About Me

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I am a 68-year-old gay disabled amateur part-time writer living in Slough, Berkshire UK. I have published around 60 articles in 20 leisure and lifestyle magazines. I live with a range of health issues including heart disease, chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, depression, atrial fibrillation and restless leg syndrome. (I'm working my way through the medical dictionary!). I'm a member of Slough Writer's Group which is interesting and informative. Latest News. 10th July 2023 Awarded 'The Sandy Lee-Guard Award for Endeavour' by the Slough Writers Group. 6th December 2023 Completed studying 'Writing for Magazines' with CityLit University. January 2nd 2024. Fell over in the lounge and fractured my left femur (whilst recovering from fracturing my right femur in July 2023). Recovery expected to take 6 - 8 months. May 2024. Completed studying ' National Centre for Writing' course 'Creative Non-Fiction - An Introduction'. You can see the articles that have been published in the 'LATEST WORK' section of my website. It's at http://richardhill.co.uk/latest.html

Monday 28 October 2024

Manic Monday

Last night, I enrolled in a free online course on 'Creative Writing Non-fiction' which I'm sharing my studies with my writing.

This morning, I've been sourcing photographs for my 'Search and Rescue Dogs' and my 'Bournville 5' article.


The 'Bournville 5' photograph is a family photograph, and I've been able to source images of the 'Cadbury Crumb Processing Plant' in Knighton from the Cadbury media centre. I've also been able to source many 'high resolution' photographs from many 'Search and Rescue Dogs' charitable organisations.

After lunch, I will be continuing my course.

Saturday 26 October 2024

Christmas shopping starts early yet again!

|As early as mid-August, Boots announced its collection of advent calendars (most of which are already in stock) and M&S announced that its Christmas food will be available from September (and a beauty advent calendar in October). Even if you’re not ready for panettone and pigs in blankets yet, shops certainly are. Being the first to announce a product gives retailers a competitive advantage, since consumers tend to prefer the first mover in the market. In other words, the earlier a shop launches its Christmas specials, the more likely it is to catch shoppers’ attention. Edited extracts from: theobservation.com 

Friday 25 October 2024

'Cuddington Companion Dog Show'


Nothing much happening today. I've been in conversation with 70-year-old Polly King. She's one of the organisers of the newly formed dog show to be known as the 'Cuddington Companion Dog Show' The other two organisers (so far) are husband and wife couple Mark and Nicola McKenna and Polly King

I'll post progress updates from time to time...                                                                                                   ,

Wednesday 23 October 2024

Desiderata

I sent this (my favourite poem) to a friend of mine who is being held against his will in a psychiatric hospital:

Desiderata.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

by Max Ehrmann ©1927

Monday 21 October 2024

Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary

 Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary

Connie Cuff in her own words.

Interview by Richard Hill

Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary in Ascot has been going for over 60 years. Here, Connie, principal and widow of the founder, the late Bernard Cuff, tells us the story…

“Pine Ridge came about when my late husband Bernard came home one evening and switched on his television to watch the news. They were interviewing the council and dignitaries in Slough, where they had introduced a new by-law. It was the first township in the country, in October 1958, banning unleashed dogs from the roads. If there was any dog anywhere without an owner, they picked it up and took it to their pound. Bernard was horrified when he heard that if the dog was not claimed, it would be put to sleep after seven days. He tried to get the by-law revoked, but that was a waste of time. He finally decided to approach the police and the council to ask if the dogs were not claimed, could he pick them up? They agreed to that, but he had to pay for them. They would charge a shilling (5p) a day per dog for their food. So, he used to go, when he finished work, and at the weekends, with one of the kennel staff, and they would pick up dogs left there because they would have been put to sleep.

 “That went on, and people got to hear about the work he was doing to save these dogs. He started getting phone calls from everywhere. At that time, he had a property on the outskirts of Bracknell with a couple of acres, but that came under compulsory purchase in 1959, so he had to look for more suitable premises. Then Pine Ridge Farm in Ascot became available. It was ideal, with its nine acres. He bought it and moved in. From there on, the number of dogs coming into the sanctuary just grew.

“Bernard would not refuse any dog. And we ended up with nearly 70 to 80% of totally unhomeable dogs because they were biters, fighters, or unpredictable and people weren't interested in them. And again, he wouldn't have anything put to sleep. They just lived their life out at Pine Ridge.

“In the early 80s, he concluded that we no longer could continue to take everybody's problem dogs, and now we only accept dogs that are friendly and homeable. They've got to be friendly dogs. But some dogs, unfortunately, through no fault of their own, will stay with us longer than one would expect. Eventually, the right home comes along for them, and off they go. And that is very rewarding.

“It's easy to find homes for little dogs and very friendly, outgoing dogs, but not quite so much for bigger dogs nowadays, so we just have to bide our time, and wait for the right home to come along for them. And here we are today, 66 years on, and still saving strays and unwanted dogs. It can be anything from a dozen dogs to 35. Our limit now by the council, is 75 but we keep sensible numbers.

