News

277288 of 996 items

Swallows and Amazons comes to the York stage this Summer

by Nancy Blackett

Arthur Ransome’s “Swallows and Amazons” will be on stage in York this summer. The Helen Edmundson adapation, with music by Neil Hannon, will be at the York Theatre Royal from July 26th until August 24th. There will be daily performances at 7pm, with additional matinees on selected days at 10:30am, 2:30pm and 3pm, as well as […]

Talks about “Swallows and Armenians” in Leeds and London

by Nancy Blackett

Artist, curator and writer Karen Babayan will be exploring the Arthur Ransome Archive in a lunchtime talk at Leeds University on 21st March, and an evening talk at London’s Armenian Institute on 30th March. Aiming to establish the Altounyan-Swallows-Ransome connection and celebrate the contribution of the Altounyan family to the cultural history of the Lake […]

Celebrating Swallows and Amazons on World Book Day 2019

by Nancy Blackett

People shared stories about their connections to Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons books across social media yesterday as part of World Book Day 2019. World Book Day is an annual event that has been organised by UNESCO since 1995 to promote reading and publishing. In the United Kingdom and Ireland it is a charity event […]

How We Celebrated Arthur Ransome at the Essex Book Festival

by Nancy Blackett

The Nancy Blackett Trust’s President Peter Willis joined fellow authors Julia Jones and Sophie Neville in Harwich last Sunday for a discussion of Arthur Ransome, his life, books and legacy. The sold-out event, celebrating the 80th anniversary of Secret Water’s publication, was part of the Essex Book Festival. Here’s Sophie’s personal reflection on the day… […]

Arthur Ransome’s “Secret Water” is 80 this year

by Nancy Blackett

Arthur Ransome’s eighth novel “Secret Water” turns 80 this year. It’s his only Essex novel and this anniversary has prompted a ‘hub’ weekend of events in Harwich during that county’s book festival in March. It also prompts the question – what does it mean for a book to be eighty? Julia Jones investigates… An eightieth birthday, celebrated in 2019, […]

Nancy Blackett’s new first coat of anti-fouling

by Nancy Blackett

Nancy Blackett’s winter work has made a further step forward with the completion of the first new coat of anti-fouling, reports Neil Brooks. A small working group of volunteers assembled yesterday and managed to apply the coat in just over an hour, before enjoying a well-earned coffee break. A second coat will not be applied […]

Sophie Neville on “Walton’s Secret Water”

by Nancy Blackett

Sophie Neville writes about appearing in the documentary “Walton’s Secret Water”, representing the Arthur Ransome Society and celebrating Arthur Ransome’s legacy at next month’s Essex Book Festival. In my role as President of The Arthur Ransome Society, I was interviewed by Chris Opperman for a new documentary produced by David Webb on the Walton Backwaters, […]

Keswick’s youth theatre performs ‘Swallows and Armenians’

by Nancy Blackett

A performance inspired by the Anglo-Armenian origins of the Altouynans, models of the Walkers in Arthur Ransome’s “Swallows and Amazons”, will be on stage in Keswick this Sunday (17th February) at 4pm. Performed by Young Company, Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake youth group, “Swallows and Armenians” was inspired by a book of short stories by Cumbria-based […]

Nancy Blackett’s priming progress

by Nancy Blackett

Further progress has been made with the priming of Nancy Blackett’s hull as part of her ongoing winter work, reports Neil Brooks. All underwater surfaces have been cleaned, sanded and coated with primer, while many of the small pits over fastenings have additionally been filled with red lead, as shown in the photos below. Several more […]

Skip to content