Hello all,
Sorry things have been a little quiet of late between being offline and very busy, but I have returned, on my birthday, with a special guest! So I hope that goes some way to making up for lost time.
Anyway, I would like to introduce my guest for today, Sarah PJ White – who has interviewed me on her site recently as well. http://sarahpjwhite.com/
And without further ado, here is Sarah!
I’m delighted to accept Russell’s request to guest on his blog, as part of ‘The Last Angel’ blog tour. The tour will be running for the whole of March, and I will be appearing on various sites – some in the form of author interview, maybe the odd book review and others – like this post – will be specific subjects given to me by the blog host, so let’s move on to my guest post.
Favoured Locations of author Sarah PJ White
All writers get to a stage where they need to step away from the laptop and clear their head –and I’m no exception. Whether I hit a creative brick wall, or need to generally recharge my batteries, there are a couple of local places that I head for. I don’t know if it’s the same for other creative types – but I head into nature and the nearest wooded area.
There’s something about wandering amongst the trees and relative silence of anywhere off the beaten track, and whilst writing my latest fiction novel ‘The Last Angel’, I found a couple of occasions where the need to blow off the cobwebs became strong. So, where do I head when the need arises? Here are a couple of my favourite places.
Thatcham Discovery Centre
This is probably one of the busiest of my favoured places, but if you time it right (i.e. when the children are at school and everyone else is at work!) it can be quite a quiet, pleasant walk. I tend to give the actual building a wide berth, as it’s where the swans, ducks and geese gather, and instead walk round the far end of the lake and along the public walkways – past the private fishing lakes. It clears my head and gives Bear, my German shepherd a decent hour walk.
Bowdown Woods
This is just of the main road running past Greenham Common, but it’s like stepping into another world. The woods looks spectacular in spring when the bluebells come out, they intermingle with the ferns, creating naturally artistic displays. Run by the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, there are several marked nature trails with varying degrees of difficulty. At 54.5 hectares, it’s the biggest woodland reserve in Berkshire.
What’s great about this place is it used to be an ammunition store during (and after) the second world war, so you can see where nature is slowly taking back ownership of the old bunkers and storage facilities. The old concrete surface road running along one side makes it a good place for those with limited ability too.
Greenham Common
Across the way from Bowdown woods is the old RAF Greenham common air base – known to many as the nuclear facility that featured prominently on the new for years, due to the protest women who set up camp here. In 2000 the last part of the common was opened to the public.
Over 1 million tonnes of concrete and tarmac was removed when most of the runway and hard-standing was demolished – much of which was used in the foundations for the Newbury Bypass. The only parts that still remain are the control tower, fuel station and centre cross of the main runway.
Nowadays though, this vast expanse of disused runway is now a haven for ponies, cows and ground nesting birds. It is gradually being taken over with gorse and heather, thanks to the latest environmental project. This is more of a bracing walk, great for blowing away cobwebs, due to the flatness of the area the wind does tend to race past you!
My thanks and contact information
I’d like to extend my thanks to Russell for agreeing to be part of my blog tour, and for allowing me to guest post on his blog.
If you’d like to know more information about author Sarah PJ White and her latest novel ‘The Last Angel’, you can do so through her website at:
The Order of Winter 