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On The Black Hill
''On the Black Hill'' is a novel by Bruce Chatwin published in 1982 and winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for that year. In 1987 it was made into a film, directed by Andrew Grieve. Plot summary The novel's setting is the border of Herefordshire, in England, and Radnorshire, in Wales. In the early pages we are told the border runs through the very farmhouse: The border of Radnor and Hereford was said to run right through the middle of the staircase. The central characters are Welshmen, with the surname Jones. The story is told through the technique of flashback, and portrays the lives of twin brothers, Lewis and Benjamin Jones, on their isolated upland farm called The Vision. The twins develop a bond that is shown throughout the novel as very special. Lewis is portrayed as the stronger or dominant twin, whereas Benjamin is the more intuitive one, both in appearance and in the tasks which he does around the house. He seems to be constantly drawn to his mother's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Chatwin
Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storyteller, interested in bringing to light unusual tales. He won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel ''On the Black Hill'' (1982), while his novel '' Utz'' (1988) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2008 ''The Times'' ranked Chatwin as number 46 on their list of "50 Greatest British Writers Since 1945." Chatwin was born in Sheffield. After completing his secondary education at Marlborough College, he went to work at the age of 18 at Sotheby's in London, where he gained an extensive knowledge of art and eventually ran the auction house's Antiquities and Impressionist Art departments. In 1966 he left Sotheby's to read archaeology at the University of Edinburgh, but he abandoned his studies after two years to pursue a career as a write ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye ( cy, Y Gelli Gandryll), simply known locally as "Hay" ( cy, Y Gelli), is a market town and community in Powys, Wales; it was historically in the county of Brecknockshire. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as "the town of books"; it is both the ''National Book Town of Wales'' and the site of the annual Hay Festival. The population of the town in 1841 was 1,455; this had grown to 1,680 by 1901. The town has grown little since, with 2018 estimates at 1,900. The built-up area includes Cusop across the border in England and has a population of around 2,000. Location The town lies on the south-east bank of the River Wye and is within the north-easternmost tip of the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains. The town is just on the Welsh side of the border with Herefordshire, England, here defined by the Dulas Brook. Where the brook joins the River Wye just north of the town, the border continues northwards along the river. The Wy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Viceroy Of Ouidah
''The Viceroy of Ouidah'' is a novel published in 1980 by Bruce Chatwin, a British author. Summary Chatwin's novel portrays the life of a fictional slave trader named Francisco Manuel da Silva, who is loosely based on a historical Catholic Brazilian, Francisco Félix de Sousa. He became powerful in Ouidah, on the so-called Slave Coast of West Africa, now Benin, Togo, and parts of the Volta Region in Ghana. Chatwin was caught up in the violence of a coup in Dahomey (now Benin), where Ouidah is located, when he was researching the book. Film adaptation The novel was adapted for the 1987 film ''Cobra Verde,'' directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski as Francisco Manuel da Silva. Reception The novel received mixed reviews. In ''The New York Times,'' John Thompson compared ''The Viceroy'' to other about-Africa prose works: "One could mention Graham Greene's ''Journey Without Maps'' or, for a work of the imagination based on somewhat less horrendous events, Chinua Ache ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1982 Whitbread Awards
The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then a brewery and owner of restaurant chains, it was renamed when Costa Coffee, then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship. The companion Costa Short Story Award was established in 2012. Costa Coffee was purchased by the Coca-Cola Company in 2018. The awards were abruptly terminated in 2022. The awards were given both for high literary merit but also for works that are enjoyable reading and whose aim is to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience. As such, they were considered a more populist literary prize than the Booker Prize, which also limits winners to literature written in the UK and Ireland. Awards were separated into six categories: Biography, Children's Books, First Novel, Novel, Poetry, and Sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clare Balding
Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcaster, journalist, and author. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4, BT Sport, is the current president of the Rugby Football League (RFL) and formerly presented the religious programme ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC Radio 2. She has played in goal for Llanymynech Football Club since 2011, apart from a shortlived spell at Llynclys in 2014. Early life and family Clare Balding was privately educated at the independent, Downe House school in Berkshire, where she was Head Girl and a contemporary of comedian Miranda Hart (Hart and Balding are in fact tenth-cousins, sharing a nine-times-great-grandfather in Sir William Leveson-Gower, 4th Baronet). Balding applied to read law at Christ's College, Cambridge, but failed her interview and realised that law was not what she most wanted to do. She later successfully applied to Newnham College, Cambridge, and read English. While at university she was President of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purslow
Purslow is a hamlet in south Shropshire, England. It is located on the B4368 between the towns of Clun and Craven Arms, on a minor crossroads. Purslow gave its name to a hundred and there is a pub at the crossroads called the "Hundred House". There is also a manor house which has existed in some form since the twelfth century. It is believed the name originally comes from the naming of 'Pusse's barrow'. A coat of arms exists for the Purslow family. Sited at the crossroads opposite the Hundred House pub is a war memorial in form of a stone obelisk to commemorate those fallen from the area, including an officer in the Gulf War (1991). Although a tiny settlement, the annual summer Purslow Sports and Show attracts visitors (and relies on organisers) from all over the area. Highlights are a run up Clunbury Hill and the produce tent, where exhibitors compete for prizes in horticulture, cookery, and handicrafts. Held on August Bank Holiday Monday at Purslow Farm. The hamlet forms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clun
