Wandering Man
By Martin Locock
Wandering ManApr 10, 2022
Fairyland, Neath, and St Ciwg's church
Discusses Philip Larkin's poem Church Going.
Episode 5: Wern Ddu and the aesthetics of neglect
A discussion of what we find appealing about landscapes, the allure of decay, and the sense of being at the end of something. I draw parallels with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings to highlight the deep history we can sense in what we see.
Coal, drovers and common land
A quarantine exercise walk around the common of Gwaun Cae Gurwen and a discussion of medieval transhumance, drovers, miners, strikes, Churchill and what happens to mining village after the mines close. With a reading of my poem 'Dark prism' that covers this ground.
Carmarthen Tawelan
A countryside ramble with talk about medieval leprosy, holloways, hedgerow dating, archaeology on construction sites, what Detectorists gets wrong about commercial archaeology, and how housing shortages got us where we are today.
Episode 2: West Carmarthen
A semi-rural walk along a new link road, and a discussion of Guy Debord's definition of Psychogeography, and how it has been adapted by Ian Sinclair and others. Finally I talk about my background as a landscape archaeologist and how it influences the way I respond to the built environment.
Swansea Docks
A brief walk around Swansea Docks leads to a discussion of how we filter our environment, what happens to post-industrial places, and the meaning of Catherine Zeta Jones' middle name.