The Society of Women Writers offers a UK Residency to a Female Writer

This residency is generously donated by our Patron, Emerita Professor Di Yerbury.

The residency is located in the beautiful North Devon town of Barnstaple. As a major tourist centre, it has excellent public transport and car access to the moors, famous beaches and very pretty villages.

 

Winners:

Nell Jones - 2025

Janette Conway - 2024 

Belinda Murrell - 2023 

Ann Beaumont - 2021 (postponed due to COVID-19, was undertaken from June to August 2022)

Cindy Broadbent - 2020 (postponed due to COVID-19, was undertaken from May to July 2023)

Helen Thurloe - 2019 
Helen used the residency to undertake research for an historical fiction, currently titled Borrowed Milk. Set in Exeter, Devon in the 17th Century, the story concerns a married woman who is hired as a wet-nurse, to breastfeed and raise the child of a wealthy merchant family.

Valerie Pybus - 2018 
Valerie planned to consolidate preliminary research already undertaken in Devon and Cornwall in 2017, into the history and social fabric of these areas of England. Her focus was on the families that lived in the centuries-old mining communities, with all the dangers and difficulties that entailed. Her story West of Tamar, an historical novel set in the years 1910-1915 - a time of great change - revolves around one West Country family and the society in which the family struggled to survive. 

Terri Green - 2017 
The residency supported her writing and research for a novel set in Shakespeare’s London.

 

To apply you must satisfy the following criteria:

  • be a member of the Society of Women Writers NSW Inc for at least 12 months at the time of submitting your application and be a paid up member for the year prior to departure
  • be over forty-five (45) years of age at the time of taking up the residency
  • be available to spend a minimum of ten weeks at the residency
  • be a resident of NSW or ACT (proof required, e.g. copy of licence, rates notice etc)
  • be researching or writing a manuscript, fiction or non-fiction, set in or linked to and has its main focus in the United Kingdom
  • the work must be a work-in-progress, not an already or almost completed manuscript

Requirements (either hard copy or email attachment):

  • a copy of your CV (no more than one A4 page)
  • a summary of your proposed manuscript (500 words)
  • a research and/or writing plan you intend to carry out in the UK
  • a chapter of a previous book or a short story or an article you have written
  • proof of your NSW or ACT residency

What is offered:

The successful applicant will be offered accommodation in a comfortably furnished one bedroom apartment for over 55s in the town of Barnstaple, North Devon for a period of up to three months from June to September. Electricity and phone calls are included as part of the residency.

What is not included:

Airfares, including travel insurance, domestic travel costs and meal allowance, will not be covered by the residency. These costs will need to be met by the recipient for the period of her stay or she should seek funding from other agencies to assist with these expenses.

Acquittal:

Upon completing the residency, the recipient will be required to give an address to the members of the Society of Women Writers (NSW) at its February literary luncheon in 2022.

A written report of approximately 1200 words is required for publication in the Society's magazine Women’s Ink!

Fees:

  • Must be a member of the Society of Women Writers NSW Inc for at least 12 months at the time
    of submitting your application and be a paid up member for the year prior to departure
  • Non-members of SWW are welcome to enter after becoming a member however same requirement as above

Di Yerbury Competition - CLOSING DATE:

30 October (no later than 5pm)


ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNER

February the following year

SEND APPLICATIONS TO:

Society of Women Writers NSW Inc.
PO Box 1083
Hunters Hill NSW 2110
or email applications to swwpresident@gmail.com (with all required attachments)

We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2025 Di Yerbury Residency – Daniella (Nell) Jones.


Nell’s proposed manuscript, The Ingenious Professor, the imagined life of Joseph Lycett, gives voice to gentleman Joseph Lycett, convict, engraver, and artist who has left behind limited written records. His short and eventful life, from 1775 to 1828, begins in Staffordshire, UK, where he originates. It is filled with numerous personal challenges and contradictions, through several years of incarceration and his eventual transportation in 1813 to NSW, convicted of forgery. As the central character of the novel, he is depicted as a complex individual, who has a tumultuous life, marked by devious and deceitful criminal activities, intricate relationships, artistic pursuits, and a persistent struggle with alcoholism. Lycett’s life is marred by multiple convictions for forgery and, despite gaining his freedom in 1821 and publishing his Views of Australia in England in 1824, he returns to forgery and is arrested in Birmingham in 1828. He chooses to end his life, rather than face another trial. 