Clun ( cy, Colunwy) is a town in south west Shropshire, England, and the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 2011 census recorded 680 people living in the town.Combined populations for the two output areas covering the towan/ref> Research by the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England suggests that Clun is one of the most tranquil locations in England. History Clun takes its name from the river upon whose banks it stands. Deriving from the Welsh , it shares its very early Brythonic root with the two rivers Colne, in Lancashire and Essex, each of which has a town of the same name on its banks. Clun grew up around the site of an Anglo-Saxon church towards the end of the 7th century AD. However, in the surrounding area there was a scattered population at least as early as the Neolithic period, about 5000 years ago. Clun was on the historic drove road where flocks and herds were driven from Wales to the markets in the Midlands and London. At the time of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knighton, Powys
Knighton ( cy, Tref-y-clawdd or ) is a cross-border market town and community on the River Teme, straddling the border between Powys, Wales and Shropshire, England. The Teme is not navigable in its higher reaches and the border does not follow its course exactly. Originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement, Knighton is located on Offa's Dyke, the ancient earthwork that divided the two countries. It later became a Norman defensive border town. Toponymy The Welsh name, ''Tref-y-clawdd'', meaning and referring to "town on the dyke", was first recorded in 1262 and officially given to the town in 1971. The name Knighton probably derives from the Old English ''cniht'' (a soldier, thane or freeman) and ''tūn'' (farm, settlement or homestead), and may have been founded through a grant of land to freemen. History Knighton's earliest history is obscure, despite some local clues: Caer Caradoc (an Iron Age hill fort associated with Caradoc or Caractacus) is away, off the road to Clun. Watlin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capel-y-ffin
Capel-y-ffin ('' en, Chapel of the Boundary'') is a hamlet near the English-Welsh border, a couple of miles north of Llanthony in Powys, Wales. It lies within the Black Mountains and within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The nearest town is Hay-on-Wye, some to the northwest. History St Mary's Chapel The name Capel-y-ffin is Welsh, and means "chapel of the boundary" since it lies in the valley of the River Honddu close to the boundary of the historical dioceses of St David's and Llandaf, now Swansea and Brecon and Monmouth. The chapel itself is dedicated to St Mary and was built in 1762, replacing an earlier 15th-century structure. It originally served as a chapel of ease for the parish church at Llanigon, but is now within its own ecclesiastical parish. With an interior of just 26 by 13 feet (8 by 4 metres), the chapel is one of the smallest in Wales and reminded diarist Francis Kilvert of an owl. On the other side of the River Honddu is a small, whitewashed Baptist chape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vale Of Ewyas
The Vale of Ewyas ( cy, Dyffryn Ewias) is the steep-sided and secluded valley of the River Honddu, in the Black Mountains of Wales and within the Brecon Beacons National Park. As well as its outstanding beauty, it is known for the ruins of Llanthony Priory, and for several noteworthy churches such as those at Capel-y-ffin and Cwmyoy. It is sometimes referred to as the "Llanthony Valley" as Llanthony is the village situated at the valley centre. Geography The Vale is named after the cantref of Ewias, which may have originally been a small Welsh kingdom following the Roman withdrawal from Britain and which, after the Norman conquest of England and Norman invasion of Wales, became an autonomous lordship within the March of Wales. In 1536, the Vale became part of the new county of Monmouthshire, while other parts of Ewyas to the east became incorporated into Herefordshire. At the head of the Vale is the Gospel Pass, which is reputed to have been named after the time in the 12th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Offas Dyke
Offa's Dyke ( cy, Clawdd Offa) is a large linear earthwork that roughly follows the border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from AD 757 until 796, who is traditionally believed to have ordered its construction. Although its precise original purpose is debated, it delineated the border between Anglian Mercia and the Welsh kingdom of Powys. The earthwork, which was up to wide (including its flanking ditch) and high, traversed low ground, hills and rivers. Today it is protected as a scheduled monument. Some of its route is followed by the Offa's Dyke Path, a long-distance footpath that runs between Liverpool Bay in the north and the Severn Estuary in the south. Although the Dyke has conventionally been dated to the Early Middle Ages of Anglo-Saxon England, research in recent decades – using techniques such as radioactive carbon dating – has challenged the conventional historiography and theories about the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hatterall Ridge
The Hatterrall Ridge (sometimes spelled Hatterall) is a ridge in the Black Mountains forming the border between Powys and Monmouthshire in Wales and Herefordshire in England. The ridge is about long, and is followed by the Offa's Dyke Path. On the west side of the ridge is the Vale of Ewyas, and on the east side is the Olchon Valley and Black Hill. The western side of the ridge falls within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Much of the northern part of the ridge is a broad whaleback, but it narrows down considerably further south, and especially near to Llanthony Priory in the Vale of Ewyas to the west of the mountain. There is a large and prominent landslip on the eastern side of the mountain here, known as Black Darren, where a large slice of the rocks has fallen away from the main mass of the hill. The ridge to the southwest ends abruptly at the sheer cliff known as the Darren below which is a considerable landslipped area extending south to the hamlet of Cwmyoy with its m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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