Hilversum Calling

Mention Hilversum, and people of a certain age will probably think of the radio. That was my first encounter with the place, listed alongside Luxembourg, Sottens, the BBC and others on the dial of my grandparents’ old radio set. Hilversum was, and remains, the centre of the Dutch national broadcasting system and that is surely…

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Mind Your Own Middlesex

Let me introduce you to a wonderful little planning consultation document from the late 1940s called “Mind Your Own Middlesex”.  But first… Middlesex. Like many childhood first impressions of unfamiliar places, my formative experiences of Middlesex came from looking out of the car window. And those impressions were disproportionately influenced by two regular(ish) routes: flogging…

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