Events in September 2023

Virtual Writing Retreat
Sunday 17th September
10.30–5.00pm
Hannah's Bookshelf
I'm hosting an online writing retreat for creative writers with writing exercises and structured writing sessions
Members Event

Booth Hall Before the Hospital
Monday 18th September
2.00-4.00pm
NHS Retirement Fellowship (South Manchester Branch)
I'm giving a local history talk on the history of Booth Hall (the house, not the hospital) in Manchester
Members Event

Autumn Equinox Walk in the Woods
Friday 22nd September
5.30–6.30pm
Friends of Bailey's Wood
I'll be leading a sociable walk in the woods to enjoy the changing seasons
Booking Link

Park Write - History Writing
Saturday 30th September
2.00-5.00pm
Friends of Crumpsall Park
I'm hosting a history-themed creative writing workshop in Crumpsall Park, using the park as inspiration for creativity
Booking Link

Interested in booking me for an event? Click here to find out more.

Autumn Equinox Stories Wanted for Hannah's Bookshelf on North Manchester FM

Submit your seasonal flash fiction to be played on Hannah’s Bookshelf this September!

Can you tell a seasonal story in just 3 minutes? Want to have your work played on the radio? This month, I’m looking for seasonal (autumn, harvest) flash fiction from around the world for inclusion on Hannah’s Bookshelf, the weekly literature show on North Manchester FM.

On Saturday 23rd September, I'll be hosting the first Hannah's Bookshelf Autumn Equinox Special, and as part of my seasonal special, I’ll be playing a selection of my favourite 3-minute stories on the show (broadcast on FM and on digital). Want to be part of it? Submit a recording via my website of your seasonally inflected story (maximum 3 minutes) by midnight on Monday 11th September.

All genres welcome – be they cosy, romantic, scary or sad. The only rules are that stories must be your own original work, have some connection to the season, and be in English (the language of the broadcast). And please ease off the swears – stories have to be radio friendly! All you need is a microphone and a story – the details of how to submit are on my website.

If you aren't able to submit via a recording and would like another method of taking part, please message via my website for more information.

Please share this call with anyone who you think might be interested – I'd like to cast the net as wide as possible. My favourite seasonal stories will be broadcast on the Hannah’s Bookshelf Autumn Equinox Special at 2pm on Saturday 23rd September, on digital radio and 106.6FM.

Autumnal Equinox: Day 7

It's the big day! The finale of our first ever Autumnal Equinox celebrations. I think we've done the season proud again, and we're ready to prepare for the big ones that are coming! Here's how we celebrated to today though...

Autumn Equinox Earrings

My final pair of Autumn Equinox earrings... a harvest bonanza!

Poetry in the Park

This afternoon, I took some of the residents of Castlerea Care Home to Crumpsall Park to do our weekly poetry session outside for a change. We enjoyed the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness with poetry, a walk, creating Autumn Equinox story stick and some apple pies.

Mabon Dinner

We finished our week of celebrating the start of autumn with the (now)traditional Autumn Equinox dinner of (not)meatloaf and root vegetable rice, followed by spiced ginger sponge pudding.

Timorous Beastie Whisky

A little seasonal tipple this evening... Timorous Beastie whisky from Douglas Laing & Co. (I know the poem is set in November, but it feels close enough.)

Mabon Gifts

We ended the evening by exchanging seasonal gifts and cards. These whiskies will go with the others we've given each other during the year, then we'll have them at Christmas.

And so the wheel of the year turns... We'll be celebrating again at Halloween. And as we're doing 31 Days of Halloween again (starting on 1st October)... the wheel is turning pretty quickly this time.

Autumnal Equinox: Day 6

The penultimate day of celebrating the Autumn Equinox! It felt like today was very much about work, but I still got to do a couple of nice things. I'm not completely sure all of these count as seasonal activities, but I think they were probably close enough.

Autumn Equinox Earrings

Today's Autumn Equinox earrings were these gorgeous wooden apples. I think these might be my favourite ones of the season. I love them!

The Book of Atrus

Today's tram reading... my little bro is away this week so our weekly Myst replay isn't on tonight. I thought I'd fill the gap with The Book of Atrus instead. (Is this seasonal? I'm not sure.)

Visit to City Library

I popped into City Library in between meetings today. I'm counting this as an Autumn Equinox library visit, because some of the books I got out were almost seasonal.

Bailey’s Wood Autumn Equinox Walk

I had a wonderful time leading tonight's Autumn Equinox walk in the woods for the Friends of Bailey's Wood, and sharing a few seasonal stories and a bit of history.

Autumnal Equinox: Day 5

Another day of celebrating the Autumn Equinox, and it was a bit fruit-and-veg-themed (in the morning at least). I'm not sure the Autumnal Equinox has been the most action-packed of our celebrations so far, and perhaps that's because it's hard not to look forward to the big ones that are on the horizon, but we're definitely still marking the season in our own special way.

