Lane near Hearson Cross, Swimbridge
Sunday 7 June
I self-prescribe time in nature as much as I can - sometimes by walking, cycling or driving down local lanes. However, the arts are good for us too, as recent academic studies confirm. But are the benefits down to the fact that those who partake of the arts tend to be those who are comfortably off and healthy in the first place? No, not entirely, the research suggests. I’m glad I decided - 40 years ago - to get up a bit earlier each morning to spend an hour reading (and sometimes writing) verse before I went to work. My work as a cllr is rather different from my fulltime job back in the day but I still love that hour with words. I like reading a few pages from lots of books or poetry journals at the same time - I have about eight I’m reading at present. One is the complete poems in English translation of Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956). This is a line I want to share - the refrain of a compassionate poem called ‘On the Infanticide Annie Farrar’, written when Brecht was in his twenties: ‘For all that lives needs help from all the rest’.
Monday 8 June
North Devon Green Party is proud to welcome the prominent ecological economist and Islington Green Councillor Sheridan Kates to Barnstaple Library (top floor) on Friday 26 June. Sheridan is part of a new wave of thoughtful, principled political thinkers - known for clear, grounded explanations of complex economic issues and a commitment to genuine community engagement. This is a rare chance to hear from someone helping to shape the national conversation on ecological economics. We’ll begin with a screening of Finding the Money (2023), a thought‑provoking documentary following the economist Stephanie Kelton as she explores Modern Monetary Theory and challenges long‑held assumptions about government debt, spending and what’s possible. After the film, Sheridan will join us for an open discussion and Q&A. Free (retiring collection).
Tuesday 9 June
Another stabbing, this time by a Sudanese man in North Belfast. News of it and reactions filled the airwaves. A Belfast man, a local politician I think, said on the PM programme that attacks on ethnic minorities in Belfast have risen by 27% in the last year. But that’s not news, of course - it’s just a horrifying fact.
And here’s another from today: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/09/israel-palestinian-doctor-hussam-abu-safiya-solitary-confinement-held-without-charge
In response to this grotesque, deliberate inhumanity committed by the Israeli regime - the torture of doctors held without charge - most countries do no more than sanction a few ministers. Outrageous. Israel seems to want to exceed even the appalling violence of Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc as if it’s in some Eurovision-style Middle Eastern Torture Contest.
In the afternoon I attended a most informative ‘Grasses and Wildflowers Workshop’ held at Cadbury Cottage, Chulmleigh. It was led by Dr Cathy Horsley of the Devon Wildlife Trust (photo above). A dozen of us took part and we all learned new things - particularly, in my case, about creating wildflower meadows and identifying many local grasses. The excellent course was run by Jack Smellie: www.relaxedathome.org.uk
Wednesday 10 June
Photo by Brian Garman: Vigil week 134.
Green Party Press Briefing: Aid agencies have warned of a growing public health crisis in Gaza as rats, weasels, insects and untreated sewage spread through overcrowded displacement camps. Humanitarian groups say the collapse of water and sanitation infrastructure, combined with restrictions on reconstruction and debris clearance, has created conditions for infestations and disease to proliferate. Not on BBC news; no minister interviewed about the UK’s lack of decisive action to prevent this outrage.
Thursday 11 June
The Guardian reports this morning: ‘The family of Stephen Ogilvie, who lost his left eye in the attack, appealed for calm, saying that while they were “completely devastated” by what had happened to him, they rejected disorder as a response. “We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident,” they said in a statement shared via Phillip Brett, the Democratic Unionist MLA for Belfast North. “We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward. We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility”. Sumayah Nakazibwe, described a “terrifying” ordeal where she and her housemate, Stella Ariokot, were trapped inside their home as a mob gathered outside and neighbouring houses burned. “Someone who is actually rioting doesn’t know that the person they are targeting is actually looking after their mother or their granny,” she said’. How noble, the victim’s family and the persecuted refugees in North Belfast. How ignoble, the spoiled rich who urge the susceptible to violence. How much more do Brecht’s words resonate now: ‘For all that lives needs help from all the rest’.
On The World at One I heard Patricia McKeown, a regional secretary for Unison, say many workers across the region had received threats since Monday’s knife attack. She spoke of a nurse with a different skin colour being chased into the Ulster Hospital by four masked men - the nurse still insisted on working her shift, and alternative accommodation has since been found for her. McKeown said that far right actors had filled social media with AI-produced fake imagery and lies. ‘They’re creating an immigration problem where there isn’t one’. Less than 4% of the population of Northern Ireland are from ethnic minorities.
Friday 12 June
PSC and Friends of the Earth have conducted a survey of former Labour party members which showed that 67% left because of the government’s failures on Israel /Gaza. The Guardian reports on a possible change of direction: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/12/pro-palestine-activists-believe-sea-change-labour-approach-middle-east-israel
Social media have many problems but can be uplifting. This morning the artist Cornelia Parker posted a wonderful poster from 2020 by Jeremy Deller on Instagram -
Thank you to both artists - and to my immigrant Danish mother. Friday continued with a morning at HATOC (the Highways and Traffic Orders Committee) and a Community Speedwatch session in Landkey in the afternoon.
Photo: DH and MHB 1983
News came of the death of David Hockney, peacefully at home. How beloved he was and by so many. I spent a memorable week at his house and studio in the Hollywood Hills in 1983. I was curating Hockney Photographs, which was shown later that year at the Hayward Gallery in London before touring the world. David gave me complete freedom as a curator. He spoke almost non-stop about his ideas concerning photography. During the week I met Cary Grant, Christopher Isherwood, Billy Wilder and Bernardo Bertolucci among others. David was such a kind and generous man. RIP.
Wildlife: good to see more rabbits about, including young bred this Spring. I saw a splendid hare on the Codden Hill Road this morning. Even better, the Summer Raspberries have arrived. Delighted to hear that school pupils will learn how to plant a wildflower-friendly garden, according to long-awaited plans for a natural history GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Thank you for reading.
