Showing posts with label Liz Shakspeare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liz Shakspeare. Show all posts

Thursday 13 July 2023

A Devon Summer with Liz Shakespeare

A Devon author, who specialises in breathing life into true stories from Devon’s past, is looking forward to a busy summer. Liz Shakespeare will be attending a number of events this summer to sign copies of her books and to talk to members of the public.

Liz said, ‘Writing is a solitary activity, so I really look forward to opportunities to meet readers when I give talks or attend book signings throughout Devon.’

She has written six books set in Devon, bringing to life the stories she finds in old newspapers, on gravestones and in parish records. Liz, who lives in Littleham, has a long Devon ancestry which she feels has given her a good understanding of the county and its people. Her most recent book, The Song of the Skylark, tells the true story of a young girl who was sent out as a parish apprentice to work on a remote Devon farm.

‘I am currently working on my seventh book,’ Liz said. ‘This one is set in Torrington in the nineteenth century and is again based on a true story. It will be available to buy next spring.’

Liz will be signing copies of all six of her books at the following events:

In the Magpie Marquee at the Mid-Devon Show on July 22nd

Clovelly Maritime Festival on July 23rd

Launceston Show on July 27th North Devon Show on August 2nd

Hartland Farmers’ Market on August 6th Okehampton Show on August 10th

Chagford Show on August 17th North Molton Country Fair on August 20th

Holsworthy Show on August 24th Torridge Art and Craft Market on August 26th

Lustleigh Show on August 28thClovelly Lobster and Crab Feast on September 3rd
 
 Liz Shakespeare book signing at events throughout Devon
 Liz Shakespeare will be book signing at events throughout Devon
 Liz Shakespeare book signing at events throughout Devon
👀👀👀
Liz’s books can also be ordered post-free from her website www.lizshakespeare.co.uk  


Saturday 5 November 2022

Event full Christmas calendar with Devon author, Liz Shakespeare

For those wanting to solve those difficult Christmas present problems, one North Devon author might have the answer!

Liz Shakespeare, who specialises in breathing life into true stories from Devon’s past, will be attending a number of events this Christmas to sign copies of her books and to talk to members of the public.

Liz said, ‘Many people like reading books which have local settings, especially when they are based on true stories. A signed book makes an ideal present.’

She has written six books set in Devon, bringing to life the stories she finds in old newspapers, on gravestones and in parish records. Liz has a long Devon ancestry which she feels has given her a good understanding of the county and its people. Her most recent book The Song of the Skylark tells the true story of a young girl who was sent out as a parish apprentice to work on a remote Devon farm.

‘I am currently working on my seventh book which will be set in Torrington,’ Liz said. ‘Each book takes around three years to research and write, I am making good progress with my latest one but it will be at least a year before it is ready to be published.’

Liz will be signing copies of all six of her books at the following events:

  • Christmas Market at Affinity, Devon on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th November;

  • The Hospice Christmas Fair, Durrant Hotel on Thursday 17th November

  • Great Torrington Christmas Fayre (Town Hall) on Saturday 19th November

  • Connect and Create Winter Fest, Barnstaple Pannier Market on Sunday 20th November

  • Kingsley School Christmas Fair, Bideford on Saturday 26th November

  • Butchers' Hall Christmas Market, Tavistock on Friday 2nd December

  • Appledore Food and Craft Market on Saturday 3rd December

  • South Molton Fatstock Show on Sunday 4th December;

  • The Big Sheep Christmas Market on Saturdays 10th December and 17th December

  • Hartland Farmers' evening Christmas Market, 5-10pm on Thursday 22nd December.

Liz’s books are also available from good bookshops and with free postage from www.lizshakespeare.co.uk

 Christmas highlights from Devon Author, Liz Shakespeare

Devon author, Liz Shakespeare at the Mid-Devon Show 2019..
 Devon author, Liz Shakespeare at the Mid-Devon Show 2019.

