city island (aka. atlantis)

 ok yesterday afternoon and horsemouth is back indoors. 

he went out to see an old friend and then wandered down to roman road, mile end through TH cemetery park, chrisp street market, aberfeldy, heron wharf, bow ecology, city island (aka. atlantis), east india dock basin and the BACK. 

in crisp street market he tried to take photos documenting the former communal endeavour stock but gradually he changed over to selfies imagining himself in the new london.

especially round heron wharf. 

it is slightly ironic because it is the 75th anniversary of the festival of britain  which gave us chrisp street market in the first place.

the regeneration of which is now stuck in development hell/ court cases etc.)

eventually he reached the thames and the smell of salt water. 

on his way back he called in at walthamstow market to do some book buying - in particular the copy of enthusiasm he had seen the night before, but also bruno's dream (iris murdoch), and the paris review (issue 215)  he bought these with cash. 

today there is a plan for a walk. horsemouth is meeting howard at a particular location at a particular time but where they are going from there he does not know. 

books, films, gigs, events july 2026

 books

- enthusiasm by neil cummings and marysia lewandowska 

- biography of anna akhmatova

- teffi memories: from moscow to the black sea

- lawrence durrell, ceasar's vast ghost

- kilvert, diaries

- imagining new ways to live by michelle gurule (LARB)

- the narrow road to the deep north basho

-  a little of seeing england (antiquarians, travellers and naturalists) which ends with the naturalist gilbert white of selborne in hampshire

- nicholas royle confessions of a book collector

-  the ice monkey by m.john harrison

- NLR 159 such articles as are free

- GDN how would britain look under PR?

- GDN review of christopher priest and nina allan  book on j.g. ballard

- foul means james butler

- LRB susannah clapp at dungeness

- 

films

- l'homme sans visage  a french mini-series first broadcast 17th july 1975

- gwenifer raymond interview

- adam tooze on andy burnham, manchesterism and thus engels

- the anna lapwood  transcription of hans zimmer's 'chevaliers de sangreal'

- aaron bastani meets peter apps (housing)

- why birthrates are falling everywhere (smartphones)

- ira sachs on je tu il elle

gigs wave debb online stuff

events

memorial event for mickey mann (didn't go but important anyway), weirdshire six hours of drone made available, horsemouth masterminds the new london. 

a proposal to weight bells the same (interesting)

in the morning a wander round with TG hugging every possible bit of shade. down along the canal to the forest, cross over the road and back up to the river. 

dogs

dogs and children

owners and parents

34C out there right now (allegedly). in the afternoon horsemouth cowered indoors at his brother's house. 

hereinafter it's getting a bit cooler. 

he was off out later to see minty. 

while he was waiting for minty and jacqueline he saw enthusiasm by neil cummings and marysia lewandowska in the window of the oxfam shop (but it was shut). this deals with polish film clubs. (horsemouth is tempted to go back and get it). 

a proposal to weight bells the same (interesting). 

travel

ok so he made it onto the bus (despite an attempt to get on the 442 at pontrilas and go to abergavenny). having got onboard the 23 it was from then on fairly straightforward. he got to the station and got the fare he remembered. he was on the birmingham train by 1026 and at 1040 they were off. they were 10 minutes or so late into birmingham and then a scrabble for the LNR to euston. (which was really busy). time only for a 100% markup sandwich.

the train turned out to be on 4a and another train to be departing before horsemouth's very eyes on 4c. a gates admission/ re-admission problem. 

and so the slow(ish) grind through the british countryside. horsemouth mostly snoozed through the journey. 

getting into euston three-ish and then the schlepp out to howard's. 

horsemouth and howard went pretty much immediately to the pub with pizza and attempted a pizza and beer thing (such as they usually do) but were defeated by the heat (perhaps they should have stayed in the bar which had aircon). they listened to don cherry.   

they retreated to howard's back garden and drank tea and water instead.  

then horsemouth headed up to his brother's house - to barking and then over on the suffragette line to walthamstow queens street and so on. 

today TG and minty. friday a walk with howard.

using irregular routes to evade detection by paranoia (and a dream)

 yesterday ok (phew) 

horsemouth has just finished off swapping the bedding in his usual bedroom so his brother can sleep there for the next week, sorting out the stuff to take with him for his trip to the wen, moving himself into the spare bedroom (for one night), and going up the hill to sylvia's to drop off two week's supply of eggs. 

so has he been busy enough to assuage his usual anxiety? nearly. 

in the evening his brother came. 

in the morning horsemouth heads off to the wen (using irregular routes to evade detection by his paranoia). 

in the morning a strange dream, arrival at a small railway station(?) in the countryside. horsemouth gets into a small wooden one person people mover that bangs through various doors and down various ramps and then off down the lanes (but not in the direction of the village). it's very victorian technology. very polished wood. brass and glass. 

after a while in one narrow lane part of the road is closed off and it is flooded. the people carrier pushes the this side only construction  a little up the road and then comes to a halt. 

and horsemouth wakes up. 

looks like he is walking to the bus. but (never say never) it looks like some of his prayers have been answered. 

his plan is pretty much; 

howard tuesday afternoon. TG wednesday morning. minty wednesday evening/ afternoon as is. 

thereafter we have to see. he thinks he's booked saturday and sunday afternoon. he wants to go and visit elephant and castle to check out the gentrification there and grosvenor square (to check out the new garden). he might go out and visit barking riverside again (anywhere where concrete is being poured).

