Journal   Comments Off on 09/06/2022   9 June 2022
The Sounding Arches

Today I stopped off in Maidenhead on my work travels to take my Bowelbabe teddy to the famous railway bridge that spans The River Thames. Opened in 1839 the bridge is now a Grade 1 listed structure, and remains fully operational heading towards its 200th anniversary! Because it boasts the flattest yet widest brick constructed arches in the world it has unique acoustics and is also known as the sounding arches. As children it was always really exciting to be able to go under the arches and make a racket and hear the amazing echo. Of course it is not just children who do this, and 4 canoeists went under the bridge while I was there today and they were behaving just like kids making all sorts of noises. Brilliant!

I was born in Maidenhead (well Taplow to be precise) and grew up there in family home, which Mum and Dad built in 1960 and where they both stayed until their respective deaths. It was sold in 2017. Dad’s business, John Darvell Packaging Ltd, which is now just little old me, was formed in 1976 and began with a phone on the landing in the house. I remember Dad moving to his first small office in Maidenhead, and I revised for my O’Levels in the next industrial unit he took on and also this was where I began my own working life at. To keep the business going we had to leave Maidenhead in 2000 and relocate to Medmenham to the farm estate where we have remained ever since. But I still have a few customers in Maidenhead, and it will always be my home town, and of course the parents are both buried there.

The beauty of the teddy bears is being able to take them with you on adventures. So, not only are you donating to the Bowelbabe Fund and raising awareness about bowel cancer, but you are also able to have a little bit of fun at the same time. Please keep the photos coming in. I will keep taking photos and doing this, so why not join in?

I have spent this week listening to the 11 tracks I’ve recorded for the Fields of Dawn album. Well I say 11, but it is 10 tracks and 1 demo at the moment. Once the 11th track is completed I can really begin to move things forwards as far as organising the vinyls and planning the best way to market the album. For instance, should I release a track off the album before release. I know this is norm with bands, but I would feel a little guilty about asking people who have parted with their cash to buy a single from the release. I did think that if I was to release a single then everyone who has pre-ordered the album could be sent the track free of charge.

I have been working on the track listing, which I am fairly sure I am happy with and then it’s the niggly task of making sure the volume levels are the same for each track, but I am getting there on that too. I then wonder if there would be any interest in t-shirts or bundle packages. I mustn’t get too carried away though. My main hopes are to sell all 50 vinyl copies and also as many CDs and Downloads as possible. The pre-sales for the CDs and Downloads will begin soon. All profits raised from every sales will be shared between Bowel Cancer UK, Love Hope Strength and The Bowel Movement, so every purchase really will count x