New Book: There's A Story That My Mother Told.

This is the true story of Ruby's life as told by herself and in her words. Born Ruby Alleston 27 Dec 1905 at Bures on the Essex/Suffolk Border, she tells of her love and continuous involvement with horses through the hard times of the agricultural depression until the time she left home in 1935 to get married.  It was a time when she said,

"if you did not have anything you were lucky because you did not have the worry of it for as sure as god made little green apples you would loose it. It was a time when you could walk on land from Cambridge to Clacton that nobody would take.  A time when it was driving honest to goodness hard working farmers shany and they were being turned out of their homes and committed to the workhouse. We had a dog tied up everywhere.”
 
There were added hardships of loosing horses, poisoned, gored by the bull or at the hands of the 'professional' vet through to successes in the show ring, hunting, point to pointing with Swanee the fast but nappy mare who like Sparks was one of the 2.5 million horses that went to the 1914-18 war and was one of the one in a hundred that came back.  To the joyous outcome of buying a lame foal for a maiden bid at Tattersalls Newmarket auction.  Set against the continuous conflict with her cantankerous father who having been brought up with a silver spoon in his mouth took to his bed leaving Ruby this extraordinary commitment to save the family and homestead.

This is not written in dialect but it is full of Ruby's natural voice and social history in her sayings, jests, riddles, words, metaphors, family recipes, for it is written from an internal view and not from the external academic perception. It includes the words of some 15 traditional songs that she learned in her environment and over 150 photographs of the period mostly taken by herself.

Price £11.95 plus £2.00 p&p from the distributor: John Nickalls, Oak Farm Bungalow, Suton, Nr Wymondham, Norfolk NR18 9SH
Or the publisher
Neil Lanham, Ivy Todd, Helions Bumpstead Nr Haverhill Suffolk CB9 7AT.  Tel 01440 730414. 
ISBN 978-0-9555947-0-0

The wisdom of Suffolk's oral traditions.

CDs, videos, and DVDs all recorded personally by Neil Lanham since 1960s, as well as live performances.

Neil and Andrew are currently entertaining with 'Ruby and her Horses' a true life narrative in song and story set against the hardships of the agricultural depression of the 1920s and 1930s.

live narrative / song from Neil Lanham and Andrew Stannard of the Bumpstead Boys   -DATES- -Sat 5 Apr Belchamp St Paul Priscilla Cutts 01787 237326 -Sat 12 Apr  Sturmer Village Hall Ann Aken 01440 708063 -Sat 19 April  Chevington Village Hall Alistair McCormack 01284 850277 -Sat 3 May Horseheath Village Hall Christine Newman 01223 891086 -Sat 10 May  Glemsford  Carole Suttle 01787 281033 -Thurs 15 May  Elmswell  Diana Armstrong 01359 241002 -Sat 24 May Gt Whelnetham  Peter Royce 07771993184 -Fri 6 June  Kedington Community Centre Steve Brown 01440 704320 -Sat 14 June Wortham Village Hall Chris Growcott 01379 898338 -Sat  21 June Hockwold Village Hall Sam Cowper 01842 827713 -Sat 12 July  Boxted, Essex  Ann Newman 01206 272351 -Sat 6 Sept  Home Hale, Nr Swaffham  Sandra Keay 01760 440407 -Sat 13 Sept   Sproughton Tithe Barn Rosalind Lavington 01473 748478  -Sat 20 Sept  Westhall Village Hall  Liz Hardy 01502 575218 -Sat 4 Oct  Orford Town Hall               Alison Keeble 01394 459172 -Sat 11 Oct  Occold Village Hall  Diane Stephenson 01379 678647 -Sat 18 Oct  Theberton Elis Pehkoen 01728 830531 -Sat 8 Nov  Ashen Village Hall                                           Graham Howard 01440 788025 -Sat 15 Nov  Walpole Pavillion  Zoe Mair 01986 784217 -Sat  22 Nov Brandeston Village Hall Jackie O’Brien 01728 685266 -Wed 26 Nov  Haverhill Arts Centre          Jill Young 01440 762594 -Fri  5 Dec  Balsham                                                            Andrew Westwood-Bate 01223 892430 -Mon 8 Dec  Walberswick History Group  Philip Kett 01502 723800