Barnsley: Kes, Coal and Covid
The world depicted by Barry Hines 1968 novel ‘A Kestrel for a Knave’, and recreated by Ken Loach in his 1969 film ‘Kes’ has long passed but coal’s legacy remains with us. Continue reading Barnsley: Kes, Coal and Covid
Author: Placesandculturaltraces
I love cultural geography, social history and psychogeography. Inspiration comes from some surprising places, what some might dismiss as 'ordinary' places.
Todmorden: High Ho Trigger
In Glen Hughes’ ‘Yorkshire Millstone Grit’ there is a photograph of Billy Holt steering Trigger down a beck over broken millstone as the Lone Ranger steered Silver down a gulley between boulders in dusty Nevada. The Lone Ranger, the TV vigilante from the 1950’s, had a different adventure every week, but in damp Todmorden… Continue reading Todmorden: High Ho Trigger
Selby to Hull in 1836
“Having passed the night at the George Inn at Selby I was somewhat surprised in the morning at the extraordinary anxiety of the landlord…in defiance of all rational objections…the steamer intended to carry us to Hull…” Continue reading Selby to Hull in 1836
Beauty in the eye of the beholder…
Which beautiful Abbey is a short distance away at the opposite end of the street from this beautiful industrial era configuration? Continue reading Beauty in the eye of the beholder…
Sticky Post
Beauty in the eye of the beholder…
Which beautiful Abbey is a short distance away at the opposite end of the street from this beautiful industrial era configuration? Continue reading Beauty in the eye of the beholder…
Don Valley: ‘…wither, in despair, the tyrants of all lands’
Ebenezer Elliott on the opening of the Sheffield to Rotherham Railway in 1838 …For mind shall conquer time and space; Bid East and West shake hands! Bring over Ocean, face to face, Earth’s ocean-sever’d strands; And on this path, Iron bear Words that shall wither, in despair, The tyrants of all lands. But, lo! the train! – On! onward! – still Loud shrieks the kindled wave; … Continue reading Don Valley: ‘…wither, in despair, the tyrants of all lands’
S66: Journey into the English mind
If you’re on the M18 you are probably lost. Weren’t you on the way to ‘Bronte country’ and its bleak, dramatic moors, or maybe James Herriot’s vibrant limestone dales? What literary association could possibly draw you to the unexceptional countryside and post industrial sheds peppering the urban sprawl on the east side of Rotherham? Julian Baggini began his ‘Journey into the English mind’ here in … Continue reading S66: Journey into the English mind
Maps as poetry
Do you have a favourite map showing literary associations? “a map ‘has to use shorthand, or symbols, or metaphor, and in this it resembles poetry’” [1] ‘If I’m not really going anywhere, then travel by map of course provides the only possible route – everywhere, to nowhere in particular…buried treasure, lost continents and phantom islands…Maps are guilty of distortion, it’s true, but I forgive them … Continue reading Maps as poetry
Newcastle & Newbiggin: Art for Today
Reasons to be hopeful part one: Chris Killip at the Laing – his Tyneside photos from the 70’s, when there was pride in making ships. Peter Robson’s anti war painting of the Ship of Fools on exhibition at Newbiggin-By-The-Sea Reasons to be hopeful part two: Children giggle and play inside on the staircase of the Laing, while outside the sun shines, the air is fresh … Continue reading Newcastle & Newbiggin: Art for Today
Huddersfield postman’s inspiration from the ordinary
Last night I listened to Kevin Boniface in his delivery van as he explored his everyday experiences in his own unique style. Good fun and thoughtful. Between the Ears – Species of Spaces – BBC Sounds Continue reading Huddersfield postman’s inspiration from the ordinary
CLR James’ “Minty Alley”
CLR James began ‘Minty Alley,’ (1936) in Trinidad and finished it in Nelson, Lancashire. It is about the intimate lives of of working people living in close proximity in the barrack-yards of Trinidad. Living lives not that different from many working people’s lives in Nelson at that time.James was also author of two other seminal books written in part in Nelson: ‘Beyond a Boundary’ (1963) … Continue reading CLR James’ “Minty Alley”
Orwell in Southwold
Orwell in Southwold by Ronald Binns: A visitor would be forgiven for leaving the town without the faintest idea that it was George Orwell’s childhood home. Significant characters from Orwell’s time in Southwold later appear in his writing as vagrants, or the tortured… Continue reading Orwell in Southwold
Places and Cultural Traces 