Few have written more beautifully about the British countryside than Francis Kilvert. A country clergyman born in 1840, Kilvert spent much of his time visiting parishioners, walking the lanes and fields of Herefordshire and writing in his diary. Full of passionate delight in the natural world and the glory of the changing seasons, his diaries are as generous, spontaneous and vivacious as Kilvert himself. He is an irresistible companion. This new edition of William Plomer’s original selection contains new archival material as well as a fascinating introduction illuminating Kilvert’s world and the history of the diaries. ‘One of the best books in English’ Sunday Times 'Kilvert has touched and delighted (and mildly shocked) readers of his diaries ever since they were first published. New readers are in for a treat' Alan Bennett

Based on the author's visit in 1965, this unique volume is written as a love letter to the mid-Wales county of Radnorshire. Within its autobiographical frame, this account covers the history and religious life of the area as reflected through its local writers and its adjacent townships, from 1176 to the present day. Exploring this fascinating location in detail, this investigation depicts its rural landscape as remote, wild, and renowned for shaping the lives of its inhabitants. Selecting key moments in its history--from the Middle Ages to the 21st century--this examination reviews the responses of writers as varied as Thomas Traherne, Bruce Chatwin, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The result is a unique portrait of the county--what it is like to have lived there and to live there still--that captures the essence of a hidden part of Wales and Britain. Within this intriguing narrative, the various landscapes of borders--physical, emotional, and intellectual--from the author's own particular racial, religious, and spiritual identity are analyzed, forming a complementary exploration of the human condition.

When Emma and Sheltie discover a very thin pony left to fend for himself on the snowy downs, Emma decides to rescue him. Eventually, the mystery of the pony is solved when it leads them to its owner - an old lady who lives on her own. She can't look after the pony, but can they find him a new home.

Sheep, hills and inbreds. The typical image of rural Wales is hardly flattering. So why is a little market town in the Welsh Marches attracting waves of newcomers? Hay-on-Wye is hardly 'typical'. Nestled under the Black Mountains, it's home to 20 second-hand bookshops and the UK's largest literary festival. Yet is that the sum of its appeal? From an old pottery workshop under a castle tump, Oliver Balch embarks on an entertaining expedition of his new home to find out who and what makes it tick. In his signature reportage style, his investigations take him to the weekly market with the Merry Widows and down the pub with the local old boys. He meets with ex-hippies up in the hills and visits a self-appointed King in his palace. Oliver Balch avoids romanticising the British countryside in favour of an honest and vividly told sketches of real life on the Welsh borders. An unusual portrait of a very unusual place.

Kilvert's World of Wonders takes a fresh look at the Victorian era, one that does not turn away from the smoke stacks and crowded streets of popular imagining, but which sees them from the distance of the rural countryside. Though a countryman and lover of country ways, here the well know diarist is shown to be deeply stirred by what he saw as a society being changed and improved by science, technology, and by the liberal, enlightened ideas that were starting to circulate. The social changes seen by Kilvert resonated with the vision of progress that was imbued in him by his Victorian upbringing, and as a result his diaries can be seen as a response to these changes and not, as previous Kilvert scholarship suggests, as a simple record of country life. Toman's new work goes beyond the biographical and social realities of Kilvert's family by comparing them to almost twenty other middle-class families in order to show common factors in the familial experience of a rapidly changing society. At the heart of this re-evaluation of Kilvert's life and times is the theme of Wonder, various aspects of which are explored throughout. Away from the rapidly growing urban centres the effects of industrialisation are seen in a surprisingly positive light by Francis Kilvert, a fervent Christian coming to terms with the encroachments that science, scepticism and secularism were making upon religious faith and yet seeing all around him a 'world of wonders'.

The power of the commons as a free, fair system of provisioning and governance beyond capitalism, socialism, and other -isms. From co-housing and agroecology to fisheries and open-source everything, people around the world are increasingly turning to 'commoning' to emancipate themselves from a predatory market-state system. Free, Fair, and Alive presents a foundational re-thinking of the commons — the self-organized social system that humans have used for millennia to meet their needs. It offers a compelling vision of a future beyond the dead-end binary of capitalism versus socialism that has almost brought the world to its knees. Written by two leading commons activists of our time, this guide is a penetrating cultural critique, table-pounding political treatise, and practical playbook. Highly readable and full of colorful stories, coverage includes: Internal dynamics of commoning How the commons worldview opens up new possibilities for change Role of language in reorienting our perceptions and political strategies Seeing the potential of commoning everywhere. Free, Fair, and Alive provides a fresh, non-academic synthesis of contemporary commons written for a popular, activist-minded audience. It presents a compelling narrative: that we can be free and creative people, govern ourselves through fair and accountable institutions, and experience the aliveness of authentic human presence.

This is the first book dedicated to the four year collaboration between two major British artists, Eric Gill and David Jones, at Gill's artistic-religious community at Capel-y-Ffin, a remote disused monastery in the Black Mountains.