Wednesday 13 July 2022

Summer Signings. Devon author, Liz Shakespeare bringing new life to Devon's past.

One Devon author is looking forward to a busy summer. Liz Shakespeare, who specialises in breathing life into true stories from Devon’s past, will be attending a number of events this summer to sign copies of her books and to talk to members of the public.

Liz said, ‘Writing is a solitary activity, so I really look forward to opportunities to meet readers when I give talks or attend book signings throughout Devon.’

She has written six books set in Devon, bringing to life the stories she finds in old newspapers, on gravestones and in parish records. Liz has a long Devon ancestry which she feels has given her a good understanding of the county and its people. Her most recent book The Song of the Skylark tells the true story of a young girl who was sent out as a parish apprentice to work on a remote Devon farm.

‘I am currently working on my seventh book,’ Liz said. ‘Each book takes around three years to research and write, so it will be a while before this one is ready to publish.’

Liz will be signing copies of all six of her books at the following events:

  • Magpie Marquee at the Mid-Devon Show on July 23rd
  • North Devon Show on August 3rd
  • Appledore Food and Craft Market on August 6th
  • Hartland Farmers’ Market on August 7th
  • Okehampton Show on August 11th
  • Chagford Show on August 18th
  • Ashwater Show on August 20th
  • North Molton Country Fair on August 21st
  • Holsworthy Show on August 25th
  • Torridge Art and Craft Market on August 27th
  • Lustleigh Show on August 29th
  • Appledore Food and Craft Market on September 3rd
  • Clovelly Lobster and Crab Feast on September 4th
Liz’s books can also be ordered post-free from her website www.lizshakespeare.co.uk

Eventful Summer for Devon Author, Liz Shakespeare
Author, Liz Shakespeare and her Books from Devon
Devon author, Liz Shakespeare at the Mid-Devon Show 2019.. 
Devon author, Liz Shakespeare at the Mid-Devon Show 2019.

Liz’s books can also be ordered post-free from her website

Devon author, Liz Shakespeare

Thursday 15 July 2021

Event full Summer for 'Books from Devon' author, Liz Shakespeare

As Covid restrictions ease, one Devon author is looking forward to meeting readers again. Liz Shakespeare, whose books are inspired by the people, history and landscapes of Devon, will be attending a number of events this summer to sign copies of her books and to talk to members of the public.

Liz said, ‘Over the past year I have been able to continue writing, and I published my most recent book The Song of the Skylark in October 2020 with a launch on Zoom, but I have missed meeting readers at my usual talks and book signings throughout Devon.

She has written six books set in Devon, bringing to life the stories she finds in old newspapers, on gravestones and in parish records. Liz has a long Devon ancestry which she feels has given her a good understanding of the county and its people. The Song of the Skylark tells the true story of a young girl sent out as a parish apprentice to work on a remote Devon farm.

Liz will be signing copies of all six of her books in the Magpie Marquee at the following events:
  • Mid-Devon Show on July 24th
  • Hartland Farmers’ Market on August 1st
  • Sidmouth Folk Festival on August 2nd
  • Honiton Show on August 5th and 6th
  • Clovelly Maritime Festival on August 8th
  • Okehampton Show on August 12th
  • Bideford Pannier Market on August 21st
  • North Molton Country Fair on August 22nd 
  • High Bickington Fete on August 28th
Eventful Summer for Devon Author, Liz Shakespeare
Author, Liz Shakespeare and her Books from Devon
Devon author, Liz Shakespeare at the Mid-Devon Show 2019..
 Devon author, Liz Shakespeare at the Mid-Devon Show 2019.

Monday 12 October 2020

Compelling Storytelling. 'Song of the Skylark', a new Devon book by Liz Shakespeare

Two hundred years ago in North Devon, a young girl stands on a table before an audience of farmers.

‘Mary Mitchell, nine years old. Draws your straws, gentlemen and we’ll see who’s to win this prize.’ The child was a parish apprentice, and this method of selection had died out everywhere else in the country, except North Devon.