  

horsemouth has sworn at the computer a few times - now he feels better...

so a wander into the village 

to buy some bread and the hereford times (so about 2 miles all told). 

on the way back (via the football pitch) horsemouth saw a slow worm. 

there was some to-and-fro about the need to buy sausages and bacon. horsemouth argued he could do it tomorrow. 

there was then some issue with mum's hearing aids. resulting in a hunt to try and find a piece of paper telling them what make they were so that horsemouth could look up how best to use them. they are stretta hearing aids (it says on the hearing aid itself) but of what type is not obvious (allegedly they can be bluetoothed to an app). 

anyway volume control actually used - better results (allegedly). 

hmmn it seems to be raining. (more trying to). 

golden valley parkway

well this would be very useful to horsemouth but it has been left out of the council's long-term plan. similarly a station called hereford parkway at rotherwas is MIA. 

horsemouth is about to do some travelling 

it will mean getting a bus down the valley to pontrilas and then getting another bus into hereford or abergavenny to get the train (or the bus) to the wen or any other city. 

his usual route these days is via birmingham because, while it is the longest, it is the cheapest also. 

now horsemouth does not mind this and it does not affect his willingness to visit the wen (it's a rare journey)  but the expense of the buses  does affect his willingness to go into hereford and spend his money there. similarly he is less likely to travel on to hay-on-wye, bromyard, ludlow etc.  and spend his money there. 

the cost of getting in and out of town was about £8 (it may have gone down to £6 as a result of andy burnham). horsemouth does not qualify for free bus travel until he is 67. 

but further (as an example) there is no bus service on sundays. as an example weekdays and saturdays the last bus out of hereford at night is 6.30pm (and that's all folks!). 

the likelihood is that a train from pontrilas would run later and be comparable in cost.

mind you horsemouth can't see the ticket that he needs for his journey to the wen 

(the one via the cheap route) because the website is fucking shit. he knows it is possible and he has done it before but can he get the machine to show it him (can he fuck). 

ok so horsemouth has sworn at the computer a few times. now he feels better. 

he's just back from a quick walk on the common

he's just back from a quick walk on the common. he will delay feeding the chickens for a while. his mum is having a snooze. 

it's the morning

horsemouth is up and has fed the chickens. he'll be back out again to do the watering. (such watering as he is doing). it looks like rain but the weather forecast says it wont. he's not sure what the reservoir levels are like. his brother comes this evening. he's away tomorrow morning. 

distribution

at the moment horsemouth's fiction for the far future village band project will be distributed only as a chap book with the far future village band III  CD which will be posted to people buying it. this is very old school - physical media/ zine/ mail art approach. one of which horsemouth approves. 

however this may be an insufficient working of the resource. 

horsemouth thinks it might be better distributed as a podcast (with incidental music maybe) or perhaps as a text and reading on substack. of course the sad fact of social media is that this does not mean it will reach a larger audience. 

anyway time enough to consider all this when rob is back from japan and horsemouth is back from the wen. 

------------------------

it's the morning. horsemouth has his coffee (but only a half cup to save him having to get into opening another packet of coffee and filling up the caddy and all that kerfuffle). 

it's a beautiful morning. he probably needs to water the tomatoes. the blossom on the runner beans looks beautiful. the ground (however) is pretty much baked solid. the sheep are back (horsemouth doesn't think his mum has noticed). the 'repair' horsemouth made to the bottom gate seems to be stopping the keen one among them from escaping. 

above a don cherry record with a french electronic musician about whom horsemouth can find out very little. . 

'our separation is an illusion...'

 'our separation is an illusion,

 you and I cannot be parted...' 

- anna akhmatova, poem  without a hero.

' a joke is not so funny when you are living inside of it.' 

- teffi, memories: from moscow to the black sea. 

interesting. horsemouth has nothing written for today already.

thus we have a written entirely in the morning blogpost.

well that's not entirely true, he had the quotations. (the akhmatova for sure).

yesterday (an overcast day) lots of gardening. for some reason horsemouth was able to get on with the weeding having been resistant to the notion for a while. he cropped the last of the broad beans, some more runner beans and the odd, accidentally dug up, potato. 

he also dug up the only carrot that came up out of all the seed he scattered (sod's law) and very tasty it was too. 

in the afternoon zoom beer with howard. he's off to the south coast a lot at the moment. horsemouth promised to bring down some sweet peas and some eggs when he comes down. 

horsemouth wrote another what will you find in the horsemouthfolk archive?

