Writing

Another way critics have of describing nature writing is to call it the literature of place – Barry Lopez The sky is white as clay, with no sun – Phillip Larkin The walk starts with a choice. Turn left, go down a pathway worn in the grass. The first time I went there felt like […]

Then spoke the thunder – T.S. Eliot Religions don’t interest me but philosophy does. Not so much the scholasticism of Western endeavour, but elsewhere and from ancient time. Aslan tells the children in Narnia: you don’t understand, there’s an old magic, much older, which always rules. One of the principles of Sufism is called time […]

Creatures, I give you yourselves, said the strong, happy voice of Aslan – C.S. Lewis “It’s beautiful isn’t it” she said and I replied “yes but not much autumn left. We’re on the cusp of winter.” She agreed, the Park Ranger, and referred to her cold morning. I was there for autumn, not winter, but […]

Of all seasons autumn has most effect on me. I love spring and summer with the flowers and big warm days. Don’t like winter or its approach. The ninth month of the year is getting close and a time, for me, of dread. Last winter was particularly hell-like and my lockdown escape consisted of drives […]

It is only by going off the track that you get to know the country – E.M. Forster Ideologies, like dogs, remain just outside the hermit’s door – Sylvain Tesson People collect pebbles, feathers, flowers, to record their nature walks. Ferns perhaps or leaves, inserted into journals with weather notes. I tried sketches and connect […]

They’ve made it again, Which means the globe’s still working, the Creation’s Still waking refreshed, our summer’s Still all to come – Swifts, by Ted Hughes The British psyche is closely related to weather. Other places are easily warm and blue, a few always icy, but Britain is fickle with a trend towards grey. If […]