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Gap? What gap..?

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Blink and you would have missed it. It was so brief, you probably didn’t even notice. But yes, I’ve had a bit of a break.

Back when I started this blog (8th of December 2009, detail freaks!) I had no idea where I was heading with it. I liked writing. I was running a Fantasy Formula 1 competition for friends. I’d moved away from the area I grew up in just a few years before.

So there it suddenly was – the gumpyf1 blog. Over time it developed into more than an outlet for F1-related ramblings, and (after coming 2nd in a newspaper blogging competition) I wound up writing a weekly column in a Cumbrian newspaper. Over the course of seven years it increased in size from 500 words to a full page, contracted to 400 words and eventually became a 250-300 ‘podium’ thing, with the paper dictating the often-controversial topic.

From writing about just about anything I liked, in April 2019 I was suddenly being asked to provide a view on topics like “Would you welcome Donald Trump to the UK?” and “Was ITV right to cancel Jeremy Kyle?”. A new regime at the paper also meant the timing of the requests had become irregular, so if I had something on one evening, I’d find myself having to write hastily late at night or early in the morning before work to meet their deadline.

Bear in mind that I wasn’t being paid for this. The final straw came when the latest request for comment came through – “Does England’s tuition fees rule out education for all? (sic)” I didn’t particularly have an opinion, and was irritated not only by the late request, but a complete lack of any feedback from the paper on anything I had submitted for months – even a thank-you.

I politely replied to the email wishing the staff at the paper all the best for the future, and calling it a day.

A lovely response would have been to receive a reply saying they understood, they were really sorry to see me go, thanking me for all I’d written for them, with maybe a follow-up email from the editor too, trying to convince me to carry on.

A poor response would have been a “That’s a shame – seeya!” email.

What did I get? Nothing. No reply of any kind. A deafening silence. All that time, all that effort and they couldn’t even manage to reply.

Disappointed and disillusioned, I’ve spent the last year regularly thinking I should just start blogging again, but usually reaching an “Oh, what’s the point?” conclusion.

Well, one year on from the ego-deflating experience with The Mail, here I am. It’s highly likely that no-one will see this, but at least I’ve finally broken my wound-licking silence.

Anything interesting happened..?


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