We  are lucky in my area to have one local paid-for paper the Stratford Herald, and as one may anticipate for the home of the bard this Stratford-upon-Avon and district paper has one of the best Arts and Literature sections I have seen in a local paper.  I was therefore very proud when they sent along a photojournalist to Waterstones when I was signing books.

I really should have had a haircut before the visit, and the photo was somewhat “Old English Sheepdog”, but the description under the photo fascinated me.

It read “Novelist or Satirist…?  Maurice Abney-Hastings… etc”.  The accompanying article went on to say  “His latest work, Big Days in Ashthorpe Magna, claims to be a reflection on the 25 plus years he has spent living in rural towns - particularly Alcester, as well as time in Leicestershire and Hampshire.”

“His book, supposedly a work of fiction, centres around a small rural town, but there are strong similarities to Alcester and its traditions, such as the Court Leet. And the Church featured on the cover is very reminiscent of St Nicholas’s though with the addition of an elegant spire.  Some of the town’s characters are also identifiable through disguises so thin as to suggest Mr Abney-Hastings’ work is more a satire than a novel.”

Thanks Stratford Herald - I have always considered satire as much more difficult than a pure novel, and would never have been egotistical enough to describe myself as a satirist!! But who now knows…

Then came the nice ladies who were organising the Egg and Spoon Race – BUT….. they were told that Egg and Spoon was now illegal, and only little potatoes can be used – TRUE. Of course, like me you probably remember the times when our national Accident and Emergency Services collapsed due to the masses of children taking their Egg Injuries to the local A & E Hospital. I suppose they there had to queue behind the hoards with the dreaded Conker Injury! Are we really going mad as a nation! You may like to look at www.capc.co.uk .

• Everly Brothers - Wake up Little Susie
• Herman’s Hermits - There’s a Kind of Hush
• Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue
• The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon
• Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman
• Simon and Garfunkle - Homeward Bound

Oh well – Smooth Radio was Radio Saga so undoubtedly their audience will know the choices, and as their demographics are middle class, middle age. Middle England, they will have much in common with Ashthorpe Magna! It will also be a chance to promote the signing session at Waterstones in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Certain aspects of the book, which John had clearly read in depth, fascinated the interviewer, notably Petanque, Courts Leet and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, and he questioned Maurice quite thoroughly on those subjects. Also coming under scrutiny was Maurice’s several years at Becket School in Nottingham, and in the interview he did admit that it was the rowing crews which had a greater appeal than the academic side!

In the past Maurice was a regular contributor on BBC Radio Solent and it is this background which helped generate such an interesting show, and of course John Holmes himself is one of the BBC’s longest serving regional presenters.

Leaflets based on the book cover will be distributed by Waterstones for a couple of weeks before the event, and Maurice is hoping to generate interest through local press and radio.

If any readers of this website are within striking distance of Stratford-upon-Avon please come along and meet Maurice.

More importantly it is there to provide an excuse to drink vast quantities of Muscadet - a pastime of which I approve wholeheartedly!

It is an organisation, it is said, designed to allow grown men to dress up in frocks, and wear a rather cute Breton version of a trilby. More importantly it is there to provide an excuse to drink vast quantities of Muscadet - a pastime of which I approve wholeheartedly! Anyway last Sunday I was invited to join the Bretvins for a Petanque (Boules) Competition and Bar-b-Que to be held at a lovely hotel and restaurant called the Arrow Mill – naturally on the banks of the River Arrow. With a good weather forecast, the prospect of food and drink along with a game of boules, I readily accepted.

In view of my Petanque connections I was asked to be the umpire, but what I was not told that the games were to be played of GRASS. The one surface on which it is impossible to play the game is GRASS! Equally most there did not have a clue about the game, and any attempts at introducing rules would have been futile. The game is played over a distance of 6 – 10 metres, but people were throwing the jack (cochonnet) two or three times that distance, and therefore having to take several paces to get the boule anywhere near its target.

Rather optimistically the organisers had arranged for a league system with four leagues of seven teams, each playing six games, followed by a quarter, semi and final – all in TWO HOURS. Not a hope chaps, so after an hour the points to win a game were dropped from 13 to 11 to 7, and each league only playing three games. By then there was no possibility of working out the winners, so tactfully last year’s winners were chosen to play against the honoured guests, the Baillee of the Confrerie of London and his partner who were declared ‘winners’! None of this mattered; the local head of the Bretvins presented what he himself described as the naff trophy, but with a magnum of excellent wine. The chilled wine had flowed with great gusto during the afternoon, the Arrow Mill produced a superb meal and even the sun was shining throughout the period.

Petanque – no, but a fabulous afternoon out despite a little liverishness the next day. Thanks Bretvins!

Ashby has its Arts Festival from 26th July to 10th August 2008, and Maurice has agreed to be at the museum on 26th from 11 am to 2 pm to sign books

“One remarkable coincidence did come about whilst Maurice was chatting (and selling a copy!) to The Marquis of Hertford of Ragley Hall”

One remarkable coincidence did come about whilst Maurice was chatting (and selling a copy!) to The Marquis of Hertford of Ragley Hall, near Alcester. A story in the book, which is truly coincidental, was that of the local stately home to Ashthorpe Magna starting a Rare Breeds Farm. To Maurice’s amazement the Marquis told him that Ragley had looked very seriously at that possibility 20 years earlier. Lord Hertford asked how the fictional characters had coped with the heavy costs involved, and the author explained that Seagram Hall could only do it by having semi-commercial numbers and signing a contract with a specialist rare breed meat supplier. Certainly a case of fact and fiction merging.

For more details on Alcester visit www.alcester.co.uk