Literature Archives - Page 3 of 10

Your Chance To Be A Character In A Book

Dec 162016

With thanks to Stuart Mitchell.

Audio dramas from Dr Who publishers Big Finish are among the many donations received.

The campaign to raise money for Aberdeen’s Phoenix Club has received some very special prizes from some great celebrity supporters.
Comedian Jason Manford has sent a signed DVD. From the world of publishing Lee Child has sent a signed first edition of his latest novel, US bestselling author (and creator of the TV Show Bones) Kathy Reichs is sending a set of books, and award winning Michael Morpugo is sending a signed book.

We are also getting some audio dramas from Dr Who publishers Big Finish.

Direct donations have come from bestselling authors Kim Newman and Paul Cornell.

We have also received something very special from two of Scotland’s best-selling and most critically acclaimed writers, Denise Mina and AL Kennedy. As well as kindly sending signed books, they have each invited suggestions for the name of a character in forthcoming works; Denise Mina in her next book and AL Kennedy in a forthcoming short story (though that might be a couple of years before publication). The only condition is that it is a sensible and realistic name.

Stuart Mitchell from local company SM Marketing, who is running this campaign said:

“These are incredible gifts from some amazing people which should help to get the fundraising total up, these are a very generous and rare prizes, allowing you to see your name in print by your favourite author, we couldn’t ask for better support.

“Anyone who donates £10+ to the campaign, puts their name in when they donate at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/phoenixclub and then email me at phoenix@sm-marketing.co.uk and tell me which draw you would like to be entered into. I will add you to the draw to name the character after yourself or a loved one.

“If you donate £20 you will be entered into the draw twice and so on. These are very generous and rare prizes, allowing you to see your name, or that of a loved one, in print by your favourite author is very special. It’s great to have these bestselling authors support us in this way. These will bring the campaign to a national audience.

We are still looking from support from local businesses and I know times are tough in Aberdeen but if any businesses can do anything to help please get in touch.”

Best-selling, Costa Award Winning author AL Kennedy says:

“I’m very happy to be giving two signed books to help raise funds for the Phoenix Club. I am also offering the chance for you to have your name used in a short story in a forthcoming collection. My stories are usually miserable… but I do promise not to kill you. Unless you want me to.”

For further information, or if you can help in anyway please go to: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/phoenixclub to donate or contact
stuart.mitchell@sm-marketing.co.uk for further information on how you can help.

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Begg To Differ: Fin Hall Reviews Ally Begg’s First Book

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Oct 272016

ally-begg-book By Red Fin Hall.

What’s the connection between a failed football player, a member of a successful 90s boy band and a TV presenter turned TV producer? The answer: Ally Begg.

Ally was brought up in Newburgh, had trials with Aberdeen FC, was a member of Bad Boys inc, and worked as a presenter on various sports TV channels before landing his current position as producer on beINSPORTS in Qatar.

His book, Begg To Differ, is the fascinating account of his life where everything always comes back to football.

It is an absolute fans’ view of the game, albeit a fan with some notable connections. Like Sir Alex Ferguson.

It is the story of his childhood growing up in the outskirts of Aberdeen and his pestering of his father to go to watch his favourite team, a team that was always at the forefront of his mind, even when he was working for one the rival teams’ television station.

He expresses his dis-satisfaction of the way his music career was handled and his decision to quit the business altogether.

How he deals with a catastrophic leg injury and its long term effect on his life, makes you cringe. Not by the writing but by the excruciating pain he has had to suffer.

The book deals with the ups and downs in his life without asking you to feel sorry for him, and subsequently his contentment in life, being married with a child.

All in all, it’s a fine read, a giant step away from the usual football related tomes. Well worth investing your money in.

More comments on Begg to Differ here.

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Aberdeen In 100 Dates – New Book Launched

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Jul 292016

By Duncan Harley.

Aberdeen’s Gordon Highlander Museum was the setting for the launch of Mearns author Elma McMenemy’s new book ‘Aberdeen in 100 Dates’.

A professional Blue Badge Tourist Guide, Elma has more than 30 years experience of working with Scotland’s visitors and has built up a vast repertoire of tales showcasing the rich and varied history of both Aberdeen City and the hinterland of the North east.