“Generally, a lot of our homes are repeat homes, where people have had dogs from us, and they've lost them a few years later, and they come back. Through recommendations, we get a lot of nice homes. We have got doggies that have been homed in Norfolk and Cornwall. And these usually help with people that have had dogs from us in the past, and we love the people when they come back, because we know their previous dog, of course, has had a wonderful life.

“Why Spanish dogs? That came about when gradually with the local dogs we were taking, the numbers dropped in our own areas. We had to think about how are were going to help dogs? We had some friends who live in Spain and, again, the plight out there is the same. The Mediterranean countries do not believe in spaying, so of course, the bitches just produce pups every six months, allowed to roam, and their shelters are overflowing. So, we said yes. We've got the space and potential. So, then we started taking the dogs from Spain around 15 years ago. The main thing is to ensure that they are friendly, homeable dogs.

“They're not all ‘street’ dogs, as you get in Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. In these places, they're mostly street dogs, and they are much more difficult. With the dogs from Spain, they're generally nice-natured, and friendly. And so that's how we came to get involved with Spain. They drive them over. It's a two-day drive, and they all come over with pet passports. And everything is done there by our colleagues in Spain. They do the chipping, the vaccinating, the worming, the neutering, and they must raise all the funds to do that. So, we do our bit by paying for all their transport to get them here. Otherwise, they couldn't do it, and it would be quite costly if we had to do the whole payout as well for each dog. It generally will work out anything up to £600 per dog to have everything done and with the transport. But at the end of the day, finding them happy in secure homes is what want for them.

“Our colleagues in Spain have got the contacts, and they will go and see the dogs, and if they think it's a suitable dog to send to us, they will send us photographs, and if we like what we see, yes, we'll take that. It’s hard to say no, because they all want homes.

“The transporters come from Spain, so they must be completely qualified. There's a heck of a lot of paperwork and customs forms that they must go through now and, since Brexit, it has made it much more difficult and much more expensive to supply the transport and do everything. And this is why they're coming over in small batches. When we started, we would have a van load of 10 or 12 come over. But now we're lucky if we get six spaces per trip. They drive down through Spain and then pick up the boat. They usually come into Kent at Dover, so then they have to drive, but it depends on where they're delivering. They deliver all over the country. They could have a dog that's got to go to Scotland. They will have other people's dogs on board. It can be Scotland or Cornwall. They must drive and deliver the doggy to them. And that, of course, is why it makes it quite expensive, but they do give us a reduced rate to bring the doggies to us. Of course, being a charity, which we're grateful for.

“It costs a significant sum to run Pine Ridge for a year. Generally, it would be around about the £60,000 - £70,000 mark. It’s a lot of money to raise. But we do get a lot of support from people who have been involved with Pine Ridge from the beginning, and the odd legacy, of course, does help tremendously.

Contacting Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary

(All visits must be by appointment only)

Website: https://pineridgedogsanctuary.org.uk

Email: pineridgedogs@yahoo.co.uk

Telephone:  01344 882 689

Friday 18 October 2024

Frustrating Friday!

Today's been a frustrating day. I couldn't link my DSLR camera or my Digital Voice Recorder to my PC to transfer image and audio files to my computer. I tried every way I could to do so, but eventually managed it.

I opened the wav file that contained the 18-minute interview with the 'owner' of Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary and used otter.ai to convert the audio file into text which it did with hardly an error. The interview came out at just over 2,000 words. The article calls for 800-1,200 words, so there's a lot of editing to do!

Royal Mail say that they attempted to deliver a package to my home twice today, but could not gain access. We were in, but the 'entryphone' didn't 'ring' at either time they say that they tried to deliver it. They're now saying that it's awaiting collection at the local parcel office. I'll ring in the morning to see if I can collect it. Fingers crossed!

Kaira is doing fine; less nervous than she was and settling in well.  She's got quite an appetite, which is good because she's as thin as a rake and her ribs and spine are showing through, so we're trying to fatten her up gradually. She has two beds to choose from - one in the lounge and one in our bedroom. She uses both. She loves her head being stroked and her ears rubbed. She's only barked twice so far - once when she heard voices outside the bedroom window (ours is a ground floor flat) and the other time when she heard a pack of hunting hounds on 'Midsomer Murders'!

Thursday 17 October 2024

Interview & Photographs: Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary.

This afternoon, I travelled to 'Pine Ridge Dog Sanctuary' to interview Connie Cuff and take some photographs for an article for 'Dogs Today' magazine. The required word count is between 800-1,200 words. I recorded 20 minutes of the interview and took about 20 photographs.

Tomorrow, I'll download the images and audio file to my PC. I'll also 'transcribe' the interview with otter.ai

I'll let you know how I got on.