Thursday 17 April 2008
Now it is nearly May, as you can see from this lovely calendar that my friend Judy Zatonski made for me, which is one of my great joys, because there is a different picture every month of my greyhound Feather. (See image right)
I hope you are all well and I’m sorry, as usual, that I am late with my website. I don’t quite know where the last four months have gone, but I’ve been doing lots of research for Village Horse. In January I spent a lovely day at Cheltenham as the guest of Irish bookmakers, Bet Chronicle who had flown a very joyful and happy party of racing enthusiasts over from Dublin for the day. I got 3 winners and as no one knows quite how to party like the Irish, we all had a ball. No one quite knows how to party like the Irish, so it was a gorgeous day.
Tuesday 15 April 2008
As I am trying to be good and getting my website together, I’m making another video in the next couple of weeks to bring things completely up to date but in the meantime, here is another little taster.
On May 2nd I’m going to Fontwell Racecourse to judge a Miss West Sussex competition which is an early qualifier for Miss England. I’m very excited because I’ve never been to Fontwell Racecourse and also one of my fellow judges is my friend, Richard Dunwoody and in between gazing at beautiful girls I will be picking his brains about various aspects of National Hunt racing for Village Horse, which is the novel I’m writing at the moment.
The only other time I judged a beauty contest was Miss United Kingdom, back in 1973. Below is the piece in the Sunday Times which I wrote about the experience. I’m horrified what a bitch I was in those days but I do think aspects of the story are quite funny. I hope you enjoy it.
Continue Reading......
Monday 26th May 2008
I was fascinated to see that Julie Walters and Hugh Bonneville, two of the nicest and most brilliant actors I’ve ever met are starring in the BBC play about Mary Whitehouse this week. Julie plays Mary Whitehouse and Hugh, who had a leading role in ITV’s production of the film adaptation of one of my books, The Man Who Made Husband’s Jealous, is playing her adversary Hugh Carlton-Greene, the head of the BBC.
In retrospect, Mrs Whitehouse probably had a point in trying to curb the increase of sex and violence on television. But at the time, in the early seventies, when we were luxuriating in a new-found sexual freedom, we thought she was a frightful kill-joy.
Thursday 5th June 2008
Great excitement on the Thoroughbred Ladies front: Thoroughbred Ladies is the wonderful racing syndicate to which I belong. Gloucestershire trainer Tom George has already worked wonders with our fantastic horse Island Flyer, who having won three races on the trot is now enjoying a well-earned rest turned out to grass in the beautiful Slad Valley. But our other horse Seafield Bogie, who you can see winning at Ludlow back in 2006, is also doing fantastically well. He was fourth at Cheltenham in a very exciting race last month: then first at Newton Abbot and second at Stratford. He will be running at Worcester races on Saturday, 7th June in the 4.20. This is Ladies’ Day which is always a wonderful occasion at Worcester because you see so many pretty women out in their finery enjoying themselves. I do hope the weather holds. I am privileged to be guest of honour but am fretting dreadfully about my wardrobe because the rain is pouring down in Gloucestershire and what does one wear for a hot day.
I do pray the floods aren’t returning to the West Country.
Thursday 19th June 2008
I goofed last time by saying that Seafield Bogie was running at Worcester on June 7th . He was a bit stiff and so our trainer, Tom George, decided to send him to the Equine Spa instead of the Worcester Races. All the same, we had a lovely Ladies’ Day at Worcester, what a lovely course it is and a lot of money was raised for St Richard’s Hospice, so everything was very successful.
The highlight of the day, however, was the Valerie Lewis Handicap Chase, which was in memory of Jim Lewis’s wonderful wife. And in a way, in memory of Best Mate, the horse that Valerie and Jim owned and loved so much, who died very soon before Valerie. Jim was running a new, young, brilliant horse in the race called Oumeyade, who is trained by Paul Nicholls and was ridden by Tony McCoy, who was Valerie’s favourite jockey and who evidently asked if he could come down to Worcester to ride the horse.
Of books and bookmen
July 15th 2008
ILast Friday was very exciting, I spent two hours in the morning working in our wonderful local Stroud Bookshop in Stroud High Street. This was to promote Independent Book Week, which celebrated the wonder of independent bookshops and how essential they are for both readers and writers. Although many of these shops are thriving, they are still battling to compete with the big chains and with Amazon.
I had great fun, met lots of lovely customers, and ably assisted by Anne and Claire sold a wide range of books. I also once again once again appreciated how hard booksellers work.
Sunday 17th August 2008
Hello everybody. Just to say I had a lovely day on 17th July opening a gorgeous new charity shop in Stroud High Street in aid of the Blue Cross. I love the Blue Cross, it’s a wonderful charity, which does so much to rescue animals, to give them sanctuary, find them new homes and treat them in wonderful hospitals round the country. All the staff have such charming manners. The new shop is lovely, a great aid to shopping in Stroud and will be invaluable for any Christmas presents.
I took to the opening Feather, my greyhound, who was very proud to wear a Blue Cross scarf. He was accompanied by his friend, William the mongrel, who was rather cross not to get in all the photographs, because he usually does. Feather and I can be seen on the right.
Continue Reading......Friday 28th February 2009
I’m truly sorry, I’ve been just as useless as ever in keeping up my website. I would like belatedly to wish everybody a very Happy Christmas and as carefree as possible a New Year. This is the Christmas card we sent out which shows my lovely Greyhound Feather and his friend William, who belongs to my son Felix and his wife Edwina, looking silly but sweet in Father Christmas hats. The card was designed by my talented friend Judy Zatonski, and all the proceeds go to Greyhound charities.
I’d like also to thank everybody for their wonderful cards and good wishes. My only wish for December 2009 is that people would put their surnames on their cards, because I’m not very good at reading other people’s writing and if you get ten cards from ‘Johns’, or ‘Vanessas’ it’s a bit difficult to distinguish them. But thank you so much all the same.
It’s been a crazy year. I had a wonderful time in September going to Open Days at the great National Hunt trainers. We had a glorious day down at Martin, Carol and David Pipe’s yard, Pond House, where I had the huge excitement of shaking hooves with the great Grand National winner, Comply or Die, who is a charming horse and very friendly. Among the guests was the handsome actor, Nat Parker, who starts as Inspector Lynley and who owns horses and is as mad about racing as I am. And here we are with Comply or Die.
