words and pictures by Katie Isham. A Suburban Safari should be a chance to explore another side to favourite locations; to make time to appreciate the beauty in the everyday steps taken. But also, provide joy in finding a hidden surprise amongst the familiar. And most significantly, to observe...
Suburban Safari
Suburban Safari: Back on the Bluebell Trail
by Katie Isham. This time of year is synonymous with the bluebell explosion of the British woodland. You’ll find local enclaves at Manor Farm, Victoria Country Park, further out into the New Forest and of course, in the Old Cemetery on The Common. But for now, come explore the...
Suburban Safari: Life and Death in Romsey
by Katie Isham. Start this exploration in the centre of Romsey, the market town northwest of Southampton. Don’t worry though, we’re not staying amongst the hustle and bustle of the town centre. We’re heading out to the suburbs. From the centre, travel east along The Hundred, one of the...
Suburban Safari: Netley Abbey
by Katie Isham. When everything is busy and life is loud, there are few better places to go wander than around the walls of a thirteenth century monastery, especially when the roof is now cobalt blue skies pouring down from heaven to light your walk through the crumbling walls. ...
Suburban Safari: City of Magnolias
by Katie Isham. Safari today not to a specific place, but to a moment, a fleeting moment at that; a slice of existence right now, to the glorious zeitgeist of blooms and blue skies before the March winds rally and leave our loves strewn across the ground to become...
Suburban Safari: The Forest of the Future
by Katie Isham. This may seem like a rural safari, but we’re just ahead of the curve. The suburbs are coming. Out on the periphery of Southampton, on the other bank of the River Hamble, housing estates are multiplying, stealing space from green fields for our ever-increasing population. The...
Suburban Safari: Shopping for Life in Bitterne
by Katie Isham. In the east of Southampton lies Bitterne village. Not what one would usually think of as a village, but still more than worth a visit. It may not have the popularity of the city centre or the cool kid chic of Portswood, but Bitterne is a...
Suburban Safari: Stoke Park Woods
by Katie Isham. It’s time to go get lost in the trees again. Is there anything more wholesome than pulling on some wellies and going wandering in the woods until you a) get lost b) lose a welly in a muddy puddle c) get lost, lose a welly, get...
Suburban Safari: Ocean Village
by Katie Isham. Okay all, admittedly, it’s pretty grim right now. Grey days and even greyer moods. Even the sun seems to have gone into hibernation. Despite the days getting longer, the lack of sunshine is shrouding life in abject winter gloom. Ocean Village is a locale of Southampton...
Suburban Safari: Big pond for a little walk
by Katie Isham. Short days of January call for a short walk. Time is tight and we must make the most of our precious daylight hours when we’re not constrained by work or that seasonal existential dread exacerbated by the current state of the world that keeps us...