This is the first time during the summer period that I’ve posted on Cherry’s Cache. I’ve been very busy with other activities, and preparations for a house move to come. So it’s time I put up a Bulletin Blog, with updates and with snippets of stories which might interest you. Plus some hints of what might be coming along later!

100 today!

Celebrate…my 100^th post on Cherry’s Cache! This is it. Little did I think when I started this blog, back in April 2020, that I’d reach this milestone. (216,826 words later…Oh, not quite halfway to War and Peace then.) Thank you, readers! I really appreciate your support. 100 and rising.

The Shamans

I will be giving a talk on ‘Siberian Shamanism in Person’ on Sun July 16^th – ie very soon! This will be in audio internet format, and all are welcome to join. It’s hosted from the USA by R.J. Stewart and Anastacia Nutt, in their ‘Salon of the Western Mysteries’ series. Registration costs, timings (BST 6pm) and all other details can be found here . I’ll be speaking about my journey to Southern Siberia, where I met a practising shaman and discovered much about the local traditions – the relationship to nature, the power of the spirits of the land, and other fascinating elements of native culture and cosmology. You can find some aspects of this in an earlier blog which I posted about the encounter at . The talk itself will go further than this, and there will be opportunities for questions. The app used is ‘Go To Meeting’, which is easily accessed via a link sent to participants. I’ll say no more until the day!

The Lunatics

Then – here’s an update on Marat Sade, as it was acted in Cambridge by a bunch of students (including me) in 1969, with the innovative, somewhat controversial theatre director Bruce Birchall. See my previous blog about the occasion. . Many of those in the original cast have contacted me with their memories of the production – an iconic event in our days at university there. Finally, Briony Garety – formerly Janet Young – sent me the golden document that I was missing: the duplicated, typed cast list of Who was Who. Do you recognise yourself in the list?

I like the high-handed instruction that the Programme ‘should be read before or after the event, and should not be brought on the night, please.’ I wonder if there was full compliance? I daresay the director felt it should be more of a ‘happening’ than a conventional stage production. Wielding a programme would perhaps diminish the immediacy of the experience, which was meant to be immersive, as we lunatics leered at the audience. (I don’t think we actually molested them, though.)

It was a momentous event and Bruce was a hard act to follow.

And then – The White Glove

This week, I paraded with a contingent of the Exeter City Red Coat Guides in a procession which dates back 900 years – for the opening of the Lammas Fair. Last year, I visited with a fellow guide, and we decided to ask if we could join in. Our bright red jackets are born to march, after all! This year, the council invited us to do so.

Here’s the story of the Lammas Fair, taken from the Council’s own website.

And yes, I know that strictly speaking Lammas should be the 1^st August (quartering the year with Halloween, Candlemas and May Day in the old Celtic and British traditions) but, well, Exeter decided to do it differently. Today’s parade marks the opening of the annual Craft Fair on Cathedral Green.

(The photos of the procession are mine, some from previous years; thanks to Red Coat Guide Susie Newton for the picture of us in action.)

From Exeter City Council:

The wonderfully quirky tradition of parading a big white glove through city centre streets was today maintained in Exeter. Lammas Fair was celebrated in Exeter and at the end of the occasion, the big white glove was hoisted high above Exeter’s historic Guildhall, where it will remain for the next three days. Today’s Lammas Fair saw colourful pageantry in the heart of Exeter. The event got underway at 11am, with the Lord Mayor’s procession of the Lammas Glove, including civic dignitaries and Morris dancers departing from the Civic Centre.

The procession travelled down the High Street to the Guildhall, where the proclamation was read out and the glove hoisted above the balcony… The annual ceremony of the Proclamation of Lammas Fair dates back to before the Norman Conquest, more than 900 years ago. The word Lammas derives from the Anglo-Saxon Hlafmaesse or Loaf Mass. Lammas Day, the festival of St Peter ad Vincula, was when the first fruits of the harvest were offered to the Church in the form of a loaf…The Lammas Fair White Glove was displayed during the Fair and was a sign of Royal protection of the peace. The large leather, stuffed glove was attached to a long pole and was decorated with ribbons and a garland of flowers. Prior to the hoisting of the Glove, a Proclamation was made to declare the Fair open. The Proclamation was issued at the time of Edward III in 1330. A Court known as the “Pie Powder Court” was appointed for every fair to deal with any complaint or other matter arising within the Fair….

And so the Lord Mayor solemnly warned us not to commit any crimes as we moved on to enjoy the Craft Fair displays…

Creative Writing Courses

Another line of work I’m involved with is tutoring Creative Writing Courses for Oxford University Continuing Education. I began teaching for the department back in 2009, took several years’ break in the middle, then returned last year. Might you be interested in taking part? Take a look here. I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to choose me as a tutor (or choose not to have me!) but I can say that the courses are very well run, have a student intake of all ages from locations across the world, and give you a chance to develop your writing skills in a friendly environment. They also involve lively discussion, which you can take part in more or less in your own time, rather than having to be on line at a specific moment. My own tutoring revolves around ‘Getting Started in Creative Writing’, ‘Writing Fiction’ and ‘Writing Lives’, but there are plenty more to choose from.

The House Move

Our plans have now crystallised, and if all goes well, we’ll be moving back to Gloucestershire in the early autumn. We’re heading to Minchinhampton, the area we lived in previously. Just over a year ago, I was drawn back to the beautiful hills and commons in the area, and since then we’ve been re-connecting with old friends and deciding that this is the place we’d like to return to. Here’s what I wrote at the time: ‘Sweet Chance on Minchinhampton Common‘.

The Future of Cherry’s Cache

…is still evolving! I have more subjects waiting in the wings, which will be developed as and when time permits. I promised more ‘Wild Women’ – there’s a radical revolutionary ancestor who’s story I want to tell – and a dip into the relationship between alchemy and music. Bear with me. My posts will emerge once we’re settled in our new home, if not before. In the meantime, I love to receive your comments and emails. It’s great to know that there are readers out there!

All posts remain available to access and read. I check the stats and am delighted when there’s a flare-up of interest, say, in Black Country humour, or the art of Anna Zinkeisen . The posts are there as resources for future readers. Pangur Ban and the Old Irish Cats remains the perennial favourite.

That’s it for now! See you again before too long. And you’ll find a selection of my books on the internet. Here’s a few of them, below.