Keith Redfern
Now 75, I've retired twice and married twice.
Trained to teach, I later gained a BSc in Geography. Now I study with U3A groups, walk a lot, sing a lot and volunteer at Sutton Hoo.
Location Ipswich, Suffolk
Activity
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Many thanks. The course has been fascinating and I learned a lot.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
The teenager's life would depend partly on the status of his parents, partly on his geographical location, i.e. rural or urban, and partly on his/her sex.
A rural male would have a relatively hard life physically and have a diet that was not always well balanced. The diet would be the same for a female and although there would have been physical work to do,... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
How amazing to discover the two parts of the same arrowhead in excavations five years apart.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Where to examine and where to dig would depend on which period to study, or whether to study the interrelationship between all three periods shown.
It would be interesting to conduct a geophysics survey of the slightly higher ground immediately across the river from the Hatfield Barrow henge, and also on the two spurs of land to the north of the river to see... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
Interesting in its description of the need in the Neolithic to build huge monuments in such an inherently destructive way.
The video sections of the site are very short and discontinuous. It would have been more helpful to have longer sections of video to illustrate what the sites are like. -
Keith Redfern replied to Christopher May
I agree. Maps are invaluable in this context, and without them it is very difficult to develop an accurate spatial awareness of the area being described.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I imagine that after the retreat of the ice at the end of the most recent Ice Age, people began to move back north again, constantly exploring to find more space and better land.
One obvious advantage of growing one's own crops is that it provides a more reliable food supply, but the drawback would be the dependence of crops that might fail for one reason or... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
Thanks for this excellent summary of the two Stone Ages. Interesting questions below.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
A very useful breakdown of life during the various periods of the study.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Additional skills include map reading and the ability to compare maps from different periods; a knowledge of ancient languages can be an asset when studying historical documents; an aptitude in analysing evidence from aerial photography can also provide a useful guide.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I'm intrigued by the detective work involved in archaeology - how a story can be built up about life in the past by the evidence discovered by everything from aerial surveys to digs. As evidence increases, pictures of how people lived become clearer, and although we can sometimes be side-tracked by conjecture, with care and detailed study, a fairly accurate...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Hello everyone. I'm looking forward to learning more in detail about what has been a hobby and interest for me for many years. I volunteer at Sutton Hoo and that experience has triggered a desire to understand more about archaeology in depth, as it were.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I see no reason to doubt the fact that some women dressed as men and worked as navvies. Why not? One reason for the fact that there is little record of this could be that during the Victorian period, men's attitude to women was misogonistic, not giving them credit for being able to think for themselves, and certainly not to be able to do a man's job. That...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
May I recommend a book called Signalman's Morning by Adrian Vaughan, the account of a boy's experiences in visiting a rural signal box on the Western Region.
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The crew of the goods train must take some responsibility for not following regulations and enquiring of the signalman. Whoever was responsible for arranging for relief on the night in question for the signalman who was in no condition to work, must also accept responsibility. The stationmaster said he thought Holmes was fit for work, and yet he had been...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I would say that the job of a signalman is more a learned and acquired skill, born of experience, than highly skilled needing training. The job would vary enormously between a quiet rural box and a busy junction. At the former there may be the risk of boredom, but a clear need to remain alert even during long periods of inactivity. At the latter there would...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Were they perhaps an early form of token to be used on single line working?
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Keith Redfern made a comment
My three adjectives for a train driver are physically strong, reliable and resourceful
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I have a life long fascination with the railways, possibly driven by my dad's work as a railway fireman during the war and growing through lots of train spotting during my formative years.
Industrial history is also an interest of mine, so I hope this course will combine both aspects to make an interesting and fascinating four weeks. -
Yes...and the important words here are 'short term'. There has been no consistent financial improvement over any length of time. The trouble is that people seem unable to learn from past mistakes.
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The over-riding problem with all of this is the assumption that GDP growth is the holy grail of development and human well-being. This is clearly not the case as is shown by the massive levels of inequality in industrialised countries like the US and UK. There is a lot of data to show that often people are 'happier' with their lives and the way their...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Thanks for this excellent description of the industrialisation process and how it can come about.
