From The Glue Works

The newsletter of the Margery Allingham Society

No.10 - March 2005

Dear Members,

Welcome to The Glueworks.

Membership

Annual subscriptions were due on January 1st. Thank you to those who have renewed their membership of the Society. Those who have not yet done so are urged to give this priority or risk missing the events and publications to come this year.

We welcome all new members to the Society and look forward to seeing you during the year.

Forthcoming Events

It is with regret that we had to cancel the 'Margery Allingham and Food' talk-cum-dinner arranged for March 9th, the reason being lack of support. Natasha Cooper's work will not be wasted, however. She has generously written it up for us and it will figure in the upcoming Bottle Street Gazette. As so often before, we are greatly in her debt and thank her warmly.

We have had to change the date for this year's Birthday Lunch which will now take place a few days before Margery's birthday - on Saturday May 14th, at the usual venue, the University Women's Club in Audley Square. Our special guest on this occasion will be Jessica Mann, a keen admirer of Margery Allingham's work and herself a distinguished crime writer. Please support this event if you can. A booking form is attached and should be returned as soon as possible. Remember that the Annual General Meeting will precede the lunch and will take place at 11-15 that morning - also at the Club.

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Beckoning Lady we have arranged to revisit Popes Hall, Chappel, the model for the house in the book. This will take place on Saturday September 10th, and we will hope for a fine late summer day. We will meet at Mark's Tey, the nearest main-line station, and proceed to Chappel in members' cars, for lunch at the local pub before our afternoon visit to Popes Hall. The Society has cause to be grateful to Mr and Mrs Lockyer, who have generously agreed to entertain us for a second time. Please let us know if you are interested to come on this visit (without, at this stage, firmly committing yourself - unless you wish to do that now).

Margery in the Garden

Plans are in hand for an event focussing on Margery Allingham's interest in gardens and plants in her private life and in her novels.. This will involve a visit to a specialist museum and will take place in the autumn of 2005 or spring 2006.

Margery Allingham: 100 years of a great Mystery Writer

Copies of the centenary book are available from the Secretary at a cost of £18 for the paperback edition which includes postage and packing. (It is a heavy book) A few copies of the hardback edition are also available at additional cost. Please make cheques payable to B.A.Pike.

Campion on Television

ITV3 has recently shown four of the Peter Davison-Brian Glover Campion Series. Write or send an e-mail demanding more. They perhaps need to know that they have been appreciated.

Room to Let

Roger Johnson has for sale at the very reasonable cost of £6, post inclusive, a splendid CD of ROOM TO LET, Margery Allingham's Jack the Ripper radio thriller, performed by the company who made such a hit at the Writtle weekend in October. American members who would like a copy are asked to send a cheque for 15 dollars made out to Jean Upton. The address for orders is Mole End, 41 Sandford Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 6DE.

Clues

The American critical journal 'Clues' defunct for a time has recently been revived, and its first issue, published last autumn in her centenary year, is devoted to Margery Allingham. The issue is edited by Margaret Kinsman, who is executive Editor for the journal: she is also a contributor.

Other contributors include crime writer Michelle Spring and Julia Jones, as Julia Thorogood MA's biographer. The annual subscription rate, for four quarterly issues, is 55 dollars for Individuals, and the price for a single issue is 27 dollars. The address of the publisher is Heldref Publications, 1319 Eighteenth Street, NW Washington DC 20036-1802, USA and the Heldref website is at http://www.heldref.org.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2005

Saturday 14th May: The University Women's Club, 2 Audley Square, South Audley Street, London W1, at 11:15 a.m.

Coffee will be available from 10:30

In the Chair: Barry Pike

• Secretary's Report
• Treasurer's Report
• Membership Secretary's Report
• Election of Committee
• Chairman's remarks and plans for 2005/6
• A.O.B.

Greetings from all at the Glueworks.

From The Glue Works: Previous Issues

Current Issue No.17 - January 2008 No.16 - November 2007 No.15 - July 2007 No.14 - January 2007 No.13 - Summer 2006 No.12 - February 2006 No.11 - July 2005 No.10 - March 2005 No.9 - Nov/Dec 2004 No.8 - July 2004 No.7 - February 2004 No.6 - August 2003

Website maintained by Lesley Simpson
All text and photos copyright © The Margery Allingham Society unless otherwise stated.