Bishop’s Stortford man Ernie Fenwick, who dreamed plot of story 20 years ago, writes first novel at age of 82

When bad weather stopped play for keen golfer Ernie Fenwick, a long-held ambition to turn a plot that came to him in a dream into a novel began to take shape.

The 82-year-old said he dreamed the story 20 years ago and “wrote the prologue straight away”. And now the book, Right Place - Wrong Time, written under the pen name Martin Lesley (his children’s middle names), has been published.

Ernie, a former police officer in County Durham who moved south to Sawbridgeworth in 1974, explained how the idea for the novel came to fruition.

“For many years I kept thinking ‘I must get down to writing that story’, and in January of this year I couldn’t get out onto the golf course due to the bad weather, and as I need to use a buggy and they weren’t allowed on the course, I sat down and got started.”

The story is about people who mostly do the right things, and when they don’t, they regret their actions and make amends.

One reviewer said: “I enjoyed the storyline, and it was a pleasure to read a book without violence, hatred, fighting, envy and all the other signs of current times.”

A man of many parts, besides working as a freelance quantity surveyor and ending up writing computer software, Ernie’s main hobby for many years was amateur dramatics and he was chairman of the former Bishop’s Stortford Amateur Operatic Society (now Bishop’s Stortford Musical Theatre Company) for four years.

“I performed several major roles including Ko-Ko in The Mikado, Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! and Captain Corcoran in Pirates of Penzance,” he said.

“My wife and I also spent 25 years performing with Pavilion Players, an old tyme music hall group, raising money for Bishop’s Stortford Cricket Club and many other local charities.”

But his abiding love is for the game of golf and in 2011-12 he was captain and his wife Valerie was ladies’ captain at Great Hadham Golf Club, near Much Hadham, where they both still play regularly.

Ernie, who now lives in Bishop’s Stortford, added: “I don’t expect this to ever be a bestseller, but it was something I just felt I had to do. I’ve enjoyed the experience and am pleased with the response it has been given so far.”