Her previous book focussed on the often macabre and bloody history of Aberdeen and in this new collection of local tales Elma leads the reader on a journey through 100 of the key dates which have shaped the development of the city.

Aimed, as Elma explains, at “people who would not normally open a history book” the publication has already proved popular especially with fellow tour guides who plan to use it as a research tool when preparing guided tours around Aberdeen and the North east.

“Its easy to talk to a coach full of tourists” she says,

“but putting words down on paper is quite another thing. Aberdeen is such a brilliant and helpful place. No-one I have asked has so far refused to help me in my research!”

The book presents as a sound-bite tour-de-force of popular folk and historical tales. With one story per page and illustrated throughout with line drawings, there’s plenty to interest even the most informed reader and visitors unfamiliar with the North east will undoubtedly be tempted to delve deeper into many of the stories highlighted within the 124pp.

Dedicated to a godson “who loved all sort of trivia”, the 100 dates kick off with an examination of the arrival in Aberdeen of Christianity courtesy of St Machar, a 6th century disciple of St Columba. Given that each tale is restricted in length to approximately 230 words, the author manages to pack in a good amount of information and leads the reader quickly from St Machar’s arrival on Iona on to the miraculous tale of St Machar’s Well and the eventual founding of Aberdeen’s St Machar’s Cathedral.

On June 5th 1815 we learn that a large mob “not falling short of half a thousand, attacked the White Ship, a house of ill repute run by Meggie Dickie”. The military were seemingly summoned to arrest the ringleaders one of whom was transported for seven years. Resurrectionists feature in the story of another Aberdeen riot, this time dated 19th December 1831.

Seemingly a mob burned down the local anatomy theatre after discarded human remains were found nearby. Who said Aberdeen was a boring city?

Bloody Harlaw, the founding of Aberdeen Golf Club, the epic tale of the Scottish Samurai and the Royal connections of William McCombie and his prize Aberdeen Angus Bull, Jeremy Eric, feature alongside the “crushing defeat of Rangers in the 1982 Scottish Cup” and the tragic gas explosion which, in 1983, destroyed the Royal Darroch Hotel in Cults.

The two concluding stories are bang up to date and describe the charity auction of Aberdeen’s Dolphin Sculptures and the 2016 discovery of 92 bodies buried beneath Aberdeen Art Gallery. Art critics perhaps?

In short, from quirky to gruesome, there’s plenty here to interest everyone.

Inevitably in a work of this complexity there are debatable issues. Fitting 100 tales onto 124 pages is no mean feat. The Aberdeen typhoid description is a case in point and includes the oft repeated line that there were no deaths.

However given that most local histories mirror this notion, the contention is perhaps forgivable and the three folk who died as a result the epidemic will no doubt forgive the repetition.

A slight criticism is however due, regarding the lack of chapter headings or even an index. Apart from the chronology of year, month and date there is little to inform the reader regarding the content of each section and although Elma’s general introduction clearly sets out the parameters of the book’s historical context, the lack of a formal navigation structure restricts the reader to a dipping in and out approach.

Aberdeen in 100 Dates is published in paperback by The History Press at £7.99
ISBN 978-0750-960311

First published in the Summer 2016 edition of Leopard Magazine.

Bennachie Landscapes Series 3: Duncan Harley Reviews

Aberdeenshire, History No Responses »

Jun 102016

Duncan Harley reviews Bennachie Landscapes Series 3.

In this, the third publication in the Bennachie Landscapes Series, further aspects of the story of Grampian’s favourite hill are discussed in often minute detail.

Dedicated to Gordon Ingram, treasurer to the Bailies of Bennachie until 2000, and with a foreword by Dr Jo Vergunst of the University of Aberdeen’s Department of Anthropology this publication focuses on both our historical and our modern day relationship with the Bennachie range.

Funded through the Connected Communities programme the content reflects the work of project partners including the University of Aberdeen, The Forestry Commission Scotland and The Bailies of Bennachie.

The book presents as 10 research papers, each distinct but related and written by both Bennachie experts and Bennachie enthusiasts.

The ecology and social history of the area feature alongside the geology, flora and the exploitation of both peat and stone on and around the hill. Additionally there are excavation reports featuring Colony houses and Drumminor Castle.

