The Ragged Optimist 79

She had the odd conceit of those who write that words written are shared.

The quote in the subtitle is from Orlando, by Virginia Woolf. Of course the words I write *are* shared because you’re a lovely bunch, right?

I also found this quote: “I think we’ve let music, creatives and art slip too much. It is a concern that the numbers have gone down.” That was Keir Starmer in an interview this week. If only he was in a position to do something about it, eh?

A short intro: my hopefulness has been impacted by realising it’s a rail replacement bus for a chunk of the journey home later…

Parish Notice: Historian Holly Smith discusses her new book Up in the Air, a panoramic human history of high-rise council housing in Britain, with me in another event for The Margate Bookshop.

Singleton Open-Air Museum, aka the Weald & Downland Museum, aka that place they film The Repair Shop.

1. There are tests underway for a new reef at the Rampion windfarm, using concrete blocks which lessen the impact of waves on the base of turbines while also providing a good wildlife habitat. I’ve been down in Worthing, enjoying gazing out at the windfarm on the Sussex Bay horizon. Looks like the future from here.

2. Norfolk Wildlife Trust has bought Sotshole Broad, a patch of the Norfolk Broads which had been restored by it’s previous owner

3. This is a beautiful church restoration in Walthamstow. Looks like it has really considered how the building will be used. 

4. The UK nature’s rights bill will legally enshrine the idea that there can be no lasting economic progress or social justice without respect for the natural world. It will change the legal status of nature from objects, property and resources to a legal subject with inherent rights.

5. Tea that tastes like a Sussex Sea Swim. A Kent swim would be quite different with all the Southern Water discharges…

6. The band Spiritbox are encouraging people coming to their gigs to support local shops. “We made a map of local businesses you can support in our stops along the Tsunami Sea Tour. There are some great shops near each venue that we encourage you to check out for coffee, food, and more.”

7. The book Lo-TEK Water (That’s Traditional Ecological Knowledge, or learning from the ancestors) puts traditional projects like tidal fish traps against modern alternatives.

8. A handy guide from the Woodlands Trust on how to make Sloe Gin.

9. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust need to raise £25,000 to introduce a family of beavers to Craddocks Moss next spring. In 2019, they purchased Craddocks Moss, a lowland raised bog on the edge of Newcastle-under-Lyme, with the vision of restoring it to a thriving wetland rich in wildlife.

10. Put Words Change Things, 30th April-3 May 2026 in your diary. I’m going to bring people together for a weekend of books, ideas, and actions - looking at hope, optimism, and what the future might hold. It’ll happen in Margate, but it’ll be about thing that could happen in any place, and a future version of Words Change Things could happen somewhere else.