I'm back... and this time it's personal

Hi folks,

It has been about three weeks since I last wrote on this blog, and newbies might have wondered what has happenned.

Firstly - a nice reason:

It was my 47th Birthday a few days after the Weird Weekend, and Corinna and I went away on holiday for a few days. We went to Jersey, mainly to visit Jersey Zoo, which was founded just before I was born by my hero Gerald Durrell.

I first went there forty years ago in the summer of 1966, and I have to admit that I was rather disappointed. Even at the age of seven I had read many of Durrell's books and I was expecting to see a marvellous zoo. Even at the age of seven, I was disappointed. It was obviously home-made and down at heel. The cages were made out of orange crates and chicken wire, and the whole place had a dilapidated air about it.

It was only when I read Douglas Botting's masterful biography of Durrell, that I realised that I had first visited the place at a pivotal moment in its history! He had left the zoo in the care of his old friend Ken Smith, ex-Whipsnade, and later the founder of Exmouth Zoo. Smith is a somewhat maligned figure in the hagiography of Durrell, because under his tutelage the zoo became very shambolic indeed, and was in imminent danger of closing. It should be said at this juncture, that having run the CFZ for nearly fifteen years, I am only too aware of what a difficult job juggling financial matters is, and I sincerely doubt whether Ken Smith should really be blamed for what happened. Gerry, however, did blame him, and he was summarily sacked.

My first visit forty years ago coincided with the initial time when Gerry and his team were desparately clawing themselves back from the brink of bankruptcy. Forty years on, and the zoo is a completely different affair.

Firtstly, it is not a zoo in the accepted sense of the word! During out four day sojourn on the island, we met several locals who felt they had been short-changed by the Durrell Organisation. "They took away our zoo", we were told. "There are no lions, and tigers. Even the snow leopards have gone", they said. And worse of all, it seems that some of the locals resented the way that "Jersey Zoo", had been replaced by "Durrell's". The island had lost a valuable amenity, some folk seem to think, but of course that just ain't true.

I have been to zoos all across the world. Until now, my two favourites were Pine Valley in New South Wales, where, in 1968, I saw my first (and to date only) living platypus, and Toronto Zoo in Canada. However, my heart now does entirely belong to Les Augres Manor in Jersey.

The local people are right. It isn't a proper zoo! It is what zoos should be but very seldom are. The exhibits are not just a parade of rare animals there to be gawked at, but are just the creatures that the organisation is studying at that moment. The visitor feels immenseley priveliged (or at least I did), to be allowed to be a part of such a magickal organisation, if only for a few hours.

The list of current breeding programmes makes impressive reading, but I think that the most touching exhibit was the wildfowl hide deep in the reed beds which have been planted in the central valley of the zoo. In most zoos, it is sad to say that when you see a sign reading `wildlife area` it is a synonym for "useless bit of land that we couldn't decide what to do with". At Jersey, the truth is completely different. Not only has an enormous amount of money and effort been expended on restoring some extraordinary reed beds, but these reed beds also include three extraordinary exhibits. The first is a colony of gentle lemurs which are notable for being the only primate species found exclusively in marshland. Alongside these is a bird hide from which you can watch wild specimens of some of the rarest of the British avifauna, and another hide marked only as "Teal hide".

One enters this exhibit thinking that one is going to be able to sit down and watch some native ducks going about their business, and one is immediately entranced to discover that instead you have been miraculously transported to a corner of Malagasy wetland where critically endangered Madagascan waterfowl are living and breeding. The scope of this project is simply breathtaking, and to see these animals, as near as possible in their wild habitat, is an awe inspiring experience.

We returned to the mnainland UK, secure in the knowledge that ten years after his death, Gerald Durrell's dream is in very safe hands indeed! The experience has given me several ideas as to how (on a far smaller scale), we can set out our own visitor's centre when it opens next year.

Secondly - a nasty reason:

As many of you know, I suffer from a Bipolar Disorder, commonly known as Manic Depression.

I have had this condition all my life, and have been registered disabled for the last ten years! I have been receiving treatment for many years, and am fully aware that this disease, which is increasingly debilitating, will be with me for the rest of my life.

Within days of our return to England I was struck down by the most debilitating bout of this disease that I have had for years. For the last ten days I have hardly left my bed; I have been practically unable to walk, think, or even speak for any length of time, and even today - my first day out of bed for nearly ten days - it has taken four hours plus to write this blog entry - something which would normally have taken me about twenty minutes.

