MAY 2023

From the author’s desk …

This morning my thoughts wandered back over 80 years to 1942, as I drove past Rainbow Wood –  a magical woodland situated about one and a half miles south east of Bath on Claverton Down, surrounded by National Trust nurtured walkways.

…This was not an area that Ruth knew, but as the car turned left they passed Rainbow Wood…

 …to those families who were conceived there, it was known as Pudding Club Wood

The car turned into North Road. Halfway down the steep hill, it slowed, and turned through two large stone pillars, on which ‘Lundy House’ was carved in faded lettering, and stopped…

…Ruth gazed out of her bedroom window at the spectacular view of Bath and beyond to Bristol. It was a crystal clear day and the city centre lay peacefully bathed in sunlight hundreds of feet below her. It looked deceptively undamaged by the recent air raids with the abbey dominating the city, completely unscathed. Nearby was the Empire Building, and perched on the hills opposite was the mirrored beauty of the Royal Crescent and Lansdown Crescent, all untouched by the bombs.

Her eye was caught by the bombed and blackened shell of the rugby stand at the Recreation Ground, and the collapsed end of St John’s Church. The mayhem of Kingsmead and New King Street were hidden…

An extract from chapter seven –‘ Go Swift and Far – a Tale of Bath’ The first book of The Westcott Chronicles