Author: Alan

. . telling stories from 25+ years of living and travelling in Turkey; some are informative, some cautionary and some are downright hilarious - all of them are interesting. There's never a dull moment. Alan is the founder of the Okçular Book Project and author of 2 outstanding and best-selling books about Okçular Village; 'Okçular Village - a Guide' and 'Backways and Trackways' a walking and cycling guide to the area including Kösten and Ölemez Mountains. All of the money raised by the project helps his village community. More info: bofs.blog surmanfenn@gmail.com

Kings and Şahs; Pawns and Piyons

Over the years our Okçular Book Project raised lots of dosh that was mostly spent making our village primary school a better or more fun place for the children and staff. This is a story about one of those projects – the Okçular School ‘Antique’ Outdoor Chess Set.

The idea of an outdoor chess set came to us last year when the school chess club entered a local tournament and came away with a whole bunch of medals and citations (I suspect everyone gets something to encourage them). They were so pleased with themselves that a ‘show piece’ outdoor set for the school seemed a very good idea.

Anyway, try as I might to find a plastic garden set online I couldn’t get a better price than $20 a set . . . as long as I bought 200 sets! So, I asked a computer-savvy Turkish friend to help. ‘What do you want it for?’ ‘The school chess club’ said I. ‘Well, I have the very thing in my garden shed’ said he; ‘It’s old, wooden and a bit battered, but you can have it if you want.’ ‘Nuff said!’ said I, ‘I’ll bring it tomorrow’ said he; and he did.

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gluing the bits back together and making new bits

What he delivered could have better been described as a pile of logs!! The quality of the pieces was obvious, but their condition was grim. Many were broken into bits as a result of his kids getting bored and using them as clubs for fighting with; there were parts missing and splits all over the place. I smiled manfully and thanked him!

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What followed was three weeks of 8-10 hour days on a restoration project that, whilst unexpected, was actually rather enjoyable. With help from Will, a chum from the other end of the village, and a true master of the art of shaping bits of wood using slivers of broken glass, and J’s undoubted skills with a pot of paint and a brush, we ended up with a uniquely beautiful chess set for the kids. Osman, one of the fathers and a builder by trade made and tiled the playing area, and the whole was handed over to the children. Their faces were a treat and worth every cut and curse of effort to bring this little project to completion.

The Okçular Book Project was all about community and giving something back for all the kindness shown to J and me since we first moved here more than 20 years ago.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures;

Alan Fenn, Okçular Köyü

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An Opinion On Yorkshire Men (and Women) And The Origins Of Pedantry

Some of the best or most interesting posts from Archers of Okçular over the years

first posted: 7.8.2011

There is a saying outside of Yorkshire along the lines of; ‘Tha can aluz tell a Yorkshire man (or woman) – but tha cannot tell ‘im (or ‘er) much!’ Folk from the rest of the UK mostly take a dim view of Yorkshireites – they are perceived as loud, assertive, overly friendly, obsessive about the superiority of Yorkshire cricket, and pedantic to the point of insanity!

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Geoffrey Boycott – a rare example of a non-pedantic Yorkshire man
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Dickie Bird – another rare example of a Yorkshire man without a single pedantic bone in his body

They also speak a totally alien language from the rest of the UK – apart from those from Newcastle where, not only is the language alien, it couldn’t be deciphered even if you had the Rosetta Stone!

Coming, as I did, from the South, all Yorkshireites consider my accent ‘plummy’ and I am therefore labelled a SNOB in big letters! Yorkshire people have an opinion about everything because they know everything there is to know and they don’t mind letting everyone within earshot know that they know. Pendantry was conceived and birthed in Yorkshire.

J is a Yorkshireman (or woman)!

It therefore follows that she can be somewhat pedantic ( I know – I’m soft-peddling, but J will read this at some stage and Yorkies are feared and fearless terriers), although having been around me for many a year, she has mellowed a tadge.

As evidence of Yorkshire pedantry, I offer the following from the letters pages of the renowned UK publication ‘Private Eye’.

