Rabbits chasing magpies, seen today. Evidently rabbits are not scared in the slightest of magpies, but magpies are scared of rabbits (when moving at speed, at least). Even when the birds flew off, on being subject to a fast ‘charge’, the rabbits continued to chase the birds half-way across a field.

I’m pleased to see from Wyrd Britain that Alan Garner is still writing, up on the Alderley Edge…

“I had kind of assumed that Garner had retired from writing but this little 152-page novella [Treacle Walker, October 2021] shows him to be a writer still right at the top of his idiosyncratic game.”

“Told in a delightful, poetic lilt we find Joe trapped in a fairy tale adventure as a folkloric cavalcade of fantastic phenomena both vex and aid him as he tries to quietly reads his comic. […] a darkly funny tale of another world, a mythic world filled with old lore, a world of deep, dark woods and the mischievous creatures that live within them”.

Sounds great, and more-or-less local too. Though, on my arriving at Amazon, my excitement was immediately deflated by gushing praise from the leftist Guardian and far-left New Statesman. But thankfully that’s probably just the skew from the publisher, who seems to have had it reviewed in remarkably few places. If you’re not a leftist or a subscriber to the nominally-conservative Telegraph (one glowing review there, paywalled) you wouldn’t know it existed. I certain didn’t. Searches suggest that America is utterly oblivious, too, other than a blog post by Murray Ewing (not linked here, due to massive spoilers). Though perhaps all you need these days is a tweet from Neil Gaiman and some TikTok, and I’m behind the times in expecting to find lots of proper reviews in magazines and newspapers — and for what may be the last book of a great writer. Well… it’ll definitely be in the next Digital Art Live, anyway.

The Potteries Post – from the city of Stoke-on-Trent and beyond, news you can use

New on the The Potteries Post this week.

A Very British Picnic, a 144 page photobook coming soon.

An interesting suggestion, currently being mooted, is The House of Lords moving to Stoke-on-Trent while their London chamber and offices are being refurbished. It seems to be one of three main possible destinations in the Midlands and the North.

But where would they go, if it was Stoke? It would have to be ready-built, since there’s presumably neither time nor money nor political inclination to build them and their staff a new luxury mega-palace.

There’s the Queens Theatre in Burslem, together with the Indoor Market for the staff offices. And if they came, The Leopard would no doubt be resurrected from the ashes in all its glory. There are a number of other unused buildings around Burslem. Though admittedly, the town is probably very unlikely. Just too insecure, and too much heavy traffic.

Somewhat more likely would be Stoke. Down in Stoke there’s the Civic Centre and the King’s Hall, and Spode next door for staff offices. All of which have had lavish amounts of money spent on them, and are ready for such a thing. Good inter-city rail access and the inner chambers would have something of the atmosphere they’re used to. But such a move would of course mean the City Council offices would have to relocate somewhere else. Or else the City Council would have to hot-desk and try to all cram into the modern bit of the complex, while also running a home-working rota. I’m not sure of the relative sizes of the Lords / Council these days, but it doesn’t seem impossible at first glance.

As for Hanley, I doubt that anyone would be so cruel as to send them there, especially given its dangerous ‘Wild West’ nature these days. But what about the former Central Library there, together with renting out all the upper floors of the Potteries Shopping Centre? Which, last I heard, was drastically underused. The large police presence would theoretically scare all the druggies and drunks out of Hanley, although perhaps not… as these days the police don’t seem to want to tackle such things.

Etruria? I suppose a very boring new shed on the former Shelton Bar rolling-mill site, currently being rapidly developed by St. Modwen adjacent to the Festival Park site? A bit dull and isolated from ordinary people, and very modern. But no doubt secure, given the restricted access points.

Longton? There’s the beautifully refurbished CoRE complex at the back end of Longton. Very suitable but also a long trek up from the unappealing and wind-swept railway station. Half of the Lords would be keeling over, by the time they got to the top of the hill. Is the more central Longton Town Hall available as an intact old-school council chamber, these days? I understand it was quite palatial at one time. But again, probably not big enough and the town is probably as unlikely as Burslem, due to heavy traffic through the centre.

I suppose they could go outside the city. Alton Castle might at first seem unlikely, as the church run it as a ‘troubled youth’ respite centre. Still… consider that the churches are said to be hard up, and thus they might just be open to a generous ten-year offer that would also fix the vast roofs. Alton Towers (not be confused with the Castle) would be difficult, due to the difficult summer traffic situation. You wouldn’t want to be calling a crucial vote, only to find that your vital voter is stuck behind a caravan in Lower Threapwood or even off having some fun on the big roller-coaster. I guess the same traffic problem would be had by the adjacent Alton Castle, suitably palatial though it is.

Update: I just thought of Caverswall Castle, in Stoke-on-Trent. Though I’m not sure if it has the required central debating chamber.

The Potteries Post – From the city of Stoke-on-Trent and beyond, news you can use

The swifts have arrived. I saw three coming in from the south and diving and darting high up in the Etruria Valley, 9:10 this morning. They’re on time, according to Mr. Robert Garner’s Natural Kalendar for North Staffordshire…

May:

The swift in the 2nd week.

His Kalendar for the Potteries was based on observations made over many years from 1838 to 1864, and for the birds “much longer”.

Update: Definitely here now: a big flock of about 20+ of them, re-enacting the Battle of Britain high over the Etruria Valley, 6th June 2022.

In June 2022 London’s Garden Museum (who knew?) will be transplanting its Garden Museum Literary Festival to nearby Derbyshire. The house is a few miles west of Bakewell in the Peak.

A new local history book Erasmus Darwin’s Gardens: Medicine, Agriculture and the Sciences in the Eighteenth Century…

The is the first full study of Erasmus Darwin’s gardening, horticulture and agriculture.

It shows him in historical context re: gardening and horticulture, looks at his two gardens in and near Lichfield, and at various related activities and currents-of-thought then ongoing around plants and medicine. Plants being at that time still a vital part of the healing arts for a practising doctor. Fascinating. Published last summer, though I’ve only just heard about it. A book for me to get around to eventually, and hopefully by that time there will be affordable secondhand copies knocking about.

To be paired with the new English Gardening Eccentrics, from Yale.