(forgone conclusions, the dog which nearly hung itself, verses and epigrams (repunctuated),  the tremorithic road, every slightest thing illuminated by interests and obsessions, boredom, frustration and anxiety, a dead seagull.

hail to the runner bean that kindest of crops.)

ten years ago horsemouth was moving out of pop(u)lar in the direction of hackney. he'd taken a ton of his books to the charity shop (well maybe not a literal ton) but was still moving a vast amount of shite. 

today (hopefully) a wander up the hill to deliver some eggs, more reading of the teffi and the akhmatova, further plotting of his escape. 

an absolutely foregone conclusion

kilvert on this day in 1872 

the strange tale of the dog which nearly hung itself while jumping down from a wall during a thunderstorm. 

earlier (yesterday)

there was a dragonfly flying about (they don't buzz as far as horsemouth can tell). earlier still he was feeling anxious but he has self-medicated with coffee and is now feeling better (plus the heat has come off the day, there are actually clouds in the sky). 

he has watered the tomatoes (which are looking great, lots of them and very red). the cabbages have been eaten to lattice work by the caterpillars (same with the sprouts). the basil is good. he is imagining telling his brother about watering all of this. 

he was just wiping down his blue jacket - the one that was still mud-stained from where he fell over in the mud six months ago (possibly longer). 

horsemouth had a go at reading and recording two of the pieces he wrote for rob's far future village band  project. if these are successful who will start working his way through the others (perhaps there's an audio book in it). there's the odd infelicitous phrase but on the whole it reads pretty well. 

we are moving up on the six year anniversary of musicians of bremen volume four. 

this is a slightly melancholy anniversary because it was not followed (a year or two later) by a volume five. close on its heals were a whole series of releases the humming  etc. but they just used up the material generated at the same time but MoB failed to generate a successor. subsequent projects did not stick. 

they may do yet (it's not an absolutely foregone conclusion).

and yet there it is. pagodas is an important piece for horsemouth because he plays it all. it is a number of fragments of debussy's pagodes inexpertly played and stitched together. as you can clearly hear while recording it horsemouth developed a great enthusiasm for a crash/ splash cymbal he'd found. 

ok it's the morning. horsemouth just took the milk over to the garage fridge and finished off a cup of coffee from yesterday. the mornings are cool (cold even). 

up the tremorithic road

'exchange(d) verses and epigrams...' - lawrence durrell, ceasar's vast ghost (repunctuated).

horsemouth's mum was off to the queen's wood (planned daytrip). horsemouth had hoped to get a lift into town and then do more secondhand book-shopping (but then he realised he needed to be at home for the unloading of the chickenfeed that his mum and stella would be bringing back). 

horsemouth supposes that he's away to the wen soon and that this kind of stuff is more cheaply and easily done in the wen anyway. it's not like he needs more books. 

p.s. he welcomes andy burnham's £2 bus fare announcement. will this tip the scales on his travelling up to town more often? probably not.

after admitting to himself that he was staying home horsemouth decided to go for a walk.

you will remember him mentioning the tremorithic road before. 

up he went onto the common and then along and up the tremorithic road. he didn't get very far beyond the turnoff down to the trout (as was) but further than he has done previously. had he continued on he would eventually have ended up at bacton village hall maybe.

but he didn't, instead he turned around and came home. 

he came home down by the cwm and along past the abbey. there was an event on at the abbey. feeling agoraphobic horsemouth skirted it. 

and here he is (yesterday) sitting in the shade typing in his adventures and drinking tea. 

the walk has gone some way to reset his mood. 

last night a bottle of beer which he is somewhat regretting now. 

morning coffee. his mum is somewhat tired after yesterday's journey out. a slow start. 

a memorial event for legendary sound engineer mickey mann

this evening there's a memorial event for legendary sound engineer mickey mann. 

horsemouth will not be able to make it and has been putting off discussing it. 

mickey had amazing ears, great technical knowledge, and wide musical tastes. he was generous with his time. eventually after much success health problems and financial difficulties conspired to derail it and close it all down. 

horsemouth is sorry to say he lost contact with mickey when the duke of york was gentrified (however many years ago that was). he would sometimes call in on the off-chance but once that was gone he had no way of finding mickey having forgotten his address. he put some effort into organising a 50ieth birthday celebration for him (drummond street and so on) but not a 60ieth.

horsemouth almost certainly didn't appreciate mickey's music enough at the time. only mothmath truly seems to him indisputably illuminated by his genius in that it does not put a foot wrong - it is simply perfect. 

and yet every slightest thing by him is illuminated by mickey's interests and obsessions. during periods of change who gets access to the machines and the narrative to disseminate their message frees up  (if only for a while before the forces of order re-assert themselves). mickey was fortunate to find himself in one of those eras but he also made it his own. 

others will point to other tracks. his work on other people's songs. his later work on art installations and film soundtracks. 

we live our lives but once. if we are lucky we get to leave behind something of worth. 

------------------

horsemouth had some other stuff regarding what he got up to yesterday but he will leave that for another time. 

a state of dull (in)security.

 robbie basho live at sinclair auditorium 22nd july 1978. 

it's not exactly fahey's live in tasmania but it is amazing in its own ways. as a guitar album it is probably better. 

kilvert?

