TIM ALBERT writer and trainer
TIM ALBERTwriter and trainer

Talk: A cub on the moor: tales from a young reporter

As a young reporter I discovered the dramas playing underneath the calm

Dartmoor in the early 1970s may have seemed like a picture-postcard place, but all sorts of dramas played out underneath the calm. This I discovered when I was transplanted from suburban Wimbledon to deeply rural Tavistock, where I served as an indentured trainee reporter on the local newspaper.

 

My talk reveals why I was threatened with being impaled on top of the Maypole, how the churchwardens managed to keep their sheep rustling quiet, and why the asssistant postmaster refused to say whether he enjoyed his job. I also explain how these and other events turned me from a callow sociology graduate into a fully fledged reporter heading for Fleet Street.

 

In these days of 'fake news' and few local newspapers, there are some interesting lessons to draw .

 

The talk is illustrated with photographs taken by Jim Thorington, for many years photographer at the Tavistock TImes.  My thanks to the Thorington Archive, Tavistock Museum.

'Tim's talk at the Tavistock Wharf was a spirited and evocative account of his years as an apprentice reporter. ..It brought to life the characters he met and their eccentricities' - Dr Ann Pulford, talks organiser

Business stuff

Timing: The talk normally runs for about 40 minutes

 

Speaker’s details: I was a journalist on national and medical newspapers and magazines, and after that ran a business teaching written communication skills to health professionals. I have written four books on medical writing and a memoir. I am an experienced public speaker and former chairman of Mole Valley Speakers Club.

 

Standard fee: £75 (£50 Zoom)

Mileage: 35 ppm for distances over 10 miles

Previous talks have included: 

Rotary Club of Cannock, The Wharf Tavistock, Probus Club of Bookham, Surrey Retired Engineers, 

 

 A Boomer Visits America Coast-To-Coast By Greyhound Bus: 1969 And 2019 - Forbes magazine

Slow travel by train: getting there is part of the journeyMore Time to Travel

BBC Radio Surrey: to hear my interview with Sarah Gorrell about my USA bus tours, click here

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© Tim Albert 2023