We're back to walking... walking every day... but not getting in the car to go too far for our walk, of course.  

It's been lovely to see some of you on the Deben River path, a route which never loses its appeal thanks to the ever-changing landscape, the birdlife and the chance for breathtaking sunshine at dawn and dusk.

Are you a 10,000 paces a day type?  There is a risk of obsession... anyone who has listened to or read David Sedaris will chuckle at the memory of his take on this.

I walk myself into a state of non-thought (and repetitiveness.... I think I may have written about this before.... it's my age).  Others use time walking for quite the reverse.  I have a friend (I know, I know... ha ha ha), and he was extolling the virtues of listening to podcasts and audiobooks on his daily 10,000 pace walks.  

And so we come to this week's good ideas I'm stealing from two different friends:

The first (if you are happy with things in your ears) is to listen while you walk; 

The second is to discover and make use of the wonderful online resources on offer from Woodbridge Library using your library card (which you can secure on line easily enough if you haven't got one already): audiobooks; papers and magazines; films and documentaries (some of these things are not so easy to enjoy on a walk, admittedly - not without dire consequences for you or those coming in the opposite direction).

Check out https://www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/ and scroll down to find out about OverDrive, Borrowbox, Kanopy, PressReader, FreeGal and more.  

Three cheers for your local library!

School Shop

The school shop team send their thanks and best wishes for 2021 to all parents and carers who have supported us over the year.  Despite the shop being closed for half the year and only partially opened the rest of the year, we were able to give £910 to the Prep school, which they are going to use for refurbishing their outdoor classroom, and £2630 to the Senior school,  which they are going to use for a new gardening club. Parents who had over £10 owing to them from their commission should have received their cheques by now and we will organise the cash payments for those whose commission is under £10 once the shop is fully open.

As we are in tier 5 we cannot open the shop at the moment, but we look forward to seeing you once we are allowed to open.

Catherine Larner, whom many of you may have met behind the counter at Browsers Books on the Thoroughfare, has enjoyed meeting and interviewing many fascinating people, and visiting wonderful locations worldwide. 

Each month she hosts a book club on air for BBC Radio Suffolk with the afternoon presenter, Lesley Dolphin. 

Each week she produces a newsletter offering book news, author events, her reviews and recommendations. If you'd like to receive it, please click here

Catherine's Blog
10 January 2021

Keeping it simple

The need for clear and effective communication has never been more evident than in these past 12 months.

Not only do we need a single, straightforward message for a community to engage in a common goal, but it's also important to keep heads clear and emotions in tap when dealing with something threatening and unfamiliar.

There is a great skill in presenting complicated or difficult information in a palatable and accessible way and the two books I've selected this week help to highlight this. I hope you'll be able to take a look at the titles below.

This week I was also reminded of the power, comfort and pleasure to be found in the succinct, carefully chosen words crafted by the poet.

'Time to be slow' by the late Irish poet and thinker, John O'Donohue was sent to me by a friend, and has remained with me in the past few days.

It begins

This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

You can listen to the poem being read by Fergal Keane here. He selected it last spring in a series on Radio 4's Today programme where well-known people shared their favourite poems of comfort and hope.

It has also been included in Poems on the Underground. You can read it here. Whenever I travelled across London on the Tube, it was always a huge delight to see a poem instead of an advert in the hoarding above our heads. Find out more about the initiative here. Buy the last collection here, or look at poems that have been selected specially to give us courage and hope for this new year here.

Thank you for reading.