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Welcome to SkillingtonScribe
The primary purpose of this website is to publish my book A
History of Skillington. This book was originally produced as bound
printed copies with 50 making up the first edition and, shortly
afterward, an improved version went to 35 copies.
I was pleased to receive an excellent review by the Grantham Journal and
maybe this contributed to a quick sale of all copies. Further
orders totally approximately 15 followed. Unfortunately
the viable number for printing is a minimum of 35 so, the only way
forward was to place it on the web. This
new edition is virtually identical to the second and this format
has the advantage that it can be used as a reference or whatever
parts are of interest can be downloaded.
The
book takes a comprehensive look at this small village situated in the South
Kesteven district of Lincolnshire from the second millennium back into the mists
of time. The 'ordinary' folk are
well featured in pictures, anecdotes and family histories as well as the
celebrities. Among the latter are
Sir Isaac Newton, the Reverend Charles Hudson (first to climb the Matterhorn),
LWR Morley (founder of Vacu-lug) and visitors David Niven and a young Margaret
Thatcher. There is also a strong
American input due to the proximity during WW2 of the airbase at Saltby (now
Buckminster Gliding Club). Skillington
became a focal point too for the new Methodist movement in the late 18th
century. Altogether a fascinating rural community!
Since
the year 2000, the village has gone on to win a gold medal in the National
Village in Bloom contest but, as at this moment of writing, there is no village
website to give up-to-date information or extol its virtues.
Much
of the credit for this website goes to Dr Ismail
Jalili, of Stamford who 'kick-started' the idea and
put a lot of selfless work into its production.
I
hope to add to this site other writings of mine which I trust will find someone
to interest. Some I am currently
seeking an agent/publisher to get them into print, others have been printed or
broadcast, the remainder are ideas. They
include:-
Chess
for Ordinary Mortals: This book is aimed at the 'average to weaker' player.
Using games from my past - including several against existing and rising stars
including Mark Hebden and a 14-year-old Nigel Short - its intention is to
entertain as well as improve one's chess playing.
The
Young Giants:
This short work compares the early lives of Isaac Newton and
Albert Einstein.
Those readers not familiar with these two geniuses may be surprised to
learn that their major discoveries/insights were arrived at by their
mid-twenties. Having assisted the
National Trust as a volunteer house guide at Newton's birthplace, Woolsthorpe
Manor, the life of this 'young giant' I found doubly intriguing … as revealed
in the above book about Skillington. Almost
400 years later the other subject of this comparison made the pilgrimage to
Woolsthorpe, as so many others do from all over the world.
The Ant Gods: This is
a novel of 44k words. It is similar to Watership
Down but for rabbits substitute ants. Basically an adventure story
there is an underlying theme for the thinking reader … are we humans too puny
to ever really conceptualize our universe and the reality of life? We
are, in this tale, the ants' gods.
Trevor
Palmer
Skillington, UK
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