I tell you this not to ask for your sympathy. The last bad bout I had lasted four months and damn near killed me. But I want to explain why the CFZ has become very quiet over the last few weeks. Several members of the CFZ Directorate have their own health problems,and I think that is important that we share our struggles with you all. The CFZ is not only a scientific organisation; it is also testament to the fact that many people in society are `written off`, and put onto the scrapheap. These people - and I am proud to include myself in this category - are, in fact, capable of achieving extraordinary things.

Of course, our present government will tell you that they are doing what they can to bring disabled people back into the workplace. Bullshit! What they are doing is trying to cut the Social Security budget by forcing the long-term ill to take jobs that may or may not be therapeutic for them. As in so many other ways in life, I am exceedingly proud to be able to hold my head high and state that the CFZ are part of an increasingly beleagured enclave of people doing our best to fight a gallant rearguard action against the inreasingly corporate world outside.... just the same as Durrell Wildlife.

Long may we (and they) be able to continue!

Weird Weekend 2006 - More Pictures

Gothboy lends a hand with Jessica's assult on the pinada

Jonathan McGowan's exhibition

Bob Morrell's exhibition

L-R Larry Warren, Nick Redfern, Corinna, Me, (kneeling) Lars Thomas

Me and Rich on stage

Rich tends the CFZ stall

The Quiz Team (Home) L-R Jo, Ross, Mark Martin

The away team: L-R Dr Darren Naish, Dr Lars Thomas, Jon Ronson

Richard masterminds the `Mad Hatter's Tea Party`

The Gambia expedition team take questions

Jeremy Harte is soooo rock & roll

The three boys wish me `happy birthday`

Lisa gives me Ross and Greg's birthday cake

The goatman cometh

Greg Phillips: "monsters are cool"

Weird Weekend 2006 - Speakers Dinner

L-R Suzi Marsh, Matt Osbourne, Helen Lester, Steve Jones, Richard Freeman, (top right, Ronan Coghlan and Tania Poole)

L-R Lisa Dowley, Suzi Marsh, Helen Lester, Steve Jones, Richard Freeman

L-R Darren Naish, Larry Warren, Jonathan McGowan, Nick Redfern

Lisa and Suzi

Weird Weekend 2006 - Picture Gallery

My surrogate Mum gets an `Access all Areas` pass

The village children certainly enjoyed themselves

My next door neighbour and young friend attack the pinada

Matthew Williams does his own inimitable thing

It's only rock and roll, but I like it

David Phillips - without him we couldn't have managed the event

Redders mans the barbecue

Weird Weekend: The Final Day

I remember when I was a little boy, every Christmas, my little brother would burst into tears at the end of the day because it was all over for another year. At the age of nearly 47 I know exactly how he felt.

Saturday had been an extremely stressfull day; it had been a success, but there were 101 tiny issues (and one larger one) which had to be dealt with, and by the end of the day I was so tired that I could hardly walk, let alone think. But sunday was a delightfull day, an emotional rollercoaster which saw me almost burst into tears at one stage.

First up was Paul Vella. I have known Paul for years, and for the last three years he has offered to give a talk at the Weird Weekend, and to my eternal embarrassment I have forgotten to put him on the bill - until this year. I am not doubly embarrassed, because he was bloody fantastic! Although during the rest of the weekend, I had been fairly strict about keeping to the schedule, he was so popular, and engendered such an impressive dialogue with the audience, that his 45 minute talk lasted nearly an hour and a half - with absolutely NO complaints.

Then came Jeremy Harte, who told of the folkloric accounts of how monsters - mostly dragons and wildmen - had been captured by use of alcohol. His talk was particularly interesting, when, during the discussion on wildmen, a three way discussion between him, Ronan, and Richard F, took the audience by storm.

Chris Moiser gave an entertaining and informative talk about the mystery of the Wrangaton Lion, and explained how the recently introduced Freedom of Information Act has been an invaluable boon to British mystery cat researchers. Chris, by the way, has been the only speaker, apart from Richard Freeman, to have appeared at every Weird Weekend since we started.

Then came Larry Warren - one of the most eagerly awaited speakers of the weekend. Since arrived on Thursday he had quickly endeared himself to both the children and the adults of the village. He had been playing with the kids all weekend, and had also become a firm favourite up at the pub! His Rendlesham Forest talk brought the house down, and there are now North Devonians from the age of 8 to 75 who are devoted Warrenophiles.

