Bounded by the urban conglomerations of Amsterdam, Leiden, Rotterdam and Utrecht, the Groene Hart (Green Heart) of the Netherlands is a flat, relatively sparsely populated landscape of fields, woods, canals, lakes and villages. Nature is managed here with care and skill: in spring and summer the verges are bright with wildflowers, and there’s an abundance of birdlife. It’s a beautiful area for walking and cycling, or for trying out some of the numerous water sports on offer.
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The space within the nutshell
I was fortunate, when studying English Literature at A-Level, to have an inspirational teacher. Lynne Ruscoe was only a few years older than we were, full of energy and enthusiasm, with an engaging smile and a lively sense of humour. We read Chaucer and John Donne, John Keats and Gerald Manley Hopkins, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy, and – of course – Shakespeare. Hamlet was one of our set texts and I vividly remember the emotional impact the play had on me, especially these lines from Hamlet’s ‘To be or not to be’ soliloquy:
Continue readingRock, Paper, Scissors: Shape and Surface as Constraint
Messages from the past take many forms: ancient structures, buildings, and artefacts; burial sites; rituals and symbolism; stories, poems and songs shared through generations; sculptures, paintings, works of art.
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