Deep dive index
Biographies of individual buildings: who built them and why? How did people respond to it, use it? These long-form essays - or deep dives - are researched and sourced.
Boscombe Pier and other news (23 Feb 2026)
A rare twentieth century pier, a question of definitions and local news items.
Molly Taylor and other news (6 Feb 2026)
How can we free ourselves from the Great Man framing of art and architecture history? Plus a water tower conversion, local news and a couple of events.
St Peter's Crown Hill and other news (23 Jan 2026)
Demolition looms for the 1970 St Peter’s Catholic church in Crown Hill, Plymouth. Plus news of other C20 buildings in the west country.
The Church of the Good Shepherd and other news (8 Jan 2026)
Would anyone like to buy a brutalist church in Somerset? Plus news of a 1930s cinema reopening and some exhibitions and events.
2025 in review
What I've learnt from a year of wandering the west country in search of modernism.
Hinkley Point and other news (4 December 2025)
The non-future of midcentury nuclear power stations, another local theatre from the 1970s, plus an ice rink, and updates on other news.
Nailsea Library (former), Nailsea (1971)
Exploring the history of Nailsea's old library, a brutalist gem that now serves up lattes.
Field Notes: Weston-Super-Mare (13 November 2025)
Some of Weston's C20 buildings. One with literal off-white elephants, and two that are more metaphorical ones.
Torbay Deco Hotel and other news (6 November 2025)
A former Torbay hotel, updates on Bath fire station, Plymouth Civic Centre and more. Plus an absolute unit of a play sculpture in Poole.
Tinside Lido, Plymouth (1935)
This deep dive is into a Lido! In 1928, Plymouth's chief engineer set out to create a new, healthier city, and his masterpiece at Tinside is still visible beneath the post-war plans.
BONUS: Brutal Bristol
A trip to Bristol to see the newly listed Broadmead Baptist Church and the Brutal Bristol exhibit. Bonus material for paying subscribers. Thank you!
Plymouth 'new town' and news round-up (7 Oct 2025)
Plymouth's 'new town' will interact with both the interwar and postwar city. Plus news about a theatre in Dorset, and some very expensive houses for sale.
Field Notes: University of Exeter (25 Sept 2025)
The University of Exeter's campus reveals a lot about how the institute projected itself from the 1920s through to the 1970s. Who's up for an autumnal wander around it?
Our Lady of the Portal and St Piran, Cornwall (1973)
How do you balance tradition and modernity? One Cornish Brutalist church is the story of those contradictions, and how one woman spent her life balancing them.
Bath fire station, more cinemas + news (14 August 2025)
On Bath's 1930s Fire Station, the ever-multiplying 1930s cinemas in Plymouth and more local news of C20 buildings than you might expect in summer.
Saltash Library, Cornwall (1963)
Saltash’s miniature Brutalist gem is an exploration of what libraries mean to people, and a history of the mid-century social contract.
Field Notes: Saltash visit + news (10 July 2025)
Come for a wander around Saltash, the gateway to Cornwall. Plus a round up of local news of C20 buildings.
Save the Royal, police, Seal's home for sale (2 July 2025)
An urgent campaign to save a survivor of Plymouth's blitz, a round-up of police station news and word that Mervyn Seal's self-built home is for sale. Or is it?
Elsewheres, Lys Kernow + Plymouth's 1930s survivors (27 June 2025)
An exhibition about an interwar Exeter estate, and two interwar survivors in Plymouth now at risk. Plus which deep dives you can read for free.
