Byddi Lee's Blog, page 3

Flash Fiction at Long Meadow Cider Company

The apples are ripening, a sure sign that it’s coming up to Food and Cider Festival time of year again in Armagh. Long Meadow Cider Company are our hosts this year. They have a stunning range of award-winning ciders and their apple cider vinegar is a staple in my pantry. Have a look at their website for tours, information and online shop. And of course, come to our event where you’d get a chance to sample the ciders and tasty locally produced snacks all included in the ticket price of £15.

Check out other events at the Armagh Food and Cider Festival here.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the submission for our event. Such wonderful stories made it tough to pick only ten for the event, but we managed it, and I know you’ll love the selection. It is always a privilege to read the submissions, and humbling too.

We are delighted to present the following writers at Flash Fiction at Long Meadow Cider Company on 8th September 2022 at 7 pm.

 In no particular order, congratulations to:

Amy Elkheart, Dog Eat Dog

Tim Hanna, The Shooter

Jane Searle, The Number 22

Tanya Mc Ginn, In the Shadow of the Castle

Henry Hudson, The Bus

Emma Kane, All Grown Up

Brenda McAteer, Reflections

Malachi Kelly, The Cat, The Fox and The Car

Michaela Mc Daid, When Everything is Different

Ellen McKenna, Life Goes On

Please come and enjoy the tastes of County Armagh and support local businesses and writers. You can get your tickets here.

Supporting local businesses, especially in times like these, helps to keep our community strong. Here’s an example… I was getting physiotherapy for a shoulder injury earlier in the year. The physiotherapist asked me what I worked at. When I said I was a writer, she bought my books. I used the money from that to help pay for yoga sessions locally. So in effect, she supported two local businesses…and perhaps, with her income from yoga, the yoga instructor bought locally too…

Anyway, just a wee thought to chew on until the apples ripen!

See you at harvest time,

Byddi

Flashforward, Flashback

It’s that time of year again – Apple blossoms in Armagh and that means submissions are open for the Flash Fiction Armagh event at the Armagh Food and Cider Festival in September! This year it’s Flash Fiction at Long Meadow Cider Company and takes place on Thursday, 8th September 2022 at 7.00 pm.

Entries are encouraged from:

Experienced writersAuthors who can extract a short section from their booksIrish Language writersUlster Scots writersNew writersPoets whose poetry reads like prose

The deadline for submissions is 8th August 2022. Please use the form at this link to send us your 200 – 750 word submission. Copy and paste your story into the Comment or Message* section. 

Réamonn Ó Ciaráin, Armagh author of Laoch na Laochra: Scéal Chúchulainn, and Chúchulainn: Ulster’s Greatest Hero, will help curate the submissions. 

It is free to enter, but please only submit one piece of work.

You must be available to read at the event on the 8th of September 2022If you are not selected for your chosen date we reserve the right to invite you to read your submission at a subsequent Flash Fiction night.We don’t mind if you submit work that has been submitted elsewhere or that has already been published. Authors are welcome to bring copies of their books to sell. (Even if you are attending as an audience member.)

In past years this event has quickly sold out. Tickets cost £15 but readers get a complimentary ticket in addition to being paid a small stipend to help with travel expenses, because, at Flash Fiction Armagh, we don’t believe that writers should work for free.

So that’s the Flashforward component of this post – now we’ll Flashback to the last Flash Fiction event …

…which My Husband (the tech part of the FFA team) and I missed because of Covid, leaving Réamonn to run the event singlehandedly – and what a magnificent job he did. He even managed to video the event on his iPhone proving that the Lees were disconcertingly dispensible to the proceedings!

Thankfully, we recovered well from our bout of Covid, and I send apologies for my tardiness in getting the video posted but as of today, I’ve caught up. You can view the recording of the event by clicking here.

Thank you to Réamonn for keeping the ship afloat, to The Armagh County Museum for being such wonderful hosts and to all of our wonderful readers.

We look forward to reading your submissions for the Armagh Food and Cider Event.

Happy writing…

Byddi Lee

Street Strangers – Flash Fiction Saturday Night at the Museum Presents…

In keeping with the theme of Flash Fiction Saturday Night at the Museum, I’ve included a photo of a very random ‘Street Stranger’.