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I agree. The problem is that economists tend to be fixated on growth in GDP terms, and GDP growth does not bring about automatic improvements in human well being. Sometimes it seems to be the reverse, as with high-density housing during the British Industrial Revolution and any example of exploitation of workers by their employers.
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I think it's also about the sensible point of specialising in what you are good at, and not trying to compete with others who are in a better position to trade competitively.
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But if every country wants things to work in their favour, isn't that protectionism - (Trumpism)?
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Public/Private partnerships have been shown in the UK to be risky ventures which can prove costly to taxpayers. If badly set up, and if the private firms overreach themselves, having offered a deal they are unable to fulfil, these ventures can leave governments with unfinished work and huge bills to meet.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I should think that when the UK finally leaves the EU completely, its tax rates will be designed to compete with either rates of individual EU countries or any unified EU tax rates.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
We shouldn't forget what Norway has done with some of its North Sea oil and gas revenue, which is to set up a Sovereign Wealth Fund. This accrues quite quickly over time and allows the government to use it for the benefit of the population in all sorts of ways. It was this initiative which Margaret Thatcher failed to take in the UK, missing out on a useful...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
For Tony Allan: The introduction says that Norway is an example of a mineral rich country which does not need to levy taxes, yet Norway's personal tax rate is very high. Up to 50% according to one person I have known.
Do you class this personal taxation as more of a social security insurance type payment, than actual taxation? I would argue that for all... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
The problem could arise that if money is spent on future space exploration from Mars at the expense of saving Earth's environment, the situation could develop in which life on Earth would be unsustainable, and the Mars colonists would then be stranded. The Mars colonists are adventurers who wish to push further and further into the unknown. But should the...
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Keith Redfern replied to Keith Redfern
I have read the Forbes article. The health implications of Greece's austerity are dire without question. But the underlying cause of the problem is not the EU's, it is Greece's@FabioFiorini
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Keith Redfern made a comment
It could be argued that Greece has never run its finances well, and there has been a long term national 'sport' of tax evasion. Most agree that Greece only gained entrance to the Eurozone through a misrepresentation of its national finances. Had it retained its drachma, perhaps the situation it faced could have been dealt with as before, through a...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
This section is certainly the most relevant so far in respect of the current COVID 19 crisis and the recessions which will undoubtedly occur in countries as a result.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
She has to understand the reasons for the persistent deficit of the colony. Judging by the look on the colony director's face, he is not someone who understands fully the economic implications of the colony's financial straits and what might need to be done to improve the situation.
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Keith Redfern replied to Keith Redfern
Your problem reminds me of the 1960 song 'El Paso', which is sung in the first person, but ends with the death of the person telling the story. I have read novels which have switched from first to third person and back again, so this is clearly an acceptable format and you needn't therefore lose any sleep over it.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Many thanks, Cee Jay, for your comments on my short story. They were very helpful and encouraging. The section with the magazine was designed to drag out Sarah's misery before Mark's return. As you wrote, in 1000 words it was not possible to include all I would have liked to include.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Looking forward to submitting my short story and commenting on others.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I was taught the importance of good grammar. Now, it seems that anything is acceptable, so writing as locals speak is relatively commonplace, but leaves some readers wondering what is going on. As I found this difficult to read, the plot line was difficult to follow, and therefore I began to lose interest quite quickly. Is this a failing in me as reader, or...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
As I have written before, writing is 10% invention and 90% effort. The effort is certainly the hardest part.
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Keith Redfern replied to Svens Sters
I am not sure if your one word comments are meant to be cynical or if they have meaning which just escapes me.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I enjoy reading dialogue which expresses real emotions, and I think this part of my writing is my strength. Perhaps this has something to do with my stage experience. It works for me as it is fast moving. The contrast would be a long, turgid scenic description which tends to cause me almost to lose the will to live. It certainly causes me to put down the...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I read and studied The Moonstone for English Lit. and loved the way the plot is revealed through the narratives of different characters. Perhaps I was helped by a television dramatisation at the time, but in the novel, Collins draws the reader into the scenario and almost makes one a personal witness to the mystery and its solution. The characters are so...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
This is a fascinating exercise and helps us to put ourselves firmly in someone else's position when describing a situation.
