I’m indebted to Clive Brookes for emailing us with news of his latest book – ‘Byron and the Sea’. Clive wrote the book to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the death of the poet Lord Byron on 19 April 1824 and tells us that it’s been well received by academics and the general public alike. Byron’s ancestral home was Newstead Abbey, just a few miles from BP’s Dukes Wood, and for many years Clive was on the committee of the Newstead Abbey Byron Society. In 2017 Clive gave a talk to the Society called ‘Byron and the Sea’. Since then, health problems have prevented him from repeating the talk and so he decided to have the talk published.
‘Byron and the Sea’ is published by Timepiece Publications.
The last time Clive was in bps news was in 2021 after he launched his fifth book of poems called ‘A gathering of poems’. Clive began writing poetry in the 1970s recording daily life and experiences while working in the North Sea for BP. His poetry regularly appeared in the newspapers, oil magazines and journals worldwide. He kindly sent us one of his oilfield poems called ‘Progress’.
Progress
The old Texas wildcatter
Reminisced of days gone by
Of wooden framed derricks
And crude oil gushing high
Whilst the young offshore driller
Spoke of new technology
In blowout prevention
And wellheads under the sea.
Photo: Clive Brookes with his latest book, ‘Byron and the Sea’.