life

I love reading on holiday. My great weakness is to nosily take a look at the Acknowledgments before getting into the prose, but this time I waited until the end. I received a bit of a jolt. This is me:

I thought the extract looked familiar, but had been thrown by the reference to hockey:

Here is the original – located by adding the word ‘noisy’ into my photo reel:

Sophie Neville’s school report as featured in ‘The Deliberations of Isabella M. Smugge’ by Ruth Leith

I loathed playing lacrosse and was useless at it. Funnily enough, I grew to enjoy the sport of polocrosse, which is akin to lacrosse on a horse, played at speed. I joined the Waterberg Polocrosse team, was invited to play with the veterans at inter-provincial level, and qualified as an umpire at Morton Morrel College. It was the most difficult exam I’ve ever taken, exceeding any test at school.

School report for PE — My school report for PE – I maintain this would have been different had they taught archery

I did better at English.

Sophie Neville's school report for English — Sophie Neville’s school report for English Literature from Anthea Bradbury

I sent a copy of one of the first illustrated books I published to Mrs Bradbury, my English teacher before she died. I hope she was able to enjoy it.

I am yet to write about my own school days, but since I kept bulging diaries through my teenage years, there should be enough material to draw on. I was taught by nuns. Here is an end of term report from my Form Mistress, Sister Margaret Elizabeth, and my House Mistress, Sister Allyne. I must have been aged twelve when this report was delivered to my parents in 1973, possibly the term before I gained the part of Titty in ‘Swallows and Amazons’.

At the age of about fourteen we spent three hours a week in Needlework, three hours in the art room, and three hours learning to cook, which was fun. One of my friends was so naughty that she was excluded from all three, retreating to the library. She later graduated from Oxford University and ended up working as a Director of Communications at the NHS.

Sophie Neville's school report from her cookery teacher Mrs Wigmore — A school report from my cookery teacher Mrs Wigmore

Ruth Leigh writes about her heroine’s time at a similar boarding school in her series of five books on the life of a social media influencer, Isabella M. Smugge. Issy finds herself cooking delicious meals as she negotiates the social scene in rural Suffolk and churns out books on how to embellish your life. The amusing stories, published by Instant Apostle, make for perfect for light holiday reading. Issy’s maiden name is Neville. The author assures me that she has borrowed my family name, which is a great honour.

Queen of the Socials, Isabella M Smugge, inspires millions. But challenging events now demand she steps up in the real world too. Is it time for Issy to become a pillar of her community?

Date for anyone in Suffolk: The author Ruth Leigh will be meeting readers and signing copies of these novels and other books at St Edmundsbury Cathedral Christmas Market 2026 in Bury St Edmunds on 26th, 27th and 28th November from 10.00am to 4.30pm. Do go along to meet the author.

Ruth Leigh’s paperbacks can be ordered from bookshops, online retailers or from her own website.

Look what I’ve found! A school exercise book containing essays written whilst we were filming on location in the Lake District making the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1973. I must have been asked to write about the first time we sailed the dinghies on Windermere.

Preparing for filming Swallows and Amazons by sailing on Windermere, written by Sophie Neville, when aged 12 — Preparing for filming Swallows and Amazons by sailing on Windermere

I was twelve years old. Whilst the trans-Atlantic sailor David Blagden taught us how to handle Swallow and Amazon, my spelling was neatly corrected by Margaret Causey, a local supply teacher employed as our tutor. Since all six members of the cast were under the age of sixteen, we were legally obliged to complete at least three hours of schooling a day. This was tricky logistically, especially while filming out on the water.

My mother decided it would be acceptable if we completed fifteen hours a week, decided sketching action props would count as Art and that learning to sing sea shanties would do for Music lessons.

Since I was interested in the technical side of movie making, Mrs Causey had me recording my first impressions. I battled to express myself at first.

I’m not sure how my composition fitted in with the National Curriculum, but the director asked if we could be taught about a certain aspect of history in line with Arthur Ransome’s story.

Let me know if you’d like to see more.

First draft of a diary kept whilst filming 'Swallows and Amazons' 1974 — First draft of a diary kept whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ 1974

My mother maintained that keeping a diary could replace English lessons.

Since this looked promising, journals were purchased and we began to keep daily accounts of who we met, what we did, and indeed what was said at the time, pasting accompanying artwork in to scrapbooks. How this enabled me to write my end of year exams I’m not sure, but I have a school report:

I doubt if the nuns at my convent ever saw the diary I kept but the result was a pretty comprehensive record of how we spent our time on location. I read extracts in the audio book of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’, now available on Audible.