I met this rooster walking down the street during the week. What made it more bizarre is that he followed me to my reflexology appointment with the wonderful KW Mind Body Sole. He watched me through the window for the duration of the treatment, waited by the door for me to leave and then continued to follow me, keeping just out of reach every time I tried to catch him. I was being stalked by a rooster!  

Worried he might get attacked by the neighbourhood cats,  I ‘walked’ him back to his owner’s house, and all was well… for that bird. However, I did go straight from there to McAnerney’s Supermarket to buy one of their delicious cooked chickens…

So back to Flash Fiction Armagh…We had a fabulous response to the call for submissions for Flash Fiction Saturday Night at the Museum. It’s always a pleasure and a privilege to read these wonderful stories.

 The high standard of writing gave us some difficulty making our final selection, but we are delighted to present the following writers at our Flash Fiction Saturday Night at the Museum on 12th February 2022 at 7pm.

 In no particular order, congratulations to:

Paul Hamilton, The Kid Inside

Gaynor Kane, Stalker

Tim Hanna, Talk in the Park

Teri Kelly, The Next Step

Ruth Powell, Blanket Street

Ellen McKenna, Snapshots

Rosemary Tumilty, Sunday Morning Mist

Sue Divin, Extract from Guard Your Heart

Henry Kloot, Gestation at the Station

Rachel Burns, An Encounter

Fionntan Macdonald, Marty

David Braziel, Borrowed Time

Pleased come and support the arts community in what we wholeheartedly hope is the post-pandemic recovery. Tickets are still limited (because of Covid precautions, but fingers crossed that will all change soon) so get yours here … quickly before they sell out.

Buy tickets

A big thank you to the Armagh County Museum for generously hosting the event in conjunction with an exhibition entitled ‘Street Strangers’ by the fabulous local photographer, Alistair Prentice on display from the beginning of January 2022.

Armagh County Museum is open for business and is always well worth a visit with plenty to see, with the added bonus of knowledgeable, helpful and friendly staff who are passionate about showing off their museum. Byddi Lee

Getting Through Christmas

Perhaps it’s an age thing, but there seems to be more people missing around the Christmas table than ever. It could be because of the pandemic’s travel restrictions, bereavement, infertility, addiction, or mental health issues, to name a few reasons, but it always amazes me how brave some folk are to face Christmas with such good grace.

For many, Christmas is a tough time of year and especially this year. Yet, I hope to warm some hearts and bring a smile to some faces that might not otherwise have felt a Christmas glow. I’m keenly aware that it is insensitive to be bouncing around with Christmas cheer. That is why my next publication, Then Came Christmas, is dedicated to those people with empty chairs at their tables at Christmas. It’s a short story that picks up where March to November ends and is available on Kindle and as a pamphlet if you prefer a hard copy. Some of you may have read it when I had it posted on my old website in 2016 (Before I had my current website redesigned.) I came across the story in my files recently, and it struck me how apt it was right now.

Then Came Christmas – A Short Story Sequel to March to November begins on 20th December, just over six weeks from where the book ends and shows how Tracey and the gang face Christmas in the aftermath of March to November. It gives away some of the book’s ending but can be read as a stand-alone.

Each day, the story unfolds until it ends on Christmas Day. Here’s the blurb:

Every time she thinks about Christmas this year, Tracey experiences a vortex of panic and confusion. How can she face it while grieving for her best friend? But life marches on, and Tracey will have a Christmas with someone she truly loves for the first time ever. Tommy has been the warm, bright light in a very rough year. Tracey is also looking forward to her baby niece’s first Christmas, as complicated as sharing the day with her seems right now. However, Christmas day will not be the same without spending it with her big brother, Dermot. But Tommy can’t bear to be in the same room as him. How will Tracey keep everyone happy this year and get through the day herself?

I’ve added Bonus Material at the back too – an article I had published last year on a blog tour about How Irish Legends Inspired A Science Fiction Trilogy About Getting Younger and also a piece of Flash Fiction from The Bramley. I hope you enjoy them.

One thing I find heartening about getting to Christmas Day is that the days get longer. Even if you can’t yet see evidence of it, it’s nice knowing that the darkest day of the year is over us and that spring will be on its way, bringing warmth and light to heavy hearts.

