Walls of Jericho

Comments on this blog are becoming more occasional than regular at the moment. Still, it is August. Doubtless I will be up to speed again soon but, pleasingly, it's been a really busy summer, and in a good way.

Those of you who have read the book will remember the story of the battle to save Castlemill Boatyard in Oxford from a heinous new development of 'executive apartments' which would have ruined the Oxford canal. That battle was won when the developer was denied planning permission. Now, though, another developer, having bought the site, is trying much the same trick. This week another planning enquiry is under way to scrutinise their equally hideous plans. Meanwhile, the local community has alternative plans for a community-owned and controlled boatyard and public space. In microcosm, it's the kind of battle for the soul of England that's going on all over the country. You can read more about it on their website - and you can also make a donation to help in the fight. it would be money very well spent.

Places to visit

Spent last weekend at Camp Bestival in Dorset, where I was giving a talk. It's a great little festival, and the sun stayed out. One of the musical highlights was the Imagined Village, who I've mentioned here before: a reinvention of the English folk music tradition with any number of strangely contemporary influences. Well worth a listen if you've not come across them.

In the last few weeks I've also come across a couple of new things which are worth exploring. Firstly, this blog - We English - is a real panoply of all things English, from any number of angles. it also has some great links and is well worth exploring.

Secondly, Albion magazine is similarly eclectic, and contains some thought-provoking stuff about the future of England. And I don't just say so because they've just interviewed me. Honestly.

More soon.

Return of the Native

Hello again. I'm back.

All sorts of things have been happening in my absence, most notably the writing of God knows how many articles. The book seems to have made commissioning editors look at me afresh, so that has to be a good thing (at least for me). I'll be updating my website in the next few hours, so it will all be there, and a fair bit of it relates to the themes of the book, not least this - on the 'English question' - and this - on the erosion of freedom in England.

I'm also restarting my other blog which will, like this, get up to speed intermittently over the next few weeks. In the meantime, here are a couple of other good local campaigns from around England that I have been alerted to: the campaign to stop a bypass through an ancient hillside (sigh; I have deja vu); and the effort of some locals in Brighton to fight off a new Starbucks. More power to their elbows.

Citizen Dave

I'm back. Thanks for your patience.

One of the things which I regret, in retrospect, not having written a bit more about in the book was the erosion of our basic liberties over the last ten years by this increasingly noxious government. I touched on it, but didn't go into depth.

Yesterday's 42-day detention vote was the last straw for me - and not only for me, it seems. David Davis's resignation today gives me some small spark of hope that the old radical concept of the 'freeborn Englishman' is not quite dead. That it should take a Tory to highlight this, in the teeth of opposition from a supposedly left-wing government, is a dark irony indeed.

Anyway. I have written about this at greater length in the Guardian today. See if you agree.

May flower

Spent Sunday walking part of the upper Thames near Kelmscott, home of the great William Morris. if I had my way I would be somewhere like that every day this month. England in May is a wonder. Well, parts of it: Swindon I can take or leave at any time of the year. But somewhere like the upper Thames, with the spring flowers in boom, the cygnets on the water, the air full of insects and the smell of water and blossom - it can't be bettered. Living in Oxford, one of the signatures of the month is the flowering hawthorn - the ancient, mythical May tree - which grows all over the landscape round here. Just seeing this tree in flower seems to lift the heart.

Tomorrow, after my evening event, I'm off to make the most of it. I'm away for two weeks, so there'll be no blogging until early June. See you then.

Sent to Coventry (and London)

I've added a new event to my talks schedule for next week, for all of you lucky people who live in the midlands. I'll be speaking in Kenilworth, near Coventry, on Wednesday evening: details here.

The night before, on Tuesday, I'll be in Newham, speaking about the book with some of the campaigners to save Queen's Market, who feature in it. Fortunately, they seem quite pleased about it (you never know how people are going to react to you writing about them, even if you're trying to be nice). Those of you who've read the book might remember market trader Danny Woodards and green campaigner Saif Osmani. Here they are expressing approval of the result:

Phew!

This should be a lively event: come along if you're in the area. There's more about it here.

What's Dave up to?

Some news just in: David Cameron, in a speech about localisation yesterday, quoted extensively from Real England.

This is intriguing; and, of course, flattering. Does he mean it? Leaving aside both my ego and my doubts - the Tories have never been my cup of tea - the speech is full of intriguing suggestions: not least the idea of shoring up local shops against the supermarket onslaught. Mood music or potential policy it is, either way, a sign of how the political landscape is shifting. Watch this space.