FOREWORD FOR 'BY THE FIELD WITH THE ROUND CORNER'





The 35 pieces in this collection have all sprung from the village of Tatsfield which sits on the Surrey side of the border with Kent at one of the highest points on the whole of the North Downs. However, these pieces have been picked out from a larger collection to be name 'A Tatsfield Tapestry' because it is hoped they may carry a wider appeal than for just those readers from the immediate area. And because this is mostly where I grew up, these pieces do tend to reflect some of my earliest memories, memories which start during the Second World War and continue on until the 1980's.

I am indebted for the help of Dorothy Burgess, Victor Greenfield, Jaya Graves and Robert Delahunty who each read the larger collection and who made useful suggestions, most of which I have tried to accommodate. I also wish to thank Peter Sansom and members of the now defunct Holmfirth Writers' Group, West Yorkshire, as well as those in I*D Books of Shotton, North Wales, for all the support I have received over the years with much of this work. This last group includes Clive Hopwood, Maureen Coppack, Chris York, Joan Owusu, Walter Griffiths and others, but particularly Alan Seager for editing this collection and turning it into a book.

Thanks also to friends in the village itself who have shown support and corrected my failing memory on many occasions. These include Eileen Pearce, editor of the Tatsfield Parish Magazine and also of the Tatsfield Millennium History Project. Some of these poems appeared in both these publications in the late 1990's. But also thanks to Rosemary and David Brown of Paynesfield Road and Tony Watson with whom I went to school, all three for their support and enthusiasm.

The front cover has been taken from an original by my father Sydney Abraham, as created when he painted the first village sign which was set up on the Green in 1953. I'd like to thank Maureen and Stephen Coppack and Alan Seager for the work that went into the cover as a whole. The present village sign now shows Tatol, the supposed progenitor of the parish name, standing in the forest and holding an axe. The original 'field with the round corner' was a family name for a view to be seen across the valley from the house built by my grandfather.

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2 comments:

  1. Quite interesting post and explanation of the events. Your poetry is quite good and a joy to read. Thank you for sharing it.

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  2. It means your father was a good painter and this has come from blood in you the artistic taste. Its a well explained and informative article to read after a long time.

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