 

 

Eye 1289 Pseudo Names:

. . . I’ve just come back from ‘t field and a dog’s been at the sheep – it’s a blood bath.

Farmer Geddon (geddit?)

 

Eye 1290 Pedantry Corner:

. . . Farmer Geddon should at least try to follow the basic rules of grammar when he next attempts to take the piss out of North Country patois. He should understand that the purpose of an apostrophe is to fill the place of missing letters, so his phrase: “I’ve just got back from ‘t field” is nonsense. It should, of course, read: “I’ve just got back from t’ field”.

Peter Sharples

 

Eye 1291 Pedantry Corner:

Farmer Geddon is arguably more correct than Peter Sharples in placing the apostrophe before the “t” in north country dialect “t” for “the”, this being derived from the neuter form of “the” in Anglo-Saxon (theet). Compare Dutch “het” (masculine “de”).

(The form ‘t is Yorkshire dialect, whereas Lancashire is generally th’).

Charles Warwick

 

Eye 1293 Pedantry Corner:

To Farmer Geddon, Peter Sharples and Charles Warwick I am obliged to say “Nay lad!”.

Being South Yorkshire born and bred, (although now away many decades), in our area the ‘the’ was never a ‘t’ at all. The ‘the’ was and is an almost imperceptible hiatus between  two words. The nearest I can come to writing it is “trouble at ‘ mill” – the ‘ in place of the three missing letters of ‘the’. Or, a longer example, “Down ‘ Wicker weer ‘ watter runs ovver ‘ weir” (three missing thes).
The important thing to remember is that to really represent the accent accurately you must definitely sound these examples out loud wherever you are.
I especially fondly recall ” ‘t i’n’t in ‘ tin” (only one the here).
Yours for ‘ Society o’ ‘ Preservation o’ Regional Accents,

Janet Surman.  (for it is, indeed, she)

Alan Fenn, Okçular Köyü

ps I wish to emphasize that the above are not typos – they actually speak like that up there!

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Bragging For Birgi

Some of the best or most interesting posts from Archers of Okçular over the years

first posted: 29.7.2011

Turkey is full of ‘must see’ sites and sights and the tiny town of Birgi, near Ödemiş in İzmir province is high on our list. J and I have been back a number of times and I don’t think we’ll ever tire of the place.

Birgi nestles a few kilometres north of Ödemiş in the foothills of Boz Dağ (Boz Mountains). It is a quiet, unspoilt, dignified time-warp of a place that is now being slowly gentrified. Wandering its shady, tree-lined streets and soaking up the spirit of bygone times is rather like a refreshing shower on a steamy day. Enchanting as this town is the reason J and I keep going back is to reacquaint ourselves with two rare and very precious gems – a house and a mosque.

The mosque dates from Selçuk times and once had a flat, earth covered roof. This was ‘vandalised’ by those who should have known better and a pitched roof installed. Whereas once the mosque was cool in summer and warm in winter, now the reverse is true; locals I have spoken to say they are determined to restore the building to its former glory (İnşallah!).

So, what makes this mosque so special? Two things; a pair of doors from the mimbar and the mimbar itself . .

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The doors are a stunning example of late Selçuk, early Ottoman (1322) craftsmanship that has to be seen to be appreciated. They were stolen in 1993 and ended up with Christies in London where they were recognised by an employee and the matter reported to Interpol; after being missing for over 2 years they were repatriate back to Birgi’s Ulu Camii where you can appreciate them.

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The mimbar is a remarkable construction of thousands of individual pieces of wood that mesh together without a single nail, screw or dab of glue to form a beautiful whole. In the age of computers and CAD I truly wonder if such a thing could ever be duplicated – a work of art that begs to be touched and stroked.

An additional ‘gem’ (if he is still there) is the young imam; a lovely guy and an enthusiast for his mosque who leaves his phone number by the entrance so you can have him come to unlock and show you around.