'a letter from mr. venables saying that mr. irvine has taken the curacy of clyro for six months.' 

kilvert says no more than this. his mind was made up already to leave clyro. just the last stint to do.

despite everything horsemouth continues in his state of dull (in)security. it is almost as if the last 5 years of retirement haven't happened. it is an interesting point that had he moved out to the wilds even earlier he would be even more secure. for this reason he contemplates the next five years of retirement with equanimity. 

that's not to say that he is not bored and frustrated and anxious (these are all pretty much his default settings). 

more runner beans cropped yesterday

the remaining broad beans he is leaving until just before his brother gets here. the tomatoes are doing well (as is the basil). there will be enough onions. maybe not enough beetroot, enough damsons... 

he had some thoughts about whether to go out and water. (in the end he half did)

yesterday horsemouth saw an advert for the newport jazz festival. great! he went. a jazz festival in newport... wonder if it's free. 

well it may be free but it's in rhode island. (it was possibly the appearance of stanley clarke on the bill that got the message to him). 

a cool grey morning. it almost looks like it has rained. 

horsemouth has his coffee. he's just taken a big slug of it - ah it tastes good. 

a friend (who is a photographer) has complimented horsemouth on one of his pictures 

(or maybe he did a long time ago it's not exactly clear). this one of a dead seagull taken over near the harland and wolff gates in lyle park . it was a hot day. horsemouth was walking out towards thames barrier park. he was urban exploring (one of his favourite things). 

hail the runner bean that kindest of crops

'I took the whole morning and afternoon service and sermon, but my father took part in holy communion...'

so says francis kilvert of this day in 1872. on wednesday he will spend it with the de quettevilles (this is an old brittany name, ok no horsemouth is wrong, normandy). one of their relatives is still about (writing for the daily torygraph horsemouth believes). 

meanwhile, in lawrence durrell's ceasar's vast ghost  his friend aldo is reading a travel guide to south eastern france by none other than francis kilvert's friend augustus hare. (what are the odds!)

thus is horsemouth's reading united.

hare also wrote ghost stories (or rather he larded his autobiographies with them) - one such is the vampire of croglin grange.

the robbie basho is from 1978 the night before he did a gig that was recorded. this, a short set in a coffee house was recorded also. 

--------------------------

a hazy morning here in the wild 

there are going to be lots of runner beans conversely the first crop of broad beans is in (and there are probably some left overs for his brother) and then horsemouth would have to get very lucky to get another crop out of these particular plants. there are fewer beetroot plants that horsemouth thought/ would have hoped. there will be enough onions. how we are for potatoes he does not yet know. the spinach has bolted and is basically done. the caterpillars have decimated the cabbage and the sprouts.

hail the runner bean that kindest of crops.  

horsemouth worries that he is in the wrong place (hell he knows he is in the wrong place) but there is little or nothing he can do about it. 

yet another imaginary conversation rendered null and void

a discussion of communal living

'the percentage of americans living in nuclear family households has declined significantly since 1970...'

but of course there is a huge economic factor with this. 

horsemouth is no longer living communally. rather than experience it as great and beautiful he experienced it as conflict. conflict over access to the living room, over using the front garden as a waste dump, over using the back garden as a waste dump. 

to be fair whenever he shared he felt these kind of stresses. and whenever he lived on his own he felt different social stresses.

beyond that there was the wider co-op which seemed to contain the absolutely average number of selfish and unpleasant people.  similarly when he worked. 

horsemouth was very grateful to the people who were active in the co-op and to the co-op's existence for housing him at a point when he was in great housing difficulty. he thinks it is a beautiful thing (except in its actuality). similarly for the work that fed him (except for day to day). 

the truth, horsemouth supposes, is that he is a grumpy bastard. 

and yet he misses the co-operative. there was a potential to do good there. 

this is yet another imaginary conversation rendered null and void. 

interesting. facebook was down. and then it was back up again. 

------------------------------------------------

perhaps the whole target of the iran war is not iran but china. china has handled the energy crisis well by using its strategic reserves. but this cannot continue. similarly for the rest of the world. 

the us strategic reserves are stored underground in giant salt caverns - whether these can be just turned on and off without risking their structural integrity could turn out to be a major issue. 

it is one thing to blunder into a stupid war with iran it is another thing to blunder into a stupid war with china. 

a bright morning with an interesting nip in the air. horsemouth thinks more chicken feed this week. 

imaginary conversations rendered null and void ('all three is a...')

kilvert is still back at his father's 

horsemouth is still writing his far future village band stuff but he's waiting for inspiration to strike again. until then he'll grind it out. 

yesterday a walk up the hill to deliver the eggs. on his way back down there was a girl ahead of him. she was just passed the bridge when he turned up the path by the military base.

she did not reappear.  

later a wedding at the abbey (horsemouth was told). there were bells. (they seemed to go on a long time).

the strimming of the chicken enclosure was successful when it was completed the chickens could be released. no chickens were strimmed in the process that's the main thing. 

horsemouth has realised 

that the thing in town he was worried about going to is on next week not the week after - he will therefore not be able to go. at a stroke all his anxieties pop (but also all his possible pleasures too). it would have been a good opportunity to catch up with loads of people (ah well). 

horsemouth can't tell you the number of imaginary conversations that renders null and void. 

later still a walk on the common. lots of people around. (but none of them were walking dogs). it looked pretty much as it looks above (except he didn't go that route). 

later still a zoom beer with howard. 

sculptures. erm...erm... pachy-o-derm. 'all three is a...'

the sheep are gone again (up the hill).

'age of decline and dissolution...'

'in an age of decline and dissolution, the roman world had shattered like a mask...' 

