Storylines: Vol 5, Issue 1

Storylines is the magazine of The Society for Storytelling.

This issue was edited by the Board of Trustees.

Designed by Mike Carter www.mikesplace.org.uk

The

Society for Storytelling

How to contact us

All enquiries should be sent by email to admin@sfs.org.uk

or by post to: The Society for Storytelling The Morgan Library Acton Street Wem Shropshire, SY4 5AU

Editorial

Welcome to Storylines V! 4

Story of the Season

The Mower and the Bailiffs 6

Features

Who needs storytelling anymore? 9

Talking Bones 11

A Day in the Life of An SfS Area Rep 17

A Day in the Life of An SfS Trustee 22

Spend Less, Hear More 24

Somerset Storyfest 2012 28

Reviews

The Bag of Jewels Sarah Perceval 15

Gloucestershire Folk Tales by Anthony Nanson 16

Future Tense Events 20

Puzzles

Crossword and Riddles 25

Obituary

Derek “Crusty” Woodley 27

From The Board... 31

Editorial Welcome to Storylines V!

At 2012’s AGM, we announced that Storylines, the flagship magazine of the Society for Storytelling, would begin some exciting transitions. Our charity’s aim is to promote greater public awareness of oral storytelling, which is an art founded on a tradition of transmission. The Internet has made transmission possible in ways the first myth spinners never imagined. So producing Storylines this way will enable it to come alive with vibrant, community-led content... and hopefully a lot of fun!

Tina Bilbé, our dedicated editor for 11 years, unexpectedly had to step back from her role for this issue due to her parents’ ill health and we have sorely missed her expertise. The urgency meant that the Society’s trustees themselves took up the editorial mantle. Getting to grips with the technology involved, as well as managing the content, resulted in an inevitable delay with publishing this issue.

Additionally, Karen Piggott the designer who arranged our print runs since 1996 – felt now was the right time for someone else to take over. We thank her for her unfailing reliability and hard work, and wish her well for the future. We also welcome on board Mike Carter, who has put together this exciting design for our new format.

One Story, Many Lines...

From now on, there will be three methods for accessing the content of Storylines...

1. As online text, regularly uploaded to the members only section of www.sfs.org.uk. This will include features, editorial, reviews, and news. Comments can be added by readers to any of these items for others to read.

2. Three to four times a year, a print version of the magazine will collate the best articles from the website and set them alongside a “Story of the Season”, puzzles, letters pages, and more. As well as being distributed to libraries and educational establishments, this edition will be posted to those SfS members who request it.

3. A downloadable PDF of the printed magazine will also be made available on the members only section of our website.

We hope you enjoy the chance to embrace the new ideas that develop with the new formats, and enjoy the freedom to interact with the SfS and the world of storytelling in such an immediate way. If you have any ideas for articles, any news to impart, any comments to make, or any opinions to express... please let us hear them!

A Note from Tina Bilbé: Farewell But Not Goodbye

Just as I started experimenting with the new format for Storylines, I got a phone call my father had been taken into hospital with a stroke. It wasn't too

serious – just his right hand affected –but of course I dropped everything to visit him and keep an eye on my mother every day.

When he was discharged at the end of October, the roller coaster started to get bumpier. I was constantly organising home care, reorganising the house to make his life easier, and helping my mother cope. Anyone who has been through this will understand and, to all others, as soon as it happens I recommend you find someone with experience to advise you.

I had little choice but to contact the SfS Board and let them know I couldn’t be available for December’s edition of Storylines. Their immediate response was, "Don't worry about it, be with your family: we will cope. It may be a little late out, as we have other things going on, but we'll manage." I sent them every article waiting to be worked on, and they took it from there.

At the turn of the year, the Board asked me if I would head a new editorial team

for Storylines. Now parent care is an ongoing responsibility, I took the difficult decision that, at the moment, I have neither the time nor the energy to do the job properly. Some of you will know how I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so if I can't do the job properly I'd rather say no.

Therefore I’m wishing you all au revoir, but hopefully not goodbye. I hope to attend YSOY in March, and FATE in the summer I can't lose every link with you all. Hopefully I'll even return to Storylines (if only as a contributor) before long. I have been given strict instructions from my Mum that I am not to get old, because it's "not fun". The silver lining is that, however much I will miss them when they go, I will know that, like The Tailor's Button, they really were all worn out except for their stories. Those will be with my family for as long as we remember them.

I wish you all well.

Tina

Wanted - Editorial Team

The SfS seek to form an editorial team for Storylines, with a chief editor in overall charge, and two others to take responsibility for certain aspects of production If you have experience in this line, and would like to help with the development of Storylines or if you would like to develop your editing skills please email board@sfs.org.uk.

The Mower and the Bailiffs

It was haytime and Tom was up at four in the morning to get on with mowing Farmer Gent’s forty acre meadow. He had to work as much as he could while the work was there, because he was behind in paying his rent to Farmer Flint.

From Gloucestershire Folk Tales

Jack was waiting in the lane with his scythe. They made their way between the new fences and hedges down to the meadow. It was to pay for the fencing of his allocation that Farmer Flint had increased the rent. The ‘improvement’ of the land would benefit us all, he’d said. It might benefit him. All it meant for Tom was more rent to pay and more work to be done for other men. He used to have his own strips in the big fields, and his own cows and sheep on the commons, before the Parliamentary Enclosure came to these lush pastures between Chipping Sodbury and Pucklechurch. Now he was just a day labourer for those who owned the land.

by Anthony Nanson

The sun was already driving off the morning mist when they reached Farmer Gent’s meadow, which Tom had given preference to over his landlord’s own meadow because Farmer Gent paid better. Soon the rhythmic swish of their scythes, like a song and dance, was slicing through the grass and clover, the buttercups and fairy flax. As the long morning wore on, the sun rose higher till it was beating down fierce and hot and the sweat was running down the men’s backs as they toiled. They hadn’t been mowing long when a

figure appeared at the gate across the meadow. Tom saw it was his own sweet Mary. Must be something amiss for her to come all this way. She’d come out without her bonnet, and her hair was half undone, her face wet with tears, and when she reached him she was sobbing so much she couldn’t speak.

