READ THIS FIRST

 

This weblog is mostly a scrolling collection of notes on offbeat real and imagined places and the events and people that shaped them. The content wanders but is biased toward London and the surrounding counties. It is formatted for reading on a phone, so I try to keep the word count down to a 10-15 minute read.   

To see if there is anything that interests you, check the 'Contents' index above; all the posts are linked from there.   

A note on methodology. I read a lot: books, articles and (thanks to the British Library) academic papers.  If theories conflict, I usually go with the most popular or credible one, as the word count doesn't allow me to detail the alternatives. I use AI only as a glorified search engine, to spot egregious errors and for quick checks on dates, etc. 

Why Oil Drum Lane? The boomers among you might recall the TV comedy 'Steptoe & Son'.  They were rag-and-bone men who lived and worked in a scrapyard on 'Oil Drum Lane', an imagined back street near Shepherd's Bush in West London. Just the place to go looking for gems in the dust! 

My most recent post is 'Beyond Psychogeography', the final piece in my short series on the topic, musing on how we relate to places. Spoiler: I am not a fan. 

If you are looking for my bike routes with their detailed notes on places to go & see, go to  (link) Pootler

If you are looking for the reliquary of my former professional involvement in planning and development, focusing on the economics of making things happen, but also some moaning about it, go to (link) urbanspaceman 

If you want to get in touch, use mail(at)mickbeaman.co.uk