A couple of days ago I had to give a talk on publishing to the Lonan Men’s Fellowship.  It seemed to go quite well, there were lots of things to pass round, like a wooden printing block, and examples of letterpress and picture blocks, to say nothing of the odd glitch in published documents.  The audience was both knowledgeable and appreciative, and contained several published authors.  I am reminded of the late Duke of Edinburgh who said that he was often asked to give talks on subjects to an audience all of whom knew more about the subject than he did.

The talk was held in Baldrine Methodist Hall.  It’s a typical church hall, built about a hundred years ago, of the type which used to be ubiquitous but is fast disappearing.  I liked it hugely, both for itself (I’m old fashioned) and because it reminded me of the hall in the parish in which I grew up.  That was a memorial hall, erected and dedicated to the memory of the fallen in the First World War.  I’ve always liked the fact that something useful was built as a commemoration of the lives lost from the parish, and not just a standard war memorial, however beautiful or sincere.

The photograph is taken from Garwick Beach, with Laxey south pier just visible.  Baldrine used to be called Garwick (or was it Garwick which used to be called Baldrine?).  Today the bit nearest the sea tends to be referred to as Garwick, while the village at the top of the glen is usually Baldrine, but they are still very much one community.