide. Two boots scramble over, Crunching as they land, Supply of polished pebbles, Held firmly in her hand Skimming over water, Slicing through the waves, Pebble after pebble, Just one of them she saves Safely in her pocket, The pebble lies alone. Left there and forgotten, Solitary, polished stone. A feeling creeping slowly, Rolling round and round, She reaches in her pocket, Removes the stone she found. It burns her hand to touch it, It glows red, white and gold. It seers and scalds and blisters, It is too hot to hold! Cooling waves cover the pebble, Drag to its watery home, Lost amongst the others, Drowned in swell and foam. Pebbles on the beach, Tumbled side by side, Polished, smooth and round, Reclaimed by angry tide.

Alrewas: Their names will live forever

A circle henge of sacrifice

to ten decades of conflict.

The brightest flower of youth

reduced to scratches in stone.

Portland hewn Memorial

paid for by mothers’ tears.

A damning testament to failed

diplomacy and the futility of war.

© SMS 2007

Metamorphic Furniture

The shop had been empty for some time. Today, Sandra noticed, there was a crowd gathered in

front of the window and a new facia announcing ‘The Metamorphic Furniture Store’. A banner

was strung across the window declaring ‘Opening Today’. She was intrigued and crossed the

street to have a closer look; after all, she had come to town that day to search for a new three-

piece suite and perhaps this new shop would have what she wanted.

The shop was double-fronted with the entrance door between two large windows. In each

window was a display of furniture. Like all the other observers Sandra was captivated. At first

glance there seemed to be just plain wooden box-like structures, but as she watched the displays

melded into something different, first a leather three-piece suite, now a fabric one, now a dinning

-room setting, now a bedroom – it was the same in both windows.

Each time the vision changed someone in the crowd sighed ‘oh that is exactly what I want

at home,’ or ‘ah, that’s absolutely ideal for my bedroom’. Each change of scene caused someone

in the crowd to declare that what they saw was exactly what they wanted. Sandra looked on in

amazement as the next vision was of the three-piece suite she knew would be just right for her re-

decorated lounge.

A stack of leaflets was on a little table by the door. Sandra eased her way through the

crowd and picked one up. ‘New - Metamorphic Furniture’ she read, ‘Never need to buy new fur-

niture again. Always up-to-date. Always as good as new. Ever changing to suit your needs. Buy

now with confidence.’ She entered the shop intrigued. Inside the shop was smaller than she ex-

pected and was crammed with other potential customers. The

walls were stacked with the wooden box things she had first

viewed in the windows. She watched a small, stocky man in a

rather old-fashioned suite make his way from customer to cus-

tomer. His grey hair was rather long and his droopy moustache

seemed to be plaited in what struck her as an ancient oriental

fashion. ‘Come to think of it,’ she thought to herself, ‘he looks a

bit oriental.’

Eventually it was her turn. ‘Good day Madam, I’m Mr.

Gull. May I help you?’ the man asked with a bow as he fixed her

with an intense gaze.

‘Err…yes…I am interested in buying a new three-piece-

suite…’

‘Have you seen anything you like?’

‘Well there was one, in your changing window display. How do you do that by the way…

change the display I mean?’

‘Tricks of the trade, tricks of the trade, Madam. Now lets see if we can find it again.’ He

walked her over to an alcove and there was the exact three-piece suite she wanted.

‘That’s it, that’s the one,’ she cried with delight. ‘I’ll have it. When can you deliver it?’

‘Whoa Madame,’ the man said with a placatory gesture. ‘I can’t sell you my display

model. You will need three modules then; two small for the chairs and one medium for the sofa.’

‘Modules?’

‘Why yes Madam. We sell these wooden modules of appropriate size,’ he indicated the

wooden box-like things around the walls, ‘and when you install them in your home they take on

the form that you require – Metamorphic Furniture you see – you can change the style anytime

you want just by thinking about it. If you wanted a bed or a wardrobe you would need a large

module, but two small and a medium will suit your needs. That will be £3,000 Madam, but I can

do it for £2,750 as a special first day offer if you pay up-front, as most of my other customers

have been happy to do today.’

‘That seems expensive for a set of wooden boxes.’ Sandra commented.

‘Ah, but it is not the box it is what it can do... and I think you will find the price very rea-

sonable compared to what you would normally pay for a three-piece suite. Each box is £1,000

worth of potential, regardless of size. Then later on, when you are pleased with your purchase,

perhaps you will return to furnish the rest of your home?’ 14

‘Well…I’m not sure. Though that suite is exactly what I am looking for…perhaps I will risk it. Is there

anywhere close that I can bring the car and load up the modules?’

‘Oh, I can’t let you take any of these dear lady. These ones are not metamorphic; they are just for show.

For security reasons we keep the real ones in a warehouse out of town. Once we have processed your order de-

livery will take about a week.’ So saying he led Sandra to the till and they completed her transaction. The sales-

man printed off her receipt, promised delivery a week later and smiling pleasantly, wished her a good day as he

stepped towards the next customer.

A week came and went, then two days later, just as she was beginning to worry, a delivery van turned up

and offloaded her modules. The van had no business name on the side and she assumed it was a contractor. The

two men accompanying the van carried the modules through into her lounge for her and left. She stood looking

at them for a long time, thinking hard about the lovely three-piece suite she had seen in the shop. Nothing hap-

pened. ‘Oh dear, visualising it is harder than I thought. I must be doing it wrong,’ she told herself, ‘but it was so

easy in the shop.’

Over the next twenty-four hours Sandra struggled and struggled to visualise her modules into the won-

derful suite of furniture she had planned. Nothing. She looked at the paperwork that had come with the modules

and found a phone number. She dialled the number. Nothing. She decided she would have to go back to the

shop.

Next day she returned to town with all her paperwork and approached the shop. In front of the window

was an angry crowd, several of whom she recognised from her first visit. The shop was empty, no facia adorned

the shop front, no banners were stuck across the window; it looked deserted. She took the card the salesman had

given her and looked at it properly for the first time. ‘The Metamorphic Furniture Store’ it stated, ‘Proprietor:

Mr. Able Gull’. Sandra stared at it. Gullible – how could she have been taken in by such a fraudster, the whole

concept was totally impossible, but somehow he had been so convincing. With some unknown charm Mr. Able

Gull had gulled them all!

http://

www.thepoetrytrust.org/stuff

Random words: revenge, time, apple, brigade, fabricated, rowlocks, synchronise, bazaar The Boys’ Brigade annual Summer Fayre and Bazaar was an important fund-raising event in their calendar, and was held in the local park, where a river ran along the southern side. There were all the usual stalls and amusements, including Bob Apple, Coconut Shies and rowing. “It’s revenge time!” Danny told Lennie. “You and me against Joey and Steve, from the boathouse to the island. OK?” The others nodded their agreement. “You’re on!” The previous year, Joey and Steve had won by a short head. They climbed into the rowing boats, grabbing an oar each, and carefully slotted them into the rowlocks. “We must synchronize our strokes,” Danny whispered, “for maximum efficiency.” His dad had fabricated a trophy from old baked bean cans, in his garden shed, and Danny was determined that this year, it was coming home where it belonged, with him and his brother! (PMW)

Diary Date: 1st Sept

RBW Library Workshop

1.30pm

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