Several of the papers make for highly technical reading and are not for the faint hearted. Peter Thorn’s description of the geological setting around Drumminor Castle is a case in point. Other chapters such as the interim report into the excavations at Drumminor Castle are written with the general reader in mind and should be accessible to anyone happy to sit through an episode of Time Team.

The site of the Bennachie Colonists comes under particular scrutiny. Sue Taylor provides insight into the social and domestic lives of the crofters, who made a living on the slopes of the hill, through the interpretation of pottery found at the Bennachie Colony site.

The excavations during 2011 – 2013 at Shepherd’s Lodge and Hillside yielded both sponge decorated and transfer printed earthenware indicating perhaps a previously unsuspected degree of economic sophistication amongst Colony settlers who often lived at subsistence level.

Barry Foster’s introduction to the peat lands of the hill not only gives the reader food for thought but illustrates clearly, using aerial photographs, the scale of the 18th century peat cutting industry.

In 2013 a partnership between Keig School and the Bennachie Landscapes Fieldwork Group surveyed the ecology and landscape use within the Lordship of Forbes. The research report makes for fascinating reading and describes the discovery of a previously unknown water-mill in the grounds of Castle Forbes.

A dig at the Back of Bennachie by students of Kemnay Academy features alongside an investigation of the English Quarry by Andrew Wainwright and a paper, by Colin Millar, reflects on the controversial 19th century seizure and “Division of the Commonty of Bennachie” by a group of powerful local landowners.

Illustrated throughout with both images relating to Bennachie and survey maps describing the digs and investigations, this book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the North East and clearly illustrates the value of community partnership research.

At 115pp, Bennachie Landscapes Series 3 is available from Inverurie Library and at www.bailiesofbennachie.co.uk p
Price £10. ISBN 978-0-9576384-1-9

This review was first published in the May 2016 edition of Leopard Magazine.

Words © Duncan Harley

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Her Sister’s Gift – David Innes Reviews

Articles, Opinion No Responses »

Feb 192016

David Innes reviews Her Sister’s Gift, Isabel Jackson’s debut novel.

Sunday Mail Fiction Prize winner Isabel Jackson’s debut novel is rooted in her grandparents’ experiences and developed by estimable creative skills into Her Sister’s Gift. It resonates with industrial Scotland’s working class pride, and its resilience in the face of hardships, as the twentieth century gave way to The Great War and daily struggles to survive.
Strong women and flawed but brave, hard-working men populate Her Sister’s Gift, and the author captures well the conflicts and anxieties that result from this accepted dichotomy, the engine of the novel.

Scarred emotionally by an early harrowing double tragedy, Isa Dick is an admirable heroine, who plots her own destiny, limited by the class system and gender inequalities of the time.

She is inspirational in her family circle and beyond, and is credible in finding inner strength to thwart, for the most part, the cruelties visited on her and those she learns to protect.

She is all our mothers or grandmothers. Yet those early psychological wounds never heal fully, with the obsessive protection of her own children and nagging guilt repressed since childhood, bringing their own traumas.

Where Her Sister’s Gift does fall down a little is when some passages feel over-written or over-detailed and in plot incidentals introduced, but not followed through. It would be interesting to have the effect of Isa’s out-of-the-blue religious conversion, or any outcome from the discovery of her father’s knuckleduster explored, for example. Some of the conversational exchanges too, could do with sharpening.

It’s a story well told, however, an excellent and evocative series of mini-dramas, psychological conflict and near-cinematic scenes of early twentieth century working class life. With more disciplined editing, further Isabel Jackson tales have the potential to be very worthwhile chronicles of lives and trials wherever and whenever set.

Her Sister’s Gift
Isabel Jackson
Black & White Publishing
310pp

£7.99
ISBN 978-1-78530-010-3

Oil Strike North Sea – Duncan Harley Reviews

Aberdeen City, Opinion No Responses »

Feb 112016

By Duncan Harley

As oil prices remain volatile and the UK government records its first losses in 40 years from North Sea oil and gas production, Aberdeen geologist Mike Shepherd has penned a classic.

