Upcoming release klaxon, hashtag excited, blessed, etc. Hyperion Records Ltd

"Chamberlain Square will look so much better once they get rid of all that awful 1960s architecture" they said.

I mean, this is just utterly sterile and hateful. Like a city centre that's been designed by AI. Look at how that red box sucks all the air and perspective from around the Town Hall, something that the old Paradise Forum, with all its faults, was careful not to do.

Emotional support predator.

This is good. Between the Woods and the Water is all over the place, geographically; some of the things Patrick Leigh-Fermor describes are physically impossible (we've tried to recreate them). But it's still the greatest English language description of Transylvania.

New to me!

My husband is hosting a Speccie dinner tonight. It’s breaded fish and a battle to keep the cat off my food tonight back in unglamorous Lichfield.

Gronda gronda

To celebrate the First Night of the BBC Proms here's an essay by Anthony Burgess about words and music in the 1988 season of Proms. anthonyburgessfoundation.substack.com/p/anthony-burg…

I interviewed him in 2022; the brightest, most engaging musical mind, wholly undogmatic. Last time I heard him conduct - in 2019 when he could barely walk - it was some of the most vital, life-affirming Haydn I've ever heard.

The skylights were closed against the downpour that drenched the garden. Branches dripped into more rain, drains tumbled with bright water. And it was welcome but for the sheer noise of it. Where would time go next? What might drown out there among the dark trees?

Letter from Elgar, now in the possession of The Spectator . Can anyone decipher his handwriting?

We agree...

Hawksmoor would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those pesky Neo-Palladians! Link below.👇

He's watching.

Annette tells me that the CAPS are her "channelling A.N. Wilson".

So much this. Dominic Sandbrook in the current Speccie.

First edition copy of the Portland Vase, owned by Wedgwood (c. 1790-93). And some Wedgwood cameos (including ones of David Garrick and Sarah Siddons).

Tea and cake at the Wedgwood Museum.

The North Transept at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral was dedicated on 24th July 1924