Welcome to the Molly House
WORDS: Alex Cochrane In the 18th century the secret world of the molly house was a place for gay men to socialise, cross-dress and role-play. But it was also a place of danger and treachery. It must have taken some
The Death of Childhood: Drowned, Abandoned and Murdered Toys
WORDS: Gareth E. Rees PHOTOS: Various excellent Twitter followers At the end of their careers. Forgotten. Abandoned. Dealing with their demons. The icons of our childhood don’t always have it easy. Some fall prey to drugs and drink. Others can’t
Lowriders, Joyriders, Cruisers & Doughnuteers – Car Park Life at Night
LOCATION: A supermarket car park near you, probably. WORDS: Gareth E. Rees In 2014, Plymouth’s Crownhill retail park hosts a nocturnal gathering of around hundred cars and five hundred people. A twenty-year old named Christopher Budd enters a skills competition with
The Gallows Pole: Myth & The Taxonomy of Terrain in Yorkshire’s Rebel Landscape
WORDS: Gareth E. Rees LOCATION: Yorkshire Benjamin Myers’ The Gallows Pole [Bluemoose Books] is a novel about the Cragg Vale Coiners, a band of forgers led by David Hartley in the 18th Century. The Gallows Pole opens with a taxonomy
Lost British Landscapes
LOCATION: The Submerged Coastline of the UK WORDS: B G Nichols In September 1931 the trawler Colinda set sail from Lowestoft on a routine trip towards the Leman and Ower Banks some 25 miles off the coast of Norfolk in
A Prospect of Loughton Brook
MUSIC & WORDS: Spaceship (Mark Williamson) LOCATION: Epping Forest A Prospect of Loughton Brook was recorded using binaural and hydrophone recordings, augmented with piano, synthesizer and strings. It traces the journey of Loughton Brook, a stream in Epping Forest as
Brexit, Landslip, Divorce & a Very Sussex Apocalypse
WORDS: Gareth E. Rees LOCATION: Hastings, East Sussex The Stone Tide: Adventures at the End of the World is an apocalyptic black comedy set in Hastings, written by Unofficial Britain founder Gareth E. Rees, featuring Aleister Crowley, the Piltdown Man
The Digger’s Tale
LOCATION: Hertfordshire WORDS: George Sandison Arthur saw it first, or what was left of it after the digger had sheared through the legs. It sounded like squealing hydraulics, the visceral potential of the moment drowned out by machinery, and left
The Militarised Countryside: A Journey to Imber, Salisbury Plain’s Ghost Village
LOCATION: Wiltshire WORDS: Gareth E. Rees It’s a long road to Little Imber, Salisbury plain’s ghost village. The MOD have opened it for public access, as they do occasionally at Easter and Christmas. Turning off the A360 from Tilshead, the
Baleen
WORDS: Gary Budden LOCATION: Kent There was all the stuff you’d expect; heart lungs liver kidneys etc. Baleen thick and numerous like bristles on an old paint-brush. But nothing in the gut, half-digested and smelling of pricey French perfume. Empty