Author Liz Shakespeare, who has become well-known for writing books inspired by the history of Devon, has uncovered the true story of one such apprentice.

The Song of the Skylark tells the story of Mary Mitchell, aged nine, and her brother Thomas who are sent to a remote farm, far from their parents and everything that is familiar to them,’ says Liz. ‘Pauper children in North Devon were often apprenticed as farmworkers and had to work long hours without wages. They were not granted their freedom until they reached the age of twenty-one. In effect they were simply used as unpaid servants to their masters.’ In 1843 the editor of the North Devon Journal criticised the practice, referring to it as slavery.

Liz found numerous documents which helped in her research into parish apprentices. ‘Many children would have been treated as part of the family,’ says Liz, ‘but it is clear that some were not. There are reports in the local papers of apprentices being severely whipped, and some ran away from their masters.’ Liz found adverts that had been placed by farmers giving a description of the runaway child, and warning that whoever harbours said apprentice will be prosecuted.

Thomas and Mary Mitchell work on the farm in Buckland Brewer parish for five years. These years become increasingly difficult for them due to a series of failed harvests.

‘It was shocking to realise how hard their lives would have been,’ says Liz. ‘The potato blight which caused the Great Famine in Ireland also hit Devon, and many labourers came close to starvation during the period termed the Hungry Forties.’

However Liz discovered that Thomas and Mary also had some respite from the backbreaking work. ‘One document revealed that they could read, and described them as ‘Thornites’. This was the name given to followers of the Thorne family of Shebbear who, along with William O’Bryan from Cornwall, had founded the Bible Christian movement, an offshoot of Wesleyan Methodism. The centre of the Bible Christian movement was Shebbear where there was a school for training ministers, later Shebbear College.’

Chapels were built wherever a small piece of land could be found, often at a crossroads with no other dwellings in sight; small unpretentious buildings with arched windows, now often converted to dwellings.

For Thomas and Mary, whose days are filled with unremitting labour and who are far from their family, joining a welcoming community at chapel and being told wonderful stories of the Promised Land brings very welcome relief.

‘The Bible Christians were particularly interesting’ said Liz, ‘because right from the start, in the early 1820’s, they used women ministers. One such was Mary O’Bryan Thorne. She was an extraordinary woman; highly educated, an inspirational preacher despite suffering terribly from nerves before speaking, mother to thirteen children, she also ran a busy farm household at Shebbear with the help of only one servant. She is an important character in my story.’

After five years on the farm, Thomas and Mary eventually take daring action in an effort to change the course of their lives. Their attempt ultimately wins them their freedom, but not before they are brought face-to-face with the heartless judicial system of early Victorian England.

‘I found it a compelling and sometimes difficult story to write,’ says Liz, ‘’but it has a happy ending!’

Liz is launching The Song of the Skylark on Friday 16th October with talks on Zoom at 2.30 and 7.30 describing how she came to write it and the research she carried out; there will be time for questions afterwards. Tickets are just £3 each with all proceeds being donated to The Plough Arts Centre in Torrington. You can book tickets at www.lizshakespeare.co.uk.

Signed copies of The Song of the Skylark can also be ordered from the website for £9.99 and will be sent post-free, or cheques made payable to Letterbox Books can be sent to The Old Post Office, Littleham, Bideford, EX39 5HW. The book is also available on Kindle.

'Song of the Skylark' - A new Devon book by Liz Shakespeare

'Song of the Skylark' - A new Devon book by Liz Shakespeare

'Ran Away' Public Notice (North Devon Journal) 29th January 1840
'Ran Away' Public Notice (North Devon Journal) 29th January 1840
 ðŸ‘€ðŸ‘€ðŸ‘€
The Song of the Skylark Launch 
Friday 16th October with talks on Zoom at 2.30 and 7.30 
 You can book tickets at www.lizshakespeare.co.uk - proceeds being donated to The Plough Arts Centre in Torrington. 

