Introduction

This website includes a range of different writings and images relating to me, my history, and my work. There is a travelogue describing a two-day bus journey from Kashmir to Ladakh, crossing the Western Himalaya up to heights of around 13 000'; there are a few poems and a bibliography of sorts (I have published poems, stories, and reviews in many other small press magazines, the titles of which I've now forgotten. Also, where I have listed a title, I might have work featured in several issues - as with Stride magazine, for example.)

I've been writing and publishing for two decades, and while I haven't published much in paper journals or in books for some time, I have been contributing to, and featured in, several online magazines and journals, many of them based in the U.S. The bibliography on the Poetry page lists some of these journals, though again, the list isn't exhaustive, and some of the titles feature my work in several issues - such as Slope.

There are a couple of pages of photos taken in different countries which might be of interest. Although this one of some Slovenian beehives isn't included, you'll be heartbroken to discover...

 

 

In the early 1980s I edited and published a small press literary magazine here in Wales, called Frames. There are some postcards, letters, and MSS from actual or would-be contributors published here for the first time. To put the entire archive online would be a larger job than I want to do at the moment, though that isn't to say it won't happen some time in the future, particularly if anyone expresses interest in seeing such a collection.

There's a page I first wrote some time back in response to not being able to find anything in books or online relating to visualization techniques for teaching mathematics to Key Stage 2 children. I'd used a few exercises in the teaching of shape and space, and they worked very well. I've since extended similar methodology to other curriculum subjects.

There are other pages I could add in the future, time permitting, relating to other personal interests, so keep watching this space. A gallery of photos taken at the Tophet in Carthage springs to mind, as it's a fascinating place from an equally fascinating period of Mediterranean history. The same goes for the Bronze Age in Brittany and the UK.; there are hundreds of photos I've taken at prehistoric sites from Wales to Avebury to Carnac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An art page would be apposite, as I've always had a great interest in the visual arts. I very much enjoyed studying for my Honours degree in History of Art, particularly the topic of Aesthetics, or Philosophy of Art. The last picture I - and my son - enjoyed greatly was Raphael's Madonna of the Pinks. Exquisite. My usual taste favours towards Abstract Expressionism, however. Although, the Young Michaelangelo exhibition in London several years ago still impresses me to this day.

 

 

 

 

 

I've deliberately left off the site traditional family-based content. You don't want to see dozens of pictures of the Gimbletts in situ, however cute and talented we all are (particularly distantly-related Max Gimblett, an artist of huge fame and talent resident in NYC and New Zealand.)

A search on Google will spring upon you several other people scattered throughout the world whose family name is Gimblett; with that spelling. (There are, I'm reliably informed, at least 14 different spellings of the name in existence or in family history records.) We're born and bred in South Wales, and there is a large contingent in Devon, which presumably we're related to. The Somerset and England cricketer Harold Gimblett is buried in Watchet cemetary.

There are a large number in New Zealand (I'm just talking same-spelling here still), who presumably are Max's family (there's a lot of presumption in my take on family history research...), including those at the Gimblett vineyards and winery. There are some in Canada, which is the twig I believe between us and the NZ branch.

There are loads in Oklahoma (Hi, Auntie Peg!), and several others throughout the rest of the USA. The High Sheriff of Glasgow was (and might still be: I haven't checked lately) also a Gimblett, as is a Tory MP (boo!) in Berkshire.

The root of the word Gimblett is from Low French, Low German / Teutonic (we're all very low, believe me). The Dutch or French (we're talking that rough geographical area) root is wimblet, from which the nun's wimple comes. The dictionary describes the carpentry tool - a gimlet - as: "a small boring tool". Hmm.

Guimbelet is another root.

I, however, prefer to scorn these northern European origins, and see myself as Indian. Let me explain...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family history in Britain is fraught with difficulty due to the oral tradition (on top of illiteracy) that existed until recently. Clerks writing down the names of those marrying, being born, or dying, would have asked first and written down secondly as to how they imagined the name should be spelt. Thus a Gimblett at birth might be in the marriage records as a Gimblet, and have Gimlet on his/her gravestone.

So, if you're a Gimblett of any spelling, get in touch and we'll discuss the pros and cons of being both handsome, brilliant, and short. (Curse those Celts!)

I know I said I wasn't going to indulge in the usual family pictures web site angle, but... to save curiosity killing you like the pussy cat you are, here's us in ye olde sepia:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enough already...