Comments for Ship Burial Novel

Comment on Willie Lott’s Cottage by kevin andrew

kevin andrew — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:49:48 +0000

That’s really interesting Rosemary! We must be related somehow. As I said I am related on my mum’s side but quite how many times removed I’m not sure. I shall try to find out. I hope you enjoy your trip. Sorry for not replying sooner but the blog is a bit moribund at the moment as I have been working on making the Rune of Ing available. I hope to have the blog up and running again soon. Best wishes KA.

Comment on Willie Lott’s Cottage by Rosemary Clemo

Rosemary Clemo — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:02:00 +0000

I am also related to Willy lott through my mother’s family. My daughter and I are goimg to the Stour valley on october 2nd to investigate. I think Willy lott was uncle or cousin to my 3x great grandfather who was Willy lott too and lived in dereham. His son, Willy lott, moved to Shropshire and was the father of my great grandmother, mary lott. Her brother was again called Willy lott and so was his son. In fact there are at least 5 willy lott’s from dereham im my family tree1 I wonder how we are related? Rosemary Clemo

Comment on Felixstowe Ferry by kevin

kevin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:17:20 +0000

Yes it would be interesting to see them close up. I think I saw them used in a film once. This coastal landscape is so strange. I mean on the one hand these things are kind of a blot, like the great golf ball of Sizewell, but in another way these things and the contrast they evoke are dramatic and quite arty I suppose. I know exactly what drew Derek Jarman to Dungerness. THAT is one strange place but at the same time desolate and beautiful. Although I did read on somebody’s blog once that Dungerness is only attractive to those with a liking for nuclear power stations and gravel! I must be one of those people…

Comment on Felixstowe Ferry by Carla

Carla — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:56:38 +0000

They do look very strange, don’t they? Like something out of Close Encounters. One of these days I ought to get organised enough to go on one of the National Trust’s occasional boat trips to the Ness and see what they look like close to.

Intention is to do more, but it will be a ’sporadic’ or ‘occasional’ series, as time and inclination permit!

Comment on Felixstowe Ferry by kevin

kevin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:48:36 +0000

Yes, I don’t know about Bawdsey but up the coast at Orford Ness there are those peculiar buildings to do with the MOD. As you say creepy. All for our own good I’m sure they would say…

With regard to rainbows, I guess that is moot to be Anglo-Saxon about it, some might say, including William Blake perhaps, that there is no natural religion of rainbows…

Liked your post on hell over at your blog Carla. Are you gonna do more?

Comment on Felixstowe Ferry by Carla

Carla — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:14:06 +0000

I like the idea of the Orwell being the tradesmen’s entrance to the wic at Gippeswic. In the cold war Bawdsey was some sort of missile base – there were a few places on the coast where you could get a glimpse of them, and it was quite creepy.

Rainbows are no less marvellous for understanding how they’re woven

Comment on 1066 and all that… by kevin

kevin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:29:35 +0000

Yeah I think the word they used was ‘orcneas’ meaning some sort of nightwalker or monster. I might be wrong though. Obviously this is where Tolkien got it from but I agree with you absolutely. It’s a testament to JRR that the word now belongs entirely to him.
I mean as I said, I quite enjoyed the film, but it was a bit of a dog’s dinner and no mistake. The main thing it seemed to lack apart from the petty irritations of the info boards and as you say plodding narration was any real vision on the part of the director.

Comment on 1066 and all that… by Carla

Carla — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:22:50 +0000

Well, I have watched both episodes now. The Tolkien references did no-one any favours. Especially the use of “Orcas” or “Orcs” – even if the word was used in Old English (I must check the ASC), its use in modern English is entirely derived from Tolkien and it sounds silly in a historical context. A few moving moments, as you note, but rather fewer than there should have been in a film of this length. It seemed unable to decide whether it was a drama or some sort of light documentary. I thought the frequent cuts to intrusive explanations of riddles and the plodding narration got in the way of developing the characters as people and telling their story. The best thing was Regia’s re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings.

Comment on 1066 and all that… by kevin

kevin — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:56:49 +0000

Hi Carla, I guess they were hoping to get a bigger audience by hat-tipping Tolkien. It was alright but I don’t think that guy who has been trying to get money for years to make a film about 1066 has much to worry about. They didn’t exactly nail it.

Comment on 1066 and all that… by Carla

Carla — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:29:43 +0000

It was Regia Anglorum. I have the programmes on tape but haven’t watched them yet, so I’ll save comments until I have! I admit the Tolkien-esque billing as “The Battle for Middle Earth” very nearly put me off the programme altogether. What on earth is the point of making a historical drama (if that’s what it is) sound like some sort of fantasy? – surely people who tune in hoping for Beowulf-style CGI dragons will be disappointed if there aren’t any.