A Shoulder on the Hill by Carol Madeline Graham (2020)

 

 

One of the joys of visiting second hand bookshops is finding books you did not know existed. This was such a discovery (at Barter Books in Alnwick).
It is the story of Carol and her husband John who, in their fifties, move to Weardale (county Durham). Carol has lived here before and she has always longed to return. On seeing Hill House West she immediately knows this is where she wants to live. She and John decide to go for it, though the house and outbuildings need a lot of work. Their ultimate aim is to start a B&B.
When they first move in there is no heat or hot water, but they manage to get things fixed just before Christmas.

Although they know they will always be 'Incomers' they soon make friends, especially with Ian, a farmer neighbour who becomes a regular visitor and helps them on many occasions. John, in turn, becomes a regular helper on Ian's farm. 'The relationship was completely symbiotic; Ian gave John every bit as much help as John gave him. Anything that needed moving, fetching or digging and he would be there.'

'That first winter was long, cold and hard.' Carol works as a teacher in Durham. Often she arrives 'attired more like an arctic explorer than a teacher into a city that was barely scattered with a handful of snowflakes.'
Slowly they start work on the house, installing a multifuel stove and French windows, building wardrobes and repairing floors.
They get some chickens and offer the field they rent to Ian, to keep his sheep. Having had "midwife lessons" from Ian's wife Lynne (helping with lambing) Carol is offered a sheep of her own, which she calls Crumpet.

It takes four years before they feel they can welcome guests to Hill House East. Because they worry they might not like the reality of sharing their home with guests they first have a trial period with people staying for free. 'To our joy, and great relief, it worked wonderfully and we really enjoyed doing it. Weekday visitors were catered for largely by John, as I was up and off to school by 7.15 a.m. At weekends we worked together.'
When guests are there they have their own private 'bed-sitting room' in the conservatory. The glass roof enables them to gaze up at the night sky 'in all its star filled glory'

But before they become a 'real' B&B they first host the wedding of Carol's daughter Megan.

The book contains plenty of anecdotes about animals and people (B&B guests). Some of the guests become firm friends, like the Adams family from Oregon. Other guests are 'ancestor hunters' from the U.S., Canada, Australia or New Zealand. This leads to Carol finding out more about the history of the hills and valleys of Weardale, at one time a centre of lead mining. After a boom time mines closed in the late 19th century, causing many people to leave. Some of Carol's guests even turn out to be related to people who lived in Hill House East.

Life goes on: Carol becomes a grandmother and her mother dies. After working part time for some years she decides to retire from her teaching job.
After sixteen years she and John decide to stop running the B&B. The book ends with them, being determined to have no more pets, 'being adopted' by a tiny abandoned kitten. They call her Fudge and thank her for coming into their lives and keeping them young at heart a little while longer.

This a happy and well written book. Carol has written a 'companion’ volume with further tales about her life in Weardale, her family, animals and friends: A Shoulder to Lean on (2022)

Bikes and books

Years ago, when I would go on a cycling trip, I would spend hours trying to decide which books to take. Now I just pack my e-reader, a godsend for cyclists!
Among the books I bought this time was Anne Hall's Four French Holidays, which I chose mainly because it includes a chapter on The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden. A favourite book and one of the reasons I once cycled through Northern France, looking for, and not finding, its location in Epernay. It was only when I returned that I discovered I had been looking in the wrong place, I should have gone to Chateau Thierry.

My family used to spend summer holidays on the island of Ameland and I would get some extra pocket money to buy a book in the local shop. This is when I bought De zomer van de reine claudes, the Dutch translation.
I loved the story and the magical atmosphere of the book and went on to read most of Rumer Godden's books in English.

Anne Hall's book starts with an introduction by Hugh Schofield who shares her fascination with Rumer Godden. Hugh Schofield wrote this article on his search for Rumer Godden's 'famed French Summer'.
This really gives you all the information you could want, including a map.

What could Anne Hall add to this? As it turns out: not much and too much. For a start, she does not include most of the facts covered by Hugh S. in his article. So hardly any information on landmarks in the book. What she does do is give a summary of the story, thereby spoiling it for anybody who still wants to read it. She also gives us every detail she has found out about the lives of two people Rumer G. based her characters on: the hotel owner, and a mysterious Englishman staying in the hotel. Anne Hall may be good at research, but she cannot tell a story (I kept loosing the thread because of all the (grand)parents, wives and husbands she mentions).
I tried reading the other chapters on Margery Sharp, Stella Gibbons and Daphne du Maurier, but gave up. Not recommended!

Last Friday we took a cycling trip to Delft; a lovely trip along a canal. Along the way we stopped at the Kringloopwinkel (a giant charity shop or thriftshop) which usually has a good selection of English language books, thanks to the technical University and its many foreign students and teachers.
One of the books I picked up this time was a Little Toller edition of The Fat of the Land by John Seymour.
I already own a copy but this was worth it (at only E 2,50) for the cover alone, plus a very interesting introduction by John's daughter Anne.

We often visit Delft (some 14 km's from Rotterdam), as it is such a lovely old town with a beautiful market place, lots of quiet canals to wander round and many small shops and cafés. This is apart from the wonderful museums, churches and windmill.
If you ever intend to visit the Netherlands I recommend seeking out the smaller towns like Delft (or Leiden, Dordrecht, Zutphen and many many more). They are small enough to explore on foot and aren't filled with loads of tourists.