Knook and Berwick St Leonard

While I am living in Wiltshire, I have been exploring the area with my sister. We have been going to churches which have interesting historical carvings from hundreds of years ago, including Norman and Saxon times. Neither of us are religious but we are interested in the carvings and we both like to draw them. My sister has compiled a list of churches which have interesting features, so we have spent many a happy weekend visiting a few at a time. The carvings are often very impressive and it must be because they are part of the church that they have survived so well.

Today we went to the village of Knook, in Wiltshire, to the small church of St Margaret. On the back wall of the church, outside, is a carved tympanum, over what is now a blocked up doorway. This is thought to be pre-Norman carving, and although it has weathered, you can see something which looks like curving foliage, or a pattern, and perhaps figures of animals. I find I can see figures of animals in most carvings, but that is because animals are a source of great pleasure to me. My sister could see two animals' heads near the top and we both thought there appeared to be two creatures facing each other in the middle, at least one had a tail and a foot showing.  Drawing them was very absorbing and good fun. I am not excellent at drawing but as with all creative things, it is good to practise. I find it therapeutic and satisfying. While you are concentrating on seeing the shapes and interpreting this on paper, you are not thinking about anything else. It is a welcome break from day to day issues. We were being observed by a couple of churchyard rats, from time to time.

Inside the church, (a welcome respite from the cold wind), there were two Norman carvings at the tops of pillars. One was more detailed than the other and had two images of flowers/plants (pictured). The other was more asymmetrical with a less well defined but more organic, like interlacing stems or plants. I thought I could even see snakes, or a dolphin shape.

After a brief look at the nearby River Wylye, we drove on further south to Berwick St Leonard. Above the door into the church is an "agnes dei" or Lamb of God. It is of Norman origin and high over the door.  I liked it as it had quite a jaunty figure and I was pleased with my drawing. It looked to me like it was holding a handbag between its front legs. I don't suppose it was, but I could only see it in that way and so that is how I drew it. As we drew, two lovely partridges hopped over the churchyard wall. On the outside of the church there was another Norman tympanum, with flower shapes. My sister drew this but I chose to say hello to the real lambs in a nearby field.

As we left the churchyard, we came across a rather beautiful beetle, who was quite large and had a lovely blueish purple tinge. We think it is a black oil beetle.

There is something refreshing about going to see these carvings and drawing them. How strange it would be for the person who carved them to imagine that in 1000 years' time, some people would be looking at them and drawing them in multi-coloured crayons. When you look at them and then try to create an impression of them on paper, you are really seeing what is there, rather than just glancing at things as we do every day. It takes time to observe them and I feel that it makes a connection across time to the craftsman, when we stop and consider how much time and skill he put into it originally. Thinking about the centuries between us somehow gives me perspective on things today and it positions me in time; centuries of people have gone before us and centuries of people will follow. What will people be drawing in 1000 years from our time? And will there still be drawing then?

Salford Comedy Festival and LS Lowry

I am just back from my trip to Salford for two talks at the Salford Comedy Festival, at the BBC. So now the hard work begins... I have heard lots of good advice on how to write a well-crafted sitcom, who to pitch it to, and what not to do.  I went to talks given by a commissioner for the BBC, as well as writers and producers for radio and television comedy. A lot of the advice is common sense, but it sounds as though the same mistakes are made in many of the submissions they receive.

Writing for radio or for children's television is a good way in to comedy writing. It costs less to produce radio shows and you can submit sketches for topical news shows, like Newsjack or That Show What You Wrote. Producers will pick out people who make a good impression, and perhaps contact them to write something further down the line.

Key points to bear in mind when writing a sitcom are to have a well plotted story, with a structure and a decent end, rather than a series of gags. You also need to have well defined characters, who are original and whom the audience cares about, with a character flaw. Plus it has to be funny. So although the task of writing funny shows is not easy, it was good to hear how they encouraged us to submit scripts to the Writers Room, because they are always looking for something new, exciting and original.

I will be looking for inspiration everywhere I go now, and in everything I hear or see. I enjoyed my trip to Manchester/Salford, as it was all new to me. I got the tram from Picadilly right out to Salford Quays. It was fun to float through the streets in the tram, looking at the buildings and people. I had relatives who used to live in Manchester so it was nice to think of them having been there. I loved the trams: they are so clean, efficient and quiet. I saw a couple of people having to step back when the driver tooted at them, because they had not seen or heard the tram coming.  We crossed the Manchester Ship Canal - I knew it was that because it was so wide, and I saw Old Trafford (enormous) on the other side of the quays. MediaCityUK has the BBC and some of Salford University. It was modern and nicely set out. I expect it is a pleasant place to work.  On the other side of a bridge was ITV, where they film Coronation Street. All very exciting.

The Lowry is also at the quays so I was pleased I had time to visit. The galleries were very well presented. I did not know much about L.S. Lowry, so I watched a short film about him. I disagreed in places with the assumptions of the voiceover, particularly about his private erotic drawings, which the film implied meant he was weird. But these were pre-internet times and I did not see anything too unusal in them. Nor did I like how a journalist had taken photos of the rooms in Lowry's house, after Lowry had died. It felt intrusive and ghoulish. So what if he had pictures of Rosetti's women on his bedroom walls?

His less well known work was also interesting. There were a lot of pencil sketches (he sketched on anything to hand) and some paintings of the sea, which had a white sky and a white sea. A quotation next to it said that Lowry was painting his loneliness, and that also his well known crowd scenes depicted loneliness, as there was no lonelier place than in a crowd. But I am not sure they say this to me: the most famous ones, "Coming from the Mill" and "Going to the Match" were wonderful to stand in front of, letting your eyes roam from figure to figure. "Going to the Match" was particularly good how the figures, pouring towards the ground, led your eye to the same point from several directions. It evoked match day perfectly; I have only been to a couple of games but I remember all the people walking in the same direction and how weird it felt.

Despite having the song "Matchstick Men and Matchstick Cats and Dogs" going round my brain, I did not think the figures were as simplistic as matchstick men. You could tell the era the painting was done from the fashions; in the 20s, women had cloche hats, and in the 60s and 70s you could recognise the modern clothes. I loved the dogs, their simple shapes were comical.

If you are in Salford then I recommend that you visit the Lowry. I am hoping my visit will inspire my comedy writing.