Suburban Safari: Eling Loop  

by Katie Isham. If you’ve followed these Suburban Safaris for any distance, you’ll know I have a fondness for the friendless. Of course I love a picture postcard view and a garden in splendid bloom. But I often find the real jewel in the ugly. Or what may be...

Suburban Safari: The Secret Garden 

by Katie Isham. If I told you that this Suburban Safari visits Valley Gardens, would you know where we are? I’m not sure many residents of Southampton could point it out on a map. But I guess that’s the thing with secrets; there’s always an element of secrecy.  Small...

Walk: The Itchen Navigation, Shawford Down

by Nathan Goldsmith. I’ve been spending a lot of time in Brighton – where my partner lives – and the New Forest – where I work – recently, and so coming back to Southampton to stretch my legs when I get a chance feels like a real treat. Following...

Cancer in a Time of Covid: update

by anonymous. In November 2020, I wrote a piece for In Common about my then partner’s first few months of dealing with breast cancer during a pandemic. At the time I wrote: “There is a very thin line that holds the fabric of our lives together. Things can change...

Column: Vienna to Southampton – wild horses

by Anna-Maria Bauer. We see the first one in the small car park, in the middle of the New Forest, that is more of a heathland here. It stands very close to the bonnets, fearless, one horsepower among many. Its rich brown coat shines almost as much as the...