Chilwell Blades Fencing Club

kathleen bell

1. Why did you take up fencing?

A childhood of watching swashbuckling movies, fed up with sitting on the edge watching while my son

fenced, and a secret wish to stab people in an elegant way.

2. What hobbies do you have besides fencing?

Reading, writing, watching swashbuckling movies – nothing sporty at all, except the occasional swim or walk in

the Peak District.

3. What is your favourite meal?

I love South Indian vegetarian food, especially as I can’t cook it myself, so it means going out to eat.

4. What music would you take to a Desert Island?

A strange mix: lots of Bach, Charles Trenet, Jean Redpath singing Robert Burns songs, Shostakovich string

quartets, Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia, songs from the shows from Jerome Kern (Show Boat) to Stephen

Sondheim (Assassins). And I might want the Beatles or Simon and Garfunkel, which shows my age.

5. Who do you most admire? And why?

(am I supposed to say Malc?) I admire several people I know who help others as a matter of course and don’t

know how special they are. But my real (or unreal) fencing hero is Cyrano de Bergerac because he composes

poetry on-stage while fighting a duel – it’s a goodish poem and he wins too.

6. What piece of advice would you pass on to others?

Don’t rely on my advice - just think for yourself, keep your sword at the ready … and the arnica close by.

7. If Tom Jones came to live next door, would you;

a. Ask him round and play his records

b. Put up an 8ft fence

c. Keep calling him Englebert

b. – and I’d want the 8 ft fence soundproofed.

8. What is your idea of heaven?

Winning a bout against Malc (well, it’s not going to happen in this world). I’d also like the sort of bout where I

took on several men, beat them all, fought my way backwards up a spiral staircase, swung from a chandelier

and leapt through a window onto horseback to make my escape … yes, I’m fantasising.

9. What would you put in Rm.101?

apart from certain politicians … guns, badminton players and Andrew Lloyd Webber

10. How do you feel about Marmite?

So-so - not the best snack before a romantic night in.