Walking to spot the old among the new

Wandering around our ancestors leftovers

The leftovers of St Dunstan’s in the East, London, originally built around 1100

Hello walkers and writers 👋🏻

Lots of you got in touch to share how much you enjoyed the interview with Tim Rich. Thank you! The Interviews section of The Writer’s Walk is growing nicely, and we have plenty more on the way this year, so please stay tuned.

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In this edition I share something that always stands out for me whenever I take an urban walk.

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Walking

Hull probably isn’t the first place you’d think of when it comes to grand old buildings. When I was growing up there, it felt like the city was still emerging from the rubble following World War 2 when roughly 95% of its buildings were destroyed. The result is a city where much of the architecture is from the 1950s onwards, with many building designs that favour function over form.

But there are pockets where you can get a sense of Hull’s pre-war history through its buildings. Most are in the old town, close to where William Wilberforce lived – and whose 17th century home still stands, now open free to the public where its galleries tell the story of the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition.

William Wilberforce House and Museum, Hull

You’ll also find the 600-year-old Hull Minster in this part of town…

Hull Minster

… As well as the George Hotel, which began life as an Elizabethan mansion, and which you can find on the wonderfully named Land of Green Ginger. Its claims to fame include the ‘Grey Lady’ ghost and the smallest window in England.

The George Hotel – you’ll need to look closely to spot England’s smallest window

On the other side of the world, in Sydney, older buildings stand out for me for how small they look in comparison to the concrete, glass and metal giants that loom above them. Like in this photo of the Shelbourne Hotel that I took in 1997 on my first trip back to the city I was born in. Built in 1902, it’s by no means the oldest building in Sydney – or even Australia. But there’s something striking, even grand, about the way it stands out among the newer buildings around it. Even though, these days, it’s merely a facade for the bar and restaurant that hides behind it.

The Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney, photographed in 1997

Back in London, where I live now, there are countless old buildings tucked between new high-rises. Like St Bartholomew-the-Great: a medieval church in Smithfield which has been in continuous service for 900 years. It survived the Great Fire of London thanks to its thick walls, and survived World War 2, thanks, in part, to the then Rector kicking bombs off the roof.

St Bartholomew-the-Great, Smithfield.

And it was once home to Palmer’s printing shop where Benjamin Franklin worked as a compositor.

Replica of the printing press which Franklin used in 1725 – displayed as part of the celebration of Franklin’s first visit to London 300 years ago

Then there’s all the ruins. Like the remains of the medieval St Alphage church, which was built on top of London Wall…

St Alphage church, tucked between Barbican and the City of London’s office blocks

… To the remains of London Wall at the entrance to Tower Hill underground station

A fragment of the original London Wall – I wonder how many people walk past without knowing what it is

I’m drawn to these old places by their resilience. They’ve survived wars and plagues, fires and revolutions. They’re leftovers from another time – filled with stories waiting to be rediscovered.

So for your walk this time, I invite you to seek out the time-worn, enduring places hidden in plain sight within a town or city.

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Writing

If you’re anything like me, you probably have scraps of writing that you never finished, ideas for stories you never pursued, or first drafts that you filed away and never looked at again.

Right before publishing this edition, I checked the notes on my phone and discovered 816 story ideas that I’d noted down and done nothing with. I have 68 notes that are all stories ‘in progress’. Some of them are possible titles for a story not yet formed. Some are the opening lines to something bigger, even if I’m not sure what that might be yet. And I haven’t even counted how many scrappy ideas, thoughts or beginnings of things I have in my physical notebooks.

Here are a few random titles that don’t have ideas to go with them yet, but might contain the potential for a story:

• Tales from the crypt

• The year we didn’t have summer

• The shepherdess

• The sound of lavender

• Socks for penguins

• The violet hour

• Love and other substances

There’s bound to be something new that I can do with at least one of these old ideas, right?

So for your writing this time, I invite you to browse your notebooks and find an old piece of writing that you’d forgotten. Choose something that intrigues you. Where can you take that idea now? If it’s a story idea, maybe now’s the time to write it. Or if it’s something in progress can you bring it to completion?

Let me know how you get on – and if you fancy sharing a snippet of what you find, please add a comment.

Happy walking and writing until next time,

Sarah

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More from The Writer’s Walk

One of my favourites ways to explore a city is with a zigzag walk.

Walking in zigzags