‘I don’t know what we’ll do!’ she wept.

Tom jumped at the worst it might be. ‘Has something happened to our daughter?’

‘No, it hain’t that. O Tom!’

‘Has the pig died?’

‘No, not that.’

Tom took her close in his arms. ‘Tell I, poppet, what’s come to pass?’

‘It be Farmer Flint he a sent the bums to take possession against the rent as be owing. They be making a list of everything we have, from the bedstead to the last teaspoon, the pig and chickens and all, to put the lot to auction.’

Tom swore a foul curse. ‘The wuzberd could a waited till I’d earned enough to pay his blasted rent.’

‘But what shall we do?’

‘Get thee back to the house, Mary, and take the children to thy mother’s. I’ll come back in a little while and sort out they bailies.’

‘O Tom, thee won’t be violent, will ’ee?’ Thee won’t kill them? They’d hang ’ee for sure and I and the children shall be paupers in the workhouse.’

‘I won’t touch them, I promise. Away with thee now and I’ll see thee at thy mother’s’ and off she went with the babe to do as he said.

‘Should ’ee not be a-wending?’ asked Jack.

‘Time enough for that. Let’s mow another acre whilst the sun yet be a shining.’

They plied their scythes for another hour, till one more acre was cut into flowery swathes of hay. When Tom got home, the cottage was oddly silent. Even the hens in the yard and the pig in the sty made no sound. He hid his scythe in the hedge what would he do if they took that? and went inside, where three bailiffs were sitting in his chairs and peacefully smoking their pipes as if it were a public house.

‘How be you, gentlemen?’ said Tom, very polite. ‘What brings you hither?’

‘You know well enough, Tom Smith,’ said one. ‘Your rent be in arrears by six pound eighteen bob and sixpence as was due last Lady Day. We have taken possession on Mr Flint’s orders and made an inventory of what you have.’

‘I see. And may I ask how long you’ll be abiding in possession?’

‘Till the debt be paid, or auction day, whichever comes the sooner.’

‘You’ve put everything on the list, have you?’

‘We have indeed.’

‘There may be one thing as you won’t have put down.’

‘What would that be?’

‘I’ll fetch him and you can see if you has to include him.’

Tom moseyed out to the secluded corner of the yard where the bee skep was excitedly buzzing. In the hole in the top he could see the fluttering of wings and the darting of keen little faces. Ever so carefully he wrapped a piece of sackcloth over the skep, then lifted the whole thing on the plank on which it stood, and carried it indoors.

‘What is it then?’ said one of the bailiffs, list and pen at the ready.

‘Take a look if thee wilt.’

The three bum bailiffs eyed the veiled shape. One reached for the sackcloth. Another said, ‘What’s that buzzing noise?’

Too late. The man had pulled the sacking away. As Tom slipped out the door and closed it behind him, the bees boiled from the hive in a frenzy. Safe behind the hedge, Tom listened to the manly screams of pain resounding in the cottage. The door flung open. The three bums ran out, cleared the fence, and fled across the field, sprinting for all they were worth, with the swarm of angry bees in hot pursuit.

Tom went back to fetch the skep out to its place in the yard. He secured all the windows, collected Mary’s box of rings, locked the door, pocketed the key, and made his way over the hill to his mother in law’s. Mary came rushing out to meet him. ‘Tell I, Tom, hast thee killed them? Shalt thee be hanged?’

Tom laughed, and kissed her, and told her what had happened. Mary was mollified a bit, she even laughed, but she knew it wasn’t the end of the matter, as the debt was still unpaid. Tom left her to her worrying and repaired to Farmer Gent’s fine old farmhouse to inform him how many acres had been mowed. ‘What’s this I hear,’ said Farmer Gent, ‘of three fellows hollering through yonder fields with a swarm of bees after them?’

So Tom told him too the tale of the bailiffs’ misfortune. Farmer Gent laughed loud and long. ‘You know why Mr Flint’s pressing you so hard for that rent? It’s because he’s irked you’ve given preference to my meadow over his.’ And there and then he wrote a cheque to cover the amount Tom owed.

Tom was not too proud to thank him kindly and take the money to pay off his arrears. It was a nice piece of charity and brings this tale to a cheerful end, but Tom knew well enough that, the way things now were, there were owners and there were labourers and that he was indebted just as much to Farmer Gent as he’d been to Farmer Flint, only in a different kind of way.

Gloucestershire Folk Tales is published by The History Press, ISBN 978 0752460178. For our member’s review, turn to page 16.

Who needs storytelling anymore?

Chip Colquhoun

As chair of the Society for Storytelling, a charity for the art of oral storytelling, I could be seen as a custodian of nostalgia. Sitting on the side of your child’s bed and making up your own adventure seems outdated when placed alongside technological innovation from the last century. Hardly attractive to a modern society used to cinematic TV serials, addictive apps, and mobile devices that can deliver all the knowledge known to mankind into any hand with decent reception.

In January, the chair of the SfS was asked to write a response to the guest question on the website www.myfamilycare.co.uk: “In the high tech world we live in, why is storytelling important for all ages? And how do we get more families away from TV, computer and hand-held devices?” Here is his answer...

But on the other hand... you can’t get away from the word! Best selling authors are proclaimed as “great storytellers”. Marketing agencies constantly advise businesses to “tell a story” with their advertising. Computer games receive the highest praise from critics and consumers when they contain “an immersive plot”. And of course, schools have started pushing children to tell stories orally before writing them down, since this has been discovered to help them develop and remember their stories away from the intimidation of handwriting, vocab and grammar.

We owe our lives to storytelling

It’s hardly surprising that storytelling underlies so many key social interactions, in education, business and leisure. The earliest stories were recorded on cave walls 40,000 years ago. While their exact purpose is disputed, the theme seems to be “potential food sources”. Mankind evolved beyond all other species when it added a new

dimension to the basic “fight or flight” principle: preparation. And by communicating plans to future generations, our race began its amazing ability to adapt. Without it, we may have gone the way of the Neanderthals. Storytelling has always been essential to human progress. Histories help us learn from our mistakes. We like to know the biographies of famous scientists so we gain a better grasp of their theories. And relationships blossom as lovers share their favourite moments with each other whilst observing their partner’s reactions.

