The 1932 Kinder Trespass by Benny Rothman. Historically, access to the open land or mountains of Britain was limited to either Common Land that was once used for grazing, or specific paths around moorland. In 1932 much of the moors between Manchester, Derby and Sheffield had been taken over by landowners for grouse shooting. So anyone enjoying a quiet and peaceful country hike could be stopped and threatened by gamekeepers. The working class ramblers of Manchester and Sheffield had had enough and so a mass trespass was organised but Benny Rothman, to draw attention to the problem of public open access to the moors, essential to people from the cities with no access to open countryside.
On the day, hundreds gathered in Hayfield, the police unsuccessfully attempting to arrest the organisers, and walked up to Kinder Scout across the open moors. Gamekeepers attempted to stop them, there was no violence, and the ramblers walked back to Hayfield, where the organisers were arrested. The outcome for them was a few months in prison, but the mass trespass did lead to the formation of the first national park, the Peak District. Access to much of the countryside in Britain even today is still extremely limited, and even more so in England where, according to righttoroam.org.uk "the majority of the English countryside is out of bounds for most of its population. 92% of the countryside and 97% of rivers are off limits to the public. In all but one tenth of the English landscape, to wander off the footpath, to swim in a river, to explore and educate ourselves about our countryside, can leave us branded a trespasser and expelled from the land. This is neither fair nor reasonable, and in a time where the need to reconnect with nature is more urgent than ever, it is not sustainable." It's more important than ever to allow access to the countryside, for our health and wellbeing and to help us understand the connection we have to all life on earth, the diversity of which is threatened like never before. Even since I was born (1970 is not that long ago in the greater scheme of things!), bird populations are declining so much that many of our common birds are now threatened with extinction. We need urgent action, not lack of action from government on the climate and biodiversity emergency. Published by Willow Publishing 1982. Find out more here - https://kindertrespass.org.uk/kinder-mass-trespass-history/ and here - https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/
The Man who died Twice by Richard Osman. A great murder mystery, featuring the elderly occupants of Cooper's Chase, MI5, MI6, the local police, the local drug dealer, the police officer's mum and the local hooligan. This sequel to The Thursday Murder Club is much better than the first installment, one of those books where you get almost to the end and just have to keep going to tie up all the loose ends. Published by @penguinbooks. Find out more here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/315816/the-man-who-died-twice-by-osman-richard/9780241988244
Being with our emotions, a mindful approach to wellbeing for children teaching toolkit and picture books by Anita Kate Garai. A resource set containing a brilliant guide book / toolkit, and 4 storybooks, for developing and nurturing children's emotional, mental and physical wellbeing. It's a " mindful, embodied approach to exploring and developing intimate and honest relationships with our feelings." The approach teaches us to be with all our feelings and to help children be with all theirs, truly building emotional resilience. It's tailored to KS1 and KS2 (years 3 to 6), and is linked together by 7 key principles - we let our feelings glow and move, feelings change - they come and go, being with all our feelings is brave, all our feelings are welcome, we show kindness towards all our feelings, our feelings don't need a reason to be there and, our feelings don't need a reason to be fixed. This deserves a place in many schools, and if embedded could transform a school community's mental health and wellbeing. Published by @routledge. Find out more here - https://www.routledge.com/Being-With-Our-Feelings-Guidebook-and-Four-Storybooks-Set/Garai/p/book/9780367772314
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. This has been serialised here -
https://orwell.substack.com/ - so it's taken me a few weeks to read it, but I quite liked the idea of being sent a chapter or half a chapter each day. Published in 1933, this is a memoir exposing the poverty and destitution existing in Paris and London at the time. He experiences destitution and casual labour in Paris, and then the life of the tramps on the road in and
around London. He describes the tramps of London as "ordinary human beings" whose circumstance is "the result and not the cause of their way of life", and he writes with empathy and understanding about this. His descriptions of life as a "plongeur", or washer-upper, in Paris take us right into the hot smelly filthy and rat-infested kitchens of the time. Sadly, some of this could've been written today, it makes me wonder what Orwell would've thought of Britain in 2023, and I'm guessing he wouldn't have been that impressed.