I sometimes find it difficult to decide whether to write in the first person or the third. In the first person it is possible to include all the thoughts that pass through the narrator's mind, as well as the speech and action. But it... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
I am grateful for the one review I have received, particularly as it is complimentary.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
We are given no detailed physical description of either character, and yet, in this scenario, it doesn’t seem to matter. Their ages are clear, and the point of the story, about shared yet different versions of memories, does not really require that their appearance be described. We are told that Donald finds her beautiful, but we don’t have details of how...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
The point has been clearly made that, ideally, a variety of methods should be used to describe characters. Sometimes it seems that a writer stops the action for a while in order to describe a character. This can appear artificial unless it is done particularly well. The most subtle, but more difficult way, is to allow a description to appear gradually...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
The easiest thing for me to write is dialogue, and the description given of the characters just running away with their conversation rings true with me. I find that I tend to write dialogue first, as it is easiest, and then fit it in where it is needed and appropriate. One of the cleverest ways of portraying a character is through their dialogue rather than...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
The character we know best is ourself, so what better place could there be to start to build a fictional character, adding and subtracting personality features as and when necessary. The same goes with personal experiences. They can provide a starting point, but can be developed and fictionalised in order to create the effect required.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I based my stereotype on the fact that people tend to generalise on a person's character based on their appearance. So I chose a woman who looked like a Romany, based on the gold on her fingers and her mode of dress, but who may not be. A woman who appears to have difficulty making decisions, based on her comparison of two similar products in a shop; who ...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
As he waited in the post office queue his attention was drawn to a woman pushing a trolley. She appeared to be undecided which of two packets to choose, and she walked back and forth, looking at the shelves, as if the decision was written out for her somewhere, if only she could find it.
She had the look of a Romany about her, an impression made stronger by... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
One of the more common examples in crime fiction is the successful police officer who has a marital problem due to the long hours spent away from home.
In No Highway, Nevil Shute describes a successful scientist who is a disaster as a single, widowed father although he thinks that he is bringing up his daughter quite successfully.
In reality no-one can...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I must say that I find writing about conflict difficult. Trying to remain positive does not leave much room for conflict, and neither does it entertain character flaws very easily. Yet I realise that the real life we endeavour to portray in our writing is not always positive, and characters do have flaws - don't we all? So I often find myself in something...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
There can be little doubt about the author's intention here. To shock the reader into a fuller understanding of the violent injustices which slaves were forced to endure. In this case we can be certain that the more clarity there is of the description of inhuman treatment, the greater will be the author's confidence of the effect on the reader of the message...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
A lot of people have written below about their fears, and these will certainly be topics about which they feel strongly. But equally important, and more positive, are those topics which interest us and about which we have a certain basis of knowledge. If you read any novel it is possible to pick out a personal interest of the author as it is portrayed...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I noticed, in the two pieces I have reviewed so far, that there is a tendency not to proof read as thoroughly as I writer needs. It is important to remove all big and little typos before submitting any writing, as they have a jarring effect on the reader.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
As Hilary moved through the crowds, her loaded gun concealed, she glanced up at the leaden sky. No-one else seemed to care.
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Keith Redfern replied to Sedef Kinacioglu
P.G. Wodehouse used to write longhand and was prepared to throw away page after page of paper in order to find the correct final version. That is so much harder than copy/deleting on a computer, but necessary.
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Keith Redfern replied to Ken Shelton
Hard, yes, but you mustn't do it. It will destroy the flow of ideas and inspirations from your head to your fingers. Finish the whole draft and then edit. It may be harder in some respects with so much to edit at once, but that is the only way to edit successfully.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Possibly the hardest part of editing, as with painting a picture, is knowing when to stop. It is possible to go too far and spoil what you had.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
My 'end of week 2' writing just came into my head and I allowed it to flow and develop. It is not a complete story by any means, but certainly may well provide the opening of one, or of a scene in one.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
It is a truism that writing is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Writing initial drafts is relatively easy, but working on them to make them clearer, to maintain good continuity and to keep the reader's attention, makes for frustrating periods of really hard work.
