Why the village green?
an essay about community
Growing up in Horsforth, my friend Chris Madden and i would fantasise about many things as teenagers:
Being music fans we would routinely stage imaginary concerts, playing air guitar in the bandstand at nearby Hall Park. As we started to duck into bars and pubs to see local or smaller national bands our imaginations stretched to how we could create a focal point for lovers of live music. Because a lot of what we listened to at the time was American, the idea of a juke joint style establishment was very appealing. Somewhere that stayed open all day and late. Somewhere that could accomodate those of drinking age and those who weren't simultaneously. The Village Green at the bottom of Horsforth Town Street was almost the imaginary focal point for such a venture, and the Museum across the street seemed the most fitting structure to house it.
This engulfed village in the Leeds Metropolitan area was our world at the time but the Village Green served as a metaphor for a wider global understanding and embracing of popular culture. And just as the idea of a live music venue symbolised a common understanding, so too does this blog act as a portal to a plurality of ideas about community. It is in fact anything you want it to be.
I want to start by sharing some adaptations of ideas i have written for other people.So forgive me if i've thrust something similar on you via my social media recently. From there i'd like to write essays on music, travel, parenting, culture, food, drink, whatever is on my mind. Maybe a thing or two about Seattle, New York, or even Yorkshire, god bless her!
But the important pretext is that it always come back to community, to the Village Green where it all began.