Published by
Penguin Books Find out more here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/57191/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london-by-george-orwell-introduction-by-dervla-murphy-with-a-note-on-the-text-by-peter-davison/9780141393032
Yoga, a guide to the teachings and practices by David Frawley. This is a tiny book written as an attempt to introduce the reader to the whole yoga tradition. In the West we are mostly used to yoga as fitness, and as the practice of poses and breathing, but actually the teaching of yoga goes back thousands of years in Indian culture, to the time of Ancient Egypt, with some of the oldest writing about yoga from 2000 years ago. We learn that traditionally,
the whole of yoga practice, is based on the goal of being able to sit comfortably on the floor for meditation, with the poses (asanas) designed to help us get to this goal. But as a form of exercise it is brilliant because it targets the whole body, making us stronger and more flexible while also calming the mind and relieving stress - using our breath to gather energy on inhalation and release negative emotion on exhalation. This process diverts our nervous system away from fight or flight, to our vagus nerve which helps us to rest, digest and calm the mind. In the modern world we suffer from sensory overload, the equivalent of junk food for our minds, therefore we struggle to be truly quiet. So activities like a yoga class, a quiet "sit spot" outside, a walk, or simply stopping for a moment to focus on breathing in and out, help us to focus our energies internally.
Published by Mandala Publishing
Norwich over the water : demolition and change, a supplement. More photos of the destruction of some of our finest buildings in North Norwich, in 1969, to make way for the inner link road and flyover.... Very, very interesting and images I haven't seen elsewhere. But shocking the number of lovely buildings they destroyed.
Find out more here - https://www.citybookshopnorwich.co.uk/product/6489/Norwich-Over-the-Water-demolition-and-change-A-Supplement
Some thoughts on the common toad by George Orwell. A collection of eight essays. The first one is about signs of spring, and Orwell describes the emerging of the toads, their hunt for a mate and the appearance of the tadpoles. He goes on to consider whether it is wrong to notice and take pleasure in nature whilst the world "groans under the shackles of capitalism". But I would suggest that taking notice, or being mindful and in the moment, outdoors,
whether in the city or in the middle of nowhere up a mountain, helps us to have the mindset to take in the huge negatives, such as climate change and the rise of neoliberalism, so that we have the space in our minds to make sense of it all and be an activist. In Orwell's words "If a man cannot enjoy the return of spring, why should he be happy in a labour-saving Utopia? What will he do with the leisure that the machine will give him?.....I think that by retaining one's childhood love of such things as trees, fishes, butterflies and - to return to my first instance - toads, one makes a peaceful and decent future a little more probable, and that by preaching the doctrine that nothing is to be admired except steel and concrete, one merely makes it a little surer that human beings will have no outlet for their surplus energy except hatred and leader worship."
Wow, that could have been written yesterday....
If there was more love for the world and *all* of its inhabitants, maybe there would be less inclination to destroy it whether by war or by mass production and consumption.
Published by
Penguin Books part of the Great ideas series. Find out more here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/133327/some-thoughts-on-the-common-toad-by-george-orwell/9780141191270? and here - http://www.thenarratologist.com/book-reviews/book-review-thoughts-common-toad-george-orwell/?
Moomin and the Windy Day, created by Tove Jansson. We read this as part of our Gentle Hour stay and play group. Each of the characters loses something in the wind, and opening the flaps reveals the hilarious outcome. Gorgeous illustrations inspired by the original Moomin art by Tove Jansson.
I am coming to the world, keep it safe for me. An illustrated poem by Emma K Lea. A beautiful poem with a kind, urgent and empathetic sentiment, a new baby is coming, and the world really needs looking after for all the new babies to come. They need air to breathe, fish to look at in the sea, and birds as they perch, food to eat and trees to protect us. They need a world that is safe and we need to help to ensure they have it. Thanks to @EmmaKendallLea
Why I write - by George Orwell. As always with my reviews I'll write what this makes me think. And as always with Orwell, I find myself wondering what he would've thought of England and Britain today. Reading this makes me think he wouldn't be that surprised sadly. He writes of how "we have got to fight against...the notion that a half-witted public schoolboy is better for command than an intelligent mechanic." He says, "the England that is only just beneath the surface..., has got to take charge of it's own destiny." In other words, we need to actively campaign for and grasp change.