The narrative delves into Joseph’s personal life, as a young artist, his early romances, his marriage to Elizabeth and her untimely death in 1808. It explores his relationship with Mary Stokes his common law wife, who faces charges alongside him in 1810. The novel highlights Joseph’s complicated family dynamics, placement of his daughter, Mary Ann, in the Female Orphanage in Sydney while he serves his sentence, and his reconnection with his younger daughter, Emma, who resurfaces in Australia after Mary Stokes abandons her. Lycett’s interactions with key historical figures such as Commandant Wallis of Newcastle, Governor Macquarie, James Squires, brewer, Absalom West, printer, and Awabakal leader, Burigon are also explored. The complexities of colonialism, including the Appin Massacre in 1817, carried out by Wallis, Joseph’s friend, are woven into the story. 


The narrative emphasises Lycett’s remarkable ability to design and paint while incarcerated in NSW. His role as Macquarie’s convict artist and his paintings of Newcastle, after a second charge of forgery in Sydney in 1815, are central to the story. Lycett captured the daily lives and customs of Awabakal and Worimi Nations of the Hunter Region and are highlighted in depth.


Lycett’s battle with alcoholism, is a persistent theme in the novel, exacerbated by the loss of his first wife, an event that leaves him grabbling with profound sorrow. The struggle significantly intensifies the narrative. It portrays how alcohol fuels his grief and his hallucinations are often centered on the recurring presence of a selkie, which he believes embodies his departed wife. This becomes a central element of his psychological and emotional turmoil. His obsession is a coping mechanism and a manifestation of his inner world. The story extends beyond Joseph life, to explore the lives of his daughters, who face their own misfortunes of rape, bigamy, forgery, and abandonment. 


The novel offers a rich and immersive narrative that vividly depicts the complexities of Lycett’s life as a convict figure in the historical context of colonial Australia, marred by redemption and loss. The story of one family brought to ruin, not just once, but three times within one generation.


Nell has heavily researched the Australia part of the story in the past two or so years, and written drafts of Australian chapters. She wishes to visit England to continue her research of Joseph Lycett’s UK story, before and after his transportation to Australia, particularly archives and research centres to find further family, art and biographical information, property, and court records focused on the main characters.


Nell Jones was born in Adelaide in 1964 and has Dutch and Welsh heritage. She began writing at the age of 12, and her first play, Dead Man’s Alley, which explores the struggles of homeless men in Melbourne, was performed at the Nimrod Theatre in Sydney. Her second play, The Blind Forty, set on the Torrens River during the Great Depression, was staged at the Seymour Centre in Sydney. Nell has received a Master Writers Grant from the Australia Council and has written numerous plays for youth theatres and schools as part of her work as a drama teacher and director.


Her debut novel, The Lost Sister of Groningen, inspired by her mother’s experiences during World War II and 1950s Australia, was launched at Sydney’s Tap Gallery in 2010 and later launched at the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival (URWF) in 2011. Her second novel, A Token for Perry, was launched at 371 Gallery in Marrickville by acclaimed author Libby Hathorn. In 2012, her poetry collection, The Sky Is My Religion, was supported by the URWF, where she performed her poetry daily alongside Balinese musicians and dancers in an immersive art exhibition at Dewangga Gallery. The collection was launched with a special performance featuring Balinese dancers and a 30-piece orchestra.


In 2021, her poem How Time Has Ticked a Heaven Around the Stars was featured in an anthology by Infinity Books for Dylan Day celebrations, along with her haiku Celestial Turmoil, which was showcased on an event poster. Her poem Coquun was shortlisted for the 2021 Bridport Prize (UK). Other works include Blazing Star for Dylan (2021), In Ceremony of a Fire Raid Past (2023), and At Last My Love, My Foxy Darling (2024), all featured in International Dylan Day celebrations. In 2023, she was longlisted for International Dylan Thomas Day’s Love the Words with her poem Elegy, Is it a Dream? and also wrote the foreword for The Magic Cube of Time by poet Vatsala Radhakeesoon, published by Impspired (UK).


In June 2024, she was featured in the What/How/Why Exhibition at Lighthouse Arts Newcastle, where she wrote a piece, Metamorphosis: In Conversation with Nell Jones and Artist Jaimee Hyland, an artist showcase highlighting local creatives.


Nell holds two degrees in Education and lives by the sea in Newcastle. She retired from teaching in 2021 and has dedicated herself to writing full-time. She completed an Artist-in-Residence placement at Lighthouse Arts Newcastle in 2022 while working on her third novel, The Ingenious Professor, based on the life of artist Joseph Lycett. 


For more information, visit her website: www.thelostsister.ning.com.

As my time in Barnstaple draws to its close, I reflect on the benefits of being able to visit the places relevant to my story. My last month has been a busy one … consolidating research notes and travelling further afield. A trip to the east afforded me the opportunity to stay with friends. Friendships formed over 40 years ago during my family’s two years on Tarawa, Kiribati. In Oxford I searched for my colonial surgeon grandfather Edward in the alumni of Oxford University, from Chesham I travelled into the Royal College of Surgeons at Lincoln’s Inn Fields once again handling ancient records. A curator-guided tour of the Hunterian Museum brought home the primitive aspects of research and doctoring in the late 1700s. I took advantage of being in London to visit The National Gallery and wander the streets of the city. I stumbled upon the changing of the guard at Horse Guards and was thrilled to discover landmarks made familiar through books and film.



