The idea behind most of these was to record iconic shapes ranging from the ancient to the modern. Each era has a variety of designed forms that can represent the period. But there were also some incidental things that snuck in, including some uncanny juxtapositions.

Now that I've had a chance to review them, I want to go back and re-shoot in order to better emphasise lighting, framing, angle and so forth.

Urban jungle

As food prices soar, could a project that saw fruit and vegetables grown in town-centre planters and parks be a blueprint for the future?

People visiting Middlesbrough last year may have wondered why there were radishes and pumpkins being grown where they might have expected to see carnations and dahlias. All over the town, disused urban spaces were turned into fertile corners bursting with freshly grown fruit and vegetables as more than 1,000 residents took part in a project aimed at changing the way they think about food. This year, the results could be even more spectacular.

This story of urban agriculture is familiar from the DoTT festival, and from the concurrent ill-considered stories about Middlesbrough as the worst place to live.

Middlesbrough borough council turned over parkland, town-centre planters and other landholdings for fruit and vegetable growing. The eight-month project culminated in a town meal outside the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, where up to 8,000 people shared meals from the food that had been grown.

This prompts other sorts of thinking, from the abstract:

Andre Viljoen, a designer of urban spaces who worked on the Middlesbrough project, believes that the multi-layered benefits of urban farming make it a timely idea. "We need to start thinking about food production being part of a city's infrastructure - like roads," he says.

to the concrete:

Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, says the era of cheap food in the UK is over, and that the nation is "sleepwalking into a crisis". He points out that the UK has an especially poor record on producing its own fruit and vegetables. "Ninety-five per cent of fresh fruit is imported. This is ludicrous in a country with 2,000 varieties of apples," he says.

I've never thought of apples as particularly British in the way fish & chips is, but maybe it is, and maybe it's appropriate to launch an integrative programme of cultural and environmental activities focussed on apple culture, extending the work of groups like the Shropshire Apple Trust.

We work to raise awareness of the importance- of traditional orchards with their associated- wildlife and the threats posed to the richness of traditional apple culture by increasing reliance on a few modern cultivars.

The Trust operates at all levels, helping to revive interest in local fruit trees, orcharding and the practical- use of the apple harvest to produce juices for drinking and conversion to products such as- cider and cider vinegar. The events it organises, including the use of its own one ton traditional twin-screw apple press at an annual Apple Day, is seen as playing an important part in building community capacity.

You know what we'd call the expanded corps, which would be responsible for planting and harvesting from orchards planted in public places.

From the Huddersfield Examiner:

A SHANTYTOWN has appeared near Huddersfield town centre; but who has built it? It has been built from reclaimed rubbish and is now the home to chickens and hens. Someone has created the small community on derelict land at the corner of Bath Street and Rook Street, between the town centre and the ring road. But when people living nearby told Kirklees Council about the eyesore they were told to put their complaint in writing. One person, who did not want to be named, said: "It looks a bit like something Worzel Gummidge would live in." It has been there for well over a year already and is really strange and a bit of a mess. "The council really needs to get their grip back on that land. It will cost them a lot of money to clean it all up and clear all the waste away." There are three ramshackle huts on the land. They are made from off-cuts of wood and other materials. The area, which looks out over the ring road, is also covered in large amounts of wood and waste. Trees are dotted around the land, which is fenced off and has only small gaps for people to get through. But there are up to six hens and chickens wandering round the site. The resident added: "It?s a bit strange. Many people round here have seen people come and go from it, but we don?t really know what?s going on. "It looks a bit like a shantytown all on its own." A Kirklees spokesman said: "Highways and environmental services officials have been looking at this issue and will work together to clear this area and deal with any associated issues. However, due to the nature of the site and the clear-up work that is necessary, it will take a few days for this to be completed."

I'm a bit skeptical that the person or people using this land are unknown. But it's also a bit humorous to think that someone has set up a chicken coop then abandoned it. A bit like Guerilla Gardening or the Clandestine Farm (Wigen, 1981).

For the time being I just want to continue posting stuff in the manner I have been. Snippets, autologues, explorations.

The title is derived from a combination of three favourite stories: Mapping the Invisible Landscape; A Mapmaker's Dream; The Stone Horse, and is about my relationship with the material and immaterial about this place. As though the stones are dreaming.