Blowing trumpets again!

I have updated this page because my friends continue to amaze me in what they achieve!

I was reflecting on what very talented friends I have, and thinking about what they have achieved, and I was also thinking a little tiny a bit about myself and what I’ve achieved.

I’ve known Andrew Simpson since I was eighteen and since he has become a full time writer he has become the expert on Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester; not only has he had a street exhibition with artist Peter Topping, but he has given talks, led walks, broadcast, blogged and written a book and co-authored another! He has several other exciting projects in the pipe-line, I’m so proud of him!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Story-Chorlton-Cum-Hardy/dp/0752489666/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394441895&sr=1-7&keywords=andrew+simpson

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Didsbury-Through-Time-Peter-Topping-ebook/dp/B00IO5725Y/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394441895&sr=1-3&keywords=andrew+simpson

Find out more about Andrew, an even more about the history of Chorlton, Derby and Eltham as well as much more:

http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/

Ros Cuthbert and I went to school together from the age of 16; she went on to train as an artist; she is so talented in so many ways, and having spent most of her life painting, she has begun a second life in music. She plays, she sings, she performs, she writes and she has just released her second CD. her first beautiful album was mostly covers of standards, but now (so exciting!) Ros has released a CD of her own songs.

Ros’s first CD ‘Two Sides to Lucky’ and her new one ‘Ghost Child’ are available on her website – you might also like toe explore and see some of her art work!

http://roscuthbert.co.uk/#/music/4554567821

Marianne McAleer is a friend I met through learning Gaelic.

She is extraordinarily talented and has won countless, countless competitions and fleadhs. She has a sensational voice and she too has just released a second CD. I haven’t got the link at the moment, but just watch and listen to this:

http://mariannekmcaleer.wordpress.com/

My oldest friend… I mean my friend who I have known for longest is Frankie Partridge; Frankie has probably been drawing and painting for as long as she could hold a pencil or paintbrush; I’ve always loved her work, and can remember paintings she did when she was 11! She has produced work in a variety of styles and used many different techniques, and at present is combining her passion for science with her art; our fathers were both scientists which explains her fascination.

: Me and Frankie working in the garden, I wonder what we were writing in those days?

I have a print of this above my fireplace!

You can look at some of Frankie’s work here:

http://www.frankiepartridge.co.uk/page2.html

My cousin Caroline, a best friend as well as cousin, is like super-woman; she is always busy, at work, with the family, involved in village life, and yet always has time for friends and relations! She’s amazing… and she can sing! She is part of her village choir, Witchford Voices, and they too have released a CD. What a lot of great music there is these days!

Here is a link to the CD and to the choir web-site:

http://www.witchfordvoices.com/Witchford_Voices/Our_Albums.html

I have known Janet since I was eighten and she was sixteen; she was a friend of some other friends of mine – those friends have moved on, moved away, disappeared over time, but Janet and I are still close – and now for the first time in our friendship, literally close as she lives only 40 minutes away from us! As well as having been a first class teacher, Janet is enormously creative; she is a wonderful cook (and judges produce for local country shows) needlewoman and singer! She is a member of the Somerset Hills Chorus, a ladies choral singing group which is a member of Sweet Adeline’s International based in Tulsa Oklahoma; they regularly take part in and are successful in choir competitions.

Here they are, carolling in a local garden centre; Janet is on the left