Clearly this is an important artform. So should we be worried about it being smothered by modern technology?

A curse and a blessing

You can’t dispute the creativity behind today’s blockbuster films, games, or children’s TV shows. But, while we sit in front of a screen, all we’re doing is soaking up someone else’s imagination. We’re not getting the chance to exercise our own. Since the imagination is the root of attributes such as invention, ambition and adaptability, it’s no wonder we hear fears about how society is increasingly lazy. Nevertheless, experience is the fuel of the imagination. You can’t make up a story about a lion until you know what a lion is or can at least construct your own impression from other concepts you know like “big cat”, “furry” and “head”. Similarly, satnav may not have been invented without an amalgamation of ideas including maps,

rockets, and Star Trek (GPS entered development four years after the original series aired its final show, although the Enterprise often used remote location finding to pinpoint its crew).

So in fact, modern technology increases our opportunities to fuel our imaginations. Sadly, though, a great many of us still lack one essential experience: how to use the imagination.

Open your mind’s eyes

This is where storytelling comes in. When hearing a story, you’re not really focusing on the narrator. Instead, you conjure imagery within your mind’s eye. What’s more, that imagery will be tailored to you. I might tell you a story about Goldilocks, but the face you put to that name will be different to the one I see. You will have pieced that face together from your experience of faces, and so will be directly exercising your imagination. That’s why it’s still important today and works best alongside our technology, rather than in opposition to it. Even just making up your own sequel to the latest animated cinema release, as you perch on the side of your child’s bed, is helping them use their experiences in a way over which they have complete control. The mind’s eye of visual learners will focus on the visual; tactile learners may imagine they are holding hands with their heroes; and so on. Any which way, they will be developing a vital asset that has kept our race alive for over 40,000 years.

Talking Bones

Malcolm Green

One evening, in a Northumbrian village pub, I had just finished telling a homespun story inspired by a gravestone when a bearded man took me to one side and made me a proposition. The man was Paul Frodsham, an archaeologist, and his idea was that we tell two stories side by side: an archaeologist’s and a storyteller’s, created from the same evidence. One factual, one fiction, but both based on the facts.

This gravestone story, which had been requested by the North Pennines AONB, was the latest in a long line of commissions of this nature, and so I found the idea of a working collaboration with an archaeologist exciting, if a little daunting. ‘Cajoling’ an entertaining oral tale from remnants of a forgotten past had not been easy. But the process of diving into the shadows of another world had been a very rich and fulfilling experience.

Inspired by that encounter, A Bit Crack Storytellers managed to secure an Arts Council grant in 2009 for the “Talking Bones Project”. Our proposal was to create stories from 7 different archaeological sites in Northumberland and the North Pennines in collaboration with an archaeologist and members of the local community. We would then perform these stories in various locations in the area. The National Trust, the North Pennines AONB and the Haydon Bridge Development Trust also offered various degrees of support.

Our plan was to explore the sites under the guiding eye of the archaeologist, run a series of workshops in which we dreamed up fictional narratives in response to the evidence, and then shape these ideas into an oral story. The sites were divided up between 3 members of A Bit Crack: Pat Renton, Chris Bostock and myself. There was quite a lot of nervousness for all of us as we were entering uncharted territory. Retelling folktales is one thing. Telling our own imagined stories was quite another!

The intriguing variety of sites meant there wasn’t too much bickering about who got what: Chris got a Celtic carved stone head found in a wall near an unexcavated Roman fort; Pat got a bronze age girl's burial urn found in the Cheviot Hills; and I got an early mediaeval boat-shaped tree-trunk coffin found in a meander in the River Tyne.

Hare-brained...

Of the workshops we ran, those for school groups posed the greatest challenge but also the most rewarding outcome. Interesting the children in the archaeology on site was not immediately easy. A few stones sticking out of the ground near Hadrian’s Wall do not necessarily get the pulse racing for the average 10 year old particularly if they have no previous relationship with the place. What got their attention on this particular trip was the dead rabbit I pulled out of my bag and began to skin ready for cooking in what might have been a mediaeval kitchen. They gathered a few herbs and, despite

the initial cries of disgust, nearly all of them ate at least a taste of the white bunny flesh and even those that didn’t were immediately engaged in the story of the place that followed.

On day one, we told the children stories that had some relationship with the area, the theme or the archaeological period we were investigating (I was pretty flexible with my interpretation of this). We then workshopped around the stories to help them enter the world of imagination and understand the nature of oral story. We did mapping, moving,

debating and retelling exercises.

The next day we returned to the site with an archaeologist, hearing the known facts of the site. The children were then set the task of being detectives, gathering evidence for the future story making. Items were photographed and some were brought back with us. The children were asked to go away and research the appropriate period in history, either at home or in following lessons.

Later, the children offered their knowledge of the period so we could begin to create a moment in a forgotten past by imagining a setting, a character, an incident and a resolution. Sometimes we worked toward a single class story; sometimes the children created a number of stories in small groups.

Finally, on day four, we created a performance of the story(ies). We used different approaches for the storytelling, including shadow puppet plays. These stories were an end in themselves, but also became the starting point for our own narratives.

The Final Stories

The next phase of the project was for us to create a convincing story that both did justice to the archaeology and worked as a tale to be told to an adult audience. We intended these stories to be recorded both orally and in written form so that they could be used by future interpreters.

We began unearthing folklore from the areas, gleaning insights into the forgotten past. The further back we went, the less information there was to find but the more creative we could be with our interpretations.

The problem then was, what should be done with all the information? Folktales traditionally have very little description in them. All of us had enough information to produce mini historical novels stories that took around an hour to tell. Our enthusiasm helped us hold our audience – but these were unlikely to be tales that anyone else could tell, or that even we could tell in another context.

