Those of you who've been following this blog for a while will know that, round about three times a year, the Scattered Authors Society stops being quite so scattered, as some of its members meet up for - well, what, exactly? Let's have a look at last week's gathering at Charney, and see if we can figure it out.
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| Charney. The weather was so good this year that we had a lot of the sessions outside. |
Well, Charney is a beautiful old manor house, built of mellow golden stone. It's set in a large garden, featuring sweeping lawns, shady, mature trees, gorgeous hollyhocks and lots of pleasant places to sit. It's on the edge of an Oxfordshire village looking out across meadows (with, it has to be said, an over abundance of pollen-bearing grasses for my liking this year), and it's owned by the Quakers.
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| Picture by Jo Cotterill |
Each July, about twenty children's writers meet up here for a few days. There are workshops and discussions, which you can attend or not as you please - some people have deadlines, and value the chance to get on with their work in peace, with someone else doing the cooking (and the food is delicious) and people around to chat to when they need a break. Some of the sessions aren't directly related to writing; in the past we've had yoga, drama workshops and guided meditation - even the occasional shamanic journey; this year it was neck massage. (I didn't go to that one, so can't tell you any more about it.)
And the chat is immensely important. Of course, there's a lot of talk about writing - but also, by their very nature, writers are curious; they're interested in all sorts of things, so there are lots of interesting conversations to be had.
So actually, it's pretty obvious why we enjoy these get-togethers so much, and why we come back refreshed and raring to go. Here are a few pictures, to make it even more obvious.
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| The Charney cat. He apparently took to dropping in on people on the ground floor as their windows were open. I couldn't quite work out whether they were pleased about this or not. |
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| The Charney rabbit. It was enormous - not surprisingly, as it lives conveniently close to the vegetable garden. |
11 comments:
Lovely photos Sue! Thanks for the report.
Lovely! Though in my opinion a doorway like that has to lead to Narnia ...
Thanks Sue. Couldn't be there this year but I love Charney. The company, the diving screaming swifts, the old building... Note to Charney cat. If I'm ever there again, you will be very welcome in my room!
Thanks for this reminder of just what an idyllic place Charney is, especially when the sun shines on the lawns.
Susan, the Charney cat (Beau) was a complete tart and we loved him. But jumping through Kit Berry's window at 2.30am and Kath Langrish's at 3am took some forgiving by them. He doesn't even live there; he belongs to a neighbour but he knew exactly where he would be admired and worshipped. Do come next year!
Love the doorway!
Great post, Sue - and a lovely reminder (though I didn't personally see the rabbit!) However, I did have the neck and foot massage, which were wonderful!
I loved every minute of being at Charney. Thanks, Sue for the post and the gorgeous photos xxxx
Yes, the swifts are very special.
Pleasure!
Wonderful post. Would love to come along one year soon - while the cat, rabbit & swifts are still there.
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