Next up were C.A.S, a local band, put together by David Phillips, who works at the CFZ during school holidays and at weekends. They are all fourteen, and the line up were:

Tully Reynolds Vox
Chris Buse Lead Guitar
Richard Harding Rhythm Guitar
Jeremy Manning Bass
David Phillips Drums
George Snell Yeti

I gave them my best Sam Cutler introduction, and Matt Williams provided lasers and smoke, and for a brief three minutes, we were transported back to Woodstock!

But then came the surprise. I have known David's family for thirty-five years, and his mother, Kaye, is more like a sister to me than a friend. David grabbed a microphone, and together with his two young brothers Ross, and Greg, read me a poem they had written, and presented me with a birthday cake nmade by the two younger boys. It was then, for the first and only time onstage, that I very nearly burst into tears!

Then came Ronan Coghlan, someone without whom I cannot imagine evr having a Weird Weekend. He is opne of the most naturally funny people that I have ever met, and he was undoubtedly the most entertaining speaker of the whole weekend. His talk on the goatman legends around the world, from ancient Greece, to moderm-day America.

I wrapped up the proceedings with a few words on the activities of the CFZ over the last year, and what we hoped to achieve in the future, and then it was all over!

There are so many people that I would like to thank for their help this weekend. Apart from the speakers, there were the stage crew! When we started the Weird Weekend back in 2000, it was put together by me, Richard, Graham, and Nichola Sullings - a crew of four. Now, I had a crew of over twenty!

LISA DOWLEY: Security/Floor Manager
DAVID PHILLIPS: Sound and Light
MATTHEW WILLIAMS: AV/crew
MATTHEW OSBOURNE: Road Crew
PETER CHANNON: Road Crew
JOHN FULLER: CFZ Staff/retail
MARK MARTIN: Security
JOHN GLEDSON: CFZ TV/First unit Cameraman
DAN GARRAWAY: CFZ TV/Second unit Cameraman
GRAHAM INGLIS: CFZ Management/Driver/Third Unit Cameraman
ROY PHILLIPS: Driver/crew
ROSS PHILLIPS: Floor Liaison
GREG PHILLIPS: Floor Liaison
OLL LEWIS: CFZ Staff/tour guide
NICHOLA SULLINGS: PA (Friday)
RICHARD FREEMAN: CFZ Management/Asst. Floor Manager (Friday)/Compere
MARK NORTH: CFZ Management/Photographer/Retail
CORINNA JAMES: CFZ Management/Retail/Admin
BRIAN BUTLER: Community Centre Liaison
HELEN BOND: CFZ Infrastructure
SUZI MARSH: PA/Admin/crew/retail

That evening in the pub, someone asked me what the point of the whole thing was. I told him that although it is the only English speaking cryptozoological conference in Europe, it is more than that. The CFZ is fast becoming a truly global community, and the Weird Weekend is the one time in the year that this community meets in the flesh. It is a place to see old friends, and to meet new ones. It is a place where people of all ages (3-80+ this weekend), all nationalities (11, this weekend), and from all walks of life can get together, have fun, and be happy.

In the modern world, occasions like this are a real rarity, and it truly has been a very weird (and heartwarming) weekend.

WEIRD WEEKEND - DAY TWO

Strange days indeed!

The show kicked off bright and early with some suitably intellectually mordant doom and gloom from Richard Ingram, an old friend of mine from Exeter, who was talking about the `Decline of Civilisation`. A slightly downbeat subject for the first talk possibly, but it was very interesting and resulted in an almost unprecedented amount of audience feedback for a talk scheduled so early in the morning.

Then came Lionel Beer, who was on the Search for Camelot, which took us all across the celtic nations, and brought us back to the French Dictionary. I have known Lionel for many years, and it was good to have him on stage at a Weird Weekend at last.

Later, all the way from sunny Switzerland came Andreas Trottmann, who gave a fascinating talk about the Lake Monster traditions of Central Europe. It has to be said that all our foreign speakers have been excellent this year, but also very kind and generous to us. After his talk, Andreas waived most of his fee, and said that he would rather that monies raised at the event went back into the CFZ to pay for our ongoing programme of research.

Then came the notorious WW quiz, which was won by the home team, mostly because of the sterling efforts of young Ross Phillips (11), who is rapidly becoming one of the most eccentric, and loveable, members of the team.