So the task then was to strip out all but the essential information, leaving us with story durations of around 20 minutes. We did this by passing the story on to another member of the group, who was less attached to the information and could reduce its telling to its essential heart. What I found difficult in this kind of storymaking was to recreate anything in the idiom of the wonder-tale. Essentially psychological and existential, wonder-tales contain truths about our relationship with

ourselves, each other, and nature. They let us know something of the period, but it is not about transmitting information. I struggled long and hard to bring metaphorical elements into my stories. Chris managed to achieve this by including a fairy-tale type story within a more prosaic main narrative. We look forward to exploring this area more in future projects

Fact and Fiction

Come the final event, there was a real energy in bringing together the contrasting enthusiasms of the scientist and the artist. The public very much enjoyed the juxtaposition of fact and fiction. It was a fantastic project for helping us to get to know our land more deeply.

This knowledge and understanding has informed my understanding of stories and storytelling in all its aspects. It offered a new way for our audiences to connect with the land, whether they were local to the sites or from distant cities – and many of them told us so.

We are planning to continue and deepen this work over the coming years, and hope to make a particular link with the Green Canterbury Tales initiative. For more information on A Bit Crack Storytelling and Green Canterbury Tales please visit the following websites: www.abitcrack.com www.greencanterburytales.org.uk.

The Bag of Jewels

– Sarah Perceval

Sharon Wu

The title of this CD could not be more apt it truly is a little gem! Sarah Perceval has carefully selected nine traditional tales from countries such as Africa and Korea to illustrate nine virtuous qualities: “to discover the ‘gems within’,” as she puts it. Sarah specialises in stories of faith and sacred matters, and these examples are certainly a reflection on the work she does as a storyteller.

Each story is told simply and fluently, and she has carefully crafted each telling to celebrate a particular virtue. In the Portuguese “Stone Soup”, for example, an old man gives a stone to a young boy and, in this simple act, there is an exchange of wisdom and knowledge between the generations. This story also illustrates the virtue of communities working together in times of hardship. Sarah tells the tale very clearly, making the message all the more powerful . As well as being enjoyable, the diverse origins of these stories makes them representative of the universal qualities of humankind. Some of my favourites were “The Bag Of Jewels”, “This, Too, Shall Pass” and “The Theft of Smell”.

Each story ended with wonderfully played extracts of viola music, composed and played by Carolyn Sparey Fox. I felt this was very apt and gave the CD a sense of peace and well-being.

This CD will appeal to families, schools and children up to the age of 12. But even an adult listener such as myself will enjoy it, so I would certainly recommend this to anyone looking for stories of wisdom.

Your Storylines

Do you have a review you could send to Storylines? Would you like to join our review panel? Help our readers become aware of the vast body of literature on storytelling and the oral tradition and decide which ones are worth seeking out... Just email storylines@sfs org uk to put yourself forward!

A Note To Storytellers, Authors and Publishers

Do you have a performance, book, CD, DVD or other publication that you could submit for review? Not only will you raise awareness of your work, but you will also gain honest and valuable feedback from one of our many members on our review panel. Email storylines@sfs.org.uk to let us know...

Gloucestershire Folk Tales

by Anthony Nanson

Sharon Wu

This is the first book from the History Press’s series on British Folk Tales that I have read and I was not disappointed! Anthony Nanson, a storyteller based in Gloucestershire, has chosen an eclectic selection of tales from all over the county, having had great difficulties in making the final selection from the many local legends and stories that abound. Included are stories of ghostly inns, fabulous creatures, King Arthur, and the strange tale from Bisley that Queen Elizabeth I may have been a boy...

In his introduction , he writes that he visited the places and locations or near enough from where the stories originated, so “...that my retellings will convey a sense of place.” For me this was particularly enjoyable because of my familiarity with certain places in the county such as Painswick and Newent. In one of my favourite stories, “The Old Men of Painswick”, a pilgrim meets six generations of the same family, each claiming to be father son father son of each other. The pilgrim is disturbed that each generation of old men seems oblivious to this improbability and, when

invited to stay, declines, realising that he must continue on his journey because there is no death in this village only the reality of living forever in a melancholic state of limbo.

Some stories are different versions of instantly recognisable folktales. In one such story, “The Seventh Bride”, I was reminded of the stories of Mr Fox, Bluebeard and The Robber Bridegroom. The mysterious and murderous lover, Sir John, is undone by the sweet yet resourceful Polly who does away with him and survives unlike her six deceased predecessors who all lie, drowned, in an underground cave. This was an enjoyable yet uneasy tale that simmered with sexual tension until the truth was revealed and Polly moved from passivity to action to save herself. Nanson does not shy away from urban myths. In “The Beast of Dean”, Norman heads out in search of a Big Cat that has been reported in Newent Woods. Instead, he encounters a mysterious woman, and makes a connection with the area’s ancient past.

Altogether, this was a very enjoyable book. At times, when reading some of the stories, I sensed Nanson “speaking” to me directly in his storyteller’s voice. His presentation of the stories varies as, he admits, some he “retold in my own words” while others he had “reshaped and elaborated”.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who loves folktales and the county of Gloucestershire. You will be spoilt for choice.

Day in the Life of...

An SfS Area Rep

A while ago, the headteacher at our local primary school asked me, “I’m looking for a storyteller for the top years, you perform at Folk Festivals where do I find one?” (This was before the WWW!) I recommended Pat Ryan, who came in and gave a week of workshops with the children and their teachers. It gave the teachers great new ideas of how to communicate their subjects, and the children were spellbound! One of the children in the year became a professional film maker as he wanted to make stories through film. Another became a professional storyteller!

Pippa Reid, London & Middlesex Representative

The Society for Storytelling was set up for moments like this: to help promote storytelling in all areas of the community, not just for stage telling or at festivals. Since its conception, storytellers have come forward from so many different areas that we didn’t think possible: health, prisons, schools, museums, business skills, special needs, lecturers, and of course professional performers here and overseas. The SfS saw the value of storytellers with stories and traditions from a big mix of cultures. Our Board of Trustees is the heart of the SfS, and consists of very hardworking members who give their time and energy (between their own working lives) to help the Society achieve its goal of spreading public awareness of the oral tradition. But the Board needs the support of local members to keep this wonderful network strong. That’s where us Area Reps come in.

