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Walking and Pop-up Open-air Museums

Purton and the River Severn Walking around Purton on the River Severn is almost literally rather than figuratively a pop-up experience. The biggest riverine boat-grave in Britain: old boats and barges rammed into the river bank to try and keep it stable. And there are the boats: rusting, mouldering, skeletal and cadaverous, beached in a liminal half-solid, half squelching aqueous mud-scape. There they lie, some staring out mutely at the rushing river. Others are slip-sliding away to oblivion. After our trip in the Bongo, we drove back along the A38 to find a spot for the night. Where better than Arlingham? We camped at Weston Farm, right next to field after field of orchards, and field after field of medieval ridge and furrow: an open-air pop-up of corrugated pasture, and sea-waves of...

England v Mexico

Rodborough Fields Mexico v England   The Prince Albert Estadio Azteca   Hard to imagine these places conjoined By anything other than a football match, But the cochineal beetle from Mexico Provided the dye for Stroud scarlet cloth, Once stretched out on...

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Glocal History and Stroud

The Museum in the Park Local and Global History ‘Glocal History’ A Critique   Let me say at the outset of this critique that I absolutely love the Museum in the Park and I absolutely love visiting there to learn more about Stroud’s local history: my Stroud...

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World Cup Boycott?

The 2026 World Cup My mate says he’s going to boycott the World Cup: He says he’s not going to watch any of the matches; I said you have to set your alarm clock then, Because sleeping through the night isn’t a boycott, That’s just sleeping – if you’re going to...

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Stroud General Strike Exhibition

Hello there, This is for anyone who has read the General Strike 100 May newsletter and is thinking of visiting the Radical Stroud exhibition. The exhibition (some of it anyway) is now on at the famous and enchanting pub, The Prince Albert. If you fancy a visit, I...

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