 


Surgeon Apprentice register 1704 – 1800                 


 


Traffic stops on the Mall … this time a waddling of ducks


          


 


My most recent (and last) trip away from Barnstaple was to the Torbay area of South Devon. It was from here that my 5 x great grandmother was transported. Torbay includes the towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham. As I stood on the modern-day beachfront on a particularly gloomy day, the sea rushed at rugged, flame-coloured cliffs rising out of the water. Beyond the land mass and the bay, the Atlantic horizon seemed to be vast and distant. From a town in Wales, it must have been a formidable sight. It brought home to me the horror of what that young woman had to bear as she was man-handled onto a ship that would take her away from everyone and everything she knew. 



Torbay coast on a calm day


 


 


 


Stories are everywhere in Devon from Charles Kingsley’s Westward Ho!, RD Blackmore’s Lorna Doone, RF Delderfield’s God is an Englishman series, Ann Cleeves and Liz Shakespeare living and setting stories in Devon to Agatha Christie’s works. While staying in Paignton, I took the steam train to Kingswear, crossed the River Dart to Dartmouth and the ferry to Greenway (seeing a seal sunning itself at the base of a pylon) to the home of Agatha Christie. The grand holiday house which became the retirement home she shared with her second husband, archaeologist, Max Mallowan, was surrounded by gardens and woodlands. Inside the home was crowded with an eclectic mix of artefacts collected during her life. It was interesting to see the tiny space she worked from but the view out of the window, across her garden to the water below, was stunning.


 


                      


Portrait of Agatha aged 4 by American artist Douglas John Connah


Agatha Christie’s desk at Greenway


 


        


 


I’ve loved witnessing the dramatic change of seasons. Autumn brings new colour to the gardens, fields and woodlands. The gorse is vivid yellow, heath turns terracotta across the hills and bracken rusts along the coast. Boots tramping the public paths and hills release the earthy smell of damp vegetation. Some days, rain-sodden leaves underfoot no longer crunch, the sound is muffled. On others distance is hidden by early mist to be revealed a few hours later under a cloudless sky.



Woodland colour on approach to Saunton Court, Braunton, Devon – the ‘family seat’ from c17 to c19

Jan and Nicola


 


 


During my time in Barnstaple I’ve met so many friendly and supportive people, attended festivals of food, books and art and been given the opportunity to participate in the activities of U3A. The convenience of buses and trains has facilitated my research.


As this is my final postcard, I want to acknowledge the generosity of Di Yerbury in offering her comfortable and well-located flat to enable members of the Society of Women Writers NSW to further their writing. Previous residents provided lots of useful, guiding information which was appreciated. To the 2025 resident I trust your time will be as beneficial and amazing as mine. 



Thank you Di and the Society of Women Writers NSW


 


 


 


Jan Conway

The colour palette of North Devon and elsewhere in the UK is changing quickly. Fields remain a vivid green but are checkered with the yellow of reaped fields and fallowed soil. Burgundy and russet leaves hang from trees or skip along the streets in cutting winds. Autumn started warm and with vast cloudless skies but now I have to add that extra layer of clothing.


In late August I set off to Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cyrmru, the National Library of Wales, an impressive building (both outside and in) set on top of a hill overlooking Aberystwyth and the Irish Sea. There, with the help of Assistant Librarian Menna and retired Archivist Glyn, I discovered the original documents that sent my ancestor, John to Australian shores in 1791.



Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cyrmru, the National Library of Wales – opened 1932. It was undamaged during WWII but used as a marker by the Luftwaffe


Victorian terraces along the Aberystwyth seafront


 


 


 


From Aberystwyth I travelled to Cowbridge in search of a 5 x great grandmother. Cowbridge has retained much of its original footprint from the late 1700s … although far more sanitary and livable today. Cowbridge did not have town water until 1920 when a pump was installed.


In Cowbridge, Betty, from the History Society, took me under her wing, providing me with books and images, arranging a private viewing of the cells under the council chambers where I came face to face with the reality of claustrophobia and the Mari Lwyyd. Celebrated around Christmas and New Year, the skull was paraded through the village and songs sung to gain admittance to the house. Cowbridge still maintains this ancient tradition. Betty also drove me to St Fagans Museum of Natural History where buildings from various parts of Wales representing different eras have been dismantled, and rebuilt in a 100-acre parkland. She was keen for me to see and learn what life in the 1780s was like.