As a Rep, I feel like one of the arteries of the charity. I am usually the first port of call for people seeking storytellers for their

events, and have a role in spreading information about what storytelling is happening in my area as the many recipients of my monthly email newsletters are aware. I have set up contact with club organisers and storytellers around London and Middlesex (and even some beyond) so that they send me their regular monthly news. Some mention storytellers that I haven’t yet discovered, whom I then go on to contact... and so it grows.

By corresponding with our chair, and the various other Area Reps, I have helped members in my area to network across the country, and even overseas. My role becomes even more vital during National Storytelling Week, when I can sometimes be approached by the media who want to know, “What can we write about? Who can we interview? What is happening?” My husband, Del Reid, founded NSW, and continues to co ordinate it today, so I know how much he relies on Area Reps’ knowledge to disseminate NSW information to local media organisations across the country. Managing this network used to take up a lot more of my time, but the new SfS website www.sfs.org.uk, the result of a successful Arts Council grant has eased this aspect of my role. Now I can simply encourage others to put their events straight onto the website, and use the information there to create my newsletters.

Repping doesn’t take up a lot of time, but there is a great pleasure and satisfaction in networking with club

organisers and storytellers – and occasionally eventually meeting them. This last month I was contacted by two professional storytellers from the USA. I had never met either of them but they soon became friends! Jo Radner, a past president of the US National Storytelling Association, came and met up with a few available London storytellers for lunch in a very quirky 1950s English café in Kings Cross, and much discussion ensued into tea time! Then recently Noa Baum came to stay with us, after contacting the SfS through the website, and she performed in North London.

Meeting up with people like this is like meeting up with family! Our link was the love of storytelling and it was as if we had all known each other for many years. Shortly after our meetings, I received the following emails...

Dear Pippa, Now that I've recovered and know what time it is again, I want to write to you to say Thank You a thousand times for creating that vivid, fascinating lunch gathering while I was in London. What a good conversation we had you are all energetically involved in storytelling. I look forward to seeing you all again -- I hope, not too far in the future. I'm very impressed by what I saw of the London storytelling scene.

I wish you a glorious Christmas.

Warmly, Jo

Dearest Pippa and Derek, I’m just coming up for air...

Wanted to thank you again for your warm hospitality. You made me feel so at home and after the hectic week in Israel it was like arriving in heaven...

Looking forward to meeting again. Sending you both a big hug!

Love, Noa

When you get emails like this, you know that all the effort you put into being an Area Rep is worth it!

Could you be an Area Rep for the SfS?

The Society for Storytelling exists to promote public awareness of storytelling but we only succeed because there are people out there who promote us! This is the duty of Area Reps and we are still searching for more.

If you are passionate about sharing the benefits of storytelling with the wider community, and if you can spare half a day or more per week, then please join our team. Your main tasks would be...

• responding to requests for information on local storytellers and/or events

• collecting that information

• initiating conversations between the SfS and your local storytelling clubs and/or business organisations

• encouraging your local storytelling enthusiasts to join the SfS

In return, you receive expenses for all exclusive and essential costs including tickets to local clubs and festivals, travel, and phone and discounted entry to the SfS Gathering.

To get involved, please contact us using one of the methods at the beginning of this magazine.

Future Tense

Here is a small selection of the plethora of storytelling events taking place in the next two months. For a more comprehensive list go to the SfS website: ww.sfs.org.uk/events National

Storytelling Week

Saturday 26th January to Saturday 2nd February

By the time you read this, National Storytelling Week will be under way. To see a list of NSW events around the country, go to the SfS website: www.sfs.org.uk

The Lion Under the Stairs

Sunday Feb 3rd, 2:00 5:00pm

St Albans Museums launch an exciting new storytelling contest. Inspired by a lion boarded away beneath the stairs of the museum, entrants are invited to create and share an original story based on an object from either The Museum of St Albans or Verulamium Museum.

Free Museum of St Albans, St Albans Phone: 01727 819340

The Trickster

Friday, 15th February, 7:30pm

Dominic Kelly's funny, heartbreaking and compelling journey on the tricksters' side of the road is the feature of this Dreamfired Storynight

£7 (£5 Under 18's and full time students). Cash only, on the door, but do let us know you're coming so we can send winter weather updates.

Brigsteer Village Hall – For info, call 0789 148 7375 or email katq@dreamfired.co.uk

Peter and the Wolf

Monday, 18th February to Friday, 22nd February, 10:00am and 2:00pm each day

The Whispering

Road seriouskitchen featuring Nick Hennessey

Monday, 11th February, 7:45pm

The Theatre company seriouskitchen is performing its production of The Whispering Road - a stunning symbiosis of storytelling and music. The show features two entwined Scandinavian stories of hope in the darkness, of two strangers bound by a ring and of the one who could not love.

£9, £8 concessions

Colchester Arts Centre Phone: 01206 500900

Come and hear how young Peter and his friends Sasha the songbird, Sonya the duck and Ivan the cat defeat a hungry wolf in a brand new re telling of this enthralling classic Russian fairytale. Make your own story mobile to take home as a reminder of their great adventure. Pre-booking advised.

£4 per child adults free Hall Place and Gardens, Bexley Phone: 01322 621238

Eros and Psyche

Wednesday 20th February, 8.00pm

Merging myth, fairytale and raucous Greek philosophy, performance storyteller Sally Pomme Clayton undresses the myth of Eros and Psyche to ask 'what is the path of love... ?'

£9 (£7 concessions) Adults and 14+

Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne For info, call 0191 230 5151 or visit or www.northernstage.co.uk/whatson/eros-and-psyche

Begin It Now!

Friday, 15th March, 7:30pmSunday, 17th March, 12:30pm

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to tell a traditional story or if you’ve ever thought “I could never remember all that”. If you’ve ever worried about standing up in front of an audience to speak, then this could be just the course for you.