Honestly, after nearly every sentence, I think "blimey this could've been written yesterday!"
The last essay in the book is called Politics and the English Language, and suffice to say Orwell doesn't like mixed metaphors or waffling words. Published by @penguin (Great Ideas series) Find out more here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/series/PEN02/penguin-great-ideas
Where Oh where is Rosie's Chick? by Pat Hutchins. Who knew there was a sequel to the absolute classic Rosie's Walk? I found this in a charity shop, and we shared it at our stay and play the other day. Rosie chick has hatched, but she can't find it, and a hilarious journey ensues as Rosie looks everywhere for her little chick. The children loved this one, turning themselves upside down so they could look "under the henhouse" and "behind the wheelbarrow". Published by Hachette. Find out more here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/where-oh-where-is-rosies-chick/pat-hutchins/9781444918281
Choose Love by Nicola Davies and Petr Horácek. I can't put this better than to use the words on the back of the book... "This is a beautifully illustrated book of poems about the real-life experiences of refugees forced to leave their homes and previous lives behind to face an unknown future. Suffused with compassion and understanding, the work invites you to share in these stories in the hope of building greater awareness and empathy for the struggles faced by so many, and to choose love as our response."
Words that people use are so important. Especially words used by people in positions of power and responsibility, which are then amplified by much broadcast, print and social media. We need more compassion,more understanding, more empathy, more kindness, and more love. Published by @graffeg Find out more here - https://graffeg.com/collections/books-1/products/choose-love
This is how the change begins by Nicola Davies. A small but very powerful collection of poetry on the theme of climate change. She says "I know poems alone won't bring about the changes we need right now. But imagination, dreams and the words that carey them are a start. This IS how the change begins." A beautiful book, with a perfect message - of hope for the future. Published by @graffeg Find out more here - https://graffeg.com/collections/nicola-davies/products/this-is-how-the-change-begins. This book is part of the 2023 Read for Empathy collection. Find out more here - https://www.empathylab.uk/RFE-2023?_ga=2.124903754.1969720086.1675874086-490251102.1675874086
The General by Michael Foreman and Janet Charters. Published over 60 years ago in 1961 at the height of the cold war, this picture book is as relevant today as it ever was. The authors were both born on the eve of the Second World War and grew up in the uncertainty of the cold war and the nuclear arms race. Michael Foreman's first memory, age 3, is of a bomb narrowly missing his bed and exploding up the chimney of his bedroom. Both authors grew up just wanting a world at peace. They met at art school and The General is the result of their activism against nuclear weapons. The General wants to be the most famous general in the world. He wants his army to be admired by all the other generals. So he keeps his soldiers busy and prepared for war. One day when out riding his horse, he is thrown off, into the soft grass, where suddenly he has the urge to lay in the sunshine chewing a piece of grass. His love for the outdoors and the natural world grows and he eventually decides his soldiers will never again trample over the land destroying nature. His soldiers work on growing, planting, building and fishing, regenerating the forests and the land. He does become the most famous general in the world, but not for winning wars. Published by @templarbooks @bonnierbooks Find out more here - https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/imprints/templar-books/
Persuasion by Jane Austen. Anne Elliot was persuaded by her family not to marry Captain Wentworth, who she loves. The story begins 8 years later as the Elliott family have to rent out their family home because of money problems, moving to a small house in Bath. Anne stays behind to be with one of her sisters for a while, and it turns out the big house has been rented out to the family of said Captain Wentworth.... Anne eventually meets Wentworth again, but he seems more interested in her friend Louisa. This is Jane Austen's final novel, and it is written with a lovely sense of humour, as you get to know the characters in this story of love that stands the test of time, family and society.
Published by Penguin Books. Find out more here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/series/VINCAUS/vintage-classics-austen-series
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