What's New?
'The Wayfarer': News of a new and exciting book on Asperger Syndrome and employment - including a contribution from myself.
Useful Links: New books section entitled 'Further Reading'. Includes details of recommended books on autism spectrum disorders and personal interests.
Welcome
You've landed! If you are looking for the official website of Stuart Vallantine, Dukinfield UK based performance poet and visual artist, you have come to the right place.
As well as being a performance poet and visual artist, I also enjoy building websites. I know this bit is sounding cheesy, but as you can see, no designer other than myself has laid hands on this project, on this interactive experience, on this synchronisation of fingertip to keyboard.
In order to make your browsing session a worthwhile experience, I have done my level best to keep fussy colours to a minimum, and I know this through past experience of using the Internet myself. As you can tell, I do not do splash pages. For those of you still on dial-up rather than broadband, I have also realised these concerns.
The purpose of this site is to showcase both poetry and artistic works. I have been drawing since I was three, with my early scribbles. These later became buildings, buses and televisions, with the bulk of these from memory.
As well as being a visual artist, I have established myself since June 2003 as a performance poet. I have performed since then around the Stalybridge area, a short walk from my home town Dukinfield. I am involved with a local UK based writing group, People's Performance.
In addition to this, I do hope other like minded individual, visual artist and performance poet log on for inspiration.
The colour scheme?
Anyone living outside of Greater Manchester, let alone Dukinfield or the UK even, will be wondering about the choice of colour scheme. Many people may assume that brown, orange and white is a scheme that belongs to the era of Hot Gossip, Talk Talk and 'Angels'.
Before the 26 October 1986, all buses around my way sported these colours, the colours of the late great Greater Manchester Transport. The PTE-ran concern standardised heavily on Leyland Atlanteans and Fleetlines with Northern Counties or Park Royal bodywork. Deregulation and eventual privatisation saw this colour combination fade away from the streets of Manchester. They still live on within this site and some exhibits in the Museum of Transport in Cheetham, a short journey from Manchester on the 135 route.
I had been smitten with these colours for years. Countless bus journeys from an early age had triggered what is now a long standing obsession. The site is inspired by this obsession, which has included being hypnotised by the scenery on the top deck of the 344 from Mossley to Hyde, and the rabbit warren of Rochdale bus station's (now closed) subways.
For the most part of this site, the colour scheme owes more to the older 1974 - 1980 livery, with its greater use of white, and brown being used on the wheels.
Enjoy your stay,
Stuart Vallantine.