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Keith Redfern replied to Steven Goodman
Agreed. There is always something useful to learn.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I like to open with something startling, to catch the reader's attention.
For example:
'Don't go!'
He continued to put on his coat, then grabbed the car keys. It was as if she had not spoken.
'Are you even listening? Do you actually hear what I say?'
He turned and gave her a basilisk stare.
'Don't start. Not now. I have to get to work.'
And he... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
Fascinating and very useful suggestion.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
For me the final paragraph above is most important.
I once had a line come into my head, while dozing on a train. The line felt so good that I made it the opening of a novel.
There are essentially two ways to write, to start and let the writing take you along to places you never expected, or to plan everything out in detail beforehand. I have done both... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
Developing the character previously described:
So why is she tetchy? Perhaps she has had a bad morning. Perhaps a falling out with a partner. Perhaps the partner has insisted that she walk the dog, although knowing that this would be a problem because of a physical difficulty the walking stick suggests.
Why has she given in to the partner? Is this a...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
The radiator clicks as it heats and cools. Branches scrape the fence as rain pebble dashes the window. The sun has given up and made the early afternoon feel more like a Nordic winter.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Graham Greene describes a desperate, haunted character. He is shuffling along as if in a dream, dominated by his thoughts, unaware of his surroundings until he trips.
Kate Atkinson's Victor is quite different and is described, not by his physical appearance, but by his character; a chess playing mathematician who is probably intensely logical and has...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Expanded description of character
She is young and looks healthy, but walks with a stick. So either the stick helps her overcome a difficulty, or it relates to her dogs. Or does she feel a need for protection, even in this quiet village?
Having climbed the stairs from the beach she is not out of breath, which confirms the initial appearance of general... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
The author I am reading at present adds a tremendous amount of detail to every person and every scene. Characters' thoughts are included, sometimes causing brief confusion until you realise that what was written has not actually happened, but was in the character's mind. Details of a person's appearance are vital to allow the reader to build a picture in...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
At my desk just after breakfast. The house is quiet. There is no urgency to do anything, therefore no excuse for not writing. Time is mine, for as long as I like.
Any sort of noise is a distraction. I am trying to construct a sentence to my satisfaction when my wife calls. My response is sharp and short-tempered. I immediately regret it. The lights...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I am intrigued to hear Alex Garland talk about working early in the morning or late in the evening when your mind is closer to and more open to the subconscious. Strangely I have had this experience in relation to doing cryptic crosswords. They are more easily solved when clues are left for the subconscious to work on, and are then returned to when tired and...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
She is young and looks healthy, but walks with a stick. So either the stick helps her overcome a difficulty, or it relates to her dogs. Or does she feel a need for protection, even in this quiet village? Her woolly hat is pulled well down over her head and she wears a knitted scarf. Her reaction to my question about tides suggests a lack of patience and...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Orwell bases his description entirely on a physical feature and the way the subject moves constantly to avoid others seeing it.
Heller gives us far more detail - hair, clothing, movement, and she allows herself two meeting opportunities so that her first impression can be developed on the second occasion. -
Keith Redfern made a comment
She is young and looks healthy, but walks with a stick. So either the stick helps her overcome a difficulty, or it relates to her dogs. Or does she feel a need for protection, even in this quiet village? Her woolly hat is pulled well down over her head and she wears a knitted scarf. Her reaction to my question about tides suggested a lack of patience and...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
It seems that different authors began to write for different reasons, depending on their own personal life experiences. I discovered that I could write at primary school, but never had the opportunity or the time to write in any measure of full time until I retired. All writers are likely to use some measure of fact in their work, but it is not possible to...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
1 fact and 3 fiction: A lot of mystery surrounds the flight of Rudolph Hess to Scotland during WW2. What is little known is that he had a co-pilot, who baled out from the aircraft after Hess and was later killed in a road accident. He was never identified by Scottish police and was buried in an unmarked grave.
3 facts and 1 fiction. It took psychologists...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Just joined late. I have written three novels, one published, and look forward to helpful advice.