£160; reduction available for Friends of the School of Storytelling

Emerson College Storytelling Hut, Forest Row – For info, phone 01342 822563 or email yvette@schoolofstorytelling.com

Tales and Ales at the Locks

Thursday 21st March and subsequent 3rd Thursdays of the month. 8:00 to 10:30pm

A monthly storytelling club, run by Suzanne the Storyweaver, at the wonderful Geldeston Locks Inn, on the Suffolk/Norfolk border. Tellers from

around the local area, including Norwich, and visiting tellers from farflung places! Also tales from the floor. Voluntary donation for entry

The Locks Inn, Geldeston – For info, phone 07960932685 or email storyweaver@phonecoop.coop

The Odyssey - epic weekend

Friday, 26 April, 5:00pm to Sunday, 28 April, 5:00pm

We'll tell the whole of the Odyssey, complete and unabridged, over the course of a weekend. I'm looking for 24 tellers who'll tell one chapter each, and some people to just listen too. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, which will give you an experience of epic as it was originally intended a chance to really enter the world of the story. Come and share it with us!

£85 / £110 (teller/listener)

Mount Severn Activity Centre For info, email cooper.christine@gmail.com

List your event in Future Tense...

If you are running an event or festival featuring the art of oral storytelling be it a public performance, workshop or academic lecture – then it should be getting promoted here in Storylines!

A guaranteed ad costs just £5 email admin@sfs.org.uk for details. Alternatively, post your event at www.sfs.org.uk and it may be included in a random selection of events chosen to appear here for free.

Day in the Life of... An SfS Trustee

I'll wake about 6:30am, then cycle through Peckham into Bermondsey to my office at DB HQ on London Wall, via the old filled in canal that was Burgess Park. Last year in the riots I passed by discarded clothes hangers from Rye Lane shops like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumbs disappearing into the paths off the cycle way.

My day job involves running the Facilities operations for the business, so I am decidedly not a banker...! My department provides the bank’s real estate, fits out all the buildings and provides building services to staff: catering, mail, printing, etc. 1,700 staff alone in London provide these services to the bank, and due to a quirk in our on-boarding processes I am listed in our HR department as the line manager for all of them. In fact, HR have told me that I am the person in the entire bank globally with the highest number of direct reports in the whole organisation. However, I’m pleased to say that this is not a reflection of reality...

David Harry, Treasurer

Apart from my voluntary work on the board of the SfS, I have both a day job at Deutsche Bank in the City of London and another almost all consuming love, which is magic.

Today, in addition to the day job, I also managed to fit in a bit of work for the SfS. We have a weekly 30 45 minute call on a Monday after work, and 2 or 3 times a year have a full board meeting, with one planning weekend away normally if possible.

Responding to emails on SfS matters is a daily task, between 10 and 30 minutes long. After finishing these, I signed some cheques to send off to be countersigned by Ali, our administrator, before looking at possible venues for this year’s Gathering (which includes our AGM). Finally I remembered one more important item of SfS work... writing this article.

I joined DB 16 years ago as a temp photocopy operator and worked my way up from there. Now, as a Vice President (nothing too special there are a few of us...), I manage IT projects and internal governance for Compliance and Regulatory issues for our services. My main current project is managing the way the bank run their meeting rooms, and I'm in the middle

of a new automated service that makes better use of the space we have by encouraging remote working, sharing of resources, new technology such as AV video conferences and linking room bookings to email calendar events... Yes, I know it sounds boring, but in reality I really enjoy it. What does that make me?

My main passion, however, is magic. I perform regularly at comedy clubs, variety events, parties, and more, as an amateur/semi professional. Today, for example, I will be working at the local comedy club "Pull the Other One".

Tonight I'm on with Omid Djalili and I'm not sure what I'm going to choose. I love close up table magic best, but I also perform stage magic (not always successfully). I recently had to buy a new addition to my escapology routine after my last home made mail sack split open as I was attempting to escape from it, leaving me to fall out of the side. I've now got a proper one. Maybe I should stick to the tried and tested. I rarely get the chance to practise these at home, though, as my family all hate my magic, so I can only really practise the close up stuff at work with my long suffering but polite colleagues.

Today I'll leave the office at about 6:30pm, cycle back to Peckham, pack all my magic effects, and finally don my DJ and bow tie before cycling off to Herne Hill for the show tonight.

Who knows how it will go? One thing is for certain: I won't be giving up the day job quite yet...

Could you be a Trustee for the SfS?

Like any charity, the Society for Storytelling relies on a small board of trustees to ensure our purpose is being met. This means brainstorming ways to raise funds for raising public awareness of storytelling, overseeing the projects that use those funds, and occasionally being a spokesperson for the Society –or even the artform itself. The current board is quite small, and we are looking for true storytelling enthusiasts to join the team.

If you are passionate about sharing the benefits of storytelling with the wider community, and if you can spare ten minutes or more per day, then please join our team. Your main tasks would be...

• liaising with our project managers to check all is running smoothly

• joining our weekly half-hour teleconference

• taking part in conversations between the SfS and various organisations

• joining the other trustees for quarterly meetings, occasionally including one single night residential planning weekend

In return, you receive expenses for all exclusive and essential costs, and free entry to the SfS Gathering.

To get involved, please contact us using one of the methods at the beginning of this magazine.

Spend Less, Hear More New Benefits for Members of the SfS

When you pay your membership fee to join the Society for Storytelling, you are making a contribution to all the activities we run to promote this truly life enhancing art across the nation: this magazine, National Storytelling Week, the website, prizes for Young Storytellers, and more.

But part of supporting storytelling includes going out to enjoy it! That is why we are constantly seeking ways to make it more cost effective to indulge in the art. Becoming a member of the SfS gets you a card bearing your membership number, with which you have access to a wide range of discounts and offers for attending or even hosting storytelling related events up and down the UK.

For example, a storytelling club can apply for a bursary from us to subsidise the cost of booking a touring storyteller. This benefits both the teller and the club. But not only that, those who come to hear that teller will receive discounted entry for flashing their SfS card extending the potential audience.

If you are trying to get into the vocation of storytelling in education, then your membership card will have even more

benefits for you. SfS members receive a discount of £30 over 50% from an ad on School Select, one of the forerunning websites for teachers to find visitors for their children. For further details, visit the member section of www.sfs.org.uk!

