Phil Smith writes:
one pedantic point - you write that Derbyshire doesn't have the possibility of marsupials - but my understanding is that there were quite a number of wallabies living in Derbyshire for some years, released (or escaped) into the wild by an aristocratic collector in the 1920s and survived until quite recently. My understanding is that numbers have dwindled in the last few decades, but there may still be some around in the county. In my latest show i mention ABC's - anomalous big cats - supposedly loose in the English country - and a Midlander who came to see the show told me afterwards that he had seen what he thought to be a wallaby in woods near his home
He is absolutely correct, and I knew that somewhere, but obviously forgot it when I was writing Hello World.
I met Phil at Altered States. He's a member of Wrights and Sites, a group of artist-researchers with a special relationship to place. Very interesting work, especially that related to walking. Well worth checking out. Take a look at the Exeter Mis-Guide.
