Week beginning 11 October 2023

I was pleased to see that a collection of papers, American Magazine Writing was available on NetGalley for review, and next week I’ll write about my responses to the articles deemed good enough to have won prizes and be included in the published collection. The Atlantic came to my attention through interviews with some of its writers on various political programs on MSNBC. and I was pleased to see one of their articles included. However, I was disappointed to find that one of the women who writes for The Atlantic and whose contribution to debate I admire, Anne Applebaum, does not appear.

Anne Applebaum is a staff writer at The Atlantic. She is also a senior fellow at the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, where she co-leads a project on 21st-century disinformation. Her books include Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine; Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944–1956; and Gulag: A History, which won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Her most recent book is the New York Times best seller Twilight of Democracy, an essay on democracy and authoritarianism. She was a Washington Post columnist for 15 years and a member of the editorial board. She has also been the deputy editor of The Spectator and a columnist for several British newspapers. Her writing has appeared in The New York Review of Books, The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, among many other publications.

Interviews with her and her contributions to political debate have always been well reasoned, thoughtful and, in my view, valuable. So, I finished the collection less inspired than I thought I would be. But more of that next week.

This week I returned to London after ten days visiting cities in the south of England – Brockenhurst (some information below), Southampton, Bath, Bristol and Exeter. I’ll follow those up next week.

Voting Yes in the Voice to Parliament Referendum

One of the most important things I had to do on my return was to go to Australia house to vote Yes for the Voice in the referendum. It was a wet day, but there was quite a crowd, most of whom had yes pamphlets which was a comfort as we edged forward to make this most important vote.

Back to my travels with some lovely memories of Brockenhurst.

The New Forest

The village we chose to stay in for our first visit to this area was Brockenhurst, and it really was ideal. It was thrilling to see the way in which the horses are part of this warm and friendly community. The forest we could see from the train recalled Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree books, although she glossed over the accompaniment to the forest, the horses and ponies who wander the streets of the village. Their visits overnight are all too apparent in the manure which has to be sidestepped (not a problem for Jo, Bessie and Fanny in their excursions!) when pottering through the village. Another delightful feature showing the intermingling of animals, domestic and wild, and people is the ponderance of dogs in the streets (and cafes – their owners do not have to sit in the cold as we do in Canberra if we want a coffee on our dog walk). Dogs were gamboling in the forest, clearly accustomed to sharing it with the horses with no negative outcome for either. During the summer a hop-on-hop-off bus takes people through the forest, and there are numerous walks marked out. We did nothing organised, just wandered, coming into close range of horses and enjoying the forest. The blackberry bushes were not so kind. Gates on the pathways into the housing areas are a little complicated, but a person slowed to tell us how to get one open – adding to the friendly nature of the whole experience.

There was no Enid Blyton ginger beer, chocolate and surprises from lands over the faraway tree, but a terrific Italian restaurant, Enzee, and delicious cheese scones at The Buttery. Enzee featured a singer who added to the ambience of warmth, something different, and excellent food. The restaurant was a short walk from our accommodation at The Thatched Cottage. Breakfast was served at the Cottage – it was plentiful and included fruit, fruit juice, a variety cooked items, cereals and yoghurt. There is outdoor seating for the summer months, and cream teas are served in the afternoons.