May 2025

A round-up of some of the things I’ve been writing, reading and doing this month.

Writing

On Substack:

Exploring the Countryside with Michael Chinery

It’s been a bit of a quiet month for Substack posts what with one thing and another. (One thing and another being a role change at work, a set of deadlines and a holiday) Normal service should be resumed in June.

Published elsewhere this month:

• L is for Luton is the latest in a series of posts for CPRE Bedfordshire, helping readers to explore the county via an A-Z of Bedfordshire places, landscapes and history. In this instalment I put the spotlight on Bedfordshire’s largest town, Luton, looking particularly at its green spaces, countryside sites and historical trails.

• I reviewed The Cuckoo Calls the Year by Pete Stroh for JRI. It’s a lovely piece of nature writing and a real encouragement to learn more about the wildlife on our doorstep.

• One of the things that I find fascinating about villages is the way that small places can tell much bigger stories. This might be in terms of their history, the people that made them their home, their place in the landscape, or their buildings. A new post on my website brings together some of the pieces I’ve written about exploring Bedfordshire’s villages.

• A little bit about the inspiration behind my poem ‘The Whaler’ which features in a new anthology.

Reading

This month I reread Great Expectations which I wouldn’t have described as my favourite Dickens’ novel so I was surprised to find myself thoroughly enjoying it. I particularly liked the evocation of place, both of the Kent marshes and London. In non-fiction I read Jack Cornish’s fascinating book The Lost Paths. He explores lots of interesting themes including trade, travel, pilgrimage, war, leisure and protest. It’s also a real call to value the paths we have and ensure they are mapped so future generations can enjoy the same access. Finally, I’d also highly recommend Ian Collins’ Blythe Spirit: The Remarkable Life of Ronald Blythe. It’s an engagingly written biography filled with warmth for the subject and the places he lived.

Listening

I’ve recently discovered ‘Eleanor and Alasdair Read That’, a podcast featuring comedians Eleanor Morton and Alasdair Beckett-King revisiting classic children’s books. As I’ve been writing about my experiences of doing the same here on Substack, I couldn’t resist giving it a try and I’ve really enjoyed the episodes I’ve listened to so far.

Late spring gardens

This month we enjoyed a few days away, pottering about on the edge of the Cotswolds. A particular highlight was a return visit to the National Trust’s Hidcote Garden. It was a beautiful day and because we were staying nearby we got there just as it opened and had plenty of time to explore before it got too busy.

We also visited the gardens at Upton House (also National Trust) where the wisteria was looking and smelling wonderful. The gardens here were created slightly later than those at Hidcote (1930s rather than 1910s) by Welsh designer Kitty Lloyd Jones – one of the first women of the period to earn a living from practical gardening.