Category: Uncategorized
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Lithuania in colour: Vilnius & Kaunas
Waking up in a city and country that are entirely new to me and realising that I’ve barely researched the place, let alone made any plans for my time there, brings the gift of a blank canvas. As blank, that is, as is possible given westernised preconceived notions of ex-Soviet countries being cold and bleak.…
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Searching for Golgonooza: a ramble around William Blake’s London
The silence in Tate Britain’s room 7a, the William Blake Room, could be mistaken for reverence if there were anyone else in it. But it’s empty. And it’s small. Just the eleven artworks – etchings and paintings – are on show here. This, I feel, is emblematic of our failed collective acknowledgement of someone who…
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Descending the ladder: a sunny stroll around Harringay
“That’s rank, fam”, says Kid A to Kid B, casting a look of revulsion at the shopping trolley loaded high with cellophane-wrapped joints of some-meat-or-other that is blocking the pavement outside one of the halal butchers on Turnpike Lane. He’s not wrong, fam, and he could say the same about the chicken bones and pigeon…
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Istanbul (not Constantinople) Part 2: Boats and cats and minarets
“If one had a single glance to give the world, one should gaze upon Istanbul.” Alphonse de Lamartine. As alarm clocks go, the 6.20am call of the Muezzin that reverberates around Istanbul is as gentle as they come. It also makes for a rather evocative reminder that my plans each day will involve the peace…
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Istanbul (not Constantinople) Part 1: Blizzard on the Bosporus
“Why they changed it I can’t say, people just liked it better that way” Istanbul (Not Constantinople) – The Four Lads With tendrils spread out among the hidden ruins of two previous versions of the city it serves, Istanbul’s swift and gleaming metro system provides a contrary first impression to the ancient megalopolis above ground.…
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A lunchtime stroll around St James’s Park, Westminster
A writing exercise: a familiar location in 300 in words. Blue sky, bracing wind, biting cold, but a welcome rest from a computer screen, I’m in St James’s Park on a February lunchtime. This is a regular spot for me, be it a midday stroll or taking the scenic route home post-work. St James’s must…
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Ward 3A West
A piece originally submitted to the Anthology Magazine 2024 personal memoir competition…it didn’t win. The box I’m sat in is inside-out. Instead of labels stuck to the outside of this box, the information is recorded inside, in real-time. People come and go, but I won’t be leaving my box, not for six days. I’m grateful…
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Queen’s Wood: 51°34’55.2″N 0°08’34.8″W
Sat in a corner of Queen’s Wood is my favourite bench. It almost has a view, across a dip in the terrain, hemmed in by beech, oak and hornbeam, a wide swell of green. I shan’t tell you exactly which corner my bench sits in (and, no, it isn’t the coordinates you see above). The…
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This post is definitely not about Los Angeles
Or, what actually is it that I’m looking for when I visit somewhere? As I was resolutely not going to write about my visit to Los Angeles to see my brother and his better-half (now my sister-in law!), this post isn’t about Los Angeles. Firstly, it would be unfair to write about a city that…
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Frieze Sculpture ’23 @ Regent’s Park
One perfectly blue early-October afternoon, one man and his sketchbook took a trip to Regent’s Park to explore the 20th edition of the Frieze outdoor sculpture exhibition. Photogenic it may be, with its vibrant greens and occasional deep mauves, but being too manicured and twee Regent’s has never quite been my favourite of London’s Royal…
