The Uninvited by Clive Harold

The Uninvited by Clive Harold (1979 edition)

This book spellbound me when I first read it at the time of its initial publication in 1979. The skies still held that wonderment generated by the release of Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind a few years previously, and I had even formed a small 'UFO Watching Club' in my school that gathered in the warm summer evenings to atop a hill behind our home village. Tales of UFO sightings were rife at the time in South Wales and the area, or at least the skies over the area that had become labelled 'The Welsh Triangle' could be seen in the distance from our watching ground. Unfortunately, we never spotted anything out of the ordinary on any of our meet-ups :(

Clive Harold's book, detailing the strange occurrences experienced by the Coombs family during the height of the UFO sightings with The Welsh Triangle, was a gripping read and was easily as scary as any other horror novel I had read at the time, especially as the book took pains to point out that every word contained within it was the God's honest truth!

'THIS STORY IS TRUE. YOU'LL WISH IT WASN'T.'

'Every word in this book is as true as it is incredible.'

Even though the book is essentially a novelisation of the events that are said to have transpired to the Coombs family, I remember believing every single thing that was written on it pages had occurred exactly like it was stated within its pages, especially as the publisher, Star, had categorised the book as Non-fiction!

Inside front cover of the 1979 edition of The Uninvited by Clive Harold

Pauline Coombs (the central focus of the book)
with her two children at Ripperston Farm

The book is set during 1997, primarily on Ripperston Farm and the nearby coast at Stack Rocks. It commences with Pauline Coombs stood at her kitchen window, looking up at the night sky and watching a ball of incandescent light that hung motionless there. At first she imagines that the light is a flare, set off from the nearby coast, but after a while the light began a "swaying motion. Gently. Like a pendulum. Back and forth. To and fro. Like it was watching here, waving to her". This curious incident is followed by other unusual occurrences, a light following them in the night sky as they drive home one evening, flickering lights at the window of their cottage, and soon escalates to the sighting of a glowing seven foot tall figure in a silver suit staring into the cottage at the family.

Ripperston Farmhouse

Further events recorded in the book include more incidences of silver-suited figures, unusual dark and fluid shapes moving around their home and a UFO performing incredible acrobatics before diving into the sea at Stack Rocks! 

Signpost to Stack Rocks

Heading to the clifftop at Stack Rocks to investigate further, Pauline spots two figures, , again silver-suited, each around ten feet tall, clambering about the base of the rock formations.  A doorway appears in the rock and the figures disappear through the entrance. Stepping out of site, the door itself then vanishes from view.

My copy of The Uninvited at the sight of one
of the more unusual occurrences in the book

I won't give away anything further about the contents of the tale contained within The Uninvited but the tale truly makes for a fascinating read and it is a real page-turner of a book. And for those of us lucky enough to have lived through and experienced the 1970's, the book a real nostalgic treat.

A figure atop the cliffs at Stack Rocks

Stack Rocks

It is now over 42 years after the events depicted in The Uninvited were said to have taken place. And 40 years since Clive Harold's novelisation was published. In the intervening years, Pauline Coombs and her family have kept a very low profile and no longer seem to want to discuss the matters recorded in the novelisation of the events she witnessed. The author himself seems to have fallen on hard times. The last mention of him I could find was this short news clip from ITV's News at Ten, which finds the writer a little down o his luck but in good spirits.

Stack Rocks

Stack Rocks

As for myself, after losing my original copy of The Uninvited many moons ago, I recently stumbled across another in my local second hand store and snaffled it up with greedy hands. Upon a second reading, I found that the book was just as creepy and engrossing as I remembered it being. And, having reignited my passion for the tale contained within its tattered covered, I even drove out to take a look at both Ripperston Farmhouse and the famous Stack Rocks themselves. As you can hopefully see by the photographs of the sites I have including in this article, it was day out to remember :)

The magnificent Green Bridge of Wales, Stack Rocks

If this brief entry has stirred your interest, I can recommend this interesting read as your next port of call.

Interruptions Whilst Writing a Review

Osteospermum

Gale Recording From My Garden Shed

Saturday August 2, 2019:

Light on Wall at My Day Job

Ewok

Completing the Intro to The Verry Volk

Tweaked Cover Design for The Verry Volk

Working on The Verry Volk Intro

Working on the introduction to The Verry Volk, which I hope to have published before the close of Summer...

Pawsy

This fur-ball really does not like me typing on my laptop. She continually tapped and pawed at my fingers whilst I was updating this site earlier lol.

Stephen King ~ Thinner/Misery

I finished reading Stephen King's 'Thinner' yesterday. I saw the book in a charity sale and was drawn to it by its atmospheric cover:

My tatty second-hand copy of Stephen King's 'Thinner'

Whilst the book was a decent read, I have to admit to being disappointed that the scene depicted on the cover never actually occurred in the novel! Don't you just hate it when book covers deceive the reader like that?

Artwork on Stephen King's 'Thinner' book.
This scene never actually occurred in the book!

I have a lot of books waiting patiently for my attention, but this one called the loudest this morning when I went to choose my next big read.

