05/03/10 - Literary connections

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After a refreshing morning at the Thermae Bath Spa, I took the bus to Bristol in search of the Llandoger Trow. This old inn, in which Daniel Defoe’s meeting with Alexander Selkirk inspired him to write Robinson Crusoe, was also used by Robert Louis Stevenson as ‘The Spyglass’ in Treasure Island. After some researched on the Internet, I once used the inn as a setting for a scene in one of my stories, so I was very keen to visit and spent ages browsing round every nook and cranny open to the public. I also found time to visit Broad Quay, Queen’s Square, The Hole in the Wall (where sailors used to hide from the press gang) and John Wesley’s first chapel, The New Room.

Back in Bath, I attended a session with Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and musician/composer/actor John A Sampson. The former read poems inspired by classical myths (King Midas and Tiresius) and poignant memories of her late mother. The latter played a variety of wind instruments as well as a penny whistle, all with a great deal of panache.