CELEBRATION OF BANFF
HERITAGE
JOHN THOMSON
09:00 - 07 June 2004 - Aberdeen Press & Journal
A New book of poems and photographs celebrating people and places in the
Banff area should mean a cash boost to a local sports club.
Surveyor Stanley Bruce hopes a proportion of sales from his first
collection called The Bard of Banff will benefit the Deveron Amateur
Boxing Club.
His book is due to be printed this week and contains between 50 and 60
poems and numerous photographs of landmarks he has written about in the
Banff and Macduff areas.
The poetic muse first struck Mr Bruce, of Seafield Street, Banff, when he
wrote a poem in reaction to the twin towers terrorist atrocity in America.
It was eventually published in a poetry collection and that success
prompted him to put pen to paper on a regular basis.
He said: "When people at work retired or left or had birthdays, I wrote a
poem."
He then began to amass a raft of poems about people, places and stories in
the Banff and Macduff areas and acquired the moniker the bard of Banff!
Mr Bruce took all the photographs to accompany the poems in his book
himself.
"Each place has an associated poem and the majority give an insight into
some of the history of Banff, Macduff and surrounding area," he said.
If the book is published on time, he plans to have it available for sale
at the Carnival of Youth in Banff next weekend.
He has also arranged that £1 from every copy sold through the Bright Ideas
shop at Banff will got to the boxing club.
Mr Bruce is an enthusiastic and active supporter of the club and serves on
the organising committee.
He also hopes to make the book available in other local outlets and
believes it could tap into the tourist and visitor trade.
The initial print run of The Bard of Banff is 500 copies and it will be
priced £5. |