Waterhorse mania is about to hit - so as I was finding out about the author I thought I would share the following with you…

Dick King-Smith (born 27 March 1922, March Bitton, Gloucestershire, England) is a prolific English children’s author, who has, up to know, been best known for writing The Sheep-Pig, retitled in the US as Babe the Gallant Pig, upon which the movie Babe was based. He was a farmer for 20 years before he became a teacher and author.

Dick King-Smith’s first book was The Fox Busters, published in 1978. He is one of the UK’s most prolific authors and has written over a hundred books, which have sold over five million copies in the UK alone and been translated into twelve languages. A list of all his books is below - but have a look at this clip with an interview with the Author.

Books by Dick King Smith

1. The Fox Busters (1978)
2. Daggie Dogfoot retitled in the US as Pigs Might Fly (1980)
3. Magnus Powermouse (1982)
4. The Queen’s Nose (1983)
5. The Sheep-Pig retitled in the US as Babe, The Gallant Pig (1983)
6. Saddlebottom (1985)
7. Noah’s Brother (1986)
8. The Hodgeheg (1987)
9. Tumbleweed (1987)
10. Farmer Bungle Forgets (1987)
11. Friends and Brothers (1987)
12. Cuckoobush Farm (1987)
13. George Speaks (1988)
14. The Mouse Butcher (1988)
15. Emily’s Legs (1988)
16. Water Watch (1988)
17. Dodo Comes to Tumbledown Farm (1988)
18. Tumbledown Farm - The Greatest (1988)
19. The Jenius (1988)
20. Sophie
21. Sophie’s Snail (1988)
22. Sophie Hits Six (1991)
23. Sophie’s Tom (1991)
24. Sophie in the Saddle (1993)
25. Sophie Is Seven (1994)
26. Sophie’s Lucky (1995)
27. Alice And Flower And Foxianna (1989)
28. Beware of the Bull (1989)
29. The Toby Man (1989)
30. Dodos Are Forever (1989)
31. The Trouble with Edward (1989)
32. Jungle Jingles (1990)
33. Ace: The Very Important Pig (1990)
34. Blessu (1990)
35. Paddy’s Pot of God (1990)
36. Alphabeasts (1990)
37. The Water Horse (1990)
38. The Whistling Piglet (1990)
39. The Jolly Witch
40. The Jolly Witch (1990)
41. Mrs. Jollipop (1996)
42. Mrs. Jolly’s Brolly (1998)
43. The Cuckoo Child (1991)
44. The Guard Dog (1991)
45. Martin’s Mice (1991)
46. Lightning Strikes Twice (1991)
47. Caruso’s Cool Cats (1991)
48. Dick King-Smith’s Triffic Pig Book (1991)
49. Find the White Horse (1991)
50. Horace and Maurice (1991)
51. Lady Daisy (1992)
52. Pretty Polly (1992)
53. Dick King-Smith’s Water Watch (1992)
54. The Finger Eater (1992)
55. The Ghost At Codlin Castle And Other Stories (1992)
56. Super Terrific Pigs (1992)
57. The Invisible Dog (1993)
58. All Pigs Are Beautiful (1993)
59. The Merrythought (1993)
60. The Swoose (1993)
61. Uncle Bumpo (1993)
62. Dragon Boy (1993)
63. Horse Pie (1993)
64. Harry’s Mad (1993)
65. Connie and Rollo (1994)
66. The Schoolmouse (1994)
67. Triffic: A Rare Pig’s Tale (1994)
68. Mr. Potter’s Pet (1994)
69. Harriet’s Hare (1994)
70. The Excitement of Being Ernest (1994)
71. I Love Guinea Pigs (1994)
72. Three Terrible Trins (1994)
73. Happy Mouseday (1994)
74. Bobby the Bad (1994)
75. The Clockwork Mouse (1995)
76. King Max (1995)
77. Omnibombulator (1995)
78. The Terrible Trins (1995)
79. Warlock Watson (1995)
80. All Because of Jackson (1995)
81. The Stray (1996)
82. Clever Duck (1996)
83. Dirty Gertie Macintosh (1996)
84. Smasher (1996)
85. Godhanger (1996)
86. King Max the Last (1996)
87. Winter Wonderland (1996)
88. Treasure Trove (1996)
89. Mixed-up Max (1997)
90. What Sadie Saw (1997)
91. The Spotty Pig (1997)
92. A Mouse Called Wolf (1997)
93. Robin Hood And His Miserable Men (1997)
94. Thinderella (1997)
95. Puppy Love (1997)
96. The Merman (1997)
97. Round About 5 (1997)
98. Mr Ape (1998)
99. How Green Was My Mouse (1998)
100. The Big Pig Book (1998)
101. Creepy Creatures Bag (1998)
102. The Robber Boy (1998)
103. Pig in the City (1998)
104. Charlie Muffin’s Miracle Mouse (1999)
105. The Witch of Blackberry Bottom (1999)
106. Babe’s La-La-bye (1999)
107. The Crowstarver (1999)
108. Dinosaur School (1999)
109. Poppet (1999)
110. The Roundhill (2000)
111. Spider Sparrow (2000)
112. Just in Time (2000)
113. The Magic Carpet Slippers (2000)
114. Julius Caesar’s Goat (2000)
115. Mysterious Miss Slade (2000)
116. Billy the Bird (2000)
117. Lady Lollipop (2000)
118. Back to Front Benjy (2001)
119. The Great Sloth Race (2001)
120. Fat Lawrence (2001)
121. Funny Frank (2001)
122. Chewing The Cud (Autobiography) (2001)
123. Titus Rules! (2002)
124. Billy the Bird / All Because of Jackson (2002)
125. Story Box (2002)
126. The Golden Goose (2003)
127. Traffic (2003)
128. Clever Lollipop (2003)
129. The Adventurous Snail (2003)
130. The Nine Lives of Aristotle (2003)
131. Aristotle (2003)
132. Just Binnie (2004)
133. The Catlady (2004)
134. Under the Mishmash Trees (2005)
135. Hairy Hezekiah (2005)
136. Dinosaur Trouble (2005)
137. Nosy (2005)
138. The Mouse Family Robinson (2007)

