A POET who decided to write about Turnberry and its history was inspired by the work of the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Donovan.

Chris White was born and raised in North London before moving to Scotland 18 years ago and now lives in Turnberry.

Chris explained: “I worked as a teacher before moving to Scotland about 18 years ago. From 2014-2016 my family did-a-Durrell on Corfu and after that we returned to Scotland and we now live in Turnberry.

“I’ve always like poetry. I remember this teacher at school called Mr Sainsbury. He made us learn the whole of The Walrus and the Carpenter off by heart. Every verse. One verse a week. All eighteen verses of it. Weirdly, I found it quite fun. I can still recite it.

“Later on, I discovered the work of such poets as Wordsworth, Keats and Burns. It would sound plain daft me trying to read it aloud in Scots dialect. But it fair breaks my heart all the same. It’s so powerful.

“Then of course came the likes of the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Donovan. I loved the music. I wrote the lyrics down and thought they were so wonderful. They had me hooked. I’ve been writing poetry ever since.”

Chris has also written books but turned to teaching to create income.

He continued: “I’ve tried my hand at several genres including books for children and detective stories. I was even lucky enough to have a few books published. Trouble is, I’ve never been what you’d call a disciplined writer. 

“Plus I had to earn money through teaching to put bread on the table. Still, I’m getting back into it all now with a vengeance. Poetry’s great because I can achieve a result reasonably fast. I like that.

“Ideas come from just about everywhere and everything. It takes time to get it just right. And it’s nice when someone else likes what you’ve written. That’s magic. That’s the icing on the cake.”

About where he now lives, he says that Turnberry ‘ is a wonderful place to live’. 

He says: “It is steeped in history. Robert the Bruce was born at Turnberry Castle. How could you not be inspired by that?

"And there are the former airstrips and a memorial to the airmen who died there. Pretty soon we’ll be moving to pastures new. Not far. But I’ll miss it all the same.”

Read ‘The Turnberry Piper’ next week.