On Sunday, I had the very great pleasure of being the guest speaker at a lunch held by The Arthur Ransome Society to celebrate the great man’s birthday.  It was held at the Norfolk Arms in Arundel – a fabulous coaching inn – and there were over forty members all of whom made me very welcome.  I gave a talk about ‘Writing Rules’, looking at those which Arthur Ransome sticks to and a few he breaks as well, and then read a passage from Winter Holiday – that magical scene where Dorothea wakes up to the first snow of the year.

The afternoon rushed by but there was just enough time to pop into Kim’s Bookshop - a fabulous place with wall to wall books on three floors!  I could happily lose a few hours there.