An industry insider, Mike has produced a highly accessible and non-technical account of how the North Sea energy boom took shape, the ups and downs of the industry and the story of the people who made it all happen.

In the true tradition of all good writers, Mike writes about what he knows best, in this case the search for Black Gold.

While on a geological field trip to Skye in 1978, Mike had witnessed first hand the construction of the Ninian Central platform.

Fabricated in Loch Kishorn and weighing in at an impressive 601,000 tons, the concrete and steel structure was reckoned at the time to be the largest man made structure ever to be moved across the surface of the earth.

“The North Sea proved to be a new frontier for the oil companies … they had been offshore before … but never in waters quite so stormy or so deep,” writes Mike.

The huge discoveries in the Forties Field in 1970, the share price crash of Black Monday 1987, and the inevitable influence of big money are discussed in detail. The effects of taxation, international politics and equity negotiations feature alongside the human cost in terms of accidents, including of course Piper Alpha

The decline in North Sea reserves as a strategic resource for the nation comes under close scrutiny. Mike predicts that production will finally cease around 2050 after which a massive clean up operation costing around £31.5 billion will be required.

In a chapter simply titled ‘Aberdeen’, Mike looks at the social and economic effects of boom and bust on the Granite City. Infrastructure including both the airport and the harbour initially needed urgent investment to serve and secure the initial 500 or so oil-related companies who set up in the city between 1970 and 1977.

Amazingly in 1972:

“The airport was quite basic and the arrival/departure building was an old Nissan Hut. One end was the bar and the other end was the tickets and seats. The same bloke did both jobs.”

With a foreword by Diane Morgan who comments:

“Given the depth of its subject matter it is an amazingly readable book”,

this publication is essential reading both amongst those of us who strive to understand the phenomenon of oil, and also those of us who strive to extract that Black Gold.

Oil Strike North Sea (187pp) is published in hardback by Luath Press at £20

ISBN 978-1-910745-21-2

First published in the February 2016 edition of Leopard Magazine.

River, Railway and Ravine – Duncan Harley Reviews

Articles, Opinion No Responses »

Jan 212016

By Duncan Harley.

Book_Cover_Douglas_Harper_Rivers Railways, Ravines

River, Railway, Ravine by Douglas Harper. A well researched and engaging publication.

At 164pp and profusely illustrated with both period and contemporary images Douglas Harper’s new book examines both the provenance and the history of the patented, made in Aberdeen, Harper and Co rigid suspension bridge.

Until now little documented, the Harper bridges were among the first suspension bridge designs – not to be confused with the ‘Shakkin’ Briggies’ well known in the NE – to employ steel wire rope in order to form a relatively rigid and therefore highly functional bridge.

Harpers manufactured over sixty such bridges for export throughout the British Empire between 1870 and 1910.

Douglas, a direct descendant of the original bridge engineers, has spent over a decade researching the company’s innovative designs and seeking out surviving examples.

The mid 19th century was a period of rapid industrial growth both in the north east of Scotland and throughout the British Empire. The boom times of railway expansion had opened up new markets and stimulated engineering innovation on a scale rarely seen before.

From humble beginnings supplying the likes of the Great North of Scotland Railway’s seemingly insatiable demand for cast iron fence posts and level-crossing gates, Harpers’ were soon exporting caste-iron pre-fabricated pedestrian suspension bridges right across the globe.

Engineered and manufactured in kit form at their Aberdeen foundry and using innovative techniques gleaned from long experience in the designing of fences, Harper’s products required little local engineering expertise to either assemble or construct, making them popular choices in developing countries. These instantly recognisable and iconic bridges – with spans of up to 91m – provided many decades of service in places as diverse as Nepal, South Africa and even the Falkland Islands.

In his book Douglas details over 60 of Harper’s bridges including those erected in the UK, throughout the Empire and also in Estonia. Several are, he writes, still in use including one on the River Muick at Birkhall and another on the River Feugh at Banchory.

This is a well researched and engaging publication and quite literally a riveting read!

Sources include records held by Aberdeen Maritime Museum, the Harper Archive at Aberdeen Museum and Robert Gordon University. Written with the general reader in mind, Gordon’s book will also appeal to engineering enthusiasts and many historians.

