Thinking more about my ‘A year to live’ post. And a story from my friend Sarah Jones. A response to the post from Robert Day got me thinking when, after telling his story of leaving the wrong job behind and how it was going he’d said: “So: I take from your post something that I’ve […]
Tag Archives: Sacred urban spaces
So what?
Reflections on a year of blogging. Well then, a year ago this week we turned our mostly static website into a blog. And now, 190 posts later I’m here to ask the question, so what? What has been the effect of all this writing? Of posts covering the spectrum from sweets in the 1960s to […]
Mr Seel’s Garden
On the wall on the side of Tesco in Liverpool One shopping centre is this map of the garden that used to be there, the garden of Thomas Seel, slave trader and philanthropist. As you may know, or have read about in my 1775 and 1820 posts, in relatively recent times Liverpool was a place […]
Into the winter gardens
Amidst the shock and outrage at the fact that it has snowed, in January, in Northern Europe, it’s all too easy to miss its beauty. The way it makes everywhere look different. And makes us see everyday objects differently. Especially in the gardens and parks in the few miles round where we live. This piece […]
A perfect day
One of the most read posts on the blog this year has been ‘Busy doing nothing.’ Written on a balmy early summer’s day, this celebrated one of the great joys of self-employment. The freedom to do nothing, if all else is well, and if you feel like it. Today was another such day. Not balmy […]
The Enclosures
I’ve been getting increasingly upset lately about the enclosures, particularly those of the 18th and 19th Centuries. This happens mostly when we are out walking. Having difficulties getting around our countryside and cities. Public footpaths that aren’t as public as they’re supposed to be. Field systems that forbid access entirely or force you into ridiculously long ways of […]