One thing I do love about this time of year is that it is easier to see the dawn, and there have been some spectacular skies without having to get up at ridiculous o clock.

Another thing to look forward to is our Flash Fiction Saturday Night in the Museum on 12th February in the Armagh County Museum. If you’ve been creative this winter, perhaps you will be able to submit to it (you will be required to read your piece in person on the night.) The theme is Street Stranger, in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name by Alistair Prentice. The deadline for submissions is 12th January 2022. There’s more information in the last blog post.

Tickets will be on sale to attend in person after the submission deadline. All past Flash Fiction Armagh events are posted on YouTube for your enjoyment.

I wish you peace, love and solace this Christmas. Be kind to yourself if you’re finding it tough, and know that you are not alone. Brighter days are coming.

Byddi Lee

Flash Fiction Saturday Night at the Museum Call for Submissions

We’re excited to announce the next Flash Fiction Saturday Night in the Museum in the Armagh County Museum in conjunction with an exhibition entitled ‘Street Strangers’ by the fabulous local photographer, Alistair Prentice due to be on display from the beginning of January 2022.

Submissions should be in keeping with the theme of the exhibition – Street Strangers but might be a loose interpretation. Stories of no more than 750 words are welcome from both new and experienced writers, Irish Language writers, Ulster-Scots writers, and authors who can extract a short section from their books to share a sample of their work.

Submit your work via the form on the website (link here) where you will find more details about Flash Fiction Armagh and can view previous events. The submission deadline is 12th January 2022.

It is free to submit, but please only send us one piece. You must be available to read at the Armagh County Museum, at 7pm on Saturday, 12th February 2022.

This will be a ticket-only event and tickets will go on sale in mid-January 2022 – price £5.00 per person.

Readers and attendees must present proof of COVID vaccinations, wear masks and comply with all COVID regulations in effect at the time.

The Armagh County Museum is a lovely place to while away the time on a cold winter’s day. Call in at your leisure to see its current exhibition – The Armagh Art Club Winter Exhibition – until 31st December 2021. I found it very inspiring and the artwork is for sale – a good place to find a unique Christmas Present and support local artists at the same time.

We look forward to reading your submissions.

Happy writing

Byddi Lee

Dragging Menopause From the Shadows

I wanted to run and hide when Roisin Hillman asked me to speak to the BBC health correspondent, Marie-Louise Connelly, about having trouble filling my prescription for HRT. Who wants to talk about their menopause on the Evening News?

Roisin has started something amazing for women in the North of Ireland and beyond – a menopause support group with over 1000 women on Facebook, and I wanted to give something back, show solidarity and speak out about the HRT supply issue.

It was time to step up.

Women’s health has been on the back boiler for too long. If women suffer from something that men don’t, that tends to make it a taboo subject – menstruation, menopause, miscarriage, and it wasn’t that long ago that even pregnancy wasn’t spoken about in front of men – and certainly not labour and delivering the baby.

Admittedly, men have their health taboos, too – anything to do with ailments of the reproductive organs. And regardless of your gender, mental health issues are in that suite of unmentionable subjects also.

So, yes, my initial thoughts on being interviewed about menopause were – ‘No way!’

But what’s happening is atrocious, leaving women in a grim situation without their medication. Someone has to speak up. And if not me, who? I’ve spent so long jumping at the chance to promote my own agenda, books, and writing that it seems selfish not to use that experience to at least work for a wider and worthy cause.

That’s why I ended up speaking about how difficult it is to get and continue to get the right essential medicine during menopause.

Often women are not listened to when they present their menopause symptoms. Out of date information (e.g. fears that oestrogen could cause breast cancer, although new research disputes this) has led to GPs reluctance to prescribe HRT at all. Women suffer needlessly from hot flushes, interrupted sleep, migraines, tendon/muscle/joint pains, anxiety, and low moods (well, of course, with all that to contend with!), and those are just the symptoms I’ve personally had to deal with. There are a lot more symptoms. Every woman has a different experience with menopause. I’m not as severely affected as some women, which is another reason why speaking up about it made me a little uncomfortable. Have I earned my ‘complaining’ rights?

