A Diary Entry: The Barbecue by Adam Rutter

 Sunday, August 17th, 2025

I went to a barbecue at Stuart’s house. There was a party of about twenty people from High Town Writers sat in the garden. The party was split in half. The first half were sat on a mosaic patio, next to a small pond. The other half on the lawn, nestled beneath the trees. I took a three legged walking stickwith a foldable seat attached. I opened the foldable seat and sat on the patio, facing the sun, with my back to the barbeque. I felt my back and head burning, even though I was wearing a kepi. The flames flickered in a bowl of charcoal, like an Olympic torch. The burgers sizzled and hissed ferociously as a transistor radio on the grill. I joined the other half, so that I could shade myself under the umbrella. We chatted about writing and publishing. Once the sausages and burgers had been cooked, Stuart announced that they were ready to be eaten. We all went into the annexe area of the house, which was presumably the dining room. All the food was prepared for us. The salad was in plentiful supply with an ample amount of sausages and beef burgers. On the windowsill was a Bluetooth speaker punching hard rock music across the room. I asked Stuart what were the rock band called.

‘The Cult’, he replied.

When I went back on the lawn, I had to resign to using a deck chair since I had a plate of food on my lap. Jennie Hart asked about my holiday, the places that I went to. Like me, Jennie has walked along the beach from Tywyn to Aberdovey. It is very popular among visitors in this part of Wales. I then went onto the subject about my ‘time travel novel’ with Marie Sever, which I started writing almost a decade ago. I told Marie that I was no longer pursuing my novel and decided to start afresh with my new sci-fi book, which is also going to have time travel in it, eventually. I briefly discussed Star Trek and Men In Black with Rena’s husband, Andy. He too is a sci-fi fan. For my second meal, I had a beef burger. I don’t normally eat beef burgers, though I must admit that I ate the best beef burger for a long time. I have to say that it sure beef-ed up my day. Pun intended.

Diary - by Adam Rutter

World War Two Flight Formation over Bridgnorth                                      by Adam Rutter

Friday, May 9^th , 2025

I started writing a short story this afternoon. The theme is “Everybody stood”. I have based my story on four men standing on a hill, watching an array of hot air balloons hanging in the air. The four main characters are RAF pilots, although that has not been highlighted in the story yet. The story coincides with the eightieth anniversary of VE Day in which the nation is celebrating this week. Coincidentally enough, Dad saw ten WW2 aeroplanes flying over our house while he was in the garden. 

The aeroplanes were flying in formation. I watched the fleet heading in a south-easterly direction through the window at the bottom of the stairs. The humming noises faded as the fleet slid behind the trees in the distance. When I went inside the kitchen, I heard the humming noises again. This time, I looked through the landing window, and saw the fleet coming back. Their formation had split into twos, threes and fours. Each squadron circled the skies, flying in various directions. I captured every passing fleet with my phone camera, to document the VE Day celebrations. The planes headed north once the wartime display was over.

 

Editor’s Note

If you want to see more planes this year’s Cosford Air Show is on Sunday 8^th June

RAF Cosford Air Show – The Royal Air Force's Air Show

Diary Entry by Adam Rutter

credit: Adam Rutter

 Sunday 2nd June 2024

The weather has been hot and sunny today. I went to the Severn Valley Railway to take photos of the trains with my smartphone. 

The first train that I photographed consisted of ex-BR coaches coupled to a blue diesel locomotive: the Royal Ark. I filmed the train leaving Bridgnorth station and captured the stills from the footage. I stood near the bottom of platform 1 as yellow carriages with a red bar below the windows were sliding past.

The station was peaceful. A siren upset the equilibrium a little bit for me. Once the siren faded into the background, peace and tranquillity was restored. Most of the visitors at the station were clustered outside the café: a blue-grey building that was adorned with posters for the tourist from yesteryear. The posters were a re-enactment of the British Railways era, although some have sadly faded due to exposure to the sun. I am happy to say that my particular favourite still remains in pristine condition, and that is a picture of the sea cliffs rising above a sandy beach in Cornwall that was originally advertised by Great Western Railway, or “GWR” as stated on the poster. GWR promoted “monthly return tickets issued all year round” that was aimed at encouraging more people to travel by train.

It was about an hour and a half until the next train arrived. This time, it was steam. Russet-brown coaches were being pulled into the station by a black locomotive lined with red bands along the boiler. The locomotive made itself heard when the steam hissed with a white column shooting into the air. I stood on the footbridge, watching the fireman climb onto the tender, turn the tap round on the water crane, and filled the engine up. More steam threw up. After jets of steam had receded, the fireman moved the tap back where it was. The locomotive was chugging along, sliding by platform 2, thundered under the footbridge and past the gantry signal. I sat on a bench on platform 1, watching the train go out. As before I filmed the locomotive going by and captured the stills.

I was enjoying the sunshine while I was on the bench. I heard a pheasant calling from a field upon the hill, blackbirds singing and magpies chattering from near the railway signals. One signal slid down diagonally, which only meant one thing. I went back on the footbridge. I stood directly above platform 1, so that I could see a train come round the corner. The bell rang on the signal box, and so I turned the camera back on. I filmed a diesel multiple unit arriving, which contained three pea-green coaches and a drivers' cabin at either end. I took some shots of the DMU diesel from the middle of the footbridge, and more at platform level after the passengers had disembarked.