Page 78 - Write Away Magazine Dec 2019
P. 78
OF
HR
S
P
M
S
A
T
C
IT
T
HE IR IS 19
0
4
Set during the Blitz, The Spirit of Christmas 1940 is a Christmas
ghost story that actually started life off as a musical drama. The
inspiration for the story came from one song, ‘Echoes of Home’.
I can’t remember where the mental image actually came from
for ‘Echoes of Home’. All I can say is that at the time I was
Echoes of Home writing an awful lot of war songs and poetry. I had also written
two musicals, one of which was very much written about
conflict. What I can remember is picturing a soldier’s wife
Got your letter yesterday waiting for her husband to return on a station platform. That
Told me you were far away was the basis of everything about the story.
You said you were doing fine Of course, it was destined to be a ghost/ love story but in reality
But I can read between the lines they were just sidelines that would carry the story of a time
I hear the sounds of echoes of home when a country faced its most challenging test and some of it’s
darkest times. That was the main point I wanted to make.
Both the kids are doing fine The song is just that. It tells the sacrifice, the sadness. the
Running round at Christmas time courage and the love of that awful time. I think so much so,
that more had to be written. Song after song was written to try
Mrs Brown’s still telling tales to capture what I was trying to say and I have to say, I came very
Of drunken wives and baby wails close. But more than music and poetry, the story itself had to
be told.
Still I hear the sounds of echoes of home
To give a brief outline of the story, without trying to give too
Got your letter yesterday much away, the story centres around three main characters.
Rosie, an innocent young flower seller who makes a meagre
Saying you’d be home today living with her stall. Jimmy, an over-confident newspaper
But the station’s cold and bare vendor with the gift of the gab, a dodgy deal never too far away
but a very large heart. Finally, Billy Snow. Billy is the ghost of
Cause your still not standing here a soldier who’s purpose is to comfort the heart of the bereaved
Where are the sounds of echoes of home? on Church Street station. In doing so, he takes on the pain of
those he comforts to the point that he can no longer endure the
suffering.
Got a telegram today
It told me you had passed away In a relatively short period of time, a love triangle forms and a
powerfully emotional situation develops in which a forbidden
You died quick and you died brave road comes dangerously close to being travelled. How that is
All the soldiers you had saved negotiated one way or the other, I will not tell.
To hear the sounds of echoes of home The story is set on a ficticious London Train Station during
the Blitz as mentioned earlier. My inspirations for this station
Pictures of a distant time has come from a very real station today. I must give thanks to
the Severn Valley Railway, Kidderminster for their very kind
Reminding me when you were mine assistance with the development of the story and the production
I guess that I’m now doing fine of my book which is the first step in telling the full story.
But you can read between the lines The beautiful Kidderminster station is a period set station
There’s no more sounds of echoes of home with every detail reflecting life during those days of the second
world war. The engines that run there are beautiful vintage
Lyrics & Music arrangement locamotives with carriages looking as new as the day they rolled
Paul Michel off the lines all that time ago. How could one not be inspired.
In fact, the background sketch you see is actually a photo I took
of the Kidderminster Severn Valley Railway station and edited it
to a sketch. A similar picture is on the cover of the book, again
taken at the station.
78 www.writeawaymagazine.co.uk