However, I share my journey through menopause to drag it from the shadows into the cold light of day. Enough of the whispers and euphemisms, no more code names and nudges – let’s call a ‘spade’ a ‘spade’ and a ‘drop in hormone levels’ an ‘issue that needs attention.’

For years, alongside conflicting information and fear of HRT, there’s a notion that menopause is merely a discomfort, and women can put up with the hot flushes, interrupted sleep and ‘battle on through to the other side of menopause,’ as a male GP once advised me in San Jose. It seems this dismissive attitude is a global issue.

There’s also the idea that menopause is a natural process and should not be interfered with. Well, so is childbirth, and for that matter, death! If I can get help making either more comfortable, I’ll take it, thank you. And if you think about it, many ailments are ‘natural’ but would you resign yourself to suffer without help if you didn’t have to?

I’ve had migraines since I was a young child. After puberty, I suffered migraines a couple of times a month or so. There are a host of triggers for my migraines, but the biggest factor is hormonal fluctuations. I was hoping that come menopause, my migraines would stop.

Instead, as my oestrogen levels plummeted, my migraine attacks rocketed. I’ve tried everything. I adjusted my diet, but that didn’t work. I avoided alcohol and, for the most part, still do. I exercise regularly, walking at least 3 miles a day first thing in the morning. I practice yoga. I’ve tried meditation, but my brain finds that challenging. I garden hail, rain or shine because that’s my happy place. I’ve tried acupuncture which became less and less effective. Eventually, I switched to reflexology with Karen Wasson at KW Mind, Body, Sole. The reflexology was amazing, but the conversation afterwards with Karen was life-changing. She suggested I speak with a menopause specialist.

The day after the reflexology, I didn’t have to take a migraine tablet (sumatriptan) for the first time in weeks – actually, I’d lost track of the last migraine-free day I’d had. I was tempted to leave it at that and not bother with the menopause specialist, but another symptom had crept up on me.

At first, the onset of joint pain was so insidious that I didn’t connect it with menopause. In the mornings, my Achilles’ tendons were like a pair of rusty steel cables, so tight and stiff that I had to hobble like an old lady when getting out of bed. I also suffered pains in my neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, hips, knees, and toes. I’d been on prescription non-inflammatory anti-steroidal medication that hadn’t worked. Because of the pandemic, I didn’t want to bother my doctor, so I just lived with it, chipping the edge off with over-the-counter pain medication. I was popping paracetamol and ibuprofen along with the sumatriptan daily. It wasn’t doing my liver any favours, but what else could I do?

A touch of arthritis, or rheumatism, perhaps? My brain fog hadn’t registered which my chiropractor had suggested. Old age was creeping in on me, and I was only 52! What would I be like at 70 or 80?

So, I was amazed when I happened upon an article by a woman who described having similar pains and that HRT had eased it. Could HRT really be the answer? My GP led me to believe that replacing oestrogen now simply postponed menopause, and I’d have to suffer through it later to ‘get to the other side.’

Was there another side, and if so, what kind of hell was awaiting me?

There was nothing else for it. I had to speak with a menopause specialist. You can get a referral to the NHS Menopause Clinic from your GP, but the waiting list is long. If you want to be seen quicker, you can go privately to Kingsbridge Menopause Clinic.

The menopause specialist listened to me and answered my questions. My concern with going cold turkey coming off HRT was unfounded. I could stay on HRT for as long as my body needed it. She said she knew eighty-year-olds still safely on HRT. She gave me a prescription for bio-identical hormones in a gel that I rub onto my thigh or upper arm. The hormones are absorbed through my skin into my bloodstream. Bio-identical means the hormones are in the same molecular form as those my body made, and therefore safer to take.

Within a day, the joint pain had subsided. The frequency of migraines decreased. Over the next six weeks, I needed to tweak the prescribed amount to get better results. With each trial (and error) session, I suffered migraines as the hormone levels fluctuated, but eventually, I worked out the optimum dosage and stabilized migraine free.

Why hadn’t I done this sooner, like at least five years sooner? Why had I suffered for so long when the treatment was so simple, effective, and less expensive (in both economic and biological terms) than treating daily migraines with sumatriptan and paracetamol?

