Category: Community

I remember sitting in the back of the St. Jude’s Parish Hall back in ’94—a building, I should note, constructed in 1872 with a roof that’s seen better days—watching a committee try to orchestrate a fundraiser that felt more like a military drill than a social evening. They had spent a small fortune on fancy […]

I saw a flyer the other day from some well-meaning charity suggesting that supporting elderly neighbours requires a dedicated volunteer schedule and a formalised system of check-ins. It’s absolute nonsense. If you wait for a committee meeting to decide how to help, the frost will have already settled on the windows and the milk will […]

I was sitting in the village hall last Tuesday, staring at a broken Grundig radio from 1974, when it hit me how much nonsense is floating around the internet regarding how to start a repair cafe. You’ll see all sorts of glossy, high-concept guides telling you that you need a dedicated community organiser, a complex […]

I was standing by the old stone wall near the cricket pavilion last Tuesday—the one we spent three weeks patching up after the autumn floods—when I saw a flyer for yet another “comprehensive safety initiative.” It’s the same old story: glossy brochures and jargon that makes a simple idea sound like a government white paper. […]

I remember sitting in the village hall last November, the smell of damp wool coats and lukewarm tea hanging heavy in the air, watching a debate about a new grit bin go on for forty-five minutes. It wasn’t the length of the talk that bothered me, but the fact that half the room looked like […]

I was out walking the bridleway towards the old mill—the one with the flintwork dating back to the mid-1800s—when I spotted a discarded crisp packet wedged deep in a hawthorn hedge. It’s a small thing, but it’s part of a growing nuisance that makes our lanes look neglected. Now, I’ve seen some people approach organising […]

I remember sitting in the village hall last November, listening to a young lad from the council talk about “digital engagement platforms” and “streamlined communication infrastructures.” It was all a bit much, if you ask me. You don’t need a subscription service or a degree in computer science to figure out how to set up […]

If you think joining a local history society means sitting in a draughty village hall listening to a man in a moth-eaten cardigan drone on about nothing but pottery shards and dry dates, you’ve been led astray. I’ve spent thirty years valuing properties from Salisbury to Winchester, and I can tell you that the real […]

I was out checking the boundary stones near the old mill yesterday—a fine piece of masonry from about 1840, if memory serves—when I heard that unmistakable, sickening thud of a front tyre hitting something it shouldn’t have. It was Miller, driving his Volvo, looking thoroughly defeated by a crater on the lane that’s been growing […]

I was standing by the old stone bridge near the mill—the one built in 1842, mind you, though the foundations are much older—waiting for the 10:15 that was supposed to take me into Salisbury. The rain was doing that fine, soaking thing that gets right under your collar, and as I watched the empty road, […]