I have only read a handful of Stephen King books - Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, On Writing and now Thinner. I am not the author's greatest fan (I find he pads out his stories to the nth degree) but I have always enjoyed the tales he writes. I am hoping for some great chills in the weeks ahead with this particular book :)

The Angel Of The North

Following on from my post the other day on Antony Gormley's 'Another Place', here are some of the images I captured of  Gormley's most famous work, 'The Angel of the North':

The immense 'Angel of the North'

The 'Angel of the North' is an immense sculpture, made of steel, that is located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. Erected on the site on 15 February 1998, is stands 20 metres tall, with a wingspan measuring 54 metres! Its wings are positioned forward from the body at an angle of 3.5 degrees to give the impression of an embrace. However, this welcoming stance, plus its position overlooking the A1 and A167 roads, led locals to nickname the statue 'The Gateshead Flasher"!

Locals have cheekily nick-named the statue 'The Gateshead Flasher'

Gormley has stated that the siting of the work is of particular importance. The statue stands atop the former Pithead Baths Colliery where men toiled beneath the surface of the earth in total darkness. The 'Angel' having risen from the mines, now stands proudly in the daylight in an act of celebration of the industry, its wings unfurled like a newly hatched butterfly, gaining strength from the sunlight and ready to embrace the future. The mound of earth beneath the 'Angel'' feet also appears like an ancient megalithic burial mound, giving a timeless and spiritual aspect to the piece.

The statue was funded by Gatehead Council, along with the Arts Council of England, the European Regional Development Fund and private sponsorship. Its size and exposed location means the sculpture has to withstand wind speeds of over 100 mph. To accommodate this, the piece is secured in 600 tonnes of concrete and is anchored to a depth of 21 metres beneath the ground. It was constructed, using COR-TEN steel, in three pieces at Hartlepool Steel Fabrications Ltd.

The magnificent 'Angel of the North'

Like much of Gormley's work, the 'Angel of the North' generated a lot of controversy when plans for the piece were first advertised. Give its high visibility along the adjacent roads, the potential for its presence causing traffic accidents were amongst the chief reasons for complaint. To try and alleviate those concerns, trees have now been grown to mask the statue from sight where the main road reaches its closest position to the 'Angel'.

As is usual with Gormley's public art, controversy soon abated after the unveiling of the piece, and the 'Angel of the North' is now recognised as the UK's most famous sculpture. It currently draw around 150,000 visitors to the area each year. It really is an impressive and uplifting work of public art, the sheer scale of which is not given full justice by my photographs.

Camping Weekend at Llangorse Lake, Brecon

I went camping near Llangorse Lane, near Brecon, with my family and some friends this past weekend. We were spoiled with the weather and the scenery was spectacular.

The lake was particularly stunning and we even had an hour out on its water in a rowing boat :)

Llangorse Lake, South Wales' Largest Natural Lake

The lake, the largest natural lake in South Wales, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, where both fish and birds are found in extraordinary numbers. Of archaeological interest, the lake also hosts Wales' only Crannog - a small artificial island that are more prevalent in Scotland and Ireland.

Llangorse Lake And Its Unique Welsh Crannog

The crannog is constructed from huge oak plank that were secured deep into the pear beneath the lake, upon which a dwelling platform was constructed from layers of soil, stone and brushwood. Archaeological digs at the site have unearthed high quality textile, an antler comb, remnants of a shrine and an 8th Century bronze hinge. I 1925, a 9th Century dugout boat was also discovered beneath the lake. The crannog, which has been dated to c. 890 a.d, originally had a 3 metre wide wooden causeway connected it to the mainland and is believed to have been the centre of royal administration of the area.

Rowing boats for hire on Llangorse Lake

Rowing Boat, Llangorse Lake

There are numerous folk tales associated with the lake. There have been innumerable sighting of a townscape appearing beneath the rippling surface of its waters and during winter, when the lake is frozen, the groans of the drowned can be heard hollowing from the cracks in the ice.

Rowing on Llangorse Lake

The lake is also said to be home to the mythical water beast, the Afanc. The monster of the lake was first reported by the 15th Century Welsh poet, Lewys Glyn Cothi and is said to have killed anyone who fell into the waters there. The beast is described as being a dwarf-like demon with the appearance of a crocodile. Although folklore records that the beast met it ends at the point of King Arthur's might Excalibur, sightings of a strange creature inhabiting the lake continue to be reported. A replica of the Excalibur, celebrating the slaughter of the Afanc, is now on display near the water's edge.

The sword in the stone. The sword Excalibur is said to have slain the Afanc

The campsite near the edge of the lake is a spacious environment and has some lovely and picturesque country walks in which to while away your time there.

Horse, Llangorse

Swan, Llangorse

Swan, Llangorse

I managed to do a trio of audio field recordings whilst at the camp. These are best listened to with headphones. First up was this recording of the ambient chatter of the campers:

The following morning, I recorded the dawn chorus from a small footbridge that crossed this lovely little stream. Listen carefully and you will also hear the swan I saw there giving itself a little wash:

And finally, this is a dawn chorus recording I made on my final morning of the camp, of the water birds at Llangorse Lake itself:

I enjoyed getting away from the hustle and bustle of modern life for a few days. And last weekend's camp give me the perfect opportunity to relax and do a little more writing on my second draft of Berserk! while soaking up the natural environment about me :)

Working on the second draft of Berserk! whilst camping

Catching up on some reading during a short rain shower

Sounds From The Garden Workshop

Completing Chapter Two, Draft Two