 I had to share this information with my friends – with any woman willing to listen, especially those around my age. I expected to be met with resistance (at best) for bringing up the taboo subject of menopause, or with ridicule for telling them something they already knew about but which I had somehow missed the memo on, or (at worst) with scepticism. But the women leaned in. ‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘For we suffer too…’

And we shared. And we listened to each other. And we joined Roisin’s Facebook group. And we had access to reliable information. And we made our GPs listen and brush up on their training. And we felt healthier and happier. And we began to think that together we had this thing sussed… until we couldn’t get our prescriptions filled because of shortages in the supply of HRT across Northern Ireland.

That’s when Maire-Louise Connelly stepped in and picked up the baton, and ran with it. She put together a comprehensive and accurate story, asking people to tell their experiences. Here’s the link to the article.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-59198124

My story was simple. I’d tried to fill my prescription at my local pharmacy. They are brilliant in there. They’re doing their best in very trying circumstances. They have gone out of their way to source supplies of my HRT, often calling around other pharmacies for me. However, after owing me my medication, this time for several weeks, they still couldn’t fill the prescription. They can’t magic it from thin air, and I appreciate all they do. But I was down to the last of my meds and didn’t relish returning to the migraines and joint pains – indefinitely! Since they didn’t know when they would be able to fill the prescription, they suggested I try a different HRT, but I knew that adjusting to that would prove painful.

It’s unacceptable to constantly worry about getting a supply of essential medication, but my story ends happily this time. A shipment arrived to the pharmacy in the nick of time, and my prescription was filled – for now.

My generation of women is lucky to see this awakening to the tribulations of menopause. Happily, the groundwork is being laid for the women who come after us. Half of the population will go through menopause. It’s important to recognize that, for some women (and their family members), this is a difficult transition that can be efficiently and effectively managed with the right hormonal support.

If you would like more information on the menopause, it’s out there. There are Menopause clinics. Ask your GP for the referrals you need. Join the Menopause Support Group on Facebook. Start a local support group. Tune into Dr Louise Newson podcasts.

Be a sister – share and listen.

Byddi Lee

Flash Fiction in the Orchard 2021 presents:

We are thrilled to be involved in the award-winning Armagh Food and Cider Festival again this year. We are very grateful to the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council for their continued support and for all the hard work they put into this festival.

Our congratulations go to the following writers who have been selected to read at the event on 9th September 2021 in the Armagh Cider Company at 7pm.

In no particular order :-

Mark Brownlee Nolan’s Secret
Jimmy Kerr Granny Rosie’s Country Larder
Réaltán Ní Leannáin PhD
James Simpson Themuns
Malachi Kelly Return Journey
Cathy Carson Lurcher
Emma Gibson Hook, Line and Sinker
Brenda McAteer No Walk, No Escape
Celine Holmes Extract from novel To Fly Again
Ruth Nic Giolla Iasacht Idrstad

At the minute tickets are sold out.

Photo from the Armagh Food and Cider website

While it’s a great to be sold out, we’d like more folk to be able to join us if the Covid regulations permit. So with that in mind, if you’d like to join us but have not yet bought a ticket, please put your name on the wait list and ABCB council will do their best to open up more seats.

We’d like to thank everyone who sent us a submission. Even if you were not selected, please know that it was a pleasure and a privilege to read your writing – do keep submitting.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at the event and to getting to more live readings as the world opens up again. It’s been a long hard road, but I think we’re making progress.

Better days are ahead.

Byddi Lee

Where the Blackbirds Bathe

It started with a blackbird bathing in the most neglected part of my garden. During the house renovations a few years back, this area was where the workmen dumped rubble. I had promised myself a greenhouse or ‘something wonderful’ like an outdoor room and had dreamed of an orangery because, well, gardeners dream, writers dream… put that together, and you get orangery dreams. But the recent years have brought fiercer storms thanks to the reality of climate change, and we’ve already had the garage windows broken in a storm. What chance would a glasshouse of any kind have, especially built upon this hill?

So back to the bird – having a bath…

‘What about a wee pond?’ says I.

