Authors Electric

Perhaps this is a lockdown experience or perhaps it’s a reversion to earlier ways of living and working. We, like so many other families, find ourselves working from home, each in our separate spaces. Bertie’s in the attic, laying-out books with Indesign; Francis somewhere downstairs trying to find the right angle of physical endurance for solid hours of Private Eye deadlines and me … well, to be honest, I’m most characteristically surrounded by WW2 naval memoirs, copies of Lloyd’s Registers and overflowing scribbled papers … in bed. Together with my faithful laptop, miraculously fact-checking and emailing, tweeting and posting. Thus Golden Duck (UK) ltd keeps busy. One of my favourite Margery Allingham novels Flowers for the Judge (1936) tells the story of Barnabas and company, publishers since 1810 at the Sign of the Golden Quiver. It’s a perfect setting for a classic murder mystery: an enclosed location, limited number of suspects, distinctive atmosphere, ra...

Boat-building at the Nottage Institute The Nottage Maritime Institute, beside the River Colne in Essex, is an unexpected and delightful place. It was founded in 1896 from a legacy left by a keen amateur yachtsman, Captain Charles Nottage, who wanted to offer “Colnesiders [..] the opportunity to improve themselves in navigation primarily or make up their skills generally.” The Nottage is housed in a former sail loft on the quay at Wivenhoe and  runs a range of RYA and other courses. It's also a museum, a library and a boat-building centre. What I loved about the Nottage as soon as I met it last month, was the sense in which it's an embodiment of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm and skill and pride in craftsmanship. First there's the overwhelming atmosphere of the volunteer ethos. When I was doing an internet search before my visit I happened upon some oral history accounts by former users and committee members. Rank off the page came the time and effort they'd expended:...