The Penny
Farthing (or tpf as it is more affectionately known) is the longest-running
Prisoner fanzine...even though sadly it only appears very occasionally these
days. Independent of Six of One, tpf is available for any Prisoner fan to subscribe
to, regardless of whether they are a member of the society or not. Issue 38 is the current edition, and, as ever, is a pleasant and congenial read. Its 20 A5 pages have full colour throughout, and although its produced on a desktop printer, the picture quality is superb. The front cover (shown here) is a peaceful Summer shot of Angel cottage, bidding us a friendly welcome to the rest of the magazine. The contents offer a good variety of subjects; reviews of the 35th Anniversary Prisoner DVD, the boxed set, Robert Fairclough's Prisoner book, and The Unmutual...Isobel Smith's Portmeirion holiday memories...Ronnie Soo's successful quest to obtain a Canon Dial camera (as seen in "Many Happy Returns")...a report on the Shrewsbury Work-In...and a report on the accommodation at Castell Deudraeth (with photographs).
One criticism of some articles in previous issues was that they were written for an "in crowd" rather than outsiders. Although closer inspection of this current issue shows that the "what I did on my holidays" factor is not so prevalant now. All the articles explain their topics quite thoroughly and informatively, so new readers shouldn't feel left out.
Copies cost a reasonable £1.50 per issue (£1.80 in the E.U., £2.50 rest of the world). Visit http://www.thepennyfarthing.com/ to find out more details.