Kicking off summer with your Heyday Friday newsletter

Lots of sunny day suggestions in this week's newsletter including a captivating destination for a day out, a delicious summery dessert, a perfect book to read in the sunshine and a very special event.

Jun 02, 2023

This week’s blog is a guide to a captivating town that crams 660 historic buildings into its compact centre. A town that is almost entirely encircled by a river. That was the birth place of Charles Darwin and the longtime home of Percy Thrower and which, amongst its many whimsically named streets, has one which is home to the longest run of independent shops in the country.

Obviously I’m not going to tell you what this little gem of a place is - you’ll have to read the blog to find that out, which you can do by CLICKING HERE - but I will give you another visual clue, by way of a montage of some of its fabulous ancient timber framed buildings, as well as the one above of me in one of its prettiest spots.

What with it being the start of meteorological summer here in the UK (though if someone could explain that to the temperature I’d be grateful) I thought I’d share what has become one of my go-to summer desserts. Quick, ridiculously easy, delicious and healthy. What’s not to love?

MANGO AND PASSION FRUIT FOOL

This amount will serve 4 people.

Peel 2 large ripe mangoes, slice the cheeks off one and cut into small dice and set aside.

Cut the flesh from the other one then puree.

Squeeze out the seeds from 2 passion fruits, halved, and mix with the mango puree. Add the juice of 1 lime to taste then gently fold in 2 150g tubs of Greek yogurt (low fat if you prefer) and half the diced mango.

Divide between 4 glasses (if you want to make it a tad less healthy, you can add crushed biscuits (digestives or ginger) mixed with melted butter as a base) and top with the remaining diced mango then cover and chill for at least 30 mins.

Scoop the seeds from 2 more passion fruits over the top of the fools just before serving - ideally outside in the sunshine!

The, ahem, arrival of summer makes me think of seaside and beaches. And of this

FRIDAY FUNNY

which I saw outside a seafront pub

THIS WEEK I’VE BEEN……READING

Although I was briefly ahead of the reading curve with my review of GO AS A RIVER I’m back in catching-up territory with this week’s recommendation. But if, like me until this week, you also haven’t read this engrossing novel by Maggie Shipstead, which was shortlisted for last year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, then you’re in for a treat.

Not content with creating one memorable heroine, Maggie deftly weaves together the stories of two. Orphaned Marian who grows up in the wilds of Montana with her twin brother in the care of their entirely unsuited, and mostly benignly neglectful uncle, becoming obsessed with planes and flying and determined to qualify as a pilot in the still-early days of aviation. How she does, and the relationships and adventures that leads to, which include stints delivering illegal alcohol during prohibition and ferrying all manner of planes to where they are needed during the Second World War, make up the arc (half of the circle if you will) of her compelling story.

The other half is provided by Hadley, a current-day actress who has shot to fame in a hugely successful film franchise but equally successfully shot down her career with an ill-advised and subsequently professionally disastrous romance and is desperately trying to salvage her reputation by starring in a film about Marian’s life and the mystery that surrounds her disappearance on the very last leg of her attempt to fly round the world.

A delicately revealed web of similarities thread together the two women’s stories, and their richly realised personalities and vividly depicted lives and experiences are made all the more compelling by a cast of equally memorable, roundly crafted supporting characters.

Great Circle is soaring, sweeping saga that will leave its mark on your heart.

You can buy GREAT CIRCLE at any good book shop, including Waterstones, and online

The character of Marian is clearly inspired by the life of the pioneering pilot Amy Johnson who became world famous as the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930. During WWII, on a delivery flight for the Air Transport Auxiliary, she crashed into the Thames estuary and drowned. Her body was never recovered.

In the forward to her autobiography, Sky Roads of the World: Amy Johnson's Story about Her Adventurous Flying Career, she wrote these

WORDS OF WISDOM

Today (if you’re reading this on Friday. Adjust accordingly otherwise) is something of a momentous day for These Are The Heydays. Five years after starting the Heydays Facebook group - if you’re not already a member, do join us, it’s a lovely, funny, caring, supportive gang - and all that time of chatting together on-line, we’re having our first in real life meet-up.

We’re gathering at beautiful Waddesdon Manor in Aylesbury (somewhere that has particular significance for me for reasons I’ll explain to you another time) and I’m SO looking forward to putting real faces to the FB profiles of the wonderful Heydayers who’ll be there.

I look forward to telling you all about it next week.