In the middle of 2022’s dry, bright, and occasionally alarmingly hot spring and summer, I chose a week of glum skies and drizzle for my field trip to visit Gloucestershire’s astonishing commons. My visit to the celebrated Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons was on the glummest day of all – and yet the place crackled withContinue reading “Heritage as radical space – Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons.”
Tag Archives: national trust
Commons on The Lizard Peninsula.
Cornwall is abundant in coastal commons, and that’s not simply because it’s abundant in coast. Along with clifftops, salt marsh and dune systems which I’ve visited in other counties, Cornwall also has beaches, harbours and slipways which are more unusual. These might be found elsewhere in England, but the frequency here is exceptional though perhapsContinue reading “Commons on The Lizard Peninsula.”
Crook Peak/ Compton Hill, nr. Axminster, Somerset.
Anyone who’s driven up the M5 south of Bristol, between Junctions 21 and 22, will have noticed a peak soaring up just north of Bridgwater and from which the Mendips ripples eastwards. Modestly clothed in gorse and heather, through which poke patches of calcareous limestone, it seems to promise glorious walking; I’ve meant to headContinue reading “Crook Peak/ Compton Hill, nr. Axminster, Somerset.”
Little Solsbury Hill & Solsbury Common, Somerset.
On a glorious, summer-hot September day, I headed up the M5 to just north of Bath to climb up on one of rock’s most famous hills. Little Solsbury Hill is an Iron Age hillfort owned by the National Trust and a registered common with rights to graze sheep, cattle and horse, and surrounded by aContinue reading “Little Solsbury Hill & Solsbury Common, Somerset.”
Runnymede, Windsor, Surrey.
In final few days of August, I spent five nights staying at a three star hotel in Staines. Not exactly the height of glamour, though I certainly enjoyed the perversity of telling people. Aside from it being rather cheap to stay there during a pandemic, Staines offers easy access to a number of really importantContinue reading “Runnymede, Windsor, Surrey.”
Corfe’s Town Commons – and Project Pragmatics
Corfe Castle is just about do-able in a day trip from Exeter, at least in the summer of a pandemic which has spilled more caravans and motorhomes than usual onto Dorset’s narrow, winding A-roads. I’d several reasons for visiting: first, it’s incredibly famous and I’d never been; second, I’m dipping my toe in the waterContinue reading “Corfe’s Town Commons – and Project Pragmatics”
commonplace.phd 