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Fascinating video. Particularly intriguing as to why certain countries, e.g. the USA, should have such a high proportion of sleeplessness in individuals.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I am now 75 and my wife is 82. Fortunately I have not yet experienced serious problems except occasional sleeplessness, and I continue to walk long distances regularly, sing with a choir and join in discussion groups on matters of importance in the world. But my wife has impaired hearing, arthritis and also finds at hard to sleep at times. Any and all...
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My mother, at 95, shares all of those problems and has fallen heavily twice as a result of her difficulties with balance.
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Hi to everyone and greetings from the east of England. I am looking forward to learning all about the IOT and how it might benefit my wife and I during our advancing years.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
My interest follows a holiday in Western Scotland and Edinburgh and hearing comments made by various tour guides. I also have a general interest in history and I'm aware that the history of Scotland is a vague area in my knowledge set.
I am 74 and retired from teaching, administration and attempts at writing novels, but essentially I am an inveterate learner. -
Perhaps we'll meet again on another course.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
As the content of this course is not as I had expected, I am withdrawing this morning.
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Keith Redfern replied to Keith Redfern
Thanks for that. Very helpful
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Keith Redfern made a comment
From the UK, the two nearest plate boundaries are those between the Eurasian and North American plates and the Eurasian and African plates. Both are constructive
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Keith Redfern made a comment
The geological periods I learned at school, starting from the pre-Cambrian and moving forwards, don't relate easily to the pie chart shown in the video. I remember learning each sequence using the initials, so we had (so far as I can recall) Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, etc. Are these names not used any more?
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Keith Redfern made a comment
The story is told of a young man who decides he is an atheist, and in his search for a way to study atheism, he is directed to a monk on the basis that he needs first to study theism in order to discover if he is truly atheist.
Humankind has developed, we hope, from a relatively intellectually simple being who tends to be superstitious through a lack of... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
I am amused by the fact that the period when Christianity took over Europe became known as the dark ages.
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Yes, this often happens. People find they have a common point of view and need to find a word for it. There are many similar examples.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Humanism and religion are mutually exclusive. For one, a belief in an external controlling entity and a life after death are implicit. For the other they are not. One can have moral concerns about the planet, all its life and the way we live in both cases, but the two essentials for religious belief are totally absent in humanism.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Nos. 2 and 5 come closest to what I understand as humanism. I like the fact that if four humanists get together to discuss we could expect at least five points of view. Perhaps it is possible to be clearer about what humanists don't believe, than what they all do.
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I have a problem with the apparent need to label everyone. Therefore it is perfectly possible to realise that what one believes about life, the universe and everything ties in very closely with humanism. This does not necessarily make us a humanist, just as we might vote for a particular political party without calling ourselves a Tory, or a Liberal or a...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
Perhaps, as individuals, all we are able to achieve is success in the little fight. Larger organisations, political groupings and nations on the other hand, with more muscle and resources at their disposal, may actually achieve something in the great fight.
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Keith Redfern replied to Harry Cather
One thing may very well lead to the other
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Keith Redfern made a comment
As Kate has written, this is difficult to answer definitively. Hate speech should not be allowed, but I think the word speech rather limits the need for control, inasmuch as social media platforms have made it so much easier for those wishing to express hate to do so behind the social media veil, as it were. Anything inciting violence should not be allowed,...
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Keith Redfern made a comment
I have just written to the BBC to complain about the use of the phrase "The public's right to know", as used by them to excuse their behaviour in the Sir Cliff Richard case.
It is not in the brief of the media to publicise an unproven allegation. By doing so they may be ruining the reputation of someone who has done no wrong.
Many people work on the... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
As usual, Richard Dawkins is spot on, and I have written before about the abomination of children being brainwashed into a belief system when they are too young to make up their own minds.
One of the difficulties our society has is assuming that if we do not agree with something, we are automatically anti it. Why is it not considered possible that we can... -
Keith Redfern made a comment
Children should be entirely free to choose. Parents do not have an unalienable right to bring up their children according to their own religion. There is, of course, a tendency to do this, but it is fundamentally important that children be given a rounded moral education incorporating religious and non religious views, so that they can choose for themselves...