My Husband nods tentatively. He knows I don’t need much encouragement…

And how hard can a pond be after building the dry creek feature in my garden in California in the hard-baked, dry desert earth? Soft, soggy Irish soil would be no bother…

I did a bit of research. I consider the Ulster Wildlife Trust a very reliable source. If you’re thinking of a water feature, keep in mind what your local conditions will allow for. A dry creek works in California, but here it would probably get washed away! And likewise, a still-water wildlife pond would not have been a good idea in my California garden  (especially with the mosquito problem in standing water.) But in Ireland, it is a feature that will welcome the wildlife to my garden in all the best ways.

The first thing was to outline the size and shape I wanted. Rain tended to gather in the bits I dug out, so I kept a log in the hole in case the hedgehog fell in and needed to climb out.

I wanted a pond deep enough so it wouldn’t freeze solid to the bottom in the harshest winter weather. Apparently, that meant I had to have it a min of 45-60 cm deep for 40 % of the pool. I took things slowly. It was March. We were in lockdown. There was no big hurry. I aimed to dig 15 shovel-fulls a day. But what could I do with all that soil?

Last autumn, our neighbour chopped down a gigantic Leyland Cypress that had bordered our properties. It’s considered by some as an invasive tree, but it’s always sad to see a large tree being taken down. I did welcome the extra sunlight in the garden, though. Some of the larger branches had fallen on our side. We were so grateful when a Good Friend chopped them into a manageable size for us. I decided to use these logs to make a raised bed to border the pond and fill them, in part, with the displaced earth.

I was delighted when My 13-Year-Old Nephew pitched in one Saturday to help dig the pond – you know lockdown has gone on too long when things like that happen. We had such a great day together too. Excellent bonding time, and for the next few decades, I’ll sit by that pond with the fondest of memories of making it!

The ground was rocky in places and some of the rocks we took out were pretty big – that’s my wellie boot in the picture above for scale.

Despite hating the idea of adding more plastic to the planet, all the advice on making a pond said that I needed a pond liner. I dug a little trench around the rim to secure the liner.

I wanted large smooth pebbles/rocks to edge the pond and cover the surrounding area. A little bit of research led me to a company in Lurgan that would deliver river rock to my driveway. By my calculations, I’d need two tonnes of pebbles. They were due on the 5th May – I had a week and a half to wait.

By the time all the digging was completed, we’d had the driest April on record. When rain was forecast to arrive before the stones would. I worried that the holes would fill with water before the liner was down and that I’d have a nightmarish mudbath trying to set the liner in place. So I decided to put down the liner and fill the pond with water (from our water butt) before the stones arrived.

To prevent sharp rocks from puncturing the pond liner,  there should be a layer of sand, then underlay of some kind (carpet underlay will work.)

Sand I had, leftover from the house renovations and stored in that rubble area for the last couple of years – it would be good to use it up.

I had saved the underlay from the carpet we took out before the renovations. It was perfect. It may as well lie beneath our pond and protect the liner as lie in landfill or in rolls taking up space on shelves in my garage.

The pond liner I had to order online. None of the garden centres were even open yet. I found a nifty calculator online that helped me gauge how much I needed, and just I ordered it up. When it arrived I laid it out in the sun to warm up so it was more flexible to fit the contours of the pond.

As it turned out, putting the water in before the rocks was a great plan. The water from the rainwater tank weighed down the liner and let us see how it looked. When the rain arrived, it filled the rest of the pond and replenished the tank. We were able to see where the liner needed ‘shored up’ to better control the direction of overflow runoff, away from the house. (Don’t forget the safety escape for the hedgehog – that liner might be too slippy for him to scramble out!)

The rocks arrived, and My 13-Year-Old Nephew came over again to help with placing those. It was hard and heavy work. Two tonnes was just the right amount of rock. My back ached, but, boy, did it feel good to see the project come together.

When the garden centres opened, I planned to go shopping for aquatic plants, but after an online research session, I concluded that I wouldn’t buy anything. Apparently, nature will find its own way to my pond. I follow the theory – fragments and seeds from nearby waterways (the River Callan being the closest) will be carried in by birds and take root. This way, I avoid the risk of introducing invasive species that are commonly introduced via garden centre stock. It’s kind of hard to believe that the pond will be a thriving ecosystem simply by my doing nothing, but I am willing to leave it for a year to see what happens – check back in 2022!

