In Search of Albion From Cornwall to Cumbria: A Ride Through England's Hidden Soul

by Irwin, Colin

• ISBN13: 9780233001654
• ISBN10: 0233001654
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-05-01
• Publisher: Carlton Publishing Group

Summary

Offering a warm, amusing, and largely anecdotal commentary on modern England, Colin Irwin seeks out the traditional events, festivals and gigs that are becoming increasingly sidelined in our rapidly changing era of instant communication, multi-culturalism and Pop Idol. During his travels, Irwin drinks with eccentrics, sings with strangers and visits a succession of seriously bizarre events and rituals, such as a concert in Dartmoor Prison, sedan-chair racing in Lancaster, people flying in Bognor, and swimming in the Serpentine on Christmas Day. He discovers that there's an increasing tendency for communities to look inwardly at their own heritage, and while the old ways may be in hiding, they still thrive.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	1	(7)
Unite And Unite	8	(21)
Straw Dogs and Land's End	29	(17)
One Night on the Moors	46	(16)
Avalon, Tenpole Tudor and the Man They Couldn't Hang	62	(27)
Flag Day in Dorset	89	(11)
Incest and Morris Dancing	100	(10)
Cheese, Speed and Antlers	110	(17)
Island of Dreams?	127	(22)
They'll Never Walk Alone	149	(21)
Witches, Sedan Chairs, Chavs and Lakeland	170	(22)
The Flowers of Northumberland	192	(22)
Mined -- The Gap	214	(12)
A Dalesman's Litany	226	(21)
East Side Story	247	(19)
The Travelling People	266	(18)
Bibliography	284	(8)
In Search of the Graic
Introduction: Just What the World Needs: Another Bloody Book About Ireland	287	(5)
Wexford: Horseflesh, Margaret Barry & Pole Dancing	292