School alumnus magazine arrives. I'm sorry to see that my former maths teacher/form tutor Barry Banson has died (although not unduly surprised, as he was 92).

Barry also led the school's Natural History Society. We'd go #birdwatching most weekends, with autumn migration trips to Spurn and spring migration trips to Dungeness. The latter added another layer to my developing relationship with #RomneyMarsh, so it was only appropriate to name-check Barry in this rather personal article: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0015587X.2024.2385155

Seem to be watching the Old Year peter out in a low-key and melancholy way.

Three months ago the wonderful JMichael Fields died rather suddenly and unexpectedly. I worked with him on a community show of Dr Syn and we kept in touch periodically -- I sent him this article, for example: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0015587X.2024.2385155 -- but he was always a hovering, supportive emotional presence. His passing hit me hard.

The reverend conducting an interment service on #RomneyMarsh has just been in touch asking if it's ok to quote a comment of his I'd used in the article. Of course -- it was his, not mine -- but it's the first time I've felt academic impact so personally and emotionally.

Plus the #isleofwight is currently wreathed in fog, so I'm feeling a little bruised within the sea mist right now.

Looking for an excuse to go for a ride in Kent this summer? The Romney Marsh Ride-In Show returns on June 29th with prizes for the best bikes, trade stalls, a free area to buy or sell motorcycles and more.
https://www.rescogs.com/2025/05/the-romney-marsh-ride-in-show-returns-on-june-29th-2025/

#Motorcycles #Motorcycling #MotorcycleShows #MotorcycleEvents #RomneyMarsh #Rescogs

Delighted that the hard copy of @folkloresociety journal #Folklore, 135.4 has just arrived, containing my article"‘The Sky is Too Big’: Reclaimed Flatlands and Their Communities, What Happens When the Edge of the World Becomes Its Centre, and Romanticization in Fieldwork".

It's an excitingly full issue, I must say (even if that means many conflicting things to me as its indexer).

My article is also available Open Access here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0015587X.2024.2385155

#RomneyMarsh #flatlands @folklore