Writing in residence
After our writing competition which ran during Sound Walk September 2021, we now have permanent writers (and poets) in residence.
Arthur – the first month
Arthur’s first month Poet-in-residence Damaris West takes on a new four-footed companion After my Italian rescue dog Galileo (mostly cocker spaniel) died of dilated cardiomyopathy, I vowed I would never have another dog. For one thing I’d be making myself vulnerable to a repeat of the tragedy. For another, a physical disability interferes with my ability to
Why Didn’t You Fly
Why didn’t you fly, my boyfriend replied (with a crying face emoji). It was a Thursday evening in late February, and I’d messaged to say I was already feeling sleepy despite having another train journey – of three hours – to embark on once I arrived by Eurostar in Paris. He asked me this before,
A Dearth of Much-Loved Butterflies
Every natural historian must have noticed that over this past summer in the UK there have been much reduced numbers of our normally commonest butterflies: peacocks, red admirals, small tortoiseshells, painted ladies. We’re told this was due to the wet, cold, windy spring, although the general decline in most species is a long-term trend, related
A riverside walk along the Thames Path
It’s a bit of a mash-up, but somehow it seems to work. You can get down and dirty with mud, bushes and wetlands one minute. And then the next, admire opulent Georgian houses, shiny newbuilds and quirky eateries on this Fulham to Chiswick section of the Thames Path. The Thames Path was launched in 1996
Walk away, walk away, walk away, we gotta move on to a better day
73,866 lyrics. 103 artists. 50 albums. There’s no shortage of songs with “walk away” imbedded in the melody, concealed in the cadence. So many ways crooners beat rhythms to withdraw, abandon, forsake, maroon, shuck off, disown. Go on the run. Applaud a lucky break. Is walking away as simple as strolling round the corner, or
Why you should walk barefoot on a Caribbean beach: an acrostic wonder of wanders
Why you should walk barefoot on a Caribbean beach: an acrostic wonder of wanders Walk barefoot on Pinneys Beach, walk barefoot on the longest beach on the island of Nevis, a four-mile blanket edge stitched with silken sand, loose strands of froth running between your toes. Avoid the track most taken, avoid the considerable conference
What it really feels like to be a person who doesn’t take a dog on a walk
People in the country think I’m a serial killer, because I walk without a dog. It’s obvious I have bad intentions – and most probably, murder on my mind – in the absence of a furry companion trotting to heel. “Where’s your dog?” locals ask suspiciously. Sometimes I say the dog’s been left behind, like
The Chalk Walk: the comfort of the familiar
Like a cosy pair of slippers, a sauce-smudged recipe, or a beloved childhood book – Anne of Green Gables, in my case – a walk you’re at ease with can offer solace. Anne Shirley, the free-spirited orphan in Anne of Green Gables transformed commonplace Barry’s Pond into the more appealing Lake of Shining Waters. And
From Mountain to Sea (part 2)
In 2022 I have been commissioned to research a memorial to Covid for Aberdeenshire. My proposal is to develop a long-distance path from Mountain to Sea – taking Aberdeenshire’s motto literally. Based on Patrick Geddes’s Valley Section, I have been walking from Aberdeenshire’s highest point Ben MacDui in the Cairngorm mountains to the North Sea