Giles Newman Turner
I am Frank and Lorna Newman Turner’s middle son.
I was born in the middle of the 1940’s, in the middle of the year, in the middle of the month, in the middle of the night. I am the Middleman. I was just a little too early for the middle of the century – I left that for Adam and Gabbi.
My birth took place within a stone’s throw of the caves at Wookey Hole in Somerset. The event was overseen by a Doctor Pink and a Nurse White - colours which I adopted myself, as soon as I’d finished being sort of purplish.
Moving on a bit, I retired from full-time work in 2010, having had a career in the building trade, and another with the social services in Somerset. I now have more time to spend on music and pottering about in the garden.
I am married to Gabrielle. We live in the Blackdown Hills in Devon, near the Somerset border. Between us we have three ex-children: Ailia, Matthew and Daniel. They are all well over thirty and married, but we still call them ‘the kids’ sometimes.
Gabbi and I spend about three months of the year at our small cottage in Brittany, a place that still retains much of the quality of life that is being lost in England because of over-development, increasing density of population, and more recently because of political dogma masquerading as economic necessity.
A lot of our time is devoted to music. Gabbi and I sing regularly at folk and acoustic music clubs and gatherings, and we present a folk music programme on local community radio once a month (www.10radio.org). I write songs now and then (www.reverbnation.com/gilesnewmanturner). I play harmonica in a band called The Silver Street Band (www.milvertonmusic.co.uk). Gabbi also writes songs, and runs a vocal ensemble called The Newman Turner Singers.
We enjoy getting together with Roger, Adam and the extended families two or three times a year to talk, walk, eat, drink and make music.