Adaptations

1. Harry’s Mad (1993-1996): TV series based on Harry’s Mad
2. The Queen’s Nose (1995-2003): TV Series based on The Queen’s Nose
3. Babe (1995): film based on The Sheep-Pig a.k.a. Babe, the Gallant Pig
4. Babe: Pig in the City (1998): film sequel using King-Smith characters
5. The Foxbusters (1999-2000): TV cartoon loosely based on The Fox Busters
6. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007): film based on The Water Horse

This information is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monsterness - October 2007, organised by the Calman Trust.

The launch of a 65m long model of the Loch Ness Monster, constructed from 60,000 balloons, over 2 days by young people and volunteers from across the Highlands, along with Dutch balloon artist Guido Verhoef and his team. Launched onto Loch Ness from near Bonar Lighthouse…due to strong winds the monster didn’t last long, but the experience inspired everyone involved.(and all the balloons were biodegradable)!

A cracking vid clip below. Well done all!

The internet is alive with speculation that a new record breaking salmon has been caught on the River Ness which runs from Loch Ness to the sea. ( Click HERE for a couple of the articles). The jury is still out on if the cock fish caught right at the end of this year’s salmon fishing season (and then released) will outweigh the current bristish record holder’s weight of 64lb (caught by a woman no less, 85 years ago).

Earlier this year, another angler celebrated after catching his monster in Loch Ness - a perhaps more modest 37lb salmon. Dave Kirkham, 58, spent four hours and 20 minutes fighting the huge fish before he was able to heave it into his boat. He explained: “I managed to manoeuvre the fish into the middle of the loch to give me fighting room “I was getting towed down the loch. It was making a run and it turned. I managed to get it towards the boat and just slipped my net in front of it. It was fun and games getting it into the net which was far too small. I couldn’t even haul it by the net handle because it would’ve buckled. I just grabbed the net round the edges and hauled it up. My arms were nearly falling off.”
His catch was his biggest since his dad first took him fishing on Loch Ness when he was nine. Dave said: “I’ve never landed a salmon that size - I’ve never even seen a fish that size. My best salmon to date was just under 22lbs, again caught in Loch Ness”. (Daily Record 25/07/07)

Unlike this Saturdays catch which was released in accordance with the reccommendation that all fish over 10lbs are returned , Dave (above) took his fish home and ate it….. hopefully doing it justice with some fine home grown potatoes and a decent chablis.

Big fish, like monsters, will always attract people, especially when the one that you let get away was ‘THIS’ big…..!

Fishing info for Loch Ness:

Fishing is by way of bank and boat for brown trout and salmon.
The season is from the 15th of March till the 6th of October for browns
and from Jan 15th till October 15th for salmon. Ask locally for permits.

2007 is a great year for hearing live music around Loch Ness!

June saw the second Rockness festival at Dores where up to 70,000 people enjoyed 2 days of some of the top UK and international artists including the Chemical Brothers, Kelis, Grove Armada and more.

Home grown music is not forgotten with the Caledonian Canal Ceilidh Trail offering free music and special events from July 16th to August 10th all around the Loch Ness Area.

Fans of Wolfstone and Shooglenifty can get their fix at
Nessfest on August 3rd & 4th in Fort Augustus, the main event to be held in the grounds of Fort Augustus Abbey

The fantastic family feast that is Belladrum Tartan Heart festival is next in line on August 10th & 11th with a huge line -up of music, theatre, arts and more.

Runrig will then appear for the first time at Borlum farm near Drumnadrochit
on August 18th for their Beat the Drum concert supported by acts including the Red Hot Chilli Pipers and the Vatersay Boys.

DRUMBEAT ‘07 is a small, eclectic mini festival in Drumnadrochit which takes place at the end of September (17th through 24th) which this year will feature acts as diverse as Traditional Taiko Drumming, the Scottish Opera and the MacDonald Brothers.

If you cant get here for any of these offerings - never fear, you will be able to find live music, theatre and dance all year around in the Loch Ness area - check out the listing on www.visitlochness.com or by clicking HERE

From Our Very new and original Visit Loch Ness Blog, Welcome!

Hi today our sympathy goes out to anyone from the Midlands and south who face the prospect of returning home from holiday to floods, we have been watching all day the news of the massive floods in the Severn valley and the Avon, Wow .

The Highlands so far has come through the last few days with very little in the way of rain thank heavens. The summer though right across the UK has been dismal this year so far. Here at Loch Ness we almost always get a spell of excellent autumn weather, lets hope this year is no exception we look forward to a seasonal blaze of gold and yellows as the forests around start turning colour. However we still have some summer to come yet don’t we?