Dear Diary (as they say),

I have not written anything since Sunday’s blockbuster entry, but a lot has happened.

I got a very good response to my Priddy article, and on Monday a Christian friend of mine, John, telephoned me to say how much he enjoyed the article and how it warmed his heart. Something within me triggered; I could call it inspiration.

A new idea is born

I thought it would be a lovely thing to make a ‘living local historical’ record of activities in that area, in other words, a book. What I would basically do is to do what I’m doing at the moment, writing, but assemble a number of articles together based on interviews with people who are obviously doing something interesting and make a book of it. 

I have just come back from the local library here in Midsomer Norton looking at all the historical resources, and none of them jump out at me as something that I would want to engage with. History to me is about people, and it should be fresh and beautiful.

It is my plan to produce a volume that is different, and who knows, it might be adopted by other areas in the country. I want to make a point to the world that the countryside is populated not just by people who drink cider but by people who are trying to make a difference to the community.

Monday was an important day for me because I realised that I spent a lot of the last five or six years writing about 5G and COVID-19 and warning people, and I don’t think there’s an awful lot more I can do, and it is not having a good effect on me, to put it politely.

I intend to devote myself to meeting with positive people who have a faith, who have a spirit, and are not fooled by the charade that is called politics. I read today that seven candidates for a right-leaning party in Germany have suddenly and mysteriously died. In other words, they’ve been killed off. There’s not much democracy left anywhere, is there?

My task is to get to know people in the three chosen village areas: Priddy (population about 650), Easton (pop. about the same), and Westbury-sub-Mendip (800). My aim will be to get to know the area very well and very expeditiously, though not with indecent haste. I am thinking of the older people who have had a lifetime of experience and would love to hand on their knowledge and wisdom. No one is doing such local reminiscences these days.

For the rest of today I’m going to switch off and look forward to the weekend at the Bridport Hat Festival. Look out for another bumper edition.