“DAHN TO MARGATE”…
The Blogbrarian goes “Dahn to Margate” with Thomas the Tank Engine, Chas and Dave,
and JMW Turner…

  If, like me – dear reader – you consider that Messrs Chas and Dave’s popular rendition of `Dahn to Margate` to be one of the finest, sweetest and most perfectly crafted libretti in the pantheon of English music…






If, like me –gentle reader – you enjoy the gentle, mesmeric throb of the train as it trundles through the fecund heart of our beloved Kent, the Garden of England…






And if, like me – wise reader – you enjoy tootling around an art gallery stuffed to the gills with – to my untutored eye – a hatful of top-notch landscape paintings, then you could very well do worse, far worse, than to pop along to the “Turner Contemporary” in lovely old Margate.


The Gallery, you see, is free…It’s fascinating…And it’s fun! (And, apart from good old public libraries, where else can you say that about, eh?...)






Old JMW, he seemed like an interesting chappie (although his pictures are a bit what we cognoscenti in the art world like to call “a bit splashy-splashy”), so I`ll certainly be checking out a few of the excellent Turner tomes in stock…


You never know, I might even turn up some turps, bring out me brushes, and have a daub myself! (We’ve got books on that, too)…






So, take a tip from the old Blogbrarian…get yourselves “dahn to Margate”…stroll along the bracing briny shoreline, singing "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside"…and take a butcher’s at The Turner…but hurry, dear readers…this exhibition ends soon!






TTFN, art fans…TTFN!

 

Charles Dickens: tweets talks and reads...

Once again, we’re delighted to welcome back to Bexley our own very, very special guest Blogger, Mr Charles Dickens. (Mr Dickens wrote a short but very well received piece for us back in February, and now he’s back again to join in the London-wide City Read celebrations, a Dickensian feast of fiction and fun…)

Despite being 200 years old this year, Mr Dickens has kindly agreed to write up his `very humble’ little blog for us this month, and – as something of a coup for us – answer any questions that you may wish to pose to him.






So, without further ado…Over to you, Mr D…

Splendid, splendid!



Thank you, Mr Blogbwawian and weaders of this little blog for inviting me back for another appeawance … (See the 6th Febwuawy). I am, indeed, as my own Uwiah Heap would have phwased it, “so vewy, vewy `umble”; I shall endeavour to update this particular page weekly thwoughout Apwil.






And how delightful it is to be back here, bwoadcasting to good old Bexley…I must nip back down to Hall Place vewy soon, to weacquaint myself with its splendid suwwoundings (not many people know this, but I based much of my `Dotheboys Hall’ in Nicholas Nickleby upon this particular institution…)






Ah, me!...How I do love to weminisce…


Now, to business!






`Pon my soul, how extwaordinawy, but I note that your esteemed Libraries are - (as part of a grand Cityweads extwavaganza) - staging a cornucopia of activities, events, and public lectures based upon the life and works of – ahem – one Mr Charles Dickens of London & Kent; do take a look and obtain your tickets (for although I shall not, alas, be able to be there in person, I shall – indisputably - be there in spiwit). I would most vigowously urge you to attend.






Meantimes, as before, I shall be here, alert, poised, quill in hand, ink-jar fully charged, lap-top pwimed, weady to answer any of your pwobing questions or litewawy conundwums.






Just use the comments box below, and “Ask Charlie!” (And, do you know, now I have mastered the art, I might just tweat myself to a Tweet!)