Today: Buff-tailed bumblebees are busy in the Physic Garden where all plants are medicinal


Yesteryear: Water was drawn from Silver Well situated outside the town on marshy ground



 


 


 


Face to face with Mari Lwyyd


The cell door clangs


 


 


 


 


The final weeks of September brought festival time to North Devon. Barnstaple hosted their annual fair which has the reputation as the oldest in the country with its origins believed to date from 930. Visiting dignatories and notable citizens of Barnstaple attend the opening and Hand of Welcome ceremony at the Guildhall. The Town Clerk reads the Fair Proclamation Hear ye, hear, ye … and God Save the King. He then leads a procession to each of the town gates where the Proclamation is repeated.



Barnstaple’s Welcome Hand extends from the Guildhall


‘Hear Ye, hear ye and God Save the King’


 


 


 


 


I took the opportunity to attend five events at the Appledore Book Festival … on the Thursday I had ‘Afternoon Tea with Liz Shakespeare’ The Ordeal of Miss Lucy Jones. Liz is a local author who writes creative nonfiction inspired by events that happened in and around North Devon in the late 1800s. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with Liz about her approach to history and the thoughts I have on how to write my story. This was followed by ‘Sunday Brunch with the Authors’. Debut novelists, Jenny Godfrey The List of Suspicious Things and Fiona Williams The House of Broken Bricks and Louise Candlish Our Holiday with 16 novels to her credit, were in discussion with Veronica Henry. I followed this with Celia Imrie Meet Me at Rainbow Corner in conversation with the book’s researcher Fidelis Morgan. I finished my Sunday at Appledore with Phillippa Langley Princes in the Tower – has the Mystery been Solved?. Phillippa was in conversation with Martin Kemp. It was fascinating to hear Phillippa explain the forensic way in which she and her team search for the truth in history.


I have just returned from a second trip to Wales, Cardiff this time, to spend time at the Glamorgan Archives where I experienced the thrill, again, of handling 232 year-old original documents, this time sealing the fate of my 5 x great grandmother, Mary. A visit to the Museum of Cardiff, a museum concentrating on the social history of Cardiff, was beneficial to my story. 


Walking the Taw River from Barnstaple to Bishop’s Tawton on a warm autumn day, wild blackberries quenched my thirst. I reflected on the desperation of my early ancestors and wondered did they too eat the blackberries in season and what else did they scavenge from the hedgerows and fields. 


I continue to enjoy my Barnstaple friends, the town and the surrounding villages. My research takes me to interesting places and spaces.



My friends, Faye (left) and Sue (right), notable Barnstaple citizens at the Guildhall. Faye, was a councillor for 30 years and mayor for one. Sue is the current president of The Inner Wheel. PS I was not one of the notables!


 


 


From Barnstaple – bye for now.


Jan Conway

I consider myself fortunate to be the recipient of the Society of Women Writers NSW patron, Emeritus Professor Di Yerbury’s residency. Barnstaple is one of the oldest boroughs in England with its history dating back to 900AD. Once a port town on the River Taw, it retains evidence of a vibrant past. Queen Anne’s Walk (formerly The Mercantile Exchange) completed in 1713 is just one of many impressive buildings. Cargoes, shipped from around the world, were once offloaded and traded. Today it is a café from where you can see the Long Bridge spanning the Taw. An 800 year-old stone, arched bridge it still carries traffic today. Di’s apartment is conveniently located within easy walking of the medieval town centre and the High Street which is a bustling shopping area.


     


Queen Anne’s Walk and The Strand in foreground – Butchers Row and the Pannier Market


 


 


 


Visits to the local library, Athenaeum and museums in Barnstaple and Braunton have resulted in new information relevant to my 5 x great grandfather (just one of my ancestors being researched for my book with the working title of The Photo Album). Edward Luttrell was born at Saunton Court in 1756 and baptised at St Brannocks Church, Braunton … just 5 miles from Barnstaple. Locals have told me the Court is beautiful and I’ve written seeking permission to visit. If that fails, a public footpath runs alongside and I can walk the perimeter. Not only do the museums and libraries hold (and reproduce for me) documents of interest but they are an invaluable source for understanding the social, economic and environment of the periods I’m writing about.


     


St Brannocks Church, Braunton and the font where Edward Luttrell was baptised.
‘The font is intriguing, with carved human heads at each corner. It is in a Norman-style but is almost certainly 13th or 14th century, so it may be that an old Norman font was reworked during the Decorated period.’


 


After just three weeks in Barnstaple I’m feeling like a local. The residents of Alexandra Court have welcomed another Aussie into their midst. In my first week here, I also met three women who have already become friends, generously sharing their local knowledge of the surrounding area and its history. 


