Picnic Areas and Picnic Sites

One of my favourite Picnic spots near Ashford, in Kent, is the vast green area at the top of the hills in the village of Wye. Beside the village being picturesque with ancient houses and a beautiful church and garden, if you drive through Wye and further up the road through the forest, the hills offer a great viewpoint over the Kent area, also lovely at sunset.

In good weather, there is also a nice walk along the path down the hills, with lots of small wild flowers in the spring. We usually have a few days of snow in the winter, which is when everyone rushes there with sledges (or estate agent sign boards!) to risk their life down the slopes. In this extraordinary weather, driving through the forest is surreal as the trees curve under the weight of the ice and snow, creating a tunnel of icy branches.

If like me, you are local, check out The Sleepy Ladybird written by Henri Renard and illustrated by . . . me. It is a children book about a grumpy ladybird called Oliver, 2 children and a Labrador for 3 - 6 year olds and is available in Waterstones (in the new Ashford shopping centre). Hope your children or grand-children enjoy it . . . the book and the picnic spot!

Caroline Bailey

View Larger Map

Chester Infirmary
Chester

Caroline Rance, author of the debut histotical and literary novel KILL-GRIEF, to be published by Picnic in March 2009, writes:

‘I chose Chester for my novel where there are wonderful places to picnic, mainly because I already knew the city, and because I could call in to Wirral to see my Grandma and get free food (!). The latter definitely included lots of picnics - I was very lucky. KILL-GRIEF focuses on an 18th-century nurse, Mary Helsall, who is desperate to escape the drudgery of hospital life, from the stench of disease, lecherous surgeon and spiteful Matron. She finds something in common with the hospital porter, Anthony – they both dream of an independent future without anxiety and resentment. In their world, however, the only freedom is temporary – it is provided by gin. While researching 18th-century hospitals, one aspect of the literature stood out – or rather, didn’t. Among pages of detailed and impeccably researched information about medicine, surgery and the relationship between the Enlightenment and the growth of voluntary hospitals, there would often be no more than a sentence or two about nurses. Not very complimentary sentences either. Time and again I read that nurses were all drunk, neglectful slatterns – until, that is, Florence Nightingale came along and turned them into angels overnight. Porters are hardly treated any better - the only thing in Chester Infirmary’s records that relates directly to the plot is a sentence from a Board meeting in April 1756, when the Governors noted that the porter had been dismissed for frequent drunkenness. They sent him on his way with the wages he was owed plus an extra ten shillings, and then that’s it – he fades from history forever. This tiny snapshot from the life of an unknown person inspired the alcohol theme in Kill-Grief, and made me consider how many people have existed without leaving behind even so much as that sentence. Kill-Grief is not their real story, but I hope it acknowledges that they did have a story, however much it’s been forgotten.
View Larger Map

Nick Blackstock, the author of SOMETHING HIDDEN, to be published by Picnic is April 2009, writes:

‘My starting point for my latest book involved researching the background to a railway accident in Charfield, Gloucestershire in 1928 on which the novel is based. Obviously, the circumstances in which the bodies of two apparently well dressed and well cared for children could be killed without being missed, struck a national chord. There was massive publicity and everyone, it appeared, had a theory. These ranged from the relatively sane to the totally mind boggling. However, and given that when I was writing the book I did not know it would be published by Picnic, there are two picnics in it. One in France before the First World War, another on the South Coast of England between the wars. However, I have chosen to recommend Gloucestershire, one of the loveliest of counties.
View Larger Map

SOAS
London School of Oriental and African Studies
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H OXG
Tel: +44(0)20 7637 2388

Picnic author Corinne Souza studied (and picnicked!)at SOAS as an undergraduate in the 1970s. ‘I loved the place,’ she recalls.  ‘It was full of lippy or exceptionally courteous old soldiers standing in reception, with equally lippy or courteous students and tutors from all over the world hovering around in the hope they would look after their coats, books or whatever. Many of the staff professors were favourites: if they inadvertently mislaid an essay they were marking, it usually turned up by sometimes circuitous route, with the elderly men in reception. 

‘On one occasion, I asked if Professor Vatikiotis had been round.  Assuming me to be chasing an essay and automatically wanting to cover up for him, the old boy responded, “Vatty hasn’t quite finished it, Miss . . “.  “But I am not Professor Vatiokis’ student,” I replied. (Vatty’s students were all post-graduates.) ” . . . It is just the waiter where he ate last week asked me to return the papers he was working on . . .”.  “Very nice of him, Miss,” came the immediate response. “We will inform Vatty’s publisher the missing chapter stopped off for a kebab.”

SOAS is Europe’s leading centre for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Based next door to historic Bloomsbury, with the British Museum and British Library only minutes away, it houses the best kept secret in London: the treasures of the Foyle Special Collections Gallery, Brunei Gallery and a Japanese-style roof garden. The galleries are dedicated to promoting the cultures of the regions to which SOAS has long been devoted, displaying a beautiful and interesting range of historical and contemporary objects at present known only to a few specialists. Among this wealth of material are illustrated Islamic manuscripts, including a luxurious Mughal copy of a 16th century book of animal fables; Chinese and Japanese paintings and prints; varied ceramic objects from the Middle East and East Asia; decorative Buddhist manuscripts and sculptures from South-East Asia; contemporary African paintings and textiles; and important archaeological collections from East Asia, South Asia and the Middle East. Many of these objects are true treasures whose display is long overdue.

While this Iraqi figurine (right) is not owned or on display at SOAS, its photograph is on this site in memory  of one of SOAS’ esteemed 1970s governors, the late Dr Edmond Sollberger. In 1968, Dr Sollberger, the then  Keeper of Near and Middle Eastern Antiquities at the British Museum, identified it as a fertility goddess.   Dating from the Larsa period, it was found by a child at Tell Asmar, Iraq in 1962. The Oriental Institute in Chicago, USA have a similar, albeit  ’whole body’ , figurine excavated in 1935 - 36.

And so to SOAS’ final secret: its Japanese-inspired roof garden which was built during the Japan 2001 celebrations and officially opened by the sponsor and honorary fellow of the School, Mr Haruhisa Handa (Toshu Fukami) in November that year. It provides an area away from the bustle of London streets or picnicking young in Russell Square, where visitors can relax, meditate or trace the simple Kanji character engraved on the garden’s granite water basin. 

Corinne Souza’s spy thriller Jasmine’s Tortoise, published by Picnic, is set in Baghdad and London. 

Opening times: The garden is open to the public when the Brunei Gallery is open, normally Tuesday to Saturday 10.30am to 5pm except when exhibitions are being changed or during private functions. Please phone the recorded message service for current details (see above).  Admission to the garden is free during public opening times.

View Larger Map

Can seagulls become pets? Yes indeed they can while remaining in the wild.
My second floor kitchen window overlooks the sea. For many months now, two
birds have visited me regularly - Eric a male followed by Ursula a female.  

 Eric is larger than Ursula and braver. Lands on the cill
and taps on the window with his beak - if no response from me lets out loud repeated squawks.
      
                                                                                                                                                                         When I have visitors the birds join in the meal - a real picnic.  Eric has enjoyed stewed peaches and cream from a spoon, Ursula will delicately take salmon skin from a fork.            

In fact they will eat anything bar vegetables -
offer them a lettuce leaf and they will push it aside with their beak and let out an irritated squeak.

Oh dear I have learnt they can reach the age of 25!

Words & Photos,  Copyright Katia Ellis

 
View Larger Map