Saturday 28 March 2020

What a gift - 'Postman Poet' author sends books set in Devon by post, without leaving home

At this difficult time when most of the shops are shut, one Devon author is offering to post copies of her books to readers – without leaving her home!

Liz Shakespeare says ‘I have a post box in my front garden, so I can post a book to you or to one of your friends or relatives, while obeying the Stay At Home order!’

Liz lives at The Old Post Office in Littleham. Although there is no longer a post office in her front room, the Royal Mail post box is still there.

She says, ‘If you need to send a birthday present, a get well present, or just want to escape into another world for a while, choose a book set in Devon from my website www.lizshakespeare.co.uk or give me a ring on 01237 471165.’

Liz Shakespeare has become well known throughout the south-west for the five books she has written, all of which are set in Devon. Liz says ‘My inspiration is the people, the history and the landscapes of Devon. The most topical of my books is Fever: A Story from a Devon Churchyard which tells the true story of a Devon village struggling to cope during an epidemic 150 years ago.’

Also available is The Turning of the Tide, a novel based on the true story of a young Clovelly mother confined in Bideford Workhouse, The Postman Poet which tells the story of Devon man Edward Capern, The Memory Be Green: An Oral History of a Devon Village and All Around The Year, a book of short stories set in Devon.
Postage is free - Liz can sign books and inscribe them for a special present on request. '
Contact Liz through her website for book titles and prices www.lizshakespeare.co.uk 
Tel: 01237 471165

Thursday 25 July 2019

Liz Shakespeare Reviews 'A Breath of Moonscent: Memories of a Devon Childhood' by Allan Boxall

The publication of a new book set in Devon is always good news, but the publication of one as captivating as A Breath of Moonscent: Memories of a Devon Childhood is a cause for celebration. There are few authors who know rural Devon well enough to write about it convincingly but Allan Boxall, now in his early eighties, knows it well and worked on A Breath of Moonscent for almost twenty years before he ventured to publish it. His hard work has paid off. The book describes the area in intimate and affectionate detail and will delight anyone who loves the Devon countryside and its people.
Allan Boxall moved to North Devon with his parents during the Second World War, when he was four years old. It was a wonderful childhood, Allan was free to roam the countryside and he soon made friends, acquiring a Devon accent along the way. He attended school in Dolton and then Torrington, and worked on a farm for eighteen months before eventually leaving Devon to join the Navy.

A Breath of Moonscent focusses on an area of North Devon that has been lovingly documented before. The Dolton area was the subject of much work by the eminent photographer James Ravilious, who created an invaluable record of rural life when he worked for the Beaford Photographic Archive. The aim of the project was to capture the very special and individual nature of North Devon just as it was starting to change. Allan Boxall’s written account depicts the same area at an earlier time, before change was envisaged, and he portrays in words what Ravilious achieved in images.

This is not a romanticised account of rural life. There are hardships, there are deaths, there are regrets, but the author shows that these events are part of the natural cycle of life. Reading his portrayals of the people of Dolton, one feels one has known them personally – or, at least, seen a Ravilious photograph of them:

‘Tom Baker was a tough old fellow, gnarled and stringy as a war-scarred tomcat, a face weather-beaten and ravaged by seventy years of sun, rain, and biting winds, pocked by the savage stings of angry wasps which had attacked him when he accidently hacked into their nest whilst paring a hedge, mean and short-tempered through decades of failed harvests which he remembered more than the successful ones.’

Some of the people Boxall writes about were indeed photographed by Ravilious in later years including one of Ravilious’s favourite subjects, Archie Parkhouse, who is as familiar from Boxall’s description as he is in the photographs.

Until comparatively recent times, life in North Devon was dominated by the seasons and the weather, because most people either worked on the land, or walked or cycled along miles of narrow lanes to reach school or work. Boxall recalls in loving detail the skeletal woods and barren fields of winter, the magical return of spring when ‘Snowdrops lined the brook like a carpet of green-tinted snow’, the summer hedgerows ‘awash with summer seas of umbellifers and red campion; honey bees and bumble bees, wood wasps and butterflies; a kaleidoscope of pastel colours shimmering and swaying,’ and autumn, ‘with the beech leaves golden, the oak secreting fawn-brown acorns neat in their pitted cups.’

