"Place is a repository of memory." - Living Adventurously 22
Rob Cowen is the award-winning author of Common Ground, selected as a ‘Book of the Year’ in the Times and featuring in the Guardian’s Top Ten Readers’ Choice.
After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, Rob found himself on unfamiliar territory, disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for the nearest open space. So one night, he set out to find it – a pylon-slung edge-land, a tangle of wood, meadow, field and river on the outskirts of town. Despite being in the shadow of thousands of houses, it felt unclaimed, forgotten, caught between worlds, and all the more magical for it.
Rob Cowen is the award-winning author of Common Ground, selected as a ‘Book of the Year’ in the Times and featuring in the Guardian’s Top Ten Readers’ Choice.
After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, Rob found himself on unfamiliar territory, disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for the nearest open space. So one night, he set out to find it – a pylon-slung edge-land, a tangle of wood, meadow, field and river on the outskirts of town. Despite being in the shadow of thousands of houses, it felt unclaimed, forgotten, caught between worlds, and all the more magical for it.
After moving from London to a new home in Yorkshire, Rob found himself on unfamiliar territory, disoriented, hemmed in by winter and yearning for the nearest open space. So one night, he set out to find it – a pylon-slung edge-land, a tangle of wood, meadow, field and river on the outskirts of town. Despite being in the shadow of thousands of houses, it felt unclaimed, forgotten, caught between worlds, and all the more magical for it.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE LIVING ADVENTUROUSLY PODCAST
(It’s completely free, zero hassle to do (click here), but really helpful for me trying to get a new podcast off the ground. If you’re feeling extra kind, please leave a review on the app – that really helps.)
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn (“Alexa, please play the Living Adventurously podcast”) or on your favourite podcast platform such as Overcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Breaker, Soundcloud, Castbox, Castro.
SHOW NOTES
- If you enjoy listening to this episode over a cup of coffee and think it might be worth the price, you can buy me a coffee here: www. ko-fi.com/al_humphreys
- Keep up to date with future episodes (and my other adventures, projects and books) with my free monthly newsletter: alastairhumphreys.com/more/subscribe
- Say hello on Twitter and Instagram: @al_humphreys
- Rob Cowen's website and Twitter
- Common Ground
- Edge lands - between the rural and the urban
- There are so few areas of true wilderness left, but this place has some wildness to it, as there is so much history running through it
- Kids used to play in these edgelands, but now they have been demonised and kids aren't allowed to come and play here
- People here appreciate being so well-placed for getting into natural places
- Place is a repository of memory.
- Two people can have a similar emotional response to the same landscape - it has an aura
- The collisions at the edgelands of human layers and nature. They have stories to tell.
- Richard Jeffreys - After London
- Home is a fluid thing - I had a sense of it in London as they were my dad's old haunts. I enjoyed the heath in London as it reminded me of Yorkshire.
THIS PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY KOMOOT
Your very own outdoor experiences are waiting for you. Go explore more with komoot. Use the voucher code ADVENTUROUS to claim your free region maps bundle.
The personalised planning and navigation tools ensure you plan the adventure that’s perfect for you. Komoot is Europe’s number 1 outdoor app, with route planning and navigation functionality, and strong community-driven inspirational features in the form of recommended Highlights and inspirational route Collections. It is used by nearly 10 million adventurers worldwide. Komoot is becoming the app of choice for cyclists and hikers the world over, with rapid community growth in the UK, the US and other parts of Europe.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.
You can see my ride’s route on komoot here.