An old chum rang me this morning while I was out on a windy walk before work. I haven’t seen him for a couple of years and it was good to catch up. It was like old times. He was always hugely entertaining when we met up, holed up in a cozy pub over a couple of pints of best.
My side of the phone call was hampered by a squally wind that kept ripping off the hood of my coat that I’d put up against the rain. We persevered and I was so engrossed in conversation that I nearly dropped my phone into ankle-deep mud that today was also awash with rain water. So glad I didn’t. The route to the next field can only be navigated by balancing on a half-submerged fallen branch, not easy without having both arms available to balance.
My friend always has a story to tell and really should write a book one day as he has a curious way with words and finds the bizarre in the ordinary. He recently spotted a man on the tow path of his local canal, fishing for ferrous objects with a large magnet, dredging up bicycles and all manner of things. There, I’ve ghost written his opening chapter and maybe the rusty dagger he pulls up provides the missing evidence in an unsolved investigation into a serial killer.
This morning’s walking route took me back up a hill past a medieval church. Even on a mucky grey day like today the stone around of the tower is made up of a multitude of colours, greys, ochre and silver from the lichen embedded in the ancient stone. The church reputedly had its stained glass windows shot out by musket-wielding roundheads or cavaliers in the English Civil War.
I have never paused to look closely at the headstones which lean at odd angles, defaced by time, under the yews in the graveyard. I might spend longer next time, to discover some human stories that might spark some ideas for my next book. Did I mention that I started writing the sequel to Below The Strandline a few days ago? Just a couple of thousand words on the page so far, but it’s great to be back to writing again. My amazing email subscribers to https://timparr.uk/contact will get sneak previews of book two when the time comes.
Author of Below The Strandline
