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Good news over Baker tribute

I WAS delighted to see that Loughton town council took up my suggestion to erect a blue plaque in memory of George Baker when I was researching his work a couple of years ago.

George Barker was supported, most of his life, by the Canadian writer Elizabeth Smart; they never married but she bore four of his 15 children and loved him until she died in Suffolk in 1986.

She must have known Epping Forest since she refers to the memory of its beauty in her famous novel 'By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept'.

At present I am, with the help of Loughton Library material, researching D W Gillingham's writing. His one published book is 'Unto the Fields' a superbly literate record of the time he spent observing the flora and fauna of this area. I know he lived in Roding Road and wonder if anyone has any photographs of him.

I also hope to revive interest in the works of Ernest Raymond and would love to hear from any of his fans. His widow, Diana, a novelist herself, still lives in London.

JAN KINRADE, organiser, Lit-Up, 28 Hillyfields Loughton, Essex.

1:07pm Friday 8th August 2003