1.
My main memory of those far-off days is the sense of pride I felt at writing for a
respected national newspaper. It was a real honour. What you have to remember is that in those
days people got most of their information about the world from their daily newspapers.
Television was in it’s infancy-something only the rich could afford. The radio broadcast regular
news bulletins, but newspapers gave people the pictures to go with the stories. Journalist like
me travelled the world and filled reports which kept people up to date with everything
important. I remember in the early 1950s reporting from a war zone in East Asia. I wrote my
report in my hotel bedroom. I could hear gunfire and see plumes of smoke. I phoned the report
through to my editor for publication a day or two later. I was reporting something thousands of
miles from home — something they didn’t already know.
2. — Yes, well of course when the steam train was invented, it completely changed
nineteenth-century society, didn’t it?
— Yes it was a tremendous change. People’s entire world view underwent a profound
transformation. There were things we find laughable today, such as the fear that the vibration
would shatter passengers’ skeletons. And over the next hundred years railways had a radical
impact on the countryside, making it possible to live there and commute to work in cities.
Outlying villages which had been quiet sleepy places before trains arrived became busy suburbs.
— That’s right, and humans underwent a sudden evolution from being comparatively
slow and clumsy to becoming the fastest living creatures. This had a subtle but distinct effect in
the following years on the way people regarded their place in the world. They began to believe
they were no longer totally at the mercy of natural events but that they were somehow above
them and could take action to harness these phenomena. I doubt if any other intervention has
had such a profound influence on the human psyche. Nineteenth-century literature and art’s
full of it.
— And early steam trains were to blame for some quite horrific accidents...
3. We arrived in September and got to our hotel roum at about 10 p.m. Unfortunately, the
staff were nervous about letting us stay, as we were a mixed group who were all unmarried. We
eventually found another hotel, where we haggled over the price of rooms. We spent the next
few days settling in and getting to know the city. Then aour course leader arranged flats for us
to look around. We chose a light, spacious flat, with a friendly and helpful landlady. It’s much
better than I used to in London. It was a fascinating time for us, but the culture shock was so
great that within the first week one of our group returned home.
4. — Don’t count on it! If I’d known about the mosquitoes, I’d never signed up for this. But
none of that would matter if, you know, there were rapids, white water, crocodiles and
panoramic landscapes. I mean, we’re just getting bitten on a muddy river closed in by dull,
monotonous little trees! It’s not as if we had to come here. There were lots of other places we
could have gone if only we’d realised.
— Oh, Don. If only you’d put on some repellent! And if you’d please just stop moaning
for a while, perhaps we could start enjoying ourselves a bit. Just think what a lovely change this
is from city life!
5. — But is photography. an art form? I can’t help feeling there’s a world of difference
between the structure of, say, a Seurat painting — not to mention his planning in early sketches
— and some instant black and white image of cornfields. Where’s the skill in that?
— Oh come on. You have to judge what’s there. And above all, it comes down to having
an eye for a good shot — otherwise, I agree, your cornfield is just a snap.
6. — Personally speaking, I’m absolutely delighted that farmers’ markets are becoming
more popular and I’d say that celebrity chefs have had a fairly large hand in this. If you watch
any cooking programme nowadays, there’s an obvious bias towards sourcing and using food
that’s come from nearby farms, and that’s had a direct effect on consumer choice, I believe. This
probably a trend that will outlast the craze for organic food, because no one’s really clear what
that means, anyway.
— Yes, it’s a big vague, that label, isn’t it? So, have you been going to your local farmers’
market for a while?
— Yes. And it’s very interesting to see which stallholders are still there after a few years,
and which have disappeared. My advice to people thinking about getting a market stall for
themselves and selling something they’ve made or grown — do a bit of research into customer
demand. Overpriced jars of home-made jams and sauces — forget it — no matter how much
effort you put into making the bottles look pretty.
— Indeed. People go to farmers’ markets for the basics. Nothing has to come in a fancy
wrapper. They’re just after good quality, that’s all. As you say, look at what sells if you want to
have. ago at running your own stall.
