Unfamiliar Theme

Great sculpture

Drawing Text Cloudy Rainy Old Curiosity Unfamiliar Surprise

"A tram travels along Wolverhampton Street in Dudley.."

Photo Past Aesthetic Architecture Beauty Change Difference Familiar Identity Life Memory Missing People Old Shelter Survival Transport Unfamiliar Words Vehicle Speeds

"Dudley's Edwardian Market Place pictured around 1905."

Photo Past Aesthetic Architecture Beauty Change Consumption Difference Familiar Identity Life Lingering Memory Missing People Old Shelter Stillness Survival Transport Unfamiliar Words

Geological story of the Black Country Video by Ellie Ramsey Narrated by Graham Worton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaxRX8-c2fU

Video Big Things Change Connection Contrast Creatures Difference Growing Industry Life Memory Nature Old Past Plantlife Sounds Tiny Things Survival Stories Unfamiliar Views Water Moving

"Dudley High Street in the early 1900s."

Photo Past Aesthetic Architecture Beauty Change Consumption Difference Familiar Identity Life Lingering Memory Missing People Old Shelter Stillness Survival Transport Unfamiliar Words

A nice smell I cannot pin down

Text Cloudy Smell Curiosity Unfamiliar Stories

Caffe Min.docx

Download Caffe Min.docx

Caffe Min Breakfast Lunch Meal deal Everything you would expect Fresh from the takeaway menu Ham baguette With a little bit of mayonnaise Jacket potato Hot cup of coffee Bacon sarnie Brown sauce Not red Tikka mint mayo panini Something you might not expect Sunglasses! I sit on a long bench Listening to Tainted Love Over the radio Reading one of the many signs About coffee and good vibes Jayne and Mustafa Serve the steady flow of regulars Some sit outside most of the day Watching Chatting Taking it all in There’s always a spot for them As others come and go Mustafa hopes that more regulars Will return From offices When they can The future seems uncertain Until normality returns Since West Brom 27 years ago Jayne and Mustafa Have been working together She says she “has a thick skin to have put up with him for so long” He says “she’s the second woman in his life” Cheerful banter From a lifetime of serving Cooking Cleaning Managing This is their third café in Dudley 23 years and still going Opposite the Full Moon Tables and chairs on the pavement Watching the comings and goings I end up chatting to Kath Over a cup of tea As she gets a sausage baguette For the lady she volunteers with Kath comes every Friday For breakfast with her friends and I see how this all takes shape Regular Reliable Dependable I say goodbye Head back up the town As Magic FM fades in the distance I think I’ll probably pop in again For a cup of tea

Poem Connection Conversation Gift Food Consumption Familiar Colour Unfamiliar Surprise Sounds Words Happiness Interacting Lingering Future Memory Stories Stillness

Motif / sign above G.P. Footwear not seen before

Text Pouring Rainy Tiny Things High Surprise Unfamiliar Curiosity Architecture Hiding

A random yellow (!) traffic cone on the pavement

Text Cloudy 10C Dark Funny Colour Traffic Unfamiliar Surprise

View story

In this picture from 1914 in Dudley, you can just make out my grandfather. He's the small boy with the cap running across Wolverhampton Street in the days when the trams were still running. Years later we worked out that this day was probably a defining moment in his life, the day he chose never to have a second thought or to be bullied by others. You can see him running. This is because he had stolen the ham you can see him carrying under his arm. This one action started a chain of events for my grandfather that would go on to dominate his formative years. Petty larceny, theft, criminal activity that would shape him, turn him into one of the most notorious villains in the Black Country. When he died in 1972, this photograph turned up amongst his possessions, in a locked drawer of his bureau. We agreed amongst us that no one in the family had ever seen this photo before, curious as to its importance to him. On the back of the photo he had written the date and time, together with a brief note - "Me stealing ham from W.Smiths, butcher". He would have been 10 years old and this was perhaps his first, or at least one of his first criminal acts. We have no idea who took the photograph or how he had come to have the original print in his possession, but it appears that it held some significance for him as he kept it all of his life locked away in his bureau drawer.

Imagining Text Story Creative writing Actions Chance Connection Creativity Familiar Food Identity Imagination Interacting Justice Life Memory Moving Old Past People Speeds Stories Surprise Unfamiliar Words

[Drawing - trident]

Drawing Cloudy Rainy Stories Big Things Curiosity Unfamiliar Surprise

Good granite curbs (but not local stone)

Text Drawing Cloudy Identity Material Unfamiliar

Here's some stuff in a locked yard (that just happened to be open) down Wolverhampton Street. There are what look like two chapels in there.

Photo Access Architecture Boundaries Broken Care Chance Craft Curiosity Decay Exposed Hiding Material Old Overlooked Opportunity Ownership Past Shelter Unfamiliar Weathered