Introduced by Ann Beaumont, Sue has taken me to meet with U3A members and I’ve been invited to join the literary group and other activities. Sue and I enjoyed time together at the historic and magnificent Rosemoor Garden. Nicola, met outside the library, has shown me around historic Barnstaple and searches out interesting information. With Faye, met on a bus, a councillor for 46 years and one-time Mayor of Barnstaple (a fount of knowledge), I’ve explored the hills and moors and Atlantic coastline at Saunton and Croyde, giving me insights into the topography, local plants and insects. The north Devon coastline is rugged and dramatic. The remains of ancient forts, crumbling cottages, sheep and cattle grazing on lush fields enclosed by stone fences, paint the quintessential English picture. Across the Exmoor, between Lynmouth and Minehead, the heather and gorse are blooming. As I looked down from the top of an open bus into the Doone Valley (Lorna Doone) I was lucky enough to glimpse a lone stag.


     


A walk to Baggy Point, Croyde


 


     


   


Across the Exmoor the heather and gorse flower – Doone Valley


 


 


Summer has arrived and school is out here in England. Holiday makers are making the most of Barnstaple and the nearby sandy beaches. The weather is warm and the occasional drift of soft rain does nothing to dampen the spirits. The blackberries are still ripening but here and there an early plump berry is too tempting to resist eating … bringing memories of my childhood.


At the end of August I’ve arranged to visit the Welsh Archives at Aberystwyth (I have my readers’ ticket) before going to the villages of Cowbridge and Llantwit Fardre in search of ‘old bones’.


From Barnstaple – bye for now.


Jan Conway


 


 

Congratulation to Janette (Jan) Conway on being awarded the 2024 Di Yerbury Residency.


Jan writes:


The concept for my proposed book, The Photo Album, germinated in response to a granddaughter’s questions about her ancestry. I, too, had often wondered who were these people that stared at us from within the vibrantly coloured pages of the old photo album.


Sepia images come into view as I turn the pages of the 180-year-old photo album I inherited from my father – images of my ancestors. The album has character too, leather bound, each silver-edged page illustrated with birds and flora of Australia, the Pacific and South America. With convict 5 x great grandparents arriving in 1791 and 1792 respectively, my family history spans almost the entire Australian colonial era to the present day.


The Photo Album will explore and bring to life these forebears with narrative biographies of each individual or family as they arrive on Australian shores. 


Those individuals who make up the family tree represented in the old album were a diverse bunch. From convicted thieves, pickpockets and highwaymen to surgeons, military men and farmers … but where were the women?


To fully populate my family’s story, I will seek out the women hidden in the shadows of their men – in humble cottages to grand manors, in villages, towns and cities, in churches – across England, Wales, Ireland and in the remote corners of Australia.


To truly know these forebears in Australia, I must understand them in the past. The story will take each one back to their roots in the United Kingdom. What was happening in their lives that they were forced or decided to independently emigrate to a land that hadn’t yet been officially named? Was the struggle to shelter and feed a family overwhelming? Perhaps a career change was demanded by superiors. It’s possible the politics of the day forced some to consider their options. Who did they leave behind?


Once in the colonies, it is not always the miscreants that cause problems for the establishment. With the arrival of Dr Edward Luttrell in 1804 as Assistant Colonial Surgeon, disputes with consecutive governors erupt over his medical practice. As the choicest land is granted to family along the Hawkesbury River, Aboriginal communities and ceremonial lifeways and practices are usurped. Skirmishes and fatalities occur on both sides.


In the 1830s will the Pedder, Corrigan and Storey families in Van Diemen’s Land act and behave any differently?


How does this disparate group of characters meld to be the family I know today? What will be the ultimate legacy of this ancestry to Australia?


In 2018, before attending a memoir workshop in Paris with Patti Miller, I was fortunate to spend time in the UK, visiting the Hertfordshire Archives and the National Archives, Kew. While there is much to be discovered online today, there is nothing more visceral than seeing, handling and smelling documents that tell an ancestor’s story of over 200 years ago. To walk in villages, enter homes and churches soaking up the smells, sounds and atmosphere was invaluable as I researched and began drafting The Photo Album.


 

October 2023


The last month of my writing residency in North Devon has literally flown! Autumn is definitely here, with shorter days, misty mornings and chilly nights. It has been a wonderful experience to spend the summer in this beautiful part of England and I will be so sad to leave. 


As well as writing, I have been focused on making the most of the research opportunities here, especially those simply not available in Australia. For example, an absolute highlight was the Battle of Britain Air Show at Duxford RAF in Cambridgeshire. This event commemorates the crisis in September 1940 when the RAF defeated the German Luftwaffe in its largest attack on Britain. The Air Show was completely sold out, and I was glad I had booked my ticket months before from Australia. 


So many people were dressed in 1940s clothes and uniforms (including me!), bringing World War 2 history to life with pilot scrambles, Home Guard patrols, secret aerial reconnaissance, vintage vehicles and live boogie woogie entertainment. There were aerial dogfights between Spitfires and Messerschmitts complete with explosions and flak, Spitfire and Hurricane fighter formations, and flyovers by Lancaster bombers. It was an extraordinary experience. 


