I belong to a History Book Club, and a few weeks ago we were looking at the L’Estrange family in the 16th and 17th centuries, and how they managed their extensive estates at Hunstanton (pronounced Hunston) near King’s Lynn in Norfolk.

​He described Hunstanton Hall as “one of those enormous houses, about two-thirds of which are derelict. There is a whole wing that has not been lived in for half a century […] thousands of acres, park, gardens, moat, etc., and priceless heirlooms, but not a penny of ready money.” In the summers, he would place his typewriter on a bed table, balance them both on the seat of a punt, and drift around the shallow moat, working undisturbed.

Biographer Sophie Ratcliffe wrote that “the house, an eclectic mix of rambling carstone and pebble, with its surrounding grounds, also acted as an imagined set … Genteel poverty, dusty heirlooms, and brooding butlers inform so much of his fiction.”

See the Getty image of Wodehouse at Hunstanton Hall​

He complained about the formality of the white-tie dinners and that the county set “turn up in gangs of twenty for tea,” with conversation revolving entirely around who was related to whom. Wodehouse had had enough — but, of course, it was that very inbred and inward-looking county set that provided inspiration for some of his most memorable characters, and made his fortune.

I’m delighted to announce that Poppyland has just published my latest book, Different Drums – One Family Two Wars. Based on family papers and original research, it tells the story of conscientious objection from religious non-conformity to humanitarianism during two wars with particular relation to Norwich.

A big thank you to publishers Gareth and Janet Davies for taking it on. I hope it will prove its worth amongst the excellent selection of their new spring books.
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The book is available in East Anglian bookshops and online through Poppyland Publishing or order though your local bookshop wherever you are (via Amazon, you will get an edition that is of lower quality paper).

Last Thursday I attended the 2023 East Anglian Book Wards hosted by the National Writing Centre at the Dragon Hall on King Street. It was sponsored by Jarrolds, the Eastern Daily Press and UEA.

What a pleasant evening it was. There was a full house and we were treated to chats with the nominated writers from each category in two sets of three. Holly Ainley, Head of Programmes & Creative Engagement, skilfully orchestrated the lively and often humorous conversation. Categories covered Poetry, Fiction, Memoir, Local History, History and Landscape..

​I’ve been watching old films. They’re great for observing historical change. Last week The Blue Lamp (1949) dramatized the message that the decent and brave metropolitan police were fighting against a rise in violent crime levels in post-war London. I love the details – the furnishings of the kitchen at Jack Warner’s home, the bomb sites, constant smoking and punctilious deference to senior officers and CID.

​Also on The Talking Pictures Channel, I’m becoming a regular fan of a series called Scotland Yard, produced on 35mm for the cinema between 1953 and 1961. They were filmed at Merton Studios and on location in a London – a London you can only just recognize. The streets are wonderfully empty.  Traffic is very light, except when needed for a chase, and there’s a refreshing absence of signage, street markings, parking control and street furniture.  London looks calm and, even the acting and plots are unhurried – very therapeutic in this post-lock-down period. But it’s quite salutary to see the attitudes of the past so unselfconsciously expressed – especially patriarchy and class relationships.

​A Channel 5 programme featured late Victorian black and white film that has been recently colourised. Most were taken by independent photographers so the choice of subjects – from a horse-drawn fire engine hurrying to an emergency to the launching of a ship on the Thames that itself caused a major accident – seemed like straightforward recordings of contemporary activities.  More familiar was newsreel footage of the old Queen’s funeral. What an extraordinary amount of pomp and circumstance with all the crowned heads of Europe and the ample figure of Edward VII riding behind. And it’s so much better in colour!