Martin's Chicken Gigs -the end
Martin and various members of his flock recently finished a 12 week stint on the road promoting 'Travels with My Chicken,' with a mix of book signings and talks.
He's booked to give talks at various Women's' Institutes until late 2007.
Below is the story of his travels.
We covered over 5,000 miles visiting Suffolk, Sussex, Middlesex, Lincs, London, Norwich, Devon, Wales, Derbyshire then, finally, Tunbridge Wells (just up the road from home), using a peculiar old car called a Nissan Cedric to get to these places.
I managed to clout the Nissan's exhaust against a low wall, dislodging the Jubilee clip and exhaust bandage repair made soon after we'd bought the car. It sounded like a tractor, but with a bent wire repair (thank you Quick Fit, Andover), we knew the system wouldn't actually drop off. Being followed by a police car in lovely Chudliegh, Devon, was quite exciting though.
Tikka and Peeping Chicken, my birdy traveling companions, put up with all this nonsense without complaint, although at our final chicken gig in Tunbridge Wells I was questioned skeptically, and beadily, by a pair of teenaged girls about whether Peeping was comfortable in her cat box.
I don't think my assurances cut much ice with them, but to be challenged in this way is fine and legitmate.Good for them.
Before hitting downtown Boston, Lincs, the exhaust required re-fixing, and we sorted out a weird electrical fault which caused the radio and dash lights to go off when you open a door. This was traced to a wobbly live connection into the back of the fuse box. The wiring is actually complex, and a bit of a nightmare.
The Bakewell gig was our last major trip. A 48-hour, 350 mile dash through rain and snow in a car shaped like a shoe box that handled like a jelly on springs. Here a roof leak manifested itself. Water dribbled through the interior light fitting, down the rear view mirror and onto my hand when changing gear. Nice.
Low points included a 700 mile drive to Aberystwyth, where it rained and nobody came to see us, and the bird-flu scare, which caused me to do a couple of chicken-free chicken gigs (people just asked where the birds were, oddly enough) but there were plenty of highs, including meeting Jacqueline Wilson, the childrens' writer, and sharing a platform with David Kennard, the Devon sheep farmer-turned-author, and Fly, one of his dogs. We spoke to a big audience at what used to be Jeremy Thorpe's house near Barnstable, and David was both fascinating and funny. If you get the chance to see him, do.
The fundraising element of our travels (we rattled a collection tin at talks and signings) was for the South of England Rare Breeds' Trust, which provides farm animal-based training for adults with learning difficulties. I first met some residents at our local pub, where they were great fun and thrashed everybody else at the pool table. Supporting the charity which looked after them seemed like a nice idea.
We've raised over £400. East Sussex-based Much Ado Books arranged a supper event with a raffle for the charity, which netted a rather amazing £125. So, thanks to all who contributed.
Although the book plugging-with-chicken madness has stopped, Peeping and co spent much of this year popping up talking to Kent and Surrey branches of the Women's Institute (the Provisional wing). We visited about fifty of them -and we have bookings until November 2007.
I also did a chicken-free after dinner turn for a Gloucectershire-based motivational conference for head teachers -minus live hen, as she wasn't allowed in the venue's dining room.
If you've an event that requires a speaker with a chicken (although the chicken is optional), call John Willcocks on 0208-364-4556/ john.willcocks@blueyonder.co.uk or email me on wingofwang@btinternet.com