- lawrence durrell, ceasar's vast ghost. 

and this is horsemouth's view of the future. he thinks things are going to carry on getting worse rather than fall but he thinks eventually it will fall. he thinks the disruptions caused by global warming are on a whole other scale from previous crises. they are literally a global crisis.

in this he is a doomster. 

however, as with the romans, the fall will take centuries. for much of the time the world will appear to be the same but in fact the break up of nation states and power blocks will accelerate. 

the last three tracks on this album were recorded in nice on july 18th 1971 (so 55 years ago to the day) live from the place masséna. it all kicks of round about the 1 hour 14 minutes mark. 

starmer has departed and burnham will soon be in. horsemouth is pessimistic (he does not expect it to make a great deal of difference). burnham has little time to get anything he wants to get done done. soon enough we are back to the electorate (though it will feel like a long time). 

horsemouth was just struggling to feed the chickens while keeping the door to their coop shut. their enclosure is being strimmed, best to keep the chickens out of the way whilst this is going on.

while this post is dated the 17th it was in fact published the morning of the 18th (go figure).  

his busy social whirl begins again

the package has arrived from far off riogordo

contents - CD far future village band III with card cover and photo, handwritten note, chapbook A5 (roughly) card cover 8 pages double stappled featuring 3 case studies of the musicians and 6 photos.

horsemouth pronounces himself delighted. 

 if in doubt try kilvert

'last night the lord stood by me and invited me to drink of the fountain of life freely and I shall stand before the lord as bold as a lion.' - john cennick's aunt on her deathbed, as heard by him aged 9. 

kilvert is in langley burrell. 

yesterday (in 1872) he took his mother to visit the larges who told kilvert about the moravian settlers in east tytherton and the methodist and moravian preacher and hymn writer john cennick. 

here's a photo of their church and a plan of it. 

tomorrow kilvert will observe some haymaking. he will return to clyro on the 5th of august. 

yesterday 

horsemouth went for several walks on the common in the shade (through the woodland - along the side of it as much as possible). he harvested some runner beans (smaller and less stringy this time) and some tomatoes. there are still some broad beans to come (so there will be some for his brother). 

the bell ringing didn't go so well (but on the other hand it wasn't a complete disaster). after that the pub. 

damn he's just remembered he forgot to give sylvia the eggs. (his busy social whirl begins again). 

hmmnn. interesting. chance of rain in the afternoon. 

it is more an idea than a place.

'he advised me to keep a journal of my life, fair and undisguised. he said it would be a very good exercise, and would yield me infinite satisfaction when the ideas were faded from my remembrance.' 

- james boswell's london journal, 16th july 1763. 

'it is more an idea than a place. you will find this out quite soon' 

- local informant in lawrence durrell's ceasar's vast ghost. 

three years ago horsemouth was reading provence in walthamstow (it being more an idea than a place).  

horsemouth has been a bit anxious (not so surprisingly when he thinks about it). 

horsemouth has a visit coming up. it's not when he wanted it to be but at least it is happening. it will enable him to get in a number of social engagements and catch up with people (not everyone but at least some). 

ok. see even writing that down is helping him negotiate with it. 

he has been pleased that he has been writing but he is out of the first wind of it and will have to re-apply himself.  

it's the morning. horsemouth has done the chickens, to his recollection he forgot to take the recycling bin down the hill so it will now be another two weeks before it gets emptied. (pops his head out of the window to check - yes). 

the main water tank on the common is very low - horsemouth will try and excuse himself as much watering as is possible today. 

a mysterious and imprecise word

an almost entirely written the day before blogpost 

a walk on the common 

horsemouth took his camera and was mainly trying to focus on the animals and the abandoned technology. round the outside and then up to the top of the hill and back.

abandoned greenhouse

could be brought back into use horsemouth thinks. he thinks it's at the far end of a garden. 

the field downhill from it has a poly-tunnel anyway. (now a poly tunnel would be a useful thing). horsemouth's mum has two greenhouses but one is now in the shade of a rather large tree and so not much use for actually growing anything.

a mysterious and imprecise word

the 'mysterious and imprecise word that no one could define but which was readily understood by those who experienced it...'  is ballardian. 

you may as well add kafkaesque to that list but you may as well reply 'almost all of them'. in general all words are more difficult to define than people imagine and their meanings seldom stay stable that long.

the narrow road to the deep north

basho entered the city of kanazawa on july the 15th. he met a merchant from osaka. he wrote a memorial poem in praise of the poet issho.

'how beautiful it is

the snow on the ground

and the cloud in the west

that brings more of it.' 

snow seems a bit unlikely at the moment. (horsemouth would settle for rain). 

horsemouth has succeeded in doing something obvious 

hopefully it is the right thing to do. he should probably refuel once he has checked that the air is clear.  it should bring him peace of mind (but of course it doesn't). 

today the eggs (in as sure as eggs is eggs) and the recycling bin down the drive also. horsemouth is up and he has his coffee. it's a cool grey morning (but this means little, yesterday heated up successfully and today is supposed to do that also). 

according to the forecast the weather is consistently sunny and dry through to the 24th (this doesn't bring horsemouth the pleasure he thought it would). 

at least from here on in

 1872 kilvert is in langley having left clyro yesterday. 

okay a mostly written in the morning blogpost (at least from here on in), 

a grey morning and positively cool. horsemouth is wearing two layers (this is unheard of he's spent the last month wandering around in as little as possible). cloud til midday (says the bbc weather).  then bryter later.

