Valentine lessons to be held at Gibside estate

Feb 10 2010 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

VALENTINE’S Day help is on hand for tongue-tied North East men who are not well versed at putting their innermost thoughts into words.

Author Lynn Huggins-Cooper is running a special class on Saturday at the National Trust’s Gibside estate near Rowlands Gill.

The aim is to inspire men by showing them how the great poets put pen to paper.

They will be encouraged to turn up with their own ideas of what they want to say, and help will be given to “polish” their words.

The final version will be written on a scroll with a heart made from grapevine.

Mother-of-three Lynn, who set up the Gibside Arts group last November, said: “Words which come from the heart are a lot better than the standard supermarket flowers or chocolates.”

And at £10 a head for the class fee, they could work out cheaper, too.

Lynn will be helped by Gibside Arts’ head of drama, Alexander Tempest, who will be using examples from masters of verse such as Shakespeare, Byron, Keats, Wordsworth and James Joyce.

Also included will be song lyrics, including bands like Whitesnake.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer day is not the way North East men tend to speak,” said Lynn, who lives on a 14-acre small holding above Burnopfield in County Durham and who has written a book called Downshift to the Good Life.

“But hopefully the men who come along will find some inspiration. They can bring their own words along in their heads or on paper and we will work on them and produce something which is more meaningful than flowers and chocolates.