Norfolk Corners

The bitter east wind whipped up the sand and swept it across spiny grass dunes and the twisted, denuded limbs of the stunted shrubs that grimly clung to the shifting earth. Brother Stephen gathered the folds his robe and leaned into the gust. As he made his way across the uneven ground toward the sea, the dunes began to thin. A weak sun shone silver across the waters that seemed to retreat even as he approached. Without the defence of the dunes, the wind flayed at him still more cruelly and drew a salty tear from his narrow squint that stung as it dried on his cheek. The basket that he would fill with shellfish was an ineffective shield against the squall but better than nothing. Now the harsh screeching of gulls cut across the wind's droning whine and through his narrow field of vision he made out a flurry of movement at the seafront. It took a few moments for the clamour of wheeling and swooping to settle enough for him to se...

One of the inspirations for this blog was Will Giles' remarkable Exotic Garden in Thorpe Hamlet, Norwich. I was introduced to the garden by Jamie, an industrious student who had joined our group at the John Innes Centre for the summer to look after some plant populations. After a full day at work, Jamie would spend his evenings as part of a team of volunteers in the exotic garden turning Will's vision of a tropical garden in Norwich into reality. After all that, Jamie could retire to a treehouse within the garden itself. As a boy I used to watch a serialised version of Tarzan. To be honest, I could take or leave the stories and his yodelling call but I loved the romance of living in a treehouse. Perhaps there is potential for a Cbeebies Tarzan / Grand Designs crossover show. My younger self was in awe but my older self kept asking questions like: "isn't it cold?" I've been lucky to be part of various adventures as part of ...