at night horsemouth read a little of ceasar's vast ghost (mostly about the campaigns of marius) and then a little of seeing england (antiquarians, travellers and naturalists) which ends with the naturalist gilbert white of selborne in hampshire - horsemouth had been looking for his the natural history of selborne in his dad's collection. it is almost certainly there and almost certainly in a folio edition. anyway there's a few pages at the end of charles lancaster's book. 

the chickens were there to greet horsemouth at the gate this morning (he'd forgotten to lock them up last night). they all seem to be there. a 7am start (not too shabby). 

he probably won't go to abergavenny today. if he's off to the wen in a few weeks he can get his book shopping in then. 

available in physical form it is nearly here

'elsewhere horsemouth's writing has been progressing. at some point the first part of it will be available in physical form...'  

it's NEARLY here.

in the spanish post today (rob says) and then god knows how long it will take to reach the mule in deepest darkest herefordshire. launched by the correos it will fly towards horsemouth and then decelerate enormously as it enters the field of action of the royal mail. 

this is in no way the fault of the final postie who will deliver it to horsemouth (him horsemouth will thank). 

having been posted it will therefore be a piece of mail art. 

of course once horsemouth has the physical thing he will be better able to tell what it is and perhaps get some more insight into why he did it. 

this morning a cool grey morning (uncharacteristic of recent weeks and something of a relief and a disappointment simultaneously). the weather forecast shows rain mid week. 

today that walk up the hill with the eggs. 

yesterday evening a phone conversation with david. horsemouth may be visiting the wen soon (he'll keep you posted). 

sheep are back

the sheep are back. horsemouth thought they had gone away but his mum claims not. that makes it easier.

horsemouth has been watching l'homme sans visage  a french mini-series first broadcast 17th july 1975. it's in that great fantomas/ dr.mabuse/ supervillain  mould. 

he's been reading ceasar's vast ghost. in a way it is useful reading for his post-apocalyptic, they are old men rattling around old houses and towns with unhealthy obsessions (haute magie, mumification, tauromachia). 

================

yesterday a chat with howard (of the one and done variety). soon enough howard is done for the year. 

today a zoom call and probably wombling the eggs up the hill. possibly try some more writing of the post-apocalyptich (it seems to be writing itself at the minute). 

constrained by history

'constrained by history, now he shall not make

new friendships or attachments

for the circle of the old is closing in...'

- lawrence durrell, ceasar's vast ghost.

on this day in 1872 the children at the school are mourning the departure of kilvert. or rather on this day he is told about it and tells us.  he is secretly gratified. 

horsemouth picked some tomatoes in the greenhouse which his mum pronounced very tasty. 

horsemouth should finish off confessions of a book collector before he starts on ceasar's vast ghost (but that's not his way). ceasar's vast ghost is great so far. it suits the hot weather. horsemouth did a little reading of it sitting around outside. 

coming up the weekend. after that the weeks of july and then the summer holidays begin (for the people who work). 

a good and hopeful message about bookstores. nice picture of a bookshop too. this may be why horsemouth copied and shared the article. he just likes the picture.  carpet, natural wood shelves, books (lots of books). 

elsewhere horsemouth's writing has been progressing. at some point the first part of it will be available in physical form and then horsemouth can get on and share it digitally. maybe he is in a good position to expand the reach of the chapbook. 

horsemouth has his coffee and he has unleashed the chickens. what next?

horsemouth and his old life (none of the above)

nicholas royle confessions of a book collector goes well but it is horsemouth's old life. 

horsemouth's old life

go to this second hand book shop walk over to that second hand bookshop, visit this or that charity shop along the way. read this book in translation or that book in translation. earwig this or that conversation and write it down, or write a quotation down in the diary from a book found in a college library. 

work day - fit in the book shop visits before or after bookings. 

leisure day - do the bookshop visits when boredom strikes. 

alternatively go into a library to check out the book sale. 

(later check local book-boxes)

and still more recently none of the above (or at least very little). 

horsemouth's accessions diary for the year is pitiful - whole months go buy without him buying or collecting a single book. he visits town and returns with a mere handful. 

at least his collection is still there in the shed on the side of the garage. it has not succumbed to damp. all this collecting is why he has such a big collection (this is perhaps unsurprising).  

where is kilvert?

on the 10th of july 1872 kilvert has travelled to abergaveny by train (via hereford) and is currently walking back from there to hay-on-wye via the black mountains. at llanthony kilvert and his friends meet a trainee monk from the monastery. they then proceed up the gospel pass 'into wales' (as kilvert puts it). 

it's been a busy time for kilvert. he's been to see the solitary of llanbedr, there's been a flood, he's been up to liverpool. 

meanwhile

'the sun determines everything that grows, while water becomes an all important symbol...' 

