Lucky escape

Last week almost saw the demise of the print co-op due to a massive chemical factory fire next door to where we are housed.

Griffin Mill and the Nu-Pro factory remains

The red brick mill building houses not only the print co-op but many artists studios, arts businesses and Pegasus Art suppliers.

Gloucestershire Fire Service did the most amazing job cooling the mill with water while foam was used to suppress the fire. No one was injured in the fire. There has been some water damage which has affected a few people, and for them it has been a traumatic week, but we are all thankful that it wasn't much, much worse.

The fire ravaged factory

The factory now looks like the remains of a large boat. The walls have curved inwards and the front area, which looks like like it has been cut open with a tin opener, now looks like the bows. The power of fire is awe inspiring. A lucky escape indeed.

Inspirational books

I have come across some lovely books recently, all connected to nature and the great outdoors. All three books celebrate the authors own particular piece of England.

left to right: 'Gone to Earth' by Mary Webb,
 'Red Sky at Sunrise' - Laurie Lee's autobiographical trilogy
and 'Four Hedges' by Claire Leighton

Mary Webb is from Shropshire and her book is essentially a novel, however her nature writing must be autobiographical because of its sparkling clarity. It is a very romantic tale but also a tragic one; the anti fox hunting imagery throughout the book is particularly powerful.

The Laurie Lee trilogy comprises his three glorious works, 'Cider with Rosie', 'As I Walked out one Midsummer Morning' and 'A Moment of War'. The cover is wonderfully illustrated by printmaker Mark Hearld and the book is a lovely object to have as well as to read; it made it irresistible to buy. Its been lovely to read 'Cider with Rosie' while living close by to all the places mentioned.

The third book 'Four Hedges' is my new greatest find. I'd love to lend it to friends but I don't think I can give it up just now! Claire Leighton is a brilliant wood engraver and the illustrations are quite sumptuous, there are more than 80 of them in this book.

A very proud blackbird

 The book takes the reader through the creation of a garden in the Chilterns, month by month. What I particularly liked was how so many of the problems, joys and preoccupations of a garden are the same today as when the book was written in 1935.

The movement  and strain in the men as they plant this tree is so well captured

You'll see your garden in a new way and fall in love with it all over again.