Members have always received a discount on the price of our Annual Gathering, but last year they also gained 25% off entry to Somerset Storyfest 2012. We hope to offer discounts to even more storytelling festivals in the future. Negotiations are also underway with a leading hotel chain to provide our members with discounts on room bookings.

Membership currently stands at £28 for an entire year. To find out more about how to become a member, visit www.sfs.org.uk/aboutsfs

And if you already are supporting us, on behalf of storytellers and listeners everywhere... thank you!

Are you responsible for a storytelling club, group, or story round?

The SfS can support you in more ways than just the above. We will also subsidise your venue hire, publicity, or even the travel for a “club exchange” with a neighbouring group And you needn’t pay us for this, either: all we ask is that you offer discounted entry to SfS members, or those willing to fill out one of our application forms at the door. For more details, get in touch using the details at the front of this magazine!

Puzzles Cryptic Crossword

This issue’s cryptic crossword is on the theme of Camelot every question and/or answer has an association with the legends of the Round Table. Answers will be in our next issue but, for a clue including advice on how to complete cryptic crosswords please email admin@sfs.org.uk.

Across

1. Shattering earth tremor, with 500 and fifty uncles beginning to die, according to Malory. (2,5,1,6)

5. He tricked Sir Gawain in a crab like fashion. (8)

7. Arthur knew he had blown it at the start of the hunt! (5)

9. He was angling to protect the Grail. (3,6,4)

12. Modred needs a barber, we hear. (4)

13. Arthur said to a new knight, at a hill’s inclination. (5)

14. Landmark of Tristan’s quest is opened, we hear. (4)

15. Many a trembling duchy ruler was put before a weapon by this man. (8,2,3)

17. Object used to spread shadows in Arthur’s hands, known as Carnwennan. (5)

19. Defended a magical fountain against Sir Yvain with broken old cases. (8)

21. Ragnelle told Gawain the headwear all females initially coldly receive in a gesture of farewell. (4,5,5)

Down

1. She put her hand up to help Arthur in the heady folktale, “Salmagundi”. (4,2,3,4)

2. Story, we hear, of how 7 down chose his standard at the sight of this star’s conclusion. (4)

3. This tiny poke was in retaliation for Guinevere’s failed abduction. (3)

4. Robin’s friar started a hospital reception, and wrote an essay on chivalry in Malory. (6)

6. Father, or granduncle, to the Grail-finder... (4, 9)

8. Igraine’s consort looks inside, but her attention is elsewhere. (5)

10. Profession of the one who arranged peace between Arthur and Melwas by tearing satin. (5)

11. You make out she was herded by Geraint’s father. (3)

13. Drink, it is said, is a sickly feeling for Prince Vortimer. (3)

14. Tom’s standing was initially friend to this incompetent ward. (5)

16. Whichever rant you hear, you will find it includes a knight. (6)

18. Up or down, it increased Gawain’s power. (4)

20. Calculation involved in Mordred’s assumption to the throne. (3)

Riddles found in the church of St Aldhelms,

Worth Maltravers, Dorset

1.

Once was I water full of scaly fish My nature changed by changed degree of fate, I suffered torments torrid by the flames My face now shines like whitest ash or snow

2.

We are twin sisters sharing a common lot, Who by our labour furnish food for all.

Equal our toil, unequal our task, One sister runs, the other never moves, And yet we feel no envy, each for each, We chew our food, but never swallow it, We break it up and give it freely back.

Answers on page 31 .

Do you have a riddle for us?

If you would like to set a challenge for our readers or fancy your hand at designing a crossword, wordsearch, or any other kind of puzzle based on the world of oral storytelling please contact admin@sfs.org.uk to let us know!

Derek “Crusty” Woodley 16th June 1932 – 15th August 2012

Adapted from the eulogy by Neil Lanham from the funeral on 5th September at The United Reform Church, Castle Camps, Cambs

Derek had a rare satisfaction with his position in life – alongside a wry sense of humour that is only found in a good old Suffolk boy. When he knew you to be interested in the old culture, he would put the word “bor” on the end of everything.

Crusty, as his friends knew him, spent virtually his whole life working for one farmer in Camps. Born the middle of five children when times were very hard, he got permission from his school to have time off looking after the horses at Park Farm allowing him to give his mother a shilling toward the housekeeping. Yet despite a lack of schooling, Derek was as literate as he needed to be in all things. He yearned for life on the land, and a month after leaving school he accepted a job at Lordships Farm at which he stayed until his 79th year.

On a trip to the cinema in 1954, Derek met Violet. She described him as handsome and gorgeous, but soon discovered his wicked sense of humour, winding people up for the fun of it. He was nevertheless generous and kind. He never lost his temper at home, and he loved animals particularly his dog Jesse.

Derek and Violet’s only child Jackalyn blessed him with three grandchildren. Derek would tell them stories of his own

making, about an imaginary boy called Derek who played with their toys when they weren’t there. This was Derek’s way of keeping the tradition of passing wisdom through story.

It was in The Three Horse Shoes that Derek’s inherited culture really came to the fore. He told how in the old days “the old ‘uns” sat round the table proliferating stories new and old, while the young would lean against the walls listening. He began “editing” the Stone Pickers Weekly, which was his name for the gossip and social news. He claimed to have got the title from the local post war tradition of women earning good money by picking stones up at Castle Camps Aerodrome. At these meetings, gossip was expounded and exaggerated. Derek took great delight in his unofficial position as the editor of this imaginary newspaper. Such an imagination can only come with a whole vision.

Derek’s sense of home and belonging gave him a wholesome enjoyment of life. His life was remarkable for its enviable simplicity, whole life involvement, and everyday enjoyment.

Somerset Storyfest 2012

Michael Loader

The result was an assortment of events in Taunton, Somerset’s county town, that were much loved by the 600 adults and children who attended. The town’s total population is just over 60,000, meaning it is most likely that everyone in Taunton knew of someone who attended the festival.

In 2012, the Society announced that it would begin making small “seed” grants available to organisations wishing to pilot new events and/or activities that would help raise the public profile of storytelling. The first recipient was the Somerset Storyfest team, who received £250 towards their publicity and website costs.