- lawrence durrell,  ceasar's vast ghost. 

horsemouth has been back out in the garden. he's finished picking the gooseberries and even picked some more runner beans. (there will be lots of runner beans this year). 

today

up to 33C. gradually cooling off from there. possibly some rain in the evening. possibly some rain sunday evening. no real rain until thursday. 

horsemouth wants rain so it can fill up the water butts so he can feel less guilty about using commons water to water the garden/ greenhouses etc. 

hacking back the nettles (at the harvesting of the broad beans)

in the morning a go at hacking back the nettles where they had grown up through the gooseberry bushes. as those were cleared picking the few remaining gooseberries that the birds hadn't snaffled or knocked off and left to rot on the ground. then the bins and the egg delivery.  (waste bin horsemouth thinks this time)

in the evening more of the same. but first horsemouth did some watering and harvested the broad beans. 

in between the hiding indoors and more writing (that is good). 

the pulling up the nettles went well (much better than horsemouth expected). he going to be able to get on with the gooseberry picking much more easily than he thought. 

picking the gooseberries resulted in several spikings of his fingers (most annoying). 

the broad beans and the gooseberries have gone into the freezer. it looks like there's some tomatoes to be had in the green house (woo hoo). 

this morning it looks like it's going to be sunny and hot again. 

horsemouth and the 'I'm a published author' dance

 'the night looks different  

already on july the sixth, 

for tomorrow, once a year, 

the weaver (vega) meets her lover (altair)...' 

- masuo basho in the narrow road to the deep north. 

this story forming the basis of the star festival which will have started last night. 

alfred watkins

meanwhile while he was in hereford horsemouth saw a blue plaque for alfred watkins, early photographer and ley-line theorist author of the old straight track. apparently hereford museum has extensive holdings of his works and photographs. 

horsemouth should have a hunt through his books on photography to see if he has any of watkins' work already. watkins supplied the photographs for d.r. chapman's hereford, herefordshire snd the wye.

the far future village band

so horsemouth got his fourth installment written (and very pleased he is with it too). meanwhile in far off riogordo rob has been printing out trial copies of the chapbook to go with it featuring the photos of the band and horsemouth's writings. 

... and horsemouth will be doing his 'I'm a published author' dance again. 

there will be a far future village band IV horsemouth will be practicing his whistling. 

will horsemouth write more? we shall see.

of course the return to the world of physical art objects solves some problems with the sheer overproduction of digital kipple (and its so-called 'ease of distribution) and replaces it with problems of its actual physical production and distribution. 

today 

another warm day. egg delivery and bin down the drive. the birds look to have snaffled all the berries. 

confessions of a book collector (the sun behind cloud cover)

so horsemouth is up to three stories/ character studies for the far future village band.

will he write a fourth? we shall see.

yesterday

nothing in the charity shops but after that a walk on great western way and then back across the river by the bridge used by the original hereford to abergavenny rail route. 

he dived into the oxfam near hereford cathedral before getting the bus out to pick up some books he had spotted earlier.

- nicholas royle, confessions of a book collector £3.99 (fake picador)

- teffi; memories from moscow to the black sea  £4.99 (nyrb)

the royle is good and enjoyable (horsemouth started reading it while waiting for the bus). royle namechecks some important bookshops for horsemouth - halcyon and skoob, and some important books and writers -anna kavan's sleep has his house and ice for example). he's good on inclusions in books (letters, photos, ticket stubs etc.), multiple copies, different covers etc. 

the teffi horsemouth will start on soon. (he has to admit he has never heard of it before). 

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ok written in the morning.

horsemouth was up early (or at least he thought about it from an early hour). the royle goes well (p. 85 so far). a greyish cool morning (the sun behind cloud cover). 

ok (phew) horsemouth has got the next part of the far future village band written. he thinks the solution is the correct one (wouldn't want to make it too maudlin). 

monastic trio day (was last month)

an entirely written in the morning blogpost (and maybe a brief one) 

so horsemouth has written two (short) fictional far future village band pieces (maybe he should get on and do a third). 

his plan is to go into town today (because it's there, because he hardly ever goes). the second hand book buying is not marvellous and there's no concessions yet for the old mule for the bus journeys in and out. consequently it will not be cheap. 

really it is for the thrill of the chase. he has enough books already (more than enough). and there are plenty of books in the house he could develop and interest in if he so chose. 

he should try abergavenny again. (the selection is better).  hay is just too far. 

he has practically finished reading the ice monkey by m.john harrison (and very good it was too).  this shows that he can sit down and read when the material grabs him. 

today is monastic trio day. the anniversary of alice coltrane being in the studio and recording some of the tracks from the LP release of monastic trio this day in 1968. alice coltrane on harp (mostly) and rashied ali on drums. ok no horsemouth has got this wrong it was june 6th but let's enjoy them anyway - broadly from gospel train onwards excluding altruvista. 

severed connections

so horsemouth has started reading the ice monkey a collection of stories by m. john harrison. 

he wanted to start on pavane by keith roberts but he couldn't find it in the stacks.

it starts with the story the ice monkey. like climbers, m. john's later novel about climbers and climbing, he shows that he really gets the absurd nature of the risk and the reward. 

the new rays is that uncanny valley cancer treatment as horror. could be robert aickman. the incalling is more squalid horror. 

settling the world has one of the greatest (and most misleading) opening sentences,

'with the discovery of god on the far side of the moon...' 

friends from university, ex-wives (severed connections). the quarry and running down an almost perfect story for the GB75 era (and originally published in 1975 but subsequently revised for this edition).

it ends with egnaro which also finishes up the viriconium series of stories. there is another world somewhere that you can gain access to (if you just know where to look). 

horsemouth is looking forward to re-reading it all. egnaro he re-read recently. 

