I have the philosophy that summer holidays should be a bit more chilled compared to the rest of the year. Well, this year we did go on holiday! Yay!! We are holiday appreciators and one year out was enough in our eyes, although I know many still holidayed last year, come what may. We did four days in Rye, East Sussex, exploring the historic town and around, and then we did six days in Tintagel in Cornwall. As Neil suffers from arthritis we stayed in Ashcott in Somerset for a night after visiting my aunt in Marlow then drove onto Tintagel the next morning. On the way back we stayed in Glastonbury in Somerset to break up the journey. I feel like I've stretched my wings and am satisfied now.
Straight after my holiday I was a speaker at Radical Histories of Basildon Part 2. It was an event that brought together community groups, local activists, writers and historians in discussions about Basildon's history. As a speaker I was to reflect on the idea that 'Basildon was built on tears.' My take on this was to draw on a timeline of Basildon from around 1891 when Basildon and the surrounding area had radical changes imposed on it 58 years before Basildon New Town was even thought of. Basildon's radical history really started when the agricultural depression hit Britain. Farmers sold thousands of acres to The Land Company, and started to advertise plots for sale, putting up posters in London that advertised the benefits of country living.
I talked about how I got involved in local history, and how my small parts in a community play for Basildon, that was showed in 1989 for the benefit of the 40th anniversary of Basildon New Town, influenced me. I also spoke about, among other things, my personal experiences of interviewing people who told me their stories, they were and are a living part of Basildon's history. Many people had been affected by the Basildon Development Corporation who bought their properties at a very reduced price. These people were forced to move, they had no choice in the matter, whilst the Basildon Development Corporation cleared the area for development. As you may read in my books some of the properties were hundreds of years old.
As this was my first public talk I was keen for it to go well. Nervous? Yes, particularly initially. But as I practiced my talk and got my slide show together I felt more confident and on the night I relaxed more when chatting to the other speakers before it began. I think it's safe to say it went quite well. I was happy and a few people told me they enjoyed my talk.
I'm grateful to Holly Firmin, Shaun Badham and Laura Whiting who made it possible for me. They are all member of Bas-Arts-Index Basildon's first artist-led interdisciplinary creative directory which was first initiated and created by Shaun Badham.
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