The Ground Beneath Your Feet

Best time to write your blog is on a rainy day, with a nice cuppa  tea for comfort.

HOW WE DEFINE A ‘CITY’? for some it’s a place to earn a living, for others it’s a place to live. It maybe a place to escape the quite country side. But what is a city for me?

The new project “The City” is a challenge. I’m challenged to explore a city as a researcher, an interpreter, a dramatist, a storyteller, a journalist, a reporter, a witness and an advocate but also a poet; a prophet. I’ve been living in Newport City for almost eight years. I can honestly say that I don’t know a lot of Newport. Strange, I know. It’s all due to my lack of interest in discovering Newport. I can’t walk and drive around Newport without a map or satellite navigation system on hand. When I first landed my feet on the ground of Newport in 2007, I instantly felt its grotesque, gloomy, grey and dirty atmosphere.  It’s not fair really, to judge a book by its cover. I’ve explored other cities better. I know where’s the best kept secret beaches in Bali, Swansea and Cornwall, I’ve been in the tallest tower of Seville cathedral and admired the architecture of The Moors castle in Lisbon, I’ve climbed the mountain of Snowdonia and I know the cleanest hotel to stay and serves a nice English breakfast in Wrexham; I know where to have the cheapest and delicious meal in London yet I don’t know the location of Newport cathedral. Sad? Absolutely.

I’ve decided to open my mind and heart to Newport. It’s the birthplace of a person I love. It’s a city where I live! It’s time to get to know it better.

the ground beneath my feet

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