I took advantage of the long weekend near Cambridge to visit several other museums including the Bletchley Park codebreaking centre, the Imperial War Museum at RAF Hendon, and a private tour of the WW2 top secret headquarters of RAF Fighter Command at Bentley Priory. I met with German historic aviation expert Tony Gemeinder who generously shared his knowledge with me. 


Another highlight was visiting the Jane Austen festival in Bath. It was surreal to see the streets of this beautiful town filled with hundreds of people dressed in gorgeous Regency costumes. The festival runs for several days, with the highlight being the Grand Promenade from Holbourne Museum in Sydney Gardens (which was Jane’s favourite place to walk in the mornings), down Great Pulteney Avenue through Queen’s Square and finishing at the Assembly Rooms. I loved walking in Jane’s footsteps, seeing where she lived at 4 Sydney Place, and visiting some of her favourite haunts. The British certainly enjoy celebrating their literature and history. 


In Bath, I met acclaimed English children’s author Fleur Hitchcock (author of Murder in Midwinter, the Clifftopper series and Mouseheart) and it was fascinating to discuss emerging trends in children’s literature and the UK publishing industry. 


The Appledore Book Festival is held every September in this historic fishing port, about half an hour away from Barnstaple, at the confluence of the Rivers Taw and Torridge. The nine day festival includes a fascinating lineup of author talks and cultural experiences, the opportunity to meet local authors, as well as a comprehensive children’s programme. I particularly enjoyed hearing World War 2 historian, author and broadcaster James Holland, who shared the stories behind his new book The Savage Storm, about the battle for Italy in 1943.  


This summer was unusually cool and damp, which made it good weather for hiking several sections of the South West Coastal Walk with its steep climbs, muddy paths and spectacular views over the Atlantic. Several people recommended that I should read The Salt Path by Raynor Winn, a beautifully written and uplifting memoir about a couple walking over 630 miles though North Devon and Cornwall, after losing everything.


About ten miles north of Barnstaple is stunning Exmoor, with its black-faced sheep, wild Exmoor ponies, and vast swathes of blooming purple heather and yellow gorse. Tiny villages are nestled in the shelter of narrow valleys, beside cascading brooks. 


On one exploration, we turned down Hookaway Hill, onto a hedged lane, barely wider than our car, crossing Robber’s Bridge. Flocks of pheasants were nesting in the hedgerows and woodland. The drive was stunning, but rather hair-raising when we came headfirst upon a large tractor returning home and had to reverse some distance to let it pass. 


Imagine my delight, when we crossed a shallow ford by an ancient arched bridge over Badgworthy Water, and unexpectedly arrived in Doone Valley, to discover the very farm where the classic novel Lorna Doone was set. Lorna Doone was written by RD Blackmore in 1869, inspired by murderous tales of the real-life Doone family, a clan of Scottish outlaws. 


Blackmore’s grandfather was rector at St Mary’s Church in the nearby hamlet of Oare, where Lorna Doone was shot on her wedding day, by the villain Carver Doone. The National Trust is renovating the old Doone Farm buildings, including the derelict stables and outbuildings. Inside the old farmhouse, you can see the huge kitchen fireplace and the original, scarred kitchen table. 


Another Victorian classic that I loved from my childhood was The Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley. He was also a local writer, growing up in the quaint, fishing village of Clovelly on the Hartland Coast, part of an historic family estate. The village is vehicle-free, set on a steep cobbled lane, leading down to the 14th century quay, with breathtaking views over the Celtic Sea. One of the cottages is now the Kingsley Museum, celebrating his life and books. The village is listed as one of the most beautiful in England and attracts huge crowds in summer. The best tip is to go early on a sunny, autumn Friday to explore without the masses. You can also visit the walled Clovelly Court Gardens above.


So as my Di Yerbury residency comes to its end, I’d like to say a huge thank you to previous winners for their helpful tips and suggestions, especially Helen Thurloe, Anne Beaumnont and Cindy Broadbent, and of course to Di Yerbury and the Society of Women Writers. It has been a dream come true. 


Best wishes,
Belinda Murrell


 

September 2023


It is the first week of autumn here but the days are still warm and sunny, with blue skies and long evenings. The hedgerows are full of ripe blackberries and the last of the summer roses and wildflowers are blooming, yet the leaves are starting to turn. 


North Devon is so beautiful and a delight to explore. On the rugged coast there are golden beaches and quaint fishing ports, while inland has miles of rolling green farmland, narrow country lanes and pretty thatched cottages. To the north are the rolling moors, covered in purple heather, with wild Exmoor ponies and black-faced sheep. Such a stunning place to walk. 