River, Railway and Ravine is published in hardback by The History Press at £20

ISBN 978-0-7509-6213-1

First Published in the November edition of Leopard Magazine

Hidden Aberdeenshire: The Land – David Innes Reviews

Aberdeenshire, Opinion No Responses »

Nov 122015

By David Innes.

The third in Dr Brown’s series of pocket-sized part guide-part local history volumes moves logically inland from the coast of the previous collection, to its hinterland, the traditional county of Aberdeenshire.
Thankfully, that’s quite deliberately Aberdeenshire as a historic, geographical and cultural entity, not the current local governmental administrative mess.

The author even admits that she has twice breached this traditional boundary and featured items of Kincardineshire lore, although, I’d argue too that Rothiemay, whose Parson Gordon’s place in history as a cartographer is featured, is across the Deveron, and is in my beloved Banffshire.

That petty quibble aside, like its predecessors, Dr Brown’s output is easily read and superbly informative. Discrete geographical areas are defined, their tales and attractions grouped, and a short day out by car should enable readers to make their way round most in a relaxed drive. For those who want to research further, a welcome and comprehensive bibliography is provided.

The second Hidden Aberdeenshire volume continues to maintain the perfect balance of geographical and historical contexts with the personal tales of individuals, variously heroes, villains and innovators. Little-known or long-forgotten tales of murders, burials, personal and architectural triumphs and follies, simply-illustrated, will whet the appetites of those keen to broaden their knowledge of the rich history of the ancient county.

The origins of the Consumption Dyke at Kingswells, the fate of enemy airmen shot down over Aberdeen in July 1940 and the tragedy of the Inverythan Bridge train crash are only three examples of Dr Brown’s ability to distil down to 450 words vital pieces of hitherto-hidden NE history. And great credit is due to her for raising a smile at her ingenious description of 19th century bothy ballads as the Trip Advisor of their day!

Hidden Aberdeenshire: The Land is a further triumph for Fiona-Jane Brown. With her instinct in knowing what readers will find fascinating, her economy of content, accessibility of style and sharp-eyed research, readers will hope that the NE’s rich heritage will continue to inspire her to add to her already-impressive canon.

Hidden Aberdeenshire: The Land – Dr Fiona-Jane Brown

Black & White Publishing
ISBN 978 1 84502 990 6
128 pp
£9.99

Tales From The Dugout: David Innes Reviews

Opinion, Sport No Responses »

Nov 102015

By David Innes.

My direct exposure to pitchside relationships is limited to coaching and refereeing kids’ games, and believe me, on occasions that could be unpleasant enough.

Ratchet what’s at stake up to professional level, with bonuses, credibility and even continued employment at stake, and it’s little wonder that Richard Gordon has chosen “the sharp end” to describe the passionate, angry, expletive-laden horn-locking that goes on in the innocent-sounding “technical area”.

The germ of the idea for the book was planted in the author’s head when interviewing Gordon Strachan, no less, for a previous book, and Sportsound’s anchor man has amassed a collection of anecdotes from those involved – managers, coaches, referees – the tenor of which will be familiar to anyone who finds themselves, caught in the moment in the stands, transforming from mild-mannered, responsible citizen, in a split second, into a frothing, fulminating, cursing Mr Hyde.

Guilty as charged.

Whilst there’s always the in-joke dressing room banter element to a number of these tales, there are also many genuine laugh-out-loud moments. The laughter is often in surprise at the identity of the narrator.

Who would have thought that outwardly-respectable Aberdeen alumni like John McMaster, Billy Stark, Scott Booth, and especially ex-gaffer Alex Smith, are capable of moments of frustrated irrationality, or that several of Scotland’s leading referees deploy clever psychological humour to defuse verbal conflict about to escalate into physical exchanges? Examples? Oh, all right then.

Referee Kenny Clark, when he was fourth official as the Dons were being routed by Motherwell,

“Ebbe turns to me and says, ‘I want to make a substitution’. I remind him I need the…numbers of the players going on and coming off so that I can input them into my electronic board. He…returns with the sheet, but it’s only got the number of the player he wants to put on. I tell him I need to know who he wants subbed off, and he replies, ‘You pick. They’re all pish’.”

