Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 7h

‘Where English churches imitate the sacred groves of the forest, early Cornish churches, with their ribbed and curved roof timbers, imitate boats or even the skeletons of fish.’ - Roger Deakin, Waterlog.

Its a nice thought - any Cornish churches that reinforce this idea greatly appreciated.

David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 5d

not on display for sure. but worth an email - ta!

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Reposted by David Knight

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 6d

The best gig I ever saw cost £4. Spiralling concert prices are a cultural disaster | John Harris

Tickets for big tours have vastly outstripped inflation, while smaller artists and venues struggle. The magic is in danger of being snuffed out entirely, says Guardian columnist John Harris

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by David Knight

David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 19d

SPEAKING OUT: ORAL HISTORY FOR ARCHITECTS | With Cristina Monteiro I am hosting an exciting event for the Architecture Foundation, focussing on oral history in relation to place and architecture. With brilliant oral historians Mary Chamberlain and Jerry White. More info + tickets:

Speaking Out: Oral History for Architects | Architecture Foundation

A conversation with leading oral historians at the Art Workers Guild

architecturefoundation.org.uk

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 6d

@oldweirdalbion.bsky.social have you got, or have ever seen, a map of the land that Vera Pragnell bought/owned? I have all the historic mapping for the lifespan of the sanctuary in its pure form. but not its extents.

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 14d

amazing, thanks @oldweirdalbion.bsky.social - I think this might be my first major bluesky research achievement!

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 14d

do you by any chance have a copy, digital or otherwise, of Vera Pragnell’s Story of the Sanctuary?

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 15d

seems ok now!

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 19d

SPEAKING OUT: ORAL HISTORY FOR ARCHITECTS | With Cristina Monteiro I am hosting an exciting event for the Architecture Foundation, focussing on oral history in relation to place and architecture. With brilliant oral historians Mary Chamberlain and Jerry White. More info + tickets:

Speaking Out: Oral History for Architects | Architecture Foundation

A conversation with leading oral historians at the Art Workers Guild

architecturefoundation.org.uk

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · 27d

My first childhood explorations of woodcraft described (with holiday photos taken by my Nan!) in a new essay The Remains of a Circle open.substack.com/pub/knightda...

The Remains of a Circle

Telling my daughter about the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry

open.substack.com

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Sep 10

Strange and wonderful things that happened in a New Forest woodland. knightdavid.substack.com/p/the-remain...

The Remains of a Circle

Telling my daughter about the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry

knightdavid.substack.com

Reposted by David Knight

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 16

Like Jeremy Corbyn and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, I grew up in Woodcraft Folk. Here’s how it changes children’s lives | Phineas Harper

The leftwing alternative to Scouts turns 100 this year. If Keir Starmer wants to empower Britain’s young people, it has much to teach him, says writer and curator Phineas Harper

www.theguardian.com

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Aug 15

A piece of my writing about the beautiful & influential Arquitectura Popular em Portugal (1961), exploring its role in subverting oppressive state power in dictatorship-era Portugal to develop a progressive, locally-inflected architecture in challenging times. open.substack.com/pub/knightda...

The Subversive Survey

What Arquitectura Popular em Portugal - a mid-century survey of vernacular architecture – can teach us about the potential of architectural research to shift culture.

open.substack.com

David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Aug 14

Found John I. Williams’ biography of CLR James both inspiring and enlightening. Like all good biographies it feels like a study of an era and a culture as much as of a single human. And who knew that much of The Black Jacobins was written in Portslade of all places?

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Aug 12

Good stuff on the relevance of the club/trades hall model to contemporary venues and community spaces from @thequietus.com - class is an important consideration here. thequietus.com/opinion-and-...

How Community Ownership can Save our Grassroots Venues | The Quietus

The sprung wooden floor of The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge is no stranger to dancing. It’s hard to imagine today, but its modest upstairs hall was built in 1924 for graceful ballroom affairs – all wa...

thequietus.com

David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Aug 9

nice! I am doing my first railway carriage bungalow using secondhand Annie & Clarabels. x

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Jul 18

Other Plans #2 explores a squatted settlement on former common land in Oxfordshire, where the houses cluster around the public house. knightdavid.substack.com/p/other-plan...

Other Plans #2: Juniper Hill

A ‘squatted’ hamlet encircling a public house.

knightdavid.substack.com

David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Jul 11

An old text this time (2014!) celebrating Colin Ward, originally written to be delivered at the Garden Museum in London. open.substack.com/pub/knightda...

On Colin Ward

Celebrating the anarchist thinker and 'propagandist' in a text originally delivered at the Garden Museum, London, in 2014.

open.substack.com

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Jul 4

@oldweirdalbion.bsky.social is bringing the Steyning-based Vine Press back to life and fundraising via sales of this wonderful anthology about the world of the Vine Press, Victor Neuburg and Vera Pragnell: oldweirdalbion.bigcartel.com/product/a-sa...

A Sanctuary: New Writing & Artwork Inspired by Victor B. Neuburg and the Vine Press

A beautiful, extremely limited edition, zine-style publication of academic research, poetry & artwork inspired by the 1920s poet, publisher...

oldweirdalbion.bigcartel.com

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Reposted by David Knight

Charles Holland @charlesjholland.bsky.social · Jul 2

A tribute to Robert Venturi on the centenary of his birth. His work continues to inspire me and I recently wrote an essay exploring his use of mirrors, doubling and copies. Here is the sublime Trubek House, a complex, awkward and difficult little object, but also beautiful and perfectly realised.

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Jun 28

absolutely exquisite episode of @firedrawnear.bsky.social this time - Blackwater Side podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...

Blackwater Side

Podcast Episode · Fire Draw Near · 20/06/2025 · 52m

podcasts.apple.com

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Jun 25

In the past month or so I have been trying to write more on the built environment, here: open.substack.com/pub/knightda...

The Spring Line | David Knight | Substack

The Spring Line is a collection of illustrated writings by David Knight. It mixes fiction and non-fiction to explore the built environment and how it is made. Click to read The Spring Line, by David K...

open.substack.com

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Jun 25

OTHER PLANS is an occasional series of short essays on alternative methods or tactics of planning. I’ve been collecting these for 15 years and am now writing them up. The first is about Brighton’s North Laine, structured by its origins as an agricultural landscape. open.substack.com/pub/knightda...

Other Plans #1: Laine

A piece of town defined by agriculture

open.substack.com

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Reposted by David Knight

The Quietus @thequietus.com · Jun 23

“I don’t feel like I want to go louder. I feel like I want to go deeper and broader, rather than projecting out. It’s like you want to get right into the ground and the shape of the hills...”

#Haress Interviewed

buff.ly/q70xXns

Haress. Acid Horse Festival 2025. The Barge, Honey Street, Wiltshire

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David Knight @drdavidknight.bsky.social · Jun 18

My most recent short essay on the Spring Line is about the urgent need to conserve buildings which speak of Britain's history of self-build and plotland development.
knightdavid.substack.com/p/handmade-h...

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