THE beauty of the Tamar Valley, its mystery and its mining heritage are threads running through a new children’s book by a local author.
Written by Sally Hubbard, ’A Clattering Beneath the Woods’ is about miners, but maybe not the kind you might expect, says Sally.
’I began writing the book many years ago when a rather unpleasant situation led to me noticing more clearly the changes in the woods, each day and each week,’ she said.
’Recovering from an eye operation, I had to hold my head in a certain position for four weeks, and I was only allowed a ten minute walk each hour. I walked the same circular walk in a nearby wood, each hour, and as it was Springtime, I noticed how the primroses, the daffodils, the wild garlic and the scents of the flowers and wet moss were accentuated.’
Sally began writing her book many years before the Covid-19 lockdown, But she feels that her own experience of noticing nature in new ways is one now shared by many people, as they find they have had the time to look at their near surroundings closely and enjoy the natural world more.
’The central character is a young girl who notices nature and the changing seasons more than her peers,’ says Sally.
’She stops to look and listen and consequently meets with a community of miners who the rest of the world have never stopped to notice and have overlooked.’
With a love of nature and the Tamar Valley central to her story, Sally was delighted that Ian Pethers, a local artist, agreed to paint the cover, which is based on a photograph of Cotehele
Sally is a retired English teacher who lives in the Tamar Valley and loves the woodland of the area. Living with her husband, they brought up their two boys there with a multitude of different animals.
Ian Pethers is an artist and illustrator who has been living and working in the Tamar Valley for thirty years. An elected member of the Royal Miniature Society and the Society of Botanical Artists, he exhibits regularly with Tavistock Group of Artists and the Drawn to the Valley group in their annual shows.
A Clattering Beneath the Woods has been published by Blue Poppy Publishing, based in Devon, and is available on Amazon, from the Blue Poppy Publishing web site and also from independent book shops, price £7.99.