a penny in the foundations

  As the number of weeks until my final acts as an itinerant Methodist minister enters single figures, I realise just how uncharted the territory ahead seems. Our new home near Scarborough will be my 25th place of residence. The 24 so far have had one thing in common, they were never likely to be a ‘forever home’, not least because itinerant ministry means each new job requires moving home. Though once again we must move on , this time it might just be the final time we have to strike camp and set off to a new place. Looking beyond where I lay my head, I am however very much experiencing something new. Throughout my adult life there has always been a clear next step and it has begun to have shape long before the actual move. From school to university, to teacher training, to teaching jobs, theological college and then the discipline of Methodist stationing. At each stage I have had some idea of what I would be doing, and the diary has begun to form long before hitting the new g...

 Some of the places I am visiting begin unexpected trains of thought. This little selection of brochures, plans and contemporary photos from my Kent and Northumberland trips are nothing more than a record of my collection! Nothing profound, I promise!  It includes a couple of site plans - why not try to match the photos to the exact location on the developments. A challenge I still love ;) Starting in Kent: Good to see a 50 year old house looking so close to how the builders left it! These are on the site plan above Now heading north, to Tintagel Close in Cramlington. My brother was the first owner of this one (c.1976), the builders messed up and had to build the garage down the street. Interesting to see that it is currently being extended.  Now to Morpeth. Lancaster Park was a slightly upmarket development which was developed right through the 70s. It features on the main Leech brochure, providing an interesting historical snapshot. And here's one I knew well, where my ...

                                                                            Ordinary things contain the deepest mysteries... This Royal Institute of  British Architects exhibition could not have been better timed for me! Radical Rooms: Power of the plan (architecture.com) 'This exhibition explores the power relations embedded within the layout of our domestic spaces. It uses stories from architectural history and highlights moments when the architectural plan has challenged or changed the conventions of domestic life.' Though the exhibition takes a much longer historical view, the curators start with much the same assumption as I did this sabbatical journey; that the spaces in which we live and how they are laid out shape our perspective on life. It does not focus on the external appearance of ...