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yesterday horsemouth did some writing (well typing things in on the laptop). this will appear in another place. he had a zoom beer with howard. movies, books, exhaustion (on howard's part) rather than work and plans. 

today

the weather is mild. more writing (typing). probably a walk. the continued hunt for pavane. make a list of possible far future village band bits of work. 

the world of the far future village band

a very british apocalypse.

there is the apocalypse of john wyndham, of j.g. ballard, of m. john harrison's running down. for all the utopias there are dystopias but also apocalypses where the new world cannot yet be made, but the old world can be destroyed. 

of course 1970ies tv was rife with it - the changes, survivors, practically every episode of dr. who because in the 70ies collapse was all around.

the three day week, GB75, a fairly secret army...

the 80ies and 90ies there were tedious years of progress (during which, strangely, the material bases of peoples lives were systematically undermined). in 2008 yet another financial crisis hit, followed by brexit, followed by covid, all symptoms of a shrinking malaise. 

and here we are...

horsemouth's far future village band reading list

pavane (keith roberts)

to be frank horsemouth can remember next to nothing about this book. other than it features a world where the protestant reformation never happened and the catholic church maintained a stranglehold on the development of technology (this may not be as factually correct as people imagine it to be). 

anyway it is set in modern times - but modern times where the best technology available is the steam-driven traction engine. 

horsemouth is pretty sure he has it somewhere in the garage. he's had a look. he can't see it. he'll try again later. there's always a danger he has returned it to the commonweal (to the book boxes).

the world of the far future village band

well it's hot. hot and dry or hot and luxuriant. kind of a cross between the dark ages and shogunate japan. rice is the main crop grown around the inland lakes (such as remain uncontaminated by saltwater). the sea-levels have risen but rivers have silted up (or been dammed also) creating inland lakes and seas. 

kind of like richard jefferies after london. 

a strangely accented french seems to be the lingua franca (or perhaps that's just for puppet shows). 

there seem to be lots of dances. lots of animal based dances. lots of flute ensembles. 

a stomp around on the common

yesterday

horsemouth got in a grump and went for a stomp around on the common (exactly why he is unsure). generally he dislikes his mum's work schemes (particularly if they are being worked out on the fly). 

it is time for a re-think

the old dispensation has worked so far but horsemouth is growing increasingly anxious trying to square up what he has to do with what he wants to do. 

in general horsemouth thinks he needs a holiday. (it's just working out how he's going to do it if his brother is not able to cover for him). nonetheless there is stuff he needs to do in town. 

indeed he could just do with a day off just doing some book-browsing in hereford or abergavenny.

vegetable growth

it has been suggested he pick the broad beans in about a week (better to get them when they are young, tasty and tender than later on).  the runner beans and tomatoes are coming soon and everything else is progressing ok. 

it's the morning. horsemouth is near to hung over without being actually hung over. the bell-ringing went ok (horsemouth is not making as much progress as he would like).  afterwards the angel of grosmont (and a lift back). 

to the top of the hill

 yesterday

horsemouth got in a walk on the common. up to the top of the hill. he circled round two tourists who had driven up and were drinking a cup of tea while sat at a camping table.

he also delivered the eggs to the crossroads and took the recycling bin down the drive. (that reminds him he must go and collect it).

the rain the day before had put some water in the water butts (which horsemouth used on the garden). 

one of the chickens has died so they are now down to thirteen chickens (these are the lucky ones). it hadn't been looking well for a while.  all the others look ok. 

horsemouth has had a crack at singing the first verse and chorus of le chaland qui passe (er. it needs work).

today 

horsemouth is unsure. probably the bells later on. at the moment he is up he has fed the chickens and he has his coffee. the coffee is good, nothing leaps out of the grauniad at him. he sneezes. he blows his nose. 

outside it is kind of uninspiring. low dark cloud and cool. 

ok horsemouth tells a lie it is starting to cheer up. 

horsemouth worries about lack of rain. he could do with the water butts being full again so he doesn't have to use commons water which is in short supply. (ah well what will be will be). 

turn the page (calendar day)

so how is calendar day? horsemouth will have to tell you when he gets there. 

photo from donaueschingen, october 16th 1971 (maybe october 17th) 

a gig by don cherry with moki cherry on tanpura. eagle eye cherry is just visible behind the dog (yes there's a dog onstage).

horsemouth could find out who the other people are (see youtube clip details). look at these hippes! look at how brilliant this is!

the album cover this is taken from is not performed by this line-up but by a trio of carlos ward, abdullah ibrahim and don cherry (and very good it is too). 

yesterday

it was actually raining (briefly). (like horsemouth has forgotten such a thing was possible). this is good because it replenishes (to some extent) the water butts and excuses horsemouth from watering duties.

ok it rained for a little bit.  slight chance there would be more in the night. remind horsemouth to go and check on the chickens. 

ok it's calendar day

calendar            july features

triple negative         creatures trapped on the land their city sunk beneath the abyssal plain

ifaw                         3 of giraffes

rspca                        knight of squirrels    

dave and sally         dave and sally (charity run)

looks like a beautiful morning out there - horsemouth will start on his journeyings.