I grew up in Burntwood Green, near Lichfield, and as a teenager, always loved going into Lichfield for its atmosphere which I couldn’t identify, but now I think of as a sympathy towards the life of the mind. I live in Oxford now which definitely is a community of the mind!
Brilliant! I live in Stafford and Lichfield is my happy place full of history and beautiful architecture! I remember the first time I went to Erasmus Darwin’s house and discovered the intricate connections between Josiah Wedgwood’s family and the Darwins
Sounds like you had a wedding full of your favourite things (and of course people!) I have just found again Tristam Hunt’s book The Radical Potter (I read half of it last year then misplaced it at home - an all-too-common fate for my books!) and my lovely husband recently bought me AN Wilson’s “The Potter’s Hand” so I am looking forward to both!
I have read The Potter’s Hand but not The Radical Potter. Great idea to read those two books together. I am a fan of A N Wilson, although I tend to read his biographies more than his fiction. You might enjoy his memoir (Confessions) - it’s about growing up in the potteries. I asked him to sign my copy and when he realised I was from Lichfield, he wrote something about Samuel Johnson in the dedication.
I grew up in Burntwood Green, near Lichfield, and as a teenager, always loved going into Lichfield for its atmosphere which I couldn’t identify, but now I think of as a sympathy towards the life of the mind. I live in Oxford now which definitely is a community of the mind!
Lovely to hear thanks! 🙏 Samuel Johnson called Lichfield a “city of philosophers”. Oxford is gorgeous - one of my favourite places.
Brilliant! I live in Stafford and Lichfield is my happy place full of history and beautiful architecture! I remember the first time I went to Erasmus Darwin’s house and discovered the intricate connections between Josiah Wedgwood’s family and the Darwins
How lovely, Jenny, I got married at the Darwin House and had Wedgwood blue for my bridesmaids’ dresses. :)
Sounds like you had a wedding full of your favourite things (and of course people!) I have just found again Tristam Hunt’s book The Radical Potter (I read half of it last year then misplaced it at home - an all-too-common fate for my books!) and my lovely husband recently bought me AN Wilson’s “The Potter’s Hand” so I am looking forward to both!
I have read The Potter’s Hand but not The Radical Potter. Great idea to read those two books together. I am a fan of A N Wilson, although I tend to read his biographies more than his fiction. You might enjoy his memoir (Confessions) - it’s about growing up in the potteries. I asked him to sign my copy and when he realised I was from Lichfield, he wrote something about Samuel Johnson in the dedication.
I’ll add Confessions to my wishlist 😊