Alex Smith (manager of Stirling Albion),

“We were playing Queens Park at Hampden and I was watching from the stand. Things weren’t going well, and I was getting angrier and angrier, so I decided to make a change. I ran down the stairs…and jumped into the dugout shouting, ‘Get Willie Irvine off, get him off’.

“I found myself face-to-face with the Queens Park coach, Eddie Hunter, who…didn’t take kindly to me having got into the wrong one. ‘Get the fuck out of my dugout!’ was all he said. So I jumped back on to the track and ran along to our own one to make the substitution and I hear a couple of Albion fans from just behind calling out, ‘Aye and you can fuck off out of that one as well Smith!’”

And there are hundreds more, giving insight to the pressures, dangers and humour (once it’s died down) of situations that really shouldn’t occur. After all, it’s only a game, isn’t it? Aye, right.

For your Christmas list, I think.

TALES FROM THE DUGOUT Football At The Sharp End by Richard Gordon

Black & White Publishing
ISBN 978-1-84502-989-0
208pp
£9.99

Forty Years Of The Forties Field

Aberdeen City, Articles, Featured 1 Response »

Sep 072015

By Mike Shepherd.

This month marks the 40th anniversary of first oil from the Forties field in September 1975.

A quick search of the internet and you will find photographs of the Queen inaugurating the Forties field on the 3rd November 1975. But don’t tell her majesty, the Forties field was already in operation by that time.

It wasn’t quite the first oil on stream from the UK side; the Argyll field had been producing since June that year, but given the scale of the Forties development, it was a major event.

The Forties field figures prominently in my new book Oil Strike North Sea which is out next week.

In terms of reserves it is the largest field in the UK North Sea and deserves attention for that alone; but not only that, I was to take a prominent role in its development and this allows me to give a first-hand account of what it takes to operate a North Sea field.

Between 1981 and 1986, I was responsible from the geology side in planning a large number of wells in the oil field. I worked both onshore and offshore. After planning the wells in British Petroleum’s (BP) office in Dyce, working closely with the drilling engineers, I would then go offshore to monitor the reservoir section. Amongst other responsibilities, I would tell the drillers when to stop once we were below the oil pay.

The Forties field wasn’t the first commercial oil field discovered on the UK side, that honour goes to Amoco’s Montrose field which was discovered in 1969. When Amoco discovered oil in the first well, the offshore personnel were astonished. They were looking for gas and had no idea that there was oil in the North Sea. Other companies had come across oil shows in wells before, but had kept this highly secret.

There were no sample jars for oil on the rig, so the first sample of commercial oil in the North Sea was brought onshore in a pickle jar that had been grabbed from the rig’s galley.

Amoco had hired the Sea Quest drilling rig from BP to drill the well and handed it back afterwards. The BP geologists were rather surprised to find that a copy of a log showing that oil had been found had arrived with the rig. It had been accidently left on board.

BP had identified the Forties prospect on their seismic data, a massive dome covering 90 square kilometres. It looked enormous and the unintended gift from Amoco gave them comfort that there could be an oil field there.

Yet the BP management had been most reluctant to drill the prospect and for good reasons too; the oil price had been low since 1950 as a result of the large-scale production from the Middle East and North Africa, and a large offshore field requiring very expensive infrastructure could not be assured to make a profit. On top of that, the engineering capability of providing the infrastructure was an unknown, the oil companies had never ventured into such deep and stormy waters.

One of the reasons BP drilled the discovery well was out of desperation. BP had been thrown out of several countries after the oil had been nationalised and the future of the company was somewhat uncertain at the time. It was only with the Yom Kippur war in 1973, when the oil price quadrupled on the back of OPEC sanctions, was it likely that the North Sea would be a profitable concern.

The Forties field is still producing after forty years, with over 2.7 billion barrels of oil recovered. The current operator Apache is still actively chasing the remaining oil in the field by drilling new wells. The Forties field, like many other fields in the North Sea had not been expected to have produced for as long as they have. It’s a testament to the amazing skills developed in the North Sea that our fields have recovered so much oil.

The book launch for Oil Strike North Sea is at Waterstones in Union Street on Wednesday 9th September at 7pm, all are welcome.

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