Occasional blog about registered commons, films, culture, psychology and politics.

Around a million acres of England are registered commons. Some cover hundreds of acres of upland moor, others are slivers of roadside. They’re found throughout English culture from Wuthering Heights to The Wombles and are part of the pulse of millions of lives. And yet they’re not especially well understood.

From September 2021, I’m exploring registered commons as the focus of a Practice-based Film PhD. Commons are in my blood: I grew up in Tunbridge Wells, which unusually has a fair-sized common at its centre. Now I’m in Exeter, a fifteen minute drive from the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths, which I’ve been exploring, photographing and filming for years.

This blog is a record of going forward with and building on ideas in gestation for many years.