(Mark Robberts is the pen-name of Bob Meadham.) Bob: You are a writer?
M.R. Of sorts.
Bob: And why use a pen-name?
M.R. Oh, it goes back some way to when I was an editor.
Bob: And you write about what?
M.R. Just about anything. Short Stories. Articles. Novels and the odd play or two. I like writing comedy, it cheers people up.
Bob: And you are a newcomer in Trimdon.
M.R. Yes, I suppose you could call me that.
Bob: So what made you come to Trimdon?
M.R. In the first instance, necessity. Our house in Stockton was compulsory purchased as part of the North Shore development scheme, which may or may not take place. My wife and I wanted somewhere quiet, open countryside and village life with a friendly atmosphere, so we chose Trimdon Village.
Bob: And you found it?
M.R. Absolutely. The quiet, surrounded by lovely, rolling countryside.
Bob: And a friendly atmosphere?
M.R. Certainly that. My wife and I were told before we arrived that as a newcomer you will not be able to walk from one end of the village without someone stopping you, wanting to know who and what you are, but in a friendly, helpful way as a newcomer in Trimdon, and they were absolutely right. I believe we were smiled at and greeted with more friendliness in the first few weeks than in all our five years in Stockton. It was nice and is still nice.
Bob: So you like it here?
M.R. Without a doubt. I can sit at the computer in my little upstairs office and look out upon an uninterrupted, rolling carpet of countryside. I have a garden often full of birds. Yesterday I had a pheasant under my window and partridges in the adjoining field. If I get tired of looking at the greenery there’s often John or Billy working in their nearby allotments.
Bob: Sounds idyllic.
M.R. To watch others working? Suppose it is. But joking aside, the village is beautiful. Particularly along Front Street where the blossom trees have been amazing; then there’s the church, St. Mary Magdalene. The folk of Trimdon Village should and probably do consider themselves blessed that they have such a lovely place of worship at the heart of the village. I like to think of it as small but beautifully formed. It is a beauty appreciated world-wide as shown by the visitor’s book. I was looking through it recently; in it there are names of people from all over the world along with their lovely comments.
Bob: And the village itself?
M.R. Shortly after we moved here, the Church Street shop fronts were all renovated. That’s nice. The shopkeepers too are pleasant and obliging. Makes you want to shop more.
Bob: So, you are happy here. But is there anything that you are disappointed with?
M.R. Oh, yes. My wife and I were in Prague not so long ago. A very beautiful city, but marred by the amount of graffiti on walls as one entered the city. Here there is a similar scenario, all be it on a smaller scale and that is the discarded rubbish on the approaches to the village. Plastic bottles, beer cans, plastic wrapping and so on, all of no value with the contents consumed. Sadly much of it comes from motor vehicles passing through. Not much you can do about it except catch them in the act. It’s a pity really because it spoils the approaches to the village and it would be so simple to take the rubbish home.
Bob: And the surrounding countryside. Is there anything that really strikes you?
M.R. Well, yes. The view that one gets when travelling down the A177 towards Sedgefield; when suddenly the church of St Edmund rises above the greenery of the trees surrounding the town. Even on a drab day it is uplifting and makes one glad to be where you are.
Bob: And of course you are forgetting one thing, that Sedgefield and Trimdon is famous world-wide for having the prime minister as its member of parliament.
M.R. Sorry, but I’m not into politics.
Bob: Is there anything you would like to see different, or changed?
M.R. Me? Change anything? No, I wouldn’t It’d be so presumptive. I’m a newcomer in Trimdon remember? | 