To finish, I added a bridge…

planted up the raised bed (that’s a post in its own right!)…

and disguised the rainwater tank with hanging pockets filled with plants…

added a little decorative log pile to hide the ugly gap beneath the water butt…

and hey presto!

The whole thing was barely done when the blackbird was back bathing in the pond. I watched with delight and called My Husband to come and see before thinking to grab the camera. But alas, the rascal (the blackbird, not My Husband) scarpered before I could get the lens cap off. That’s okay – I’m happy just knowing that this pond is where the blackbirds bathe.

Byddi Lee

Armagh Theatre Group Does It Again!

Armagh Theatre Group wowed their audience last night with a brilliant opening night.

Yes, we’re still under Covid restrictions.

Yes, the performance was still live over zoom.

Yes, Armagh Theatre Group are still making the best of this situation and reaching audiences across the globe with their original play Six Angry Women.

Artwork by Aisling Kelly

Earlier in the evening, Kathy Clugston from BBC Radio Ulster’s show The Ticket spoke with the play’s writer, Malachi Kelly, the director, Margery Quinn and one of the actors, Marie Clare Guy. They gave behind the scenes insights and discussed the challenges of acting live over zoom. Have a wee listen in, by following this link.

It’s been great to see the interest that this amateur (in name only, in my opinion!) drama group has generated. Malachi Kelly and another actor, Bridie Heaney, were also on the radio show Your Place and Mine last Saturday morning. You can listen in by following this link. They are on first immediately followed by my good friend Angeline King talking about life in Larne!

This is the third Zoom play that Armagh Theatre Group have performed. The first, Zoomeo and Juliet, and the second, Social Bubble, Toil and Trouble, were written by a team of three of us, Malachi Kelly, Tim Hanna and myself. The ticket sales went towards a building project for the Abbey Lane Theatre, the home of the Armagh Theatre Group. Because of the pandemic, the usual way to bring in funds (through live performances) was not available. The zoom plays were the best alternative – ticking many boxes – giving our writers, director and actors a fun distraction during lockdown, entertaining the public, and raising much-needed funds for the building project. It was nice to know that we were keeping the arts alive during these dark days. Recordings of those live performances are now available to watch on YouTube.

Zoomeo and Juliet

Social Bubble, Toil and Trouble

At the end of 2020, it was clear that theatres would not return to “normal” for a while. We had a “writers and directors meeting” (i.e. a socially distanced walk around Gosford Forest Park) and discussed how to proceed. We decided we’d put our thinking caps on and try to come up with another play. As it turned out, only Malachi managed to find a cap to fit!

When he presented his idea (Six Angry Women) to Tim and me a week or so later, it was clear to us that he had an excellent idea for a new play. He already had the bones of it drafted, and we decided to take the training wheels off and see if Malachi could write this by himself. We’d be there in the wings to help if he got stuck or stalled, but really, this was his baby.

Malachi did not stall! It was exciting to see him take his idea and fly with it. The first reading brought resounded and well-deserved praise from the actors, and when Margery Quinn added her magic, the production came to life. Malachi keeps saying it’s a team effort. He’s right. All writing takes a village, but someone has to come up with the idea and have the courage to push it forward, and that’s the tricky bit. So well done, Malachi!

Last night’s performance was enthralling. The characters really came to life. The drama moved along swiftly – there was never a dull moment. Great to see it all come together so well. The actors have been working so hard, rehearsing nearly every night for the past few weeks. I was in the lucky position to sit in the “wings” and watch Margery Quinn work with the actors. All eight women were so dedicated (six angry women, a judge and the director)! The play covers a range of delicate and hard-hitting topics, with a social commentary of our times. It’s an hour well spent.

For tickets for tonight’s show, click here, and for tomorrow night’s show, click here.

For more information about the Armagh Theatre Group, check out their website  https://armaghtheatregroup.com/

So all that remains to do after you get your ticket, is buy in your popcorn (or whatever snacks you want) and pour yourself a bevvy, then sit back and enjoy the show.

Byddi Lee

Bluebell Fairyland at the Milford Cuttings

It feels like Armagh’s worst keep secret even though the Milford Cuttings should not be kept secret at all. It is a stunningly gorgeous walk that is especially at its best in May with its carpet of bluebells.