Alongside the lyrical descriptions of landscape, there are many amusing stories. The account of moving house, - when a steep, stony lane had to be descended with a china cabinet, Calor gas stove and other household bits and pieces piled high on a cart drawn by an excitable horse - is likely to make the reader laugh out loud.

A Breath of Moonscent takes us back to a magical era in North Devon, when life was hard but the rewards were great; when there was no roar of distant traffic, when the stars were brighter, and the silence was disturbed only by the hoot of an owl or the bark of a fox.
Liz Shakespeare Reviews 'A Breath of Moonscent: Memories of a Devon Childhood' by Allan Boxall
Devon Author Allan Boxall
A Breath of Moonscent: Memories of a Devon Childhood by Allan Boxall  Published by Blue Poppy Publishing 25/7/2019
A Breath of Moonscent: Memories of a Devon Childhood by Allan Boxall
Archie Parkhouse - Photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive  © Beaford Arts
Archie Parkhouse. Photograph by James Ravilious for the Beaford Archive  © Beaford Arts
👀👀
A Breath of Moonscent: Memories of a Devon Childhood by Allan Boxall
Published by Blue Poppy Publishing
Available from www.bluepoppypublishing.co.uk or from bookshops.
----------
Liz Shakespeare is the author of five books set in Devon. 
Tap here to visit Liz Shakespeare's website
----------------
About Beaford Arts "The Beaford Archive is an extraordinary collection of material about North Devon dating back to 1890. It is best known for its photographs by James Ravilious, for whom the Archive was his life’s work, and it was one of the first commissions taken on by Roger Deakins, now an Oscar-winning cinematographer." 
Tap this link to visit "HERE: Uncovering North Devon" 

Thursday 18 July 2019

Signs of Summer. Join local Devon Author, Liz Shakespeare, at local events around the Southwest.

Readers who enjoy books with local settings will have the opportunity to buy signed copies this summer. Liz Shakespeare has become well-known as an author who brings to life the people, history and landscapes of Devon, and she has a busy summer ahead visiting many South-West events.
Liz said ‘My most recent book, The Postman Poet, tells the story of Devon’s own Edward Capern and I am particularly looking forward to telling readers about him this year, which marks the two hundredth anniversary of his birth.’
 
Liz has a long Devon ancestry which she feels has given her a good understanding of Devon and its people. The Postman Poet will be featured at the Dartmoor Folk Festival on August 10th when Liz will be joining with musicians Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll to celebrate the life and songs of Devon’s Postman Poet.
Historical research was also the inspiration for her previous books, The Turning of the Tide, a true story of a young Clovelly mother confined in Bideford Workhouse, Fever: A Story from a Devon Churchyard, and The Memory Be Green: An Oral History of a Devon Village. All Around The Year, is a collection of twelve poignant stories, deeply rooted in the Devon countryside, and each linked to a month of the year from January through to December.
Liz will be signing copies of all her books at:
    • Launceston Show on July 25th
    • In the Magpie Marquee at the Mid-Devon Show on July 27th
    • Woolsery Show on July 29th
    • Clovelly Maritime Festival on August 3rd
    • In the Crafts and Gifts Marquee at the North Devon Show on August 7th
    • Okehampton Show on August 8th
    • Dartmoor Folk Festival on August 10th and 11th
    • Chagford Show on August 15th
    • RHS Garden Rosemoor on August 16th and 17th
    • Holsworthy Show on August 22nd
    • Lustleigh Village Show on August 26th
    • Clovelly Crab and Lobster Festival on September 1st
      Liz Shakespeare commemorates the 200th Anniversary of Edward Capern "The Postman Poet".
      Liz’s books can also be ordered post-free from her website www.lizshakespeare.co.uk 
       Liz Shakespeare commemorates the 200th Anniversary of Edward Capern "The Postman Poet".

