A week on the moors

I’ve just spent a week in a beautiful converted barn on the edge of Saddleworth. Nothing restores my positivity quite like being alone on the wild Pennine moors. I was thrilled to find this place. It’s just inside the north-west border of the Peak District National Park, and it’s the last habitable building for miles, with no close human neighbours, a vast array of birdlife, and some funny sheep at the bottom of the garden. It also came with an old piano, views on all sides, brutal winds, and perfect sunsets. I prefer not to reveal too much about my projects while I’m doing the work, but anyone who knows me well understands why a week on a remote Pennine moorside would fill me with joy. I will say that these landscapes are relevant to the project in many ways, and I was eager to find a place to work while immersed in them. I keep daily progress notes about my projects, wherever I am, but I had no intention of diarising everything else. Still, I found myself tapping out notes in the…