Managed by the Ulster Wildlife Trust, this section of disused railway track is home to the largest colony of a rare tree – the Irish whitebeam. Wildflowers grow in abundance and include several species of orchid.

It is a tricky place to find from the directions on the Ulster Wildlife site, so I’ll do my best to make my directions clearer. At the moment, is it dry underfoot because of the lack of rain recently, but keep an eye on the weather conditions. Worst case scenario, it’s a welly-boots walk, but well worth getting mucky for.

So start at Hill Street in Milford village with your back to the Monaghan Road. You’ll see an old School House on your left, a gorgeous old house set in lovely grounds to your right, and then, further along, a new development on your left.

You can park along here if you came this far by car.

You’ll pass Old Mill Court on your left, and the next lane on the same side sports a sign for the Milford Cuttings.

Turn left here. Walk over the old Iron bridge and notice how it looks like it may have been part of the railway system (I don’t know for sure if it was, but it sure looks like it.) Below you flows the Callan river – apparently, the name derives from an old Irish word for ‘Noisy’. It is lovely to hear the water gurgle past.

Follow this lane to a wooden gate (recently mended by the Ulster Wildlife Trust – thank you!)

Go through the gate and keep following the trail…

until it leads you down some wooden steps to what looks like a platform at a train station. (I believe this may be referred to as the old halt locally, but I’m not 100% certain on that.)

It’s a peaceful sun-trap nowadays. You might see frogs in the pool of water that now floods where I presume the tracks went. There’s the buzz of insects and the scent of blossom. It’s a place you could sit and read a book if you were so inclined!

Turn right and head through another wooden gate to follow the trail.

I’m guessing this section was carved out of the hill for the railway tracks. It’s incredible to think this was gouged out a couple of hundred years ago for a railway system that ran to Monaghan and beyond. Sad to think we no longer have a rail system in Armagh anymore.

Soon you’ll come to wooden steps that climb out of the cutting.

From the top, you can see glimpses of the Callan river, though not in the picture below

At the minute, white wood anemone flowers tumble down the hillside colliding with the more stately bluebells and the demure primroses clustered on banks and around tree roots.

Down some more steps…

then the trail threads through a fairyscape…

until it splits into two. Here you can choose to take the high road or the low road – both are equally gorgeous, and if you are doing an out-and-back, the two join up, and you can loop back at this point (for a shortish walk of about 1 mile)

If you fancy a longer walk, you can integrate this into the Rock Road-Ballyards loop I wrote about before. To do this, don’t close the loop. If you took the low trail, turn right, and if you took the high trail, that will be a left. Along this path at the moment, there are white clouds of Blackthorn in bloom, promising heavily laden branches of sloe berries come the autumn. I’m thinking, ‘sloe gin!’

Follow the trail right to the end, where it terminates at the remains of a bridge that once spanned the Ballyards Road below. (Below is a winter shot – an equally gorgeous time to visit the Cuttings)

Be careful when looking over the edge – there’s no fence or safety barrier. From here, double back about fifteen metres to find a gap in the hedge on the right, revealing a steep path down the bank towards the river. Be careful – I’m always scared that one slip will have me swimming in the Callan!

Follow the river bank…

until you see a rusty gate secured by a loop of barbed wire (sounds delightful!) that leads out to the Ballyards Road.

Turning right takes you back into Milford (total walk distance of about 1.2 miles). If you go left, then about half a mile later, cross a stone-walled bridge and take a left again to bring you to the Rock Road. Another left here takes you back into Armagh, where you can grab a well-earned coffee and traybake at the Espresso Bar before doubling back up to the Stormy Hill to cut over to the Monaghan road and back into Milford. For more details on this portion of the route, you can read this post from a while back. The full loop can take about 5 miles.

The Milford Cutting is a place where, on a warm summers evening, as the midges dance in clusters, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a gathering of the fairy folk celebrating nature. In winter, frost glistens in the bare branches of the trees and hedges. A snowfall lingers longer in the hollow of the cutting.

All year long, something stands out to make the heart swell with joy at the wonders of this world we are lucky to inhabit. The Milford Cutting truly is a magical place, and if you don’t believe me come see for yourself.

ByddLee