Welcome
Welcome to the website of the Norman Nicholson Society. The site aims to provide information about Nicholson and his work and encourage the study and enjoyment of this remarkable man's writings. Here you will also find information about the NN Society which holds regular events and publishes the newsletter Comet. The Society is based in Millom, on the banks of the River Duddon and in the shadow of Black Combe (pictured), and has a worldwide membership. New members are warmly welcomed.
Latest NewsAGM: We're sorry to announce that today's AGM has been cancelled because of the snow across Cumbria. We'll announce a new date in due course. Posted 22/3/13
COMET: The new edition of Comet is on its way to members. The newsletter includes a review by editor Antoinette Fawcett of online references to Norman Nicholson and his work. By way of a companion to the newsletter we have posted the various links here to facilitate instant access to the various websites and blogs.
Posted 26/2/13 BIG INCREASE IN WEB VISITORS: January was by far the busiest month in terms of traffic to this website since we launched it in March 2012. Unique visitors topped 1000 for the first time, reaching 1320 by the end of the month, with a total of 1406 page-views. This means that on average 42 different people visited the site every day. We're delighted by this progress which means we are fulfilling our aim to bring the work of Norman Nicholson to an increasing number of people worldwide. Now we want to drive those numbers even higher. You can play your part by copying the link www.normannicholson.org and sending it to anyone who has an interest in Nicholson, Cumbria, or poetry and literature in general. And don't forget to tell them that we're on Facebook!
SALE OF MANUSCRIPTS: London auction house Bonhams is to include various Nicholson manuscripts in a sale of poetical manuscripts and portraits on May 8th 2013. The items are from the Roy Davids Collection and include the manuscript of one of Norman's most famous poems, Halley's Comet.
My father saw it back in 1910, The year King Edward died. Above dark telegraph poles, above the high Spiked steeple of the Liberal Club... Roy has provided these details: AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF HIS POEM 'HALLEY'S COMET', signed ('Norman Nicholson'), 27 lines, together with a typescript of his poem 'Comet Come' with two autograph revisions (the latter published in Selected Poems 1940-1982), 4 pages folio in all [1982] £800-1,000 Publication of 'Halley's Comet' has not been traced. Included are two letters by Nicholson, one to Alan Hancox sending the two poems having been asked to contribute to a tribute to Laurie Lee at the Cheltenham Literary Festival. Nicholson explains that he wrote the poem at the instigation of Radio Four's Kaleidoscope. The other letter, written in 1958, to Terence Tiller, is about performances of his verse-plays (6 pages, oblong octavo, pinned at head). The year after his final collection appeared, on 31 August 1982, Yvonne Nicholson died of cancer after a long illness. With the loss of his wife, Nicholson's life once again became more circumscribed, yet he continued to participate in the world of poetry, undertaking some readings, and even appearing on the South Bank Show in 1984. This programme (edited by fellow Cumbrian Melvyn Bragg) brought Nicholson's work to a much wider audience. Although Norman said he would never write again after Yvonne's death, he managed to produce at least two major poems: 'Epithalamium for a Niece' on the marriage of his sister-in-law's daughter; and 'Comet Come', written to mark the 1985/6 visit of Halley's Comet, which his father had seen in 1910 from Nicholson's own attic window in St George's Terrace. Nicholson remained at St George's Terrace until his death on 30 May 1987. No manuscripts by Nicholson have been sold at auction. APPARENTLY UNPUBLISHED. PROVENANCE: Alan Hancox, Cheltenham. Bonham's advise that the catalogue is still being prepared but will be available on-line by the middle/end of February with the printed version available soon afterwards. Link to Bonham's website here The poem Comet Come was included in Norman Nicholson: Collected Poems (1994) edited by Neil Curry, in which Neil credits original publication to The Listener 13 March 1986. Posted 22/1/13 CHRISTMAS TREE: The Society again took part in the annual Christmas Tree Festival at St George's Church in Millom, starting on December 8th and continuing to Christmas. The theme this year was 'Christmas Carols' and our decoration was inspired by Norman Nicholson's poem Carol, from his 1944 collection Rock Face. Full story and more pictures on the News page. Posted 8/12/12, updated 24/12/12 
VISUAL INTERPRETATION: Nicholson's poem In a Word has been interpreted in art, I.T, and photography by pupils of Haverigg Primary School. See their work on Our Page
Posted 20/11/12 
NORMAN NICHOLSON DAY: We were delighted to meet our latest member, French student Aurelien Cavelier, at the Norman Nicholson Day 2012. Aurelien travelled from Paris specially to attend the event as part of his research for a Masters. He's pictured above with NN Society committee member Stan Towndrow who gave Aurelien a whistle-stop tour of Millom.