Events began in March with a Free Family Story Playshop at the Museum of Somerset. First the participants explored the galleries, an activity which inspired the participatory sessions of story creation which followed. The story went back in time with a very, very old man (drawn from the portrait of Harry Patch). A hoard of coins, an ancient canoe, a skeletal fish and a Roman mosaic all played their part in the community improvised tale. Storytellers travelled between primary schools around Taunton in the run up to the main festival. Even on the damp, cold day they visited Nether Stowey Primary, the children were thrilled to be sharing stories inside and outside in a project entitled Tent Tales. Inspired by local

legends of the Quantocks, pupils at this (and other schools) created, told, acted, drew and wrote their own tales of mysterious beasts, heroines and ghostly apparitions. An exhibition of the children’s work was on display for a month afterwards at the Taunton Brewhouse.

Stefan Cartwright created the atmosphere with Indian music. This activity gently segued into the performance, in which children and parents took part with voice and action, swept along on the epic journey of loss and love that is the Ramayana.

In April, the Brewhouse hosted a Free Lunchtime Storytelling Slot with four tellers, first in the café and then in the studio, where the children were invited to draw and write anything from their imagination on a tent. Claire Viner told local stories, drawn from the Somerset landscape, of humans and the “other world”, while Tim Bates and Beth Webb spoke of “the little people”, fiery dragons and revenge. Members of the audience left pleas for more similar events in the future!

Later that afternoon, audiences delighted in a ticketed family performance of Rama and Sita’s mythical love story. A playshop explored the characters of the story with storyteller Michael Loader, while musician

The children were delighted by the opportunity to get stuck into the action by portraying Rama, Sita, Hanuman, and even an evil ten headed Rakshasa. One father spontaneously stepped out from the audience with a bent back, his head wrapped in a scarf, putting himself forward to play the part of Rama’s “vengeful nurse” Manthara! Attendance at the Web of Life, performed by storyteller Jane Flood and musician Martin Solomon, was understandably lower adult storytelling has struggled at the Brewhouse over the years. But the performance was exquisite, journeying the globe in word and song, and those who attended were enthusiastic and full of praise for the performers.

An afternoon of Outdoor Storytelling with six professional storytellers, performing in the beautiful grounds of Halsway Manor, began with the excitement of chocolate eggs hidden en route. The audience promenaded around and about the grounds from

the croquet lawn, through the trees, and eventually to a high open space with glorious views of the hills. Tales were told and stories were spun by Michael Loader, Simon Blakeman, Rebecca Smart, Sharon Jacksties and storyteller/ musician Jem Dick.

The ages of those attending the festival ranged from pre school to 70 years. As well as creating links with schools, strong links were forged with Taunton Library, Taunton Voluntary Action, Somerfest (the local folk music festival), Weston College (who created our art work), and the Somerset County Council’s education department.

Twice Upon a Time…!

Planning is already underway for another Storyfest in March 2013. The programme will be further enhanced with performance poetry and beatbox workshops, and an open mic evening at the Tacchi Morris Arts Centre for ages 14 19.

The 2013 festival will branch out of the Taunton area with a storytelling and puppet making event in Wells, and a family performance at the Egg Theatre in Bath. But the festival will also return to some of the key locations of 2012, including Halsway Manor where audiences will be able to enjoy an afternoon of storytelling supported by puppetry and illustration, thanks to a link with the Abergavenny Storytelling Festival – and another free family afternoon at the Museum of Somerset. Members of Bristol Storytelling Festival will also join in the Taunton event, with two performances of Grimm and Grimmer at the Tacchi Morris Arts Centre.

For further details, please visit www.somersetstoryfest.co.uk

Riddle

From The Board...

It has been our pleasure sharing with you this refreshed format for Storylines. We hope the new Editorial Committee can make many of the new features you’ve seen herein become regular fixtures, but as with everything else in our Society your comments will define our future approach. Please let us know your thoughts using the details included at the front of this issue.

Some members may recall us mentioning a spate of exciting plans at the last AGM, including a proposed “Introduction to Oral Storytelling” CD series. Towards the end of 2012, we met to discuss why some of these projects had not yet materialised. All agreed on the major factor: time.

For historical reasons, the SfS Board has not only accepted the responsibility it legally must, but also a significant portion of the implementation. So much, in fact, that even the task of delegating has been too time consuming to achieve! We must sing the praises of members who provide unending energy and support: Del Reid, co-ordinator of National Storytelling Week; Tina Bilbé, editor for Storylines; Kevin Blackburn, compiler of our newsletter; and Pippa Reid, Area Rep for London but also, recently... the rest of the world!

Other members have also come to the current Board’s aid in recent years: Kevin Walker, conducting valuable market research; Roisin Murray, who acted as our change agent; Nell Phoenix, our on the spot minute taker at the 2012 AGM; and of course all those who helped organise and run the last few Gatherings.

But when questions need to be asked, people need to be met or technical issues need to be fixed, the task has all too often landed at the Board’s feet. Sadly, this has thrown some stones amongst the cogs.

For this reason, we set ourselves the challenge of increasing our levels of delegation throughout 2013. We’re looking for voluntary workers to step forward onto committees: small teams that will each take one of our many exciting plans, and share its implementation under our guidance. Could you be one to get involved? Simply email or write to us with your area of interest and/or expertise the CD project, the website, National Storytelling Week, our info sheets, Storylines, network co-ordination, mentoring, or even becoming a trustee. Perhaps you have an idea for something totally different? Let us know!

Whatever level of involvement you choose to have with your Society we thank you for your continued support and hope that 2013 will be yet another important milestone for the history of storytelling...

Chip, David and Honor

In your next issue of

torylines...

David Heathfield on “Spontaneous Speaking” and his international workshops. Terrie Howie on her US and Canadian research for the William Churchill Trust. a review of London Tales. all the best gossip from National Storytelling Week brand new Story of the Season, puzzles, and more!

If you have online membership, don’t forget that you can see Storylines articles as they are edited throughout the weeks running up to the print edition. Just visit www.sfs.org.uk and click “Login”. To submit content for Storylines – or even put yourself forward to join our Editorial Committee – please contact us using the details at the start of this issue.

To be continued... www.sfs.org.uk