How the Trugs were discovered!

 

Author, illustrator, teacher and musician Helen Kennedy has lived in Poynton, Cheshire for 24 years. This is what she has to say about the discovery of the Trugs and the Little Folk:

"It all started on a cold and rainy afternoon I spent in the local Library, rummaging through its well-kept secret, the Map Chest. This is a treasure trove of maps of my town and its surrounding area dating back hundreds of years. I have always loved looking at the place names and features of ancient maps, and was quick to be inspired by what I saw that afternoon!

 

When I got home I couldn't get the little place name "Trugs i'th Hole" out of my head. I wondered what Trugs were. Subsequent researches have provided a mundane answer, but I preferred my initial thought which was that Trugs were some sort of small creature.

 

There were and still are many other interesting place names, and my favourites, along with the oldest roads of the area, became the basis for my "True and Accurate Map of the Lands of the Poynton Little Folk". The map provided me with ready made homes for the Little Folk who seemed to come alive, peeping out from behind trees, hills and little farm houses.

As any writer of stories, especially children, will no doubt agree, stories take shape much more readily once a band of vivid characters and a detailed setting have seeded themselves into the imagination. These characters even have their own way of speaking! I stumbled across an old book of "The Folk Speech of Cheshire", written over 100 years ago, and spent a long time researching and compiling these dialect words here. I'm constantly having new ideas for stories springing into my head; much faster than I can write them down, let alone illustrate them! 

 

I first started writing stories for the Trugs in 2004. They've been active in my imagination, and had periods of hibernation whilst I've been busy doing other things, but one thing is clear, they do not

stay asleep for long!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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