hidden europe 68

Literary refuges

by hidden europe

Summary

What will become of the former home of the late Jan Morris, who lived for many years at Trefan Morys with her lifelong partner Elizabeth Tickniss? Jan Morris died in 2020, but that book-laden Welsh farmhouse remains as a shrine to Jan’s creative instincts and a strong marker of her love for Wales.

Patrick Leigh Fermor’s one-time home at Kalamitsi is a chance to inhabit the very space where a celebrated writer once lived and worked. In our travels, we have run across a number of other instances.

For many years, visitors to Sussex could book to stay in the cottage in Rodmell where Virginia and Leonard Woolf once lived. No longer, unfortunately, though the house is still open to the public, and it’s a chance to see all sorts of memorabilia associated with the couple’s lives. It was of course at Rodmell that Virginia Woolf ended her own life by drowning in 1941.

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Flint country: stories set in stone

Laurence Mitchell introduces us to the many ways in which flint has shaped the cultural landscape of East Anglia. The distinctive stone that glistens in fields and is ground by the tides on the region’s beaches is used in many of East Anglia’s fine churches. Flint inflects the region’s history.

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Laurence Mitchell has been writing for hidden europe for many years and we are proud to present the full text of four of his articles on cultural border zones on our website. Enjoy reports from Georgia, Bulgaria and Tatarstan. All four pieces were originally published in print in hidden europe magazine.