I have been in Barnstaple for nearly two months, so two-thirds of the way through my writing residency. It has been an incredible experience to live and work here. Wandering the streets, chatting with neighbours and shopkeepers, I feel like a local. Everyone is so friendly. 


Last week I took a few days to explore Cornwall, including the former smuggling coves of Boscastle, Port Isaac, Padstow, Fowey and Mousehole. I visited the Padstow Bookseller, a gorgeous bookshop which was established by Australian publisher and booklover Sarah Stein.


The highlight of my Cornish visit was a literary quest to walk in the footsteps of Daphne Du Maurier, around the medieval port of Fowey. Daphne du Maurier lived here for most of her adult life. 


I followed one of Daphne’s favourite hikes from Fowey to Readymoney Cove (where Daphne and her children lived during World War 2), past St Catherine’s Castle over the cliffs, to Polridmouth (the stone cottage here inspired the boathouse in Rebecca) and up to Gribben Head. It was on this walk that Daphne first saw Menabilly, the house she fell in love with and later restored. Menabilly was the inspiration for Manderley in Rebecca, Barton in My Cousin Rachel, and the setting for The King’s General. The grand house could just be glimpsed, hidden amongst the woodland, from Gribben Head. 


Another highlight was staying a night at the atmospheric Jamaica Inn, on Bodmin Moor. This former smugglers’ haunt was discovered by Daphne on a riding holiday with a friend. The weather turned and the girls became lost in the mist. The horses found their way to the old inn, and there Daphne heard stories about its history of smugglers and murderous wreckers, inspiring her famous novel. 


Cornwall has been an inspirational setting for so many writers from Daphne du Maurier, Winston Graham (The Poldark series), Antonia Barber (The Mousehole Cat), Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows), William Golding (Lord of the Flies), Thomas Hardy (Tess of the D’Urbervilles) to Australian Kate Morton (The Forgotten Garden).


A couple of weeks ago was Book Week in Australia. I ran a creative writing workshop with a group of talented young writers at Melton Library in Melbourne, via Zoom. I was a little nervous about the time difference (very early morning here!) and the technology, but it all went off beautifully. The stories and characters which the children created were fantastic. 


In August I was invited to speak at Barnstaple Library to the Writing For Children group, about the Society of Women Writers’ Di Yerbury Residency, my books and the Australian publishing industry. The group was a mixture of local published authors and aspiring children’s writers. They were thrilled to hear about Di Yerbury, the writing residency and her connection to Barnstaple. They were also very interested to hear about my creative writing practice and the collaborative process with my Penguin publishing team. I shared a sneak peek into my upcoming junior fiction series and the development of the book covers. 


Next weekend, I’m looking forward to catching the train to Bath for the annual Jane Austen festival. Later in September, I will be attending the famous Appledore Book Festival, which features writers such as Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid, Deborah Moggach, Alexander McCall Smith, and Children’s Laureate Joseph Coelho. So lots of wonderful opportunities to look forward to. 


It has been such an inspiring trip and I am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity provided by our Patron, Professor Di Yerbury, and the Society of Women Writers. Until next time!


Best wishes
Belinda Murrell


 

August 2023


As I write, the sun is shining, after several days of incessant rain. It is a true Devon summer. Blustery, drizzly, or misty. Then when the sun struggles through, the countryside is transformed. Wildflowers are blooming, blackberries are ripening in the hedges and the hay is being harvested in the nearby meadows.


I have been here in Barnstaple now for three weeks and am so grateful for this wonderful opportunity to live and work in England for three months, provided by our Patron, Professor Di Yerbury and the Society of Women Writers. 


Barnstaple is an ancient port town on the River Taw, a few kilometres from the wild North West Devon coast. The old town retains evidence of its wealthy past, with impressive historic buildings, a ruined castle motte and its 800-year-old stone Long Bridge, one of the longest medieval bridges in Britain. Di’s apartment is located close to the medieval town centre with picturesque views over quaint cottages and the church tower of Holy Trinity, to the fields and meadows on the hillside. 


The first couple of weeks have been spent settling in, finding the best grocery stores, organising technology, and exploring the local area, which is brimming with history and literary connections. Famous local writers include Charles Kingsley (Water Babies and Westward Ho!), Henry Williamson (Tarka the Otter), and Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book). In 1865, RD Blackmore was inspired to write Lorna Doone while on a holiday in Exmoor, while more recently, Michael Morpurgo wrote his famous novel War Horse based on stories told in the nearby Duke of York pub.


The Romantic poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth and Percy Bysshe Shelley, loved North Devon, especially wandering the local byways. In 1797, Coleridge was inspired to write The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, while walking with William and Dorothy Wordsworth near the fishing port of Lynmouth.  


