One of four bands
Ground where the edge is all of it
The fence, the lane, the last public foot before the working part starts. Reading the edge as a refusal is a mistake; the edge is often the best seat in the place.
The two we have written up
- Ground where the edge is all of itA Fairground Between Events | DoorstoneAn enormous piece of ground that is either wide open or entirely shut, with almost nothing in between, and the calendar is the only thing that decides which.
- Ground where the edge is all of itA Working Farm You See From the Lane | DoorstoneA genuine working farm inside the county line, with a public lane down one flank and a gate that does not open for visitors. The lane is the whole offer, and it is a better one than it sounds.
Where this band sits
- Ground with nobody to askNo gate, no hours, nobody whose day you interrupt by being there. The commonest kind of half public ground in this city and the kind visitors trust least, because nothing tells them it is allowed.
- Ground that keeps hoursOpen, and open on somebody else's clock. The hours are the whole of the arrangement, and they are the thing most often out of date on the internet and correct on the gate.
- Ground that opens if you askA name in a book, a telephone call the week before, a person who says yes. Asking is not a formality here: it is the entire difference between welcome and trespass.
- Ground where the edge is all of itThe fence, the lane, the last public foot before the working part starts. Reading the edge as a refusal is a mistake; the edge is often the best seat in the place.