Enter Paul Cropper for the first of two talks on Australian forteana. This was about one of the most notorious poltergeist episodes from the Antipodes, and went down very well. He was only on for a relatively short time, because he was a last-minute replacement for Tim Matthews, who had been taken ill, and had been forced to pull out at the last minute!

Then came one of the highlights of the weekend. Jon Ronson, an old mate of mine, and one of the big stars of British humorous journalism, gave a talk about his experiences when he infiltrated the notorious Bohemian Grove country club in northern California. The knowledge that our world leaders appear to indulge themselves by carrying out mock human sacrifices to a stone idol of a giant owl, can only give us even more respect for the powers that be in this ever more bizarre world.

Back came Paul Cropper, for one of the most eagerly anticipated talks of the weekend - on the Australian Yowie, the Antipodean analogue of bigfoot or the yeti! He was fascinating, nd what's more, an impassioned speaker, which was all the more extraordinary, when you consider that he had travelled for well over 30 hours from Australia only a few days before. Respect dude!

Nick Redfern, who is probably my closest freind apart from the boys at the CFZ with whom I live and work, was on next with a fascinating, if slightly chilling, account of why many researchers (mostly in the UFO fied, but including yours truly), have been under covert surveillance from H.M Government. Chilling stuff!

Then came the CFZ Awards, presented this year to:

DAVID PHILLIPS
LISA DOWLEY
SUZI MARSH
CHRIS MOISER
PAUL CROPPER
JOHN GLEDSON

and then, much to my embarrassment, I was presented with a special lifetime's achievement award, for services to cryptozoology, which - at the age of 47 on tuesday - made me feel that my career (or my life) was about to draw to a close. Seriously, however, I was very touched, and would like to thank Oll Lewis in particular for his kindness in thinking of it.

Finally came our very own Richard Freeman, gothboy of this parish! He gave an animated talk about the recent Gambia expedition, and was joined on stage at the end by Chris Moiser, Lisa Dowley, Suzi Marsh, and Oll Lewis.

During the day, Chris Moiser did a workshop, and there were all sorts of other things going on, like a Mad Hatter's Tea Party for the kids, and a children's treasure hunt, but it is 9.57, and I am due at the Community Centre in three minutes to soundcheck a 14 year old punk band who are playing a song about the yeti, sometime this afternoon.

Hasta la vista Baby!

Weird Weekend - Day One

I have suddenly realised with a horrible jolt, that it has been over a month since I last posted on the blog. But have I been sitting back, lazily fanning myself under the big beech tree in the garden? Has some horrible mishap hit the CFZ?

Nope.

It's just that we have been gearing up for the annual Weird Weekend; our annual conference, held here in the sleepy North Devon village of Woolfardisworthy (Woolsery).

It is now the ungodly hour of 8.30 - an unprecedented time for me to be awake, up, dressed (and even wearing a tie!) and for the CFZ Office to already be a hubbub of activity. Mark North and John Fuller are printing out programmes, and young Michael Ingrams (8), the son of one of our speakers is lending a helping hand, whilst bouncing around the room to the jolly sounds of the Afro-Celt Sound Sytem.

Mark Martin is wandering around the garden together with Matt Osbourne (a member of Bideford Town Council, who somehow has found himself co-opted as a roadie for the weekend), Dr Darren Naish is asleep on my kitchen floor, and in the drawing room Nick Redfern, and notoious circlemaker Matthew Williams can be found sleeping the sleep of the just (or the hungover, I'm not sure which). On my dining room floor is Dr Lars Thomas (fresh in from Copenhagen), and Ronan Coghlan (from Northern Ireland), and upstairs, in my bedroom, trying desparately to wake up, and probably wondering how she managed to become alpha-female of this madhouse, is my darling Corinna!

We have been working solidly for weeks on this event, and it all started to happen on thursday night when ovcer sixty people piled into the CFZ grounds for the annual Weird Weekend Cocktail Party! The day has been an exhausting one, with speakers arriving at intervals throughout the day, the aforementioned Matt Osbourne arriving with an enormous marquee, my future elder step-daughter, Shosh, and future step-son-in-law, Gavin, arriving in a large white van packed to the gunwhales (errr... do vans have gunwhales?) with impressive model cryptids and dinosaurs kindly lent to us by Anthony James of Nuneaton, and the whole afternoon was punctuated with Graham to-ing and fro-ing from Barnstaple station with yet another speaker, or yet another case f tequila.

