I wonder if it's possible to write about finding peace in rural places without dumping on urban communities? I love this writing on solitude & the joys of cold water swimming, but is it necessary to frame the city as a place of crime & social breakdown? https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/26/i-ran-away-to-a-remote-scottish-island-it-was-perfect

A large part of my childhood was spent on the Brunel estate, a brown concrete brutalist structure on the tracks beside Paddington, where my grandparents lived. The working class landscape of Notting Hill - which this author frames as hopelessly fallen - is somewhere I deeply love

The fact I love mountains, oceans & forests, isn't a cure for the experiences I had in the city. The canals, the rambling gothic of Kensal Green, the dreamy architecture of the estate all gave me the sense of adventure & wonder I take with me to the 'wild'

& tbh Notting Hill pubs & clubs used to be great until they all got gentrified in the late 90s. I'm guessing this was at the peak of the cosy 'cosmopolitan community' the author remembers fondly. Let it be known that my grandad was pissed at what you did to the Westbourne!