Write Out Loud regular Ray Pool has published a new, bumper collection of his poetry titled Hopscotch. He has been a professional musician for many years, and the collection reflects this with a section titled Reflections of Life in Music, and poems such as ‘Working With Tommy Cooper’, ‘In Praise of the Drummer’, and ‘On the QE2 1977’.  Another section, Trains of Thought, covers his long-time passion for railways. The final section has an ominous ring: Covid - The Final Frontier.

Extending to over 200 pages, the collection represents “a guide in attempting to portray the stages or steps of my life”, says Ray.

He adds in his foreword: “I have spent a lifetime collecting artefacts of an industrial past which represent the labours of artisans especially relying on hand tools used daily … To an extent this curiosity and connection to the past is shot through in my poetry which describes some of my activities and experiences.”

Copies of this compendium of Ray’s poetry are available at £15 plus p&p. Email Ray for further details at raypool@live.co.uk