Posted 13/10/12 
IRONWORKS VISIT: Members visited the site of the former Millom Ironworks as part of the Society's Summer Event. More pictures here.
Posted 15/7/12 |
Norman Nicholson
Norman Nicholson was born in Millom, Cumbria, in 1914 and lived there until his death in 1987 with the exception of two years in his late teens when he was sent to a sanatorium in Hampshire to recover from tuberculosis - an event which shaped his subsequent life. His writing career lasted from 1930 until his death and embraced plays, poetry, novels, criticism and essays. He is best known for his poetry and was awarded the Queens Medal for Poetry in 1977 and the OBE in 1981.
St George's Church, Millom
Norman Nicholson is buried in the churchyard of St George's, Millom. In 2000 a memorial window created by Christine Boyce was installed. The window depicts various scenes and themes from Norman's writings. An explanation can be found on the Cleo website (Cumbria and Lancashire Education Online).
photo copyright Millom Parochial Church Council Inspiring youngsters today
This photographic interpretation of Nicholson's poem 'Windscale' by pupils of Millom School shows how his writing inspires young people today. See more in 'Our Page!'
Millom Discovery CentreNICHOLSON EXHIBITION: The refurbished Millom Discovery Centre contains a collection of artefacts, documents and memorabilia connected with Norman Nicholson. Click here for more on the Discovery Centre and here for a slideshow of the NN display.
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Something's always happening in a word
Each month we feature an example of Norman's writing, inspired by the above line from his poem In a Word from the 1984 collection The Candy-Floss Tree. This month's selection is a favourite of many, At the Music Festival from Sea to the West (1981). Previous selections can be found by hovering the mouse over 'In a Word' on the menu where they remain for six months.
At the Music Festival
'He gev it Wigan!' we'd say long ago
When our loved local baritone,
Rendering The Erl King or Ruddier than the Cherry,
Hurled his voice like an iron quoit
Clean into the Adjudicator's
Union-Jacked box at the back. Never mind
If he was out of tune or muddled his words
Or finished bars ahead of the accompanist -
He'd won his marks, he'd done
What he set out to do; he'd
Given it Wigan.
The map of England
Was a small one then. London
Was Wembley; Blackpool was holidays;
Manchester was the Test:
All else, a blurred and hachured diagram
Of dialects and geology. We chose
Our bench-marks and points of reference within day-return
Of the one place we knew. It was
Barrow for ships, Whitehaven for coal,
Millom, of course, for men,
And Wigan for a damned good try.
So when, apprehensively, I
Go up for my last class and adjudication - the hall packed,
The audience tense, the examining pencil
Slanted on the unmarked sheet - then,
As I huff and grate and fill my lungs, and eye
The once-for-all starting bell,
God give me guts to die
Giving it Wigan.
(1981, Faber & Faber)
copyright Irvine Hunt
Featured May 2013
At the Music Festival
'He gev it Wigan!' we'd say long ago
When our loved local baritone,
Rendering The Erl King or Ruddier than the Cherry,
Hurled his voice like an iron quoit
Clean into the Adjudicator's
Union-Jacked box at the back. Never mind
If he was out of tune or muddled his words
Or finished bars ahead of the accompanist -
He'd won his marks, he'd done
What he set out to do; he'd
Given it Wigan.
The map of England
Was a small one then. London
Was Wembley; Blackpool was holidays;
Manchester was the Test:
All else, a blurred and hachured diagram
Of dialects and geology. We chose
Our bench-marks and points of reference within day-return
Of the one place we knew. It was
Barrow for ships, Whitehaven for coal,
Millom, of course, for men,
And Wigan for a damned good try.
So when, apprehensively, I
Go up for my last class and adjudication - the hall packed,
The audience tense, the examining pencil
Slanted on the unmarked sheet - then,
As I huff and grate and fill my lungs, and eye
The once-for-all starting bell,
God give me guts to die
Giving it Wigan.
(1981, Faber & Faber)
copyright Irvine Hunt
Featured May 2013
