Martyn Bedford - Writer

A busy week on the Never Ending promotional tour drew to a close today with two very enjoyable sessions with Year 8 students at BBG Academy, in Birkenshaw, just outside Bradford. I’d visited the school three years ago when Flip came out but, back then, it was known as Birkenshaw Middle School. The redeveloped site looked good in the spring sunshine the new library was especially smart.

I did a talk, reading and Q&A with each half of the year group, meeting around 120 students in all. They were courteous and attentive and asked plenty of interesting questions – when we had to wrap up there were still several hands in the air at both sessions. The morning was rounded off very pleasantly with a bookish chat over coffee with the school’s excellent librarian (sorry, Learning Resource Centre manager!) Karen McKirgan.

Earlier in the week, I visited two schools in one day: spending the morning at Allerton High, on the outskirts of Leeds, then calling in at Prince Henry’s, in Otley, in the afternoon. These were also repeat appearances, as the Flip tour had swung by both schools back in 2011. It was lovely to catch up with the two librarians who hosted my visits – Anne Walker at Allerton, and Lynne May at Prince Henry’s – and both sessions were a real pleasure. I even got a free lunch (who said there was no such thing?) courtesy of the rather wonderful Debbie Moody, from Leeds school libraries service, who set up the day for me.

The photos accompanying this blog post were taken at Allerton High and I’m grateful to Anne Walker for allowing me to reproduce them.