The house, which lays just a few hundred metres from the mosque, is stunning (my word for today) at first sight – it is a carefully restored Konak that is over three hundred years old. What makes this elegant house stand out from any Ottoman period building is the beautifully crafted murals that once covered almost every part of every wall together with the incredible wooden mosaic ceilings.

I cannot begin to adequately describe what you will find, so best to let some photographs weave their magic spell. Better still, go and see for yourself!

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Alan Fenn, Okçular Köyü

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Çimenova to Beydili – Walking ‘St Paul’s Trail’ by Car

Some of the best or most interesting posts from Archers of Okçular over the years

 

first posted 16.7.2011

P100-3 St Paul Trail by Kate Clow

J and I, together with field biologist friend Paul Hope and wife Pat had been spending a few days exploring the rivers, lakes and pools in the area about 30kms South of Lake Eğidir. We were based in the small, out-of-the-way town of Sütçüler; a sleepy place slowly fading back into the brown landscape from which it had emerged as the Pisidian redoubt of Adada some 2100 ago.

Having satisfied Paul’s craving for dragonflies we decided to opt for a bit of adventurous exploring. I had read about Beydili in Kate Clow’s wonderful walking guide ‘St Paul’s Trail’ and having pushed our trusty Dobló up and down a few tracks that goats view with trepidation, I had few qualms about ‘doing’ Kate’s walk with the old girl. (all cars, with the exception of the AC Cobra, are in true nautical tradition, feminine)

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first view of Beydili

Anyway, we set out from Sütçüler in a generally easterly direction, driving until the asphalt road ended at a goat track that appeared to be heading upwards towards the top of Sarp Dağ that towered above us.

Here, at the end of the road, there were a couple of houses and standing outside were a couple of blokes. We asked them about the road to Beydili – was it drivable? The guy indicated his car, a wreck of a Renault, and said he might try it in his or with a tractor – buuut . . . ‘Nuff said, and off we set; first gear was going to get some serious testing!

What an amazing track; it is so obviously very old, parts are cobbled and it is narrow enough to know that you don’t want to meet anyone coming the other way or break down as the only way back is being dragged out by a tractor. Onwards and upwards! The drive was crazy and exhilarating, some might say it was stupid especially as the passengers had to get out fairly frequently so I’d have enough ground clearance to get over the boulders! Crazy? Yes! Reckless? No! In satisfying my curiosity for what might be around the next bend I’ve never got stuck but once and on that occasion we were dug out by a couple of passing yörüks – ‘Allah Korusun!’ Looking back, this was an act of supreme lunacy! Due to the roughness of the track all of my concentration was on getting to the next bend in the path – there are no photos!

We actually caught up with a tractor and trailer which gave us enough room to pass (a sign of my reckless driving?) – 10 minutes later the tractor was looking to pass us! Eventually we reached the top of the pass and began the winding descent; after a couple of kilometres we rounded a bend and there below us was our destination – the village of Beydili.

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Beydili doors

Beydili is an amazing place; essentially it remains as it has been for hundreds of years with the exception that electricity has been brought in. There are no roads to the village because the mountain is too steep, so there is no concrete, no cars, no quad bikes and no tourists, no ‘progress’. Buildings are made of stone and wood, water cascades along stone channels and dogs, by tradition, are banned. Despite appearances, people live and thrive here by herding and hunting just as they have done for hundreds of years.

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Pictures are better than words . .

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Beydili is an amazing ‘time warp’, if you are of the intrepid variety I recommend it to you – the experience of getting there is only matched by the village itself and the local people. They have a guest house that you can stay in and share in the life of this remote and isolated community; I doubt that you will experience such closeness to the greatness of the mountains and Toprakana (Mother Earth) anywhere else – ‘Over the hills and far away’.

Alan Fenn, Okçular Köyü

Posted on by Alan

Rising From The Ashes of Archers

Thanks for joining me!

Here I’ll try and recover some of the best and most interesting posts from Archers of Okçular. I hope you enjoy re-reading them without having to wade through the dross and drivel of much that I wrote. Most of the posts of the last two years, 51 in total are permanently lost. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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Posted on by Alan