Ellie Dobing’s cultural highlights
Ellie Dobing is an audio producer and voice over actor. She’s a founding member of RadioReverb, Brighton’s first (legal!) community radio station. Ellie went on to work at BBC London before heading further afield. She worked for Internews as their Lead Trainer in radio journalism, living and working in South Sudan, Kenya and New Zealand. She now freelances closer to home and is also a director at Brighton Gin, Brighton’s first (legal!) distillery. Ellie has spent the last few months interviewing contributors for What We Leave We Carry for WritersMosaic. This oral history project features the stories of people who have left their homeland to make their lives in the UK.
Festival: The Green Man Festival
I have rarely heard of any of the bands that feature in the line-up at The Green Man Festival but it doesn’t matter. Every August, for sixteen years, I have travelled to the heart of Bannau Brycheiniog (or Brecon Beacons in English) to revel in the utter joy that is this festival. Wandering around the beautiful site nestled in the mountains, I listen out for music that makes me stop for a while. On the way, promenading performers entertain passers-by, folks head into Einstein’s Garden for science experiments or to Babbling Tongues for comedy, literature and discussion, art can be found in the trees and there’s food, drink, friends and merriment. Come, come, enjoy!
Restaurant: Salt and Charcoal, Brighton
Occasionally, our son is invited to an impromptu sleepover at a friend’s house. My husband and I don’t have to say anything. We know exactly what to do with an unplanned and unexpected child-free evening: a treat date at Salt and Charcoal! This busy, little Greek restaurant on London Road serves delicious (and enormous) platters of gyros, souvlaki and mouth-watering mezzes. We wash it all down with a bottle of Greek red wine and spend less than we would on some take-away pizzas. The fact that it’s only a five minute walk from our house tells me that I must have done something good in a previous life.
https://www.instagram.com/saltcharcoal/reel/C-xZ27fhaiP/
Place: Ardingly Reservoir
Since I was a child, I’ve day-dreamed of exploring the Amazon. I’m alone in the dugout canoe that I made myself from the Brazilian cherry tree I felled. I hear nothing but the sound of my breathing, the oar splashing in the murky waters and the wildlife on the riverbanks. I move along, smoothly, quietly and majestically through nature and time.
This daydream resurfaced with force last week when I went to Ardingly Reservoir. West Sussex probably doesn’t look or sound quite like the Amazon but as I stood (precariously rather than majestically) on the rented paddleboard and gingerly made my way around the edge of this huge expanse of calm water, I felt a wonderful sense of tranquillity mixed with the excitement of an explorer.
Photo by Antiquary courtesy of wikicommons
https://www.ardinglyactivitycentre.co.uk/
Music: John Rutter’s Suite Antique, Fancies: City of London Sinfonia, Wayne Marshall and Duke Dobing (2005)
I challenge anyone not to love this collection of diverse, entrancing pieces written by Rutter for harpsichord, flute and orchestra. The music was commissioned in 1979 and Rutter chose my dad, Duke Dobing, as the flautist.
Ghostly, icy melodies send shivers down my spine before we’re rollocking through the sunny prairies on horseback in a jazz-inspired waltz. For forty-five years I have danced and pranced and skipped and tumbled around to this music, whether it was up and down the stairs as a child, on my own in a tiny student bedroom or later, with a toddler on my hip.
https://open.spotify.com/track/66bBSJbBCWmkLav8sqQWNf
Book: Finding the Fox by Ali Sparkes
I was persuaded to read Finding the Fox by my son. I wouldn’t normally dive into a novel aimed at nine to fourteen year olds but the exceptionally enthusiastic and frequent recommending got a little overwhelming and I buckled. It felt too mean to ignore the pleas.
It’s the first in a series of six books by Ali Sparkes and features a boy called Dax who finds that he can shapeshift into a fox. He is a COLA, a Child Of Limitless Abilities, and before long, he is being whisked off by the government to a special school with other COLAs.
Needless to say, I have now read all six books and I’m seriously considering re-reading them. They are a delight for all adventurers!