In 1812, Shelley lived in a thatched cottage in Lynmouth for a few months with his 16-year-old bride Harriet, until he fled to Wales to escape prosecution for distributing revolutionary tracts in Barnstaple. Two years later he abandoned poor pregnant Harriet to elope with 16-year-old Mary Godwin, author of Frankenstein and daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. It is very inspiring to walk in the footsteps of some of my literary heroes. 


Last week, I was invited to join the monthly meeting of one of the local writing groups at Barnstaple Library. I was asked to give a short presentation about my books and the SWW Di Yerbury writing residency, and to contribute feedback on some of their works in progress. It was lovely to meet so many passionate and talented writers. They have also invited me to visit the next meeting of Writing For Children in a couple of weeks.


My current project is an historical novel, set during World War 2. Barnstaple was an important military base during the war, with thousands of American soldiers training for the D-Day invasion of Normandy on the nearby beaches of Saunton Sands, Braunton Burrows and Woolacombe.  


This trip has given me the opportunity for invaluable research, including visiting several military museums, such as the nearby Cobbaton Collection, the Imperial War Museum in London, the Secret War Tunnels in Dover, RAF Base Manston near Folkestone, the Nazi Rally Grounds in Nurnberg and Le Musee de la Reddition in Reims. 


Cobbaton Collection is a private military museum, just a few kilometres away. Here, I was able to sit in an Anderson bomb shelter and experience the terrifying noise of an air raid, climb in an ARP shelter, and touch several anti-aircraft guns. I saw the crashed remnants of a Nazi glider, a war zone ambulance, a fire truck used during the Blitz, a long-range desert rover, several tanks and thousands of wartime relics. The opportunity to see and touch these objects brings this period of history to life and is an invaluable opportunity for research which is simply not possible in Australia.


I also took the opportunity to extend my trip so that I could do more extensive historical research in Germany (Nurnberg and Coburg), France (Paris and Reims) and England (London, Folkestone and Dover). A week in London enabled me to research in the National Archives at Kew, visit key settings for my novel and walk in my characters’ footsteps. 


It has been a truly amazing trip so far, and I am really looking forward to the next couple of months of writing and working in this lovely, Devon town. 


Best wishes
Belinda Murrell


 


 

28th June 2023

Hello again from glorious Devon.


Last week I did a little travelling outside Devon to see a friend in Windsor, Berkshire. While there, she took me to Windsor Great Park to watch ‘the royals’ in a convoy of Bentley cars on their way to Royal Ascot. I got a quick wave from the King! Although I’m not a royalist, I have to admit to smiling as the cars passed. 


I’m now back in Barnstaple where there’s been a heatwave with temperatures in the high twenties. Most places are not airconditioned but, as the flat is on the third floor, I get lots of sea breezes from the nearby coast. 


I was fortunate to be invited to a book group to give a talk about my two novels. The group was fascinated to hear about the trials and tribulations of getting published. To us, sending the first three chapters, synopsis and a log line are as obvious as breathing. When I said each finished novel (including my third which is with the publisher) was edit number six, they were astounded and said they had no idea writing was such hard work! 


Yesterday, I gave myself a day off from writing, and took the bus to Clovelly a lovely village on the coast which, because it’s privately owned, has an £8.50 (about $18.00) entrance fee! This covers the cost of the upkeep of all the cottages. The street down to the harbour is almost vertical and cobbled. In the past, donkeys used to carry people and goods up and down but since the 1980s sleds have replaced them. Needless to say, I was happy to pay the £3.50 ($7.00) fare to go back up to the tourist shop in a privately run Land Rover via a side road. 


The Victorian author Charles Kingsley, best known for his children’s novel The Water Babies and historical novel Westward Ho!, lived here as a child. He loved it so much that he returned several times in the mid-1800s. The cottage where he lived is now a museum.   


As a writer, I feel I’m in good company in Devon. R D Blackmore, based his novel Lorna Doone in North Devon. The romantic poets Shelley and Coleridge took inspiration from the local landscape of Lynton and Lynmouth. In fact, just over the border in Somerset, Coleridge had an experience that we can all relate to. It’s the story of The Man from Porlock. 


One night, the story goes, Coleridge, who liked a bit of opium when he could get it, had an amazing dream. He raced downstairs the next morning to write his dream as a poem which he called Kubla Khan. He’d written about fifty-four lines when someone knocked on the cottage door. Coleridge put his pen down and opened the door to a man purporting to be from the village of Porlock. He detained the poet for over an hour.


Finally, Coleridge went back to his writing. He picked up his pen, stared at the page and could only remember a few vague impressions from the dream. The poem remained as a ‘fragment’, and thus the legend of The Man from Porlock was born. So, fellow writers, next time you have writer’s block, you can blame it on being interrupted by the man who arrived to read the gas meter …


Happy writing.
Cindy Broadbent