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Welcome to a world of limitless possibilities, where the journey is as exhilarating as the destination, and where every moment is an opportunity to make your mark on the canvas of existence. The only limit is the extent of your imagination.
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We Do Things Differently Here
A walk around Manchester in search of libraries and pubs Mrs. P and I love a city break. As my wife has a particular interest in shopping, she is able to indulge her love of artisanal stores, whilst I wander about looking at interesting things and finding out about the city’s literary heritage. We were…
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The Beatles
I was late. The minibus was already at the stop. I did something I very rarely do and broke into a run. I was the last one there. I was shown into a minibus that, at first glance, appeared to have no spare seats in it. The driver indicated a space at the back that…
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“Auld Ayr, wham ne’er a town surpasses, for honest men and bonnie lasses”
Robert Burns was born in Alloway, near Ayr on January 25th, 1759. For the first years of his short life, he lived in a cosy but humble cottage, which he shared with his expanding family and their cattle, who also shared the small space. The house has been preserved by the National Trust for Scotland…
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Lichfield
Lichfield is a pleasant little midlands town. In fact, I’ve liked all the little towns I’ve visited in this part of the world. There is some grubby, late 20th Century development of course, but pre-victorian building dominates. When we visited, on a bank holiday Monday in 2022, the town was buzzing.There was nary a parking…
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The Shire
Birmingham is not necessarily the first place you’d think of to be the inspiration for an archetypal English village. In fact, when people discovered I was spending a week there, they would ask “why?” in a bewildered tone. I was on the trail of one of our greatest fantasy authors, who spent his childhood in…
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Blue Remembered Hills
Alfred Edward Housman is best remembered today for A Shropshire Lad, a cycle of poems celebrating the English countryside. He is seen as one of the first poets to embody a sense of ‘Englishness’ which came to dominate the Edwardian age. He was born in Fockbury in Worcestershire in 1859. He was one of seven…
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Literary Britain 