      Tuesday 15 January 2019

      "A Sigh for Devon" - Bicentenary of Edward Capern’s birth.


      It was two hundred years ago, on 21st January 1819, that Edward Capern, Devon’s Postman Poet, was born into a poor, working-class family in Tiverton. His father, a baker, could not afford to educate his son and would never have dreamt that he would become nationally renowned as a poet, winning plaudits from the Prime Minister and support from the biggest literary names of the day.

      The bicentenary of his birth would, perhaps, have gone unnoticed if his extraordinary story had not been brought back to public attention by Devon author Liz Shakespeare. She has written The Postman Poet, a novel based on the life of Capern, and has published 34 of his 600 poems in The Poems of Edward Capern. While writing the novel, Liz drew on historical research and details in the poems to tell the astonishing story through Edward’s eyes as he struggles to support his family, capturing the opportunities and inequalities of Victorian North Devon.

      Edward Capern became a postman following the introduction of the Penny Post, walking the 13 mile round trip between Bideford and Buckland Brewer 364 days a year. He would jot down poems while he was walking and he often wrote on the envelopes he was about to deliver: “He had to ask the recipients if he could keep the envelopes because he’d written poems on them,” said Liz Shakespeare, whose own cottage was on Capern’s round.

      He was entirely self-taught but he had a local benefactor, William Frederick Rock from Barnstaple, who saw Capern’s early poems in the North Devon Journal in the 1850s and supported the publication of the first volume of poems. The book was a national success, winning the support of Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Rowland Hill, the inventor of the Penny Post, as well as considerable local fame. Many people used to visit North Devon to see the Postman Poet set off on his round, at the same time as visiting the scenes made famous by Charles Kingsley’s book ‘Westward Ho!’ after which the seaside resort was named. Edward Capern was awarded a Civil List Pension by the Prime Minister for his services to literature and went on to write three further books of poems.

      During her research, Liz found that some of his poems were intended to be sung, so collaborated with Devon musicians Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll who set them to music for their CD, The Songs of Edward Capern.

      Most of his poems are happy and extol the beauties of the North Devon countryside, but he was also very aware of the darker side of life. Although he was careful not to upset the aristocracy who bought his work, Capern was keen to use his pen to champion the cause of the poor and he managed to slip in many reminders, amongst his happier verses, that the poor should not be forgotten, and that labourers should be paid fair wages.

      One poem Nick and Becki have set to music is The Dinner Bell, a tale of the haves and have-nots in which Capern laments the plight of families who could hear the sound of distant dinner bells but had no food themselves.

      In recognition of Capern’s commitment to social justice, £1 from each copy of the poetry collection sold is being donated to the Northern Devon Food Bank, and more than £500 has been raised so far.

      Together, Liz Shakespeare, Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll have appeared at music festivals and book festivals to tell the story of Edward Capern through words and song.

      On Monday 21st January Liz will be placing flowers on Edward Capern’s grave in Heanton Punchardon to commemorate the birth of Devon’s Postman Poet two hundred years ago. 

      A Sigh for Devon
      ---
      Bright haunt of the daffodil, myrtle, and rose,
      Of solitude sweet, and of pleasant repose,
      Where a welcome waits all with a heart in its hand,
      My Devon! dear Devon! my beautiful land!
      Blest region of valley, hill, woodland, and river,
      I love thee, dear land, and shall love thee for ever.
      Edward Capern
      Edward Capern portrait - Photo copyright Burton Art Gallery (All Rights Reserved)
      Portrait of Edward Capern - Photo copyright Burton Art Gallery (All Rights Reserved)
      Devon author, Liz Shakespeare with musicians Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll
      Devon Author, Liz Shakespeare with musicians Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll
      The "Postman Poet" Edward Capern's Gravestone
      Here lies The "Postman Poet" Edward Capern