A Trip to Bury Market

We went to Bury Market this morning with my mother-in-law. Got myself quite the Autumn Equinox cornucopia. Is that 3 figs for £1.50? Yes it is. And I also picked up a bit of market-themed reading at the book exchange stall while we were there.

Autumn Equinox Earrings

Today's Autumn Equinox earrings are little glass corn ears and pumpkins that I bought from a jewellery maker at the Crumpsall and Cheetham Model Allotments fun day at Midsummer. 

Ronald Hutton Lecture

Tonight I attended an online lecture by Ronald Hutton at Gresham College, entitled 'The Gods of Prehistoric Britain'. It was interesting, thought-provoking and entertaining (as I expected it would be!)

Autumnal Equinox: Day 4

Another day of celebrating the Autumnal Equinox. It was a bit of a busy work day, so there wasn't a huge amount of time for celebrating. I did see some excellent (and seasonal) mushrooms though!

Autumn Equinox Earrings

Today's Autumn Equinox earrings were apples. Because the Autumn Equinox is the time of year when we find out if killing him actually did bring back our apples.

Crumpsall Park Litter-Pick

I took the local Beaver Scouts on a litter-pick with Friends of Crumpsall Park this evening. I told them that I like taking pics of cool mushrooms... just in case you were wondering why the sound of small children shouting 'HANNNNAH... MUSHROOOM!!' was ringing out across Crumpsall earlier today! I think my favourite bit was when a little girl explained to me that trees are very very important and told me that I should hug one ('because scientists say so'), then ran off down the path shouting 'I'M LIVING MY LIFE!!' Happy Autumn, little one.

Autumnal Equinox: Day 3

It was a bit of a quiet one yesterday, as it was the day of the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Not really a day for celebrating, so instead it was bit more about reflecting on the season and spending time with my family.

Autumn Equinox Earrings

As I was going to the woods yesterday, my Autumn Equinox earrings were squirrels and acorns.

Blackley Forest

I went for a walk in Blackley Forest yesterday. The woods were quiet and peaceful, with just a little touch of autumn colour.

Flavours of Manchester Chocolates

I bought some Flavours of Manchester (Manchester tart, Vimto, Uncle Joe's Mint Balls and honey) chocolates from The Chocolate Cafe in Ramsbottom to share with my parents yesterday. And they were glorious!

Autumnal Equinox: Day 2

It's the second day of our Autumn Equinox (aka Mabon) celebrations. We both had quite a lot of work to do today, so it's a bit of a short post. We still found a bit of time to celebrate though.

‘Wakes, Revels and Hoppings’

I read a seasonal chapter of Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun tonight: 'Wakes, Revels and Hoppings'.

Mabon Candle

We lit our Mabon candle from Chalice Creations tonight. Ginger, rosemary, clary sage and petitgrain to see us through to the equinox.

Autumnal Equinox: Day 1

It's Autumnal Equinox time, the sixth event in our Year of Celebrating the Seasons and the last stop before the big ones (Halloween and Christmas). Time to celebrate the harvest and the arrival of autumn! I think our plan of marking the passage of time better has worked, because it feels like years since we started out with our tentative celebrations of Imbolc! So, as is our new tradition, we've got a week of festive things planned to see in the new season.

Autumn Equinox Earrings

My first pair of Autumn Equinox earrings... blackberries!

Horrocks Wood

We went for a lovely autumnal picnic in Horrocks Wood in Bolton today. We saw quite a lot of butterflies and two gorgeous dragonflies (impossible to photograph), but there were plenty of signs of autumn in the woods as well. We also saw some alpacas where the woods meet Smithills Farm, and Rob made friends with some horses.

Maple Walnut Green Sencha

We took a moment to enjoy the season under a tree in Horrocks Wood with a maple walnut green sencha tea from It's Tea.

‘Harvest’ and ‘Mr King’

We wanted something seasonal to watch before we went out for dinner. We couldn't think of a film, so we watched the 'Harvest' episode of This Country and 'Mr King' (Inside No. 9). A perfect Autumn Equinox double-bill!

Dinner at Croma

We went for dinner at Croma in Prestwich tonight. I started off with an Apple and Elderflower Martini (I have a feeling our Autumn Equinox week is going to be a little bit apple-themed!), and then I had Mushroom Bruschetta, Mushroom & Goat's Cheese Rigatoni, Sticky Toffee Pudding (no mushrooms in that one).

The Dark Secret of Harvest Home

We ended the first day of our Autumn Equinox week by with The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, the 1978 miniseries adaptation of Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon. I'm not sure it's a strong recommendation, but it's certainly seasonal!