The cocktail party was a resounding success, and a splendid time was had by all. Highlights included Nick Redfer's raucous singing, Larry Warren's expert work as a cocktail barman, and the sight of dozens of small children beating the living crap out of a pinada kindly donated by Lisa Dowley.

Our new policy of pitching the CFZ at a family audience, rather than just as a bunch of confirmed cryptodudes and cryptochicks is certainly paying-off as we are rapidly becoming a truly community audience; albeit a community-based organisation which has room for shaven headed, gloriously drunk, Brummie ufologists (I mention no names ... snigger), singing So What by the Anti Nowhere League at the top of their voices in my garden during the wee small hours.

Friday was hectic, and top of the list odf people who deserve to be mentioned in

Mark Martin is wandering around the garden together with Matt Osbourne (a member of Bideford Town Council, who somehow has found himself co-opted as a roadie for the weekend), Dr Darren Naish is asleep on my kitchen floor, and in the drawing room Nick Redfern, and notoious circlemaker Matthew Williams can be found sleeping the sleep of the just (or the hungover, I'm not sure which). On my dining room floor is Dr Lars Thomas (fresh in from Copenhagen), and Ronan Coghlan (from Northern Ireland), and upstairs, in my bedroom, trying desparately to wake up, and probably wondering how she managed to become alpha-female of this madhouse, is my darling Corinna!

We have been working solidly for weeks on this event, and it all started to happen on thursday night when ovcer sixty people piled into the CFZ grounds for the annual Weird Weekend Cocktail Party! The day has been an exhausting one, with speakers arriving at intervals throughout the day, the aforementioned Matt Osbourne arriving with an enormous marquee, my future elder step-daughter, Shosh, and future step-son-in-law, Gavin, arriving in a large white van packed to the gunwhales (errr... do vans have gunwhales?) with impressive model cryptids and dinosaurs kindly lent to us by Anthony James of Nuneaton, and the whole afternoon was punctuated with Graham to-ing and fro-ing from Barnstaple station with yet another speaker, or yet another case f tequila.

The cocktail party was a resounding success, and a splendid time was had by all. Highlights included Nick Redfer's raucous singing, Larry Warren's expert work as a cocktail barman, and the sight of dozens of small children beating the living crap out of a pinada kindly donated by Lisa Dowley.

Our new policy of pitching the CFZ at a family audience, rather than just as a bunch of confirmed cryptodudes and cryptochicks is certainly paying-off as we are rapidly becoming a truly community audience; albeit a community-based organisation which has room for shaven headed, gloriously drunk, Brummie ufologists (I mention nio names ... snigger), singing So What by the Anti Nowhere League at the top of their voices in my garden during the wee small hours.

Friday was hectic, and top of the list odf people who deserve to be mentioned in dispatches are Lisa Dowley, who did her site-managerial thing witgh flair and aplomb, David Phillips, who despite being only 14 did a remarkable job on sound and lights, and his younger brother Ross whorushed about the room after every talk taking a roving radio mic to everyone who wanted to ask questions of the speakers.

The first days events were:

1. The introduction and welcome, by me and Rich, ably assisted by the children from the Woolsery Children's choir who sang some illitterate doggerel that Freeman had written so sweetly, that one's faith in human nature was restored.

2. Bob Morrell MBE from APRA books who gave a fascinating lecture on the beast gods of the ancient world. Everyone enjoyed this mightily, and this set the tone for the whole event.

3. Brian Butler, from the Village Hall management committee who explained how pasties are an increasingly rare species of Devon animal, that can be found deep in Devoin hedgerows (and which were on sale in the bar).

4. Dr Lars Thomas from Denmark gave a smashing talk on Scandinavian Lake Monsters, and there were so many questions at the end, from both the cryptozoological community, and the people of the village (note that I don't say `Village People` because I don't want to imply that there a bunch of openly gay folk rushing around dressed as red induians), that we seriously over-ran.

5. Matthew Williams talked about crop circles to an enthralled audience, and one local friend of mine was heard to mutter "I gotta get myself a laser pointer and a compass", as he wandered away from the talk, deep in thought.

We ended with the raffle, with generous prizes donated by Lisa Dowley (a silver Ninki-Nanka pendant that she brought back from the Gambia expedition,
anjd Simon Wolstencroft who kindly donated a year's subscription to Tropical World

The evening ended with a suitably psychedelic experience from Matthew Williams and his laser show. We all went home (except for Lary Warren who ended up sleeping